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World War Wonderful
Presented by:
Karin Muiznieks - 2009 Melbourne Comedy Festival
Venue:
Studio 2, Northcote Town Hall
Reviewer:
Chris Baldock
Date
Reviewed:
Thursday 9th April 2009
Let’s get something straight from the outset: Karin Muiznieks is a
twisted woman. A talented, witty, intelligent and clever woman, but
a twisted one just the same. This theatrical powerhouse has
conceived, written and composed a warped, cheeky 60 minute show for
this year’s Comedy Festival that starts in fairly safe territory and
then twists and turns to places no one would expect. Along the way,
Muiznieks throws a wonderful series of Andrew Sisters-style songs at
us that are so clever, so naughty, that their brilliance almost
takes your breath away.
I
won’t even try and explain the story of this bizarre little show
except to say The Wonderful Sisters are still touring their show to
the troops (us), spreading their special brand of propaganda, loaded
with irony and goodwill, and tongue firmly in cheek. An American
Winston Churchill (!?) appeared via a cleverly conceived and
executed series of films. That’s where the show starts. Where the
show ends is a very different kettle of fish as we dive headlong
with the Sisters into somewhat messy absurdist territory. Muiznieks
loads the show with a strong anti-war message that is full of great
intentions and bless her for those. But it also means that the fun
and wit of the show is compromised as we end up being slapped
strongly across the face with a message that has been told many
times before – and more effectively. So what started out as
brilliant night of fun wrapped in a clever pastiche ended up giving
me a slightly disappointed and bitter aftertaste.
The
three performers – Muiznieks, Erin Newington (who also impressed
with some stunning choreography) and Louise McCrae – all displayed
wonderful versatility – strong of voice, stylish of movement and
quick of comedic timing. McCrae ended up my favourite as the dippy
Fanny. She glowed with confidence and owned everything she
did. I just felt sorry that her number at the end of the show just
didn’t fit in style with the previous tunes we had grown to love.
Muiznieks herself faltered in one of her solos on the night I
attended which was surprising considering she wrote them! But she
recovered beautifully and we forgave her instantly – as we
celebrated the stunning songs she had created. Newington was also a
strong performer but, like Muiznieks, she didn’t seem as comfortable
as the radiant McCrae. I could see the brain ticking a little bit.
Hopefully as the season progresses the ladies ease into their roles.
The
ladies were complimented by pianist Tom Dalton and trumpeter/band
leader Em Muiznieks, both talented and sounded wonderful. Swingin’
they were and the audience loved them.
As
suggested above, I would love to say that I embraced the script of
this curious piece but it left me cold. My laughs (and in many
cases, belly laughs) came from the songs and I walked away wishing
there was a CD to savour and relive Muiznieks’ talents. Scott
Gooding has been credited as dramaturge which concerned me as the
show progressed as it all digressed into a bit of a theatrical
sloppy mess. We got less and less of the great music and more of the
scripted mayhem. Maybe the mayhem was the point and perhaps there
were audience members who “got it” but I noticed the laughs became
quieter and more “polite”.
Maybe I just didn’t get it but I felt the script needed more
work-shopping before being displayed to a paying public. If the show
is have an afterlife after this season, and I sincerely hope it
does, then I’d like to suggest ditching the script and telling it
all in Muiznieks’ glorious, naughty, saucy oh-so-fab songs. Because
those tunes were the real stars of the show and well worth the price
of admission.
A
director of over 40 productions and an actor in over 80, Chris is a
highly respected director/actor in the "straight" theatre scene with
4 Victorian Drama League Awards, 2 Lyrebird awards and over 30 other
theatre awards to his credit. His production of The Laramie Project
for Act-o-Matic 3000 at Chapel off Chapel won the Victorian Green
Room Award for Best Independent Production as well as making many of
the year's "Best" lists and earning a rare 5-star review in The
Sunday Age, and his production of Love! Valour! Compassion! for the
Midsumma Festival was named by the Herald Sun as one of the best
productions of the year. He has also received Music Theatre Guild
nominations for performance (The Duke in MUMCo's Big River) and
direction (the Victorian premičre of A Slice of Saturday Night at St
Martins). He has been an in-house adjudicator for many theatre
companies as well as the Victorian Drama League Awards and the
Victorian Music Theatre Guild Awards. He is currently directing
Cloudstreet for Heidelberg Theatre Company and will be following
that with The Elephant Man for Malvern Theatre Company and
Kindertransport for Williamstown Little Theatre. By day Chris is a
manager for a major Ombudsman's scheme. In what little spare time he
has, he sleeps!
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