Indian Embrace - Review

Indian Embrace
by Carol Dance
Riverside Theatre,
Parramatta
Wednesday 21 August 2013
Reviewed By Ben Oxley
"You must welcome waiting. You can only wait for what you cannot change."

(photo by Chris Lundie)
 
Two cultures. Two families. Together at a life-changing sacred city. In a story that from the outside is reminiscent of The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, the characters form a bond due to the release of their respective worries.

Set in Varanasi, India, but with Sydney on its horizon, Indian Embrace bridges the divide between culture, generation and change.

Indian Embrace stars Ambika Asthana, Neel Banerjee, Shashidhar Dandekar, James Herrington, Steven Menteith (a Westerner who has travelled extensively in India including Varanasi) and Lucy Rasheed.

Anger is stirred up in family rivalry, but then the greater disaster is remembered, which brings them back together. Perspective is the great key to understanding why, and quiet reflection is valuable in an unusual backwater. The six cast members have longings, and those that are shared in the play appear to resolve, where the unresolved seem not as important.

Shashidhar Dandekar shines as the world-weary father figure Vikram, with perhaps the best material. He generously allows other actors space to build their characters.

John as the older, distant Australian brother, shadows Menteith's own wide travels. He is believable in the combative scenes with his sister Pamela (Rasheed), while his friendship with Vikram is the strength of the play.

Pamela and Chris slowly unfold and explore their respective nirvanas, while Roopa entertains with aspirational characterisation, of a young woman bent on going to Australia, for her the exotic idyll. The short roles of Ashwin and Sanjay allow Banerjee just enough room to give well-paced vignettes to lift away from the larger drama.

Neat direction from Lenore Robertson, in an intimate space, with effective lighting from Richard Neville gave the sense of a decaying boarding house caught in between two worlds. Suspended material cloths are the screen, on which are projected the vivid hues of the mighty Ganges, perhaps the main silent role in the piece.

Carol Dance has made a fashionable subject very personal, very real. She explores how we deal with trauma, and asks are we able overcome great personal sadness and still manage to maintain relationships. The meaning of life is summed up in her lines for Vikram: "You must welcome waiting. You can only wait for what you cannot change."

The Tap Pack - Review

The Tap Pack

Riverside Theatre Parramatta

22-23 March 2013

Starring Jesse Rasmussen, Kuki Tipoki, Thomas J Egan, Dion Bilios and Rohan Browne

Directed by Nigel Turner-Carroll

Reviewed by Lana Hilton

Is rat-ta-tap-tastic a word? Well it should be.

Five quadruple threat Australian actors (that’s dancing, singing, acting and being good looking) unite the swinging sixties with modern songs and dancing against a live brass band.

Inspired by the 1960s Rat Pack the creators and choreographers have designed a piece that has exquisite charm and songs that have everybody grooving in their seats with a great big smile plastered across their faces.

While the storyline is a little lacking the audience loved being involved in every scene. The characters openly spoke to us, threw (sometimes dirty) jokes and waited for a response, engaged us in a clapping frenzy and fed off our laughs and cheers when they exited from a perfect, solo or group tap performance.

The actors were clearly having the time of their lives and it was refreshing to see people who were thoroughly enjoying themselves and so dedicated to their art. Saying the men were excellent tap dancers is an understatement - each one has a CV a mile long and collectively they have performed in over 20 musical productions and countless in stage, television and film!

In their suave suits complete with pocket squares and a cheeky grin, the actors had great chemistry and were mesmerising in every performance. They turned modern pop music into jazz spectaculars, especially Cee Lo Green’s “Forget You”. It was amazing how despite their legs kicking and tapping furiously to every drum and trumpet beat they never seemed out of breath – how did they do it!

While the production brought to you by FORM Dance Projects only has four performances, keep your eye out for any production that mentions these actors as it is sure to be an entertaining winner!