I Can`t Explain The Beauty
Mon, 16 Feb 2004, 01:53 pmtomasford1 post in thread
I Can`t Explain The Beauty
Mon, 16 Feb 2004, 01:53 pmI CAN'T EXPLAIN THE BEAUTY
Dolphin Theatre, Perth
I was stoked to see David Kodeski get invited to bring "I Can't Explain The Beauty" to the Perth International Arts Fest after his wikkid show of last year, "Another Lousy Day" at WA Fringe, which still stands out in my mind as one of the highlights of the theatre I saw last year (see http://theatre.asn.au/read.php?f=24&i=1662&t=1662 ).
This show felt a lot more formal than his last visit, possibly due to the size of the venue, but also the show was designed even more like a lecture than before, which was fantastic, very interesting and engaging, but lost some of the intimacy. By formal I don't mean stuffy, as there was plenty of humanity and laughs to be found in the work, but there was definately more of an audience/performer divide and the set design was anthropolgy lecturesque, though the way the set was worked by the performer was well thought out and interesting.
Kodeski uses old diaries and scrapbooks he finds on E-bay or at op shops etc and then becomes obsessive about finding information on his subject, then compiling his information into a monologue in his detatched, darkly humorous style. He paints vivid pictures of his his impressions of his subjects. This piece seemed less about the diaries he found (as the events contained therein were repetetive and not very well described by the diarist) and more about the story of his practice as an artist. This meant a less vivid picture was painted than in "Another Lousy Day" but the show serves as a great introduction to his work and his reasons for doing it.
As a side note, it was also great to see the Dolphin about 3/4 full for such an interesting and unconventional artist, though PIAF's pricing structure of "A" and "B" reserve really bugs me, especially when tickets for shows aren't exactly cheap in the first place, but this is an issue with all PIAF shows and a total side gripe anyway. Not that I'm saying artists shouldn't make money, but when theatre costs this amount it becomes inaccessible to people with less cash. Which really sucks, by the way. I mean sure, it might be nice to think that one day you could charge that much for a show and people would pay it, but less accessibility makes theatre into little more than a novelty for the bougoise and that leads to artistic stagnation. But now I'm really off track from my review, making huge, unexplained leaps in my arguments and there's a hip hop version of that "It's A Hard Knock Life" song from Annie playing in this internet cafe and I want to escape it so I'm going to shut up now.
This show still has a few nights to go so if you can afford to get down to it, it is worth the effort and a great night at the theatre. Super interesting, super fun and super cool. Five stars and all that stuff.
[%sig%]
Dolphin Theatre, Perth
I was stoked to see David Kodeski get invited to bring "I Can't Explain The Beauty" to the Perth International Arts Fest after his wikkid show of last year, "Another Lousy Day" at WA Fringe, which still stands out in my mind as one of the highlights of the theatre I saw last year (see http://theatre.asn.au/read.php?f=24&i=1662&t=1662 ).
This show felt a lot more formal than his last visit, possibly due to the size of the venue, but also the show was designed even more like a lecture than before, which was fantastic, very interesting and engaging, but lost some of the intimacy. By formal I don't mean stuffy, as there was plenty of humanity and laughs to be found in the work, but there was definately more of an audience/performer divide and the set design was anthropolgy lecturesque, though the way the set was worked by the performer was well thought out and interesting.
Kodeski uses old diaries and scrapbooks he finds on E-bay or at op shops etc and then becomes obsessive about finding information on his subject, then compiling his information into a monologue in his detatched, darkly humorous style. He paints vivid pictures of his his impressions of his subjects. This piece seemed less about the diaries he found (as the events contained therein were repetetive and not very well described by the diarist) and more about the story of his practice as an artist. This meant a less vivid picture was painted than in "Another Lousy Day" but the show serves as a great introduction to his work and his reasons for doing it.
As a side note, it was also great to see the Dolphin about 3/4 full for such an interesting and unconventional artist, though PIAF's pricing structure of "A" and "B" reserve really bugs me, especially when tickets for shows aren't exactly cheap in the first place, but this is an issue with all PIAF shows and a total side gripe anyway. Not that I'm saying artists shouldn't make money, but when theatre costs this amount it becomes inaccessible to people with less cash. Which really sucks, by the way. I mean sure, it might be nice to think that one day you could charge that much for a show and people would pay it, but less accessibility makes theatre into little more than a novelty for the bougoise and that leads to artistic stagnation. But now I'm really off track from my review, making huge, unexplained leaps in my arguments and there's a hip hop version of that "It's A Hard Knock Life" song from Annie playing in this internet cafe and I want to escape it so I'm going to shut up now.
This show still has a few nights to go so if you can afford to get down to it, it is worth the effort and a great night at the theatre. Super interesting, super fun and super cool. Five stars and all that stuff.
[%sig%]
tomasfordMon, 16 Feb 2004, 01:53 pm
I CAN'T EXPLAIN THE BEAUTY
Dolphin Theatre, Perth
I was stoked to see David Kodeski get invited to bring "I Can't Explain The Beauty" to the Perth International Arts Fest after his wikkid show of last year, "Another Lousy Day" at WA Fringe, which still stands out in my mind as one of the highlights of the theatre I saw last year (see http://theatre.asn.au/read.php?f=24&i=1662&t=1662 ).
This show felt a lot more formal than his last visit, possibly due to the size of the venue, but also the show was designed even more like a lecture than before, which was fantastic, very interesting and engaging, but lost some of the intimacy. By formal I don't mean stuffy, as there was plenty of humanity and laughs to be found in the work, but there was definately more of an audience/performer divide and the set design was anthropolgy lecturesque, though the way the set was worked by the performer was well thought out and interesting.
Kodeski uses old diaries and scrapbooks he finds on E-bay or at op shops etc and then becomes obsessive about finding information on his subject, then compiling his information into a monologue in his detatched, darkly humorous style. He paints vivid pictures of his his impressions of his subjects. This piece seemed less about the diaries he found (as the events contained therein were repetetive and not very well described by the diarist) and more about the story of his practice as an artist. This meant a less vivid picture was painted than in "Another Lousy Day" but the show serves as a great introduction to his work and his reasons for doing it.
As a side note, it was also great to see the Dolphin about 3/4 full for such an interesting and unconventional artist, though PIAF's pricing structure of "A" and "B" reserve really bugs me, especially when tickets for shows aren't exactly cheap in the first place, but this is an issue with all PIAF shows and a total side gripe anyway. Not that I'm saying artists shouldn't make money, but when theatre costs this amount it becomes inaccessible to people with less cash. Which really sucks, by the way. I mean sure, it might be nice to think that one day you could charge that much for a show and people would pay it, but less accessibility makes theatre into little more than a novelty for the bougoise and that leads to artistic stagnation. But now I'm really off track from my review, making huge, unexplained leaps in my arguments and there's a hip hop version of that "It's A Hard Knock Life" song from Annie playing in this internet cafe and I want to escape it so I'm going to shut up now.
This show still has a few nights to go so if you can afford to get down to it, it is worth the effort and a great night at the theatre. Super interesting, super fun and super cool. Five stars and all that stuff.
[%sig%]
Dolphin Theatre, Perth
I was stoked to see David Kodeski get invited to bring "I Can't Explain The Beauty" to the Perth International Arts Fest after his wikkid show of last year, "Another Lousy Day" at WA Fringe, which still stands out in my mind as one of the highlights of the theatre I saw last year (see http://theatre.asn.au/read.php?f=24&i=1662&t=1662 ).
This show felt a lot more formal than his last visit, possibly due to the size of the venue, but also the show was designed even more like a lecture than before, which was fantastic, very interesting and engaging, but lost some of the intimacy. By formal I don't mean stuffy, as there was plenty of humanity and laughs to be found in the work, but there was definately more of an audience/performer divide and the set design was anthropolgy lecturesque, though the way the set was worked by the performer was well thought out and interesting.
Kodeski uses old diaries and scrapbooks he finds on E-bay or at op shops etc and then becomes obsessive about finding information on his subject, then compiling his information into a monologue in his detatched, darkly humorous style. He paints vivid pictures of his his impressions of his subjects. This piece seemed less about the diaries he found (as the events contained therein were repetetive and not very well described by the diarist) and more about the story of his practice as an artist. This meant a less vivid picture was painted than in "Another Lousy Day" but the show serves as a great introduction to his work and his reasons for doing it.
As a side note, it was also great to see the Dolphin about 3/4 full for such an interesting and unconventional artist, though PIAF's pricing structure of "A" and "B" reserve really bugs me, especially when tickets for shows aren't exactly cheap in the first place, but this is an issue with all PIAF shows and a total side gripe anyway. Not that I'm saying artists shouldn't make money, but when theatre costs this amount it becomes inaccessible to people with less cash. Which really sucks, by the way. I mean sure, it might be nice to think that one day you could charge that much for a show and people would pay it, but less accessibility makes theatre into little more than a novelty for the bougoise and that leads to artistic stagnation. But now I'm really off track from my review, making huge, unexplained leaps in my arguments and there's a hip hop version of that "It's A Hard Knock Life" song from Annie playing in this internet cafe and I want to escape it so I'm going to shut up now.
This show still has a few nights to go so if you can afford to get down to it, it is worth the effort and a great night at the theatre. Super interesting, super fun and super cool. Five stars and all that stuff.
[%sig%]