The Sydney Morning Herald from Sydney, New South Wales, Australia • Page 26

26 The Sydney Morning Herald ARTS Thursday, August 18, 1994 Hope for otta have ow tiie girls eirls at Hope the Opera House By AVA HUBBLE HE nonagenarian "A American star Bob I Hope is likely to give a concert in Sydney next FILM si irt-rK- ri 1 x' 4" jr-- -l Ak ir- I At Young Love II Vanessa Hadaway (Rachel) and f' I fv 'V. Charlie Creed-Miles (David) star in The Punk. every moment with her Hispanic girlfriend, Evy (Migdalia Melen-det). It's the politically inclined Kia who plays Cupid to Max's love-anguish which is that she is single, starry-eyed and looking for love. With the smug wisdom of those who are happily partnered and flaunting it, Kia selects the shy, unhip and unphotogenic Ely (V.

S. Brodie in a wonderful, straight-faced, introverted performance) to be Max's true lover. G. L. ugly," says Max, repelled.

In a series of comic complications the social comedy of self-absorbed, over-intellectualised and nervous courtship manners are reminiscent of a Woody Allen film the apparently ill-matched Max and Ely draw further apart while anguishing about wanting to (maybe) get closer. Meanwhile, their girlfriends lie on a bed making comments on the narrative like a cross between a Greek chorus, a university' essay and the Cosmo psychologist We need the help of this device because it's neither easy nor always interesting to follow the labyrinthine, intensely feminine, intensely personal, intensely relationship-focused lives "that crisscross Go Fish. 1 Yet that's the radicalism of Go Fish, the source of its freshness and appeal. It might be a touch -overdone, but it's within this "simple" story of "babes" and dates and bad haircut days that the film asserts its own universe of pleasure and pain without much reference to the anguish of coming-out films or a need to link sexuality with a political statement. In the world of Go Fish, living a lesbian life is not a "problem" and nothing is sacred, including the orthodoxies of the scene.

These are wittily exposed in a surrealistic "trial" of a "babe" who sleeps with a man, and also in an eerie, poetic sequence of the girlfriends in wedding dresses. These moments come as a relief to the getting-laid mayhem of the Girls' Own stories. The relentless gossip and cute romance might get confusing and slightly boring at times, but Go Fish is rarely less than fun. Romeo in year, with his wife, the octogenarian Dolores. Hope, 92, is having discussions about a Pacific tour with Sydney entrepreneurs Kevin Jacobsen and Patrick Condon.

Condon told the Herald that the tour is proposed as part of next year's commemoration marking the 50th anniversary of the end of World War II in the Pacific. Hope's credits include many wartime concerts for the troops. In June, he and his wife joined Dame Vera Lynn and other veteran English stars for a QEH concert commemorating the 50th anniversary of D-Day. According to Condon, Hope's show includes numbers with his wife, commentary on clips from his films and reminiscences about his life in Hollywood and his early days as a vaudeville and nightclub performer. He reportedly has a soft spot for Opera House audiences.

"You, don't have to work hard to warm them up," he noted during his 1978 visit. "The people start laughing at the box office, as soon as they see the ticket prices." After that Concert Hall performance, Hope was quoted saying the Opera House was the only Sydney venue he would consider playing again. "I love the hall. I love playing in the round. There's always the chance of a knife in your back, but I still love playing in the round." Yet the big question is whether Jacobsen and Condon can get a booking at the Opera House.

"I've just about given up trying to book the Concert HalL" despaired Condon, who said he had not been able to get a booking for five years. Condon said there was still a big audience for major "middle-of-the road" stars, particularly-at the Opera House. "The Concert Hall is one of the most prestigious venues in the world, but I'm beginning to think the management is no longer interested in commercial entertainment." Even though the latest Opera House program guide lists only 12 performances in the Concert Hall next month, the building's public affairs director, David Brown, said it was heavily booked. He explained that in addition to advertised programs, the hall was constantly in demand for. events that were not open to the general public, such as schools' performances, seminars, product launches and other private functions.

Brown said about seven dates were free in 1995. ANNA MARIA DELL'OSO- GO FISH Directed and written by Rose Troche and Guinevere Turner Rating: Dendy Cinemas GO FISH (pronounced with a Chicago, accent on the fish) is so hip it's scary. Shot in an artfully rough deconstructed black-and-white, the film looks set to be the She's Gotta Have It of the lesbian community. About as deep and meaningful as a good cappuccino, Go Fish poses as an animated lesbian Cosmopolitan article about sex, sex, sex and sex, dressed with ironic advice about What To Wear on Your First Date and How to Score After Celibacy. It's the perfect '90s art film, made on weekends by Rose Troche and Guinevere Turner, an obscure writer-director-actor team on the Chicago film-making fringe.

It was produced on a shoe-string over several years and is now packaged by the Samuel Goldwyn Company to an international lesbian community starved of cinema representation. This makes it a niche marketing dream, bringing in the girls who like girls, the girls who like gossip and the guys who are curious about girls who like girls. It covers all the bases. Go Fish is so ideologically sound and artistically stylish that even an acid-hearted cynic like the English columnist Julie Burchill, Queen of Hip who can sniff out an unfashionable attitude like one of the Death Dogs of Queen Bavmorda has been charmed into writing a purple-prosed rave about Go Fish. Yet the film is so flippantly comic and light, with a cheerful, collegiate twentysomething enthusiasm for sex and romance, that even the most art-filmphobic, ideologically unsound and style-challenged B-moviegoer could follow its drift.

It is basically a story of Girl Meets Girl, Girl Loses Girl, Girl (eventually) Gets Girl. The co-writer and director, Guinevere Turner, reveals herself as an extremely watchable star in her own movie, which showcases her comic and dramatic talent as the goofy-gorgeous Max, a young academic and would-be writer sharing a house with wise, older Kia (acted with a stiff and amateurish comic detachment by T. Wendy McMillian). Kia is a black college professor relishing at fsswumn sf i 1 ing to make a big deal out of mostly self-evident observations. Still, it has stretches where it's about as interesting as paint dry (on a white picket fence).

Fortunately, it picks up energy from the more quirky interviews with police, housemates, lift-phobics (one guy was so obsessed with the politics of riding lifts that he carried fake papers in his hand so he could focus on something other than the 6lt'sthesortof documentary that gets its humour from appearing to make a big deal out of mostly self-evident observations. mixture of the nihilistic punk and the romantic in history. He comes across his Juliet a poor little rich girl called: Rachel as he stumbles into a grotty theatre near the Notting Hill Gate tube. She is performing fringe Shakespeare; he is trying to get away from a bikie he beat at pool. The love story develops against leather-heads, heavy-metal freaks, drug dealers and wild parties.

Same makes a resonant, visually rich and fluid film which moves in and out of tough realism and subtle, heightened surrealism. The sex scenes are worthy of the young lovers and the soundtrack, with its mixture of punk rock, Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique and quotes from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, is excellent Personal barricades FENCES Director David Caesar Rating: Valhalla Cinema Young Love I V. S. Brodie (Ely, left) and Guinevere Turner (Max) in Go Fish. a squat THE PUNK Director.

Mike Same Writer Mike Same (from a book by Gideon. Sam) Rating: Hoyts Cinemas HIS is a documentary for all those pensive souls who have at any time declared they nauseatingly close bodies of strangers) and the woman annoyed by the outrageous hijacking of space and energy (and bed linen) by certain boorish men. The film's middle-class need to intellectualise suburbia also contributes to the offbeat feel of Fences, as does the fake thriller element that erects its own fence around the content of the documentary. It might have gone deeper into its subject, but Fences is the weird and mostly entertaining natural progression of the film-maker who brought you Shoppingtown and Living Room. adult's view of love and life.

Sure, there is tragedy in The Punk, but a pair of aggressive lovers used to snorting masses of drugs are not easy to fooL Romeo is smart-arsed, pool-shooting David (Charlie Creed-Miles), a working-class punk who hates his authoritarian policeman father but has a soft spot for his mother, a sad charwoman who slides into madness when David leaves home. Living alone in a squat with candles, a mattress, a picture of Rimbaud and a guitar, David is a dangerously appealing This "monkey typing Hamlef coincidence accounts for the similarities and radical differences, not only from Shakespeare but also from Bernstein's West Side Story. But don't think this is just another pretentious, literal-minded "update" in modern dress. The Punk has a humour, earthy language and an innocence all of its own. From its grungy London street setting most of the action centres on the pubs and squats around Notting Hill Gate it's certainly not the kind of film that gets lost in literary allusions.

The appeal of The Punk is that it's the Romeo and Juliet story moved to Thatcher's England and told with a sexy fervour from the lovers' point of view, particularly Romeo's. With the story wrenched away from the tragedy-minded adult perspective and taken up by the young punks, the end becomes theirs to determine as well. The idea that Romeo and Juliet couldn't work things out appears in The Punk to come from a jaded HE PUNK is an exhila- rating reworking of Romeo and Juliet, based on the 1976 "need some personal Fences looks at personal boundaries and how they're drawn up, whether the fences are erected around the home, the car, the lift or in the wider suburban sprawl. It's the sort of documentary that gets its humour from appear-' schoolboy novel by Gideon Sam, who apparently never read ENTERTAINMENT RESTAURANTS RESTAURANTS Italian Seafood Home Renovation? For ideas turn to today's Classified Advertising Feature "Interior Decor and See back page index for details. LA BORA Ristorante City Mon-Fri Lunch and Dinner.

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Andrew's Cathedral (next to Town Hall) 7 Ticketek or at door Sydney University Graduate Choir A NIGHT AT THE OPERA Arias and choruses by Verdi, Wagner, Mozart, Puccini and Gilbert Sullivan 7 Soloists and Choir directed by Christopher Bowen This Sat 8pm, incl supper Great Hall, Sydney University Bookings Enquiries 331 1341 THE SONG COMPANY 1 0th Anniversary Concert with A funny, tense tender Australian comedydrama JIGSAWS By Jennifer Rogers Directed by Louise Luccarini OPENS SAT 20 AUG 8. 1 5pm Free pert for students, pens unemployed Sun 21 Aug 5.30pm $1 1 Phone 51 9 3403 NEW THEATRE 542 King St, Newtown Agatha Christie's thriller VERDICT Directed by Terry Byrne Thu, Fri, Sat 8pm Sun 4.30pm Bookings 529 5333 Kent Street Theatre 420 Kent St, Sydney AREROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN DEAD? WATCH THIS SPACE GLEN ST THEATRE Sorties Cabaret NEVER SAY CAN'T Bader. Biggins Hyde sketches, songs, comedy, jokes Dinners Show $30 BOOK NOW 975 1455 TILBURY HOTEL Cnr. Forbes Nicholson, W'loo. PIAF NO REGRETS With Jennifer Leslie Mark Zadro 3 Weeks only to September 3 TRUDEASPELIXG TRIBUTES SALUTES Sat 2pm Aug 20 27, Sep 3 1 $20 KERRIE BIDDELL with Michael Bartoiomei.

Sun Mat WEST END TO BROADWAY Sun nights Martin Croft and Helen Noon an ALL BOOKINGS: 358 1 295 Ph for Show prices. Meals extra PHILIPS MASTER SERIES August 17, 18,20 at 8pm Sydney Opera House Concert Hall SJfe- I sv 7tm CRITERION Bimssimin Open for Breakfast, Lunch and Supper and pre-Theotre Dining. Ideally located near Theatre Royal and State Theatre Jazz on the Terrace Every Friday: 1 30pm-8pm. Specialising in Functions, product launches, entertaining clients or office catering. LOBBY LEVEL, MLC CENTRE, MARTIN PLACE, SYDNEY Telephone: (02) 2331234 Fax: (02) 223 3387 ACO Nancy Maultsby mezzo-soprano I IIP REG LIVERMORE Back on stage in the Blue Mtns.

with his newest one-man show RED RIDING HOOD. THE SPEED HUMP AND THE "Katoomba's Richard Roxburgh" NOW PLAYING! playing FRI, SAT 7.30pm SUNDAY matinee 3.00pm THE CLARENDON 68 Lurline St. Katoomba ph 047 82 1 322 fax 047 82 2564 Weekend packages 99 each or show only $29 (matinee only) THEATRE SOUTH presents THE AFRICAN QUEEN With DAVID McCUBBIN ANNIE DAVIES McCUBBIN AUGUST 10 -27 THE BRIDGE THEATRE 24 Bridge St, Wollongong Ph (042) 296 144 or 0055 63391 Village Players presents SPLINTERS A comedy by Bill Condon Th, Fr, Sat 8pm; Sun 3pm Clontarf Ctge. Wallace St, Balm Bookings 8 1 8 4896: Ends 3 Sept Woodstock Players, Burwood AS YOU LIKE IT Shakespeare in the 60's 17-27 Aug: Wed, Th, Fr, Sat 8pm Sat mat 3pm, Sun 6.30pm Bookings 747 4335 or 569 2769 WORLD PREMIERE SEASON GOOD WORKS "One of the most moving, absorbing and powerful new plays produced in Sydney for a long time" The Australian By NICK ENRIGHT Directed by Adam Cook Starring Danny Adcock, Kelly Butler, Maggie Dence, Vanessa Downing, David Fieldand Jamie Jackson Wed-Sat 8pm, Sat-Sun 4pm Thurs 1 1 am Tickets 5 Bookings and Enquiries THEATRE PENRITH (047)21 5735 by Richard Baer (Writer of such TV series as Bewitched, Leave it to Beaver, The Munsters, Barney Miller, That Girt) Directed by SAN DRA BATES Designed by COUN MITCHELL with Lorraine Bayly TeoGebert Michael Ross Brian Young "A gentle romance bound to leave its audience feeling very good indeed" Sun Herald PERFSThur-Sat 8.15pm Sat 20 27 Aug 5pm Thurs25Aug11am BOOKINGS: 929 0644 SPECIAL DAYTIME AND SQME EVENING PERFORMANCES OF DAGS by Debra Oswald Directed by CRISPIN TAYLOR With DAVID CAMPBELL, MELISSA GRAY, ISABELLA GUTIERREZ, LINDA KIRKEGARD, LEE WILSON "DAGS is a delight. It is funny, its dialogue witty, it is clever in construstion, compassionate, punchy and a must The Australian Phone for performance times and Bookings on 929 0644 GGOSSENS ENSEMBLE Sydney Conservatorium MANUEL DE FALLA Suite Populaire Espanol SABICAS Campina Andaliiza ARTHUR BUSS Clarinet Quintet DVORAK Piano Quintet in A Major, Op 81 Special Guest Artist Cho-Liang Lin (violin) SUN21AUG2.3Qpm Bookings: Glentix 957 1 455 "iiVl I I -1 i a oi me avonev tiri Conductor Roland Peelman FAURE: REQUIEM BACH: Cantata "WACHET AUF" GYGER: FICTA (World Premiere) Sunday 21 August 3pm St James' Church, King St, City Book 364 9457at door Ask about Post Concert Party! Philharmonia Choir Choristers of St Andrewls Cathedra The Gallery Choir of Knox Grammar School COURSES AND PRIVATE TUITION REVOLUTIONARY PRODNS presents LES MISERABLES August 10-27 The Hills Centre, Castle Hill Tickets: B00XN0W PHONE 899 3433 By arrangement with WarnerChappell Music and Cameron Mackintosh Your last chance to book for the LAST GREAT BROADWAY MUSICAL GYPSY August 17-27 Seymour Centre Ticketek or 364 9400 KU-RING-GAI PHILHARMONIC WINTER EVENING CONCERT BRAHMS Symphony No 1 GLUCK Iphigenia in Aulis SCULTHORPE Piano Concerto with STEPHANIE McCALLUM Conductor NEIL FLOTTMANN SATURDAY 20 AUGUST.

8PM Abbotsleigh Auditorium Tickets $14, Family $36 Bookings: 449 951 8 Tickets 542, generous concessions FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CALL PRINCIPAL SPONSOR PHILIPS ARCHIBALDS EDUCATION SERVICES MATHS. ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS STUDIES, all 2 and 3 Unit. Quality revision classes held in Parramatta 1st lesson free! BooKingsenauiries: Archie. 6S3 4049. 015 49 0484.

WESTERN YOUTH ORCHESTRAS Sunday 21st August 1994 2.30pm ABBOTSLEIGH AUDITORIUM Pacific Highway, Wahroonga Mozart, Vaughan Williams, Sibelius, Gershwin John Williams Tickets $1 on sale at the door Westmead Hospital Arts Society SYDNEY MANDOLINS Music by Vivaldi, Beethoven, Gross, Barbella, Monti Friday 19th August, 8 p.m. Loewenthal Auditorium, Westmead Hospital. BOOKINGS: 630 2330. I ELECTRONICS nancy maultsby FBI is' (il Fashion Management College. Work experience, personalised placement assistance.

Phone SYDNEY THEATRE COMPANY DRAMA THEATRE ARCADIA Gft byTomStoppard Directed by Gale Edwards LAST WEEK! jgjf Single return tix only Mon-Sat 8pmAVed 1 pmSat 2pm Bookings 250 1777, 250 7777 Ticketek 266 4800 WHARF THEATRE THE SISTERS ROSENWEIG By Wendy Wasserstein Directed by Roger Hodgman Starring Ron Challinor, Judi Fan-, Max Gillies, Rachel Griffiths, Gerard Lepkowski, Genevieve Picot, Tony Sheldon, Jacki Weaver. PlaysAug17-Oct15 Mon-Sat 8pmWed 1 pmSat 2pm Bookings 2501 777 Ticketek 266 4800 WHARF STUDIO SANCTUARY by David Williamson -Directed by Aubrey Mellor LAST WEEK! Must close Aug 20 Mon-Sat 8.1 5pmSat 2.1 5pm Wed 1.15pm Bookings 250 1 777 Ticketek 266 4800 PARRAMATTA RIVERSIDE THEATRES AWAY By Michael Gow Directed by Alex Galeazzi Plays until Aug 27 Mon-Wed 1 pmSat 2 pm Wed-Sat 8pm Bookings683 6166,250 1777 vesna. 566 zozo JOHNSON FRIENDS The Stags Shew! TV's favourite characters Live on Stage 2 shows daily 1 1 am 1 pm The State Theatre August 26 -28 Ticketek 266 4800 Groups 264 71 86 (limited nos) or at the State Theatre Box Office LEARN to teach English and suooiement vour income. Cross roads Language College Bib 49Zi. BELVOIR ST.

THEATRE 25 Belvoir St. Surry Hills Bookings 699 3444 or TICKETEK 266 4800 HEARING HELP available A Room of One's Own By Virginia Woolf Adapted by Patrick Garland Performed by PAMELA RABE Direction: Lois Ellis Design: Michael Pearce Costume Dsgn: Alexandra Tynan Lighting: Jamie Revill-Henson "SUPERB. engages heart and head, making splendid, poignant theatre MUST NOT BE MISSED! -The Australian. FROM 16 AUGUST 4 SEPT Tues-Sat 8pm, Wed Sat 2pm, Sunday 5pm. $20 PREVIEW 16 AUGUST 8PM 8PM, WED 17 AUGUST LIMITED $1 7 TIX AVAILABLE THURS 18 AUGUST THE FESTIVAL IN THE PLAYHOUSE OF ABSURDITY A FILM BY SALVADOR DAU A PLAY BY EUGENE IONESCO AN INTERVAL OF SOUND Director Emma Freeman Tues-Sat 8.15 Sat-Sun 5.15 Special Late Show Fri 26th Aug 1 0.1 5pm, $1 5 cone.

Sydney Asian Theatre Festival Opens Sept 2 Howard Tanner "Sydney in the 20 30's through the photos of Harold Cazneaux" Sunday 21 Aug 3.30pm The Rocks Visitors Centre 106 George Street. Admission $5 Booking essential ph 255 1 788 iS mb'm i GRIFFIN THEATRE CO ALL SOULS by Daniel Keene With Jeanette Cronin, Celia Ireland, EliseMcCredie, Marshall Napier, Jeremy Sims, Linden Wilkinson, Rhonda Wilson "STRIKING THEATRE" Bulletin "HAUNTING ATMOSPHERIC" Rip It Up "BITING REALISM PERFORMANCE" SMH Direction Ros Horin Design Jennie Tate Tue-Sat 8pm, Sun 5pm Sat Mat 4pm $18 Stables Theatre 1 0 Nimrod St Kings Cross Bookings 361 3817 33ED ANNUAL NSW SCHOOL BAND FESTIVAL 70 School Concert Bands Sat 20th, Sun 21 st August Rand wick Boys High School Maroubra High School GALA CONCERT The Percy Grainger Event 6pm Sat 20th, Randwlck Boys High School. or $20 family Featuring 6 of the state's leading school bands performing works by Grainger, Stanhope, Dreyfus, Broadstock, Hogg, Hultgren, Rowland, West and others Sunday Programs start at 9am in both halls. or $1 2 family Bookings and enquiries please phone Cliff Goodchild 387 4247 Schneider presents Australian Chamber Orchestra in HEART STRINGS A charity concert in aid of The National Heart Foundation Saturday 27th August 1 994 8pm Sydney Town Hall Bookings from Ticketek To find out how to promote your next show effectively and easily please call 282 4128 or 282 4144 A BIG KIT Featuring REBEKAH ELMALOGLOU, KATRINA FOSTER, JOHN HANNAN, JOANNA LOCKWOOD, JOHN ORCSIK and DOUG SCROOPE in CARAVAN Directed by Peter Williams NOW PLAYING Mon-Sat 8pm Mats Wed 1 pm Sat 2pm BCOX NOW 250 7777 Ticketek 266 4800. 357 4433 THE PLAYHOUSE Sy-ncy Cpcra Hsuss HAROLD PARXKOTEL 11 5 Wigram Rd Glebe 692 0564 Cult From Old Tibet Th lire 8.30pm Ride the New-Age rollercoasterl Bends Have More Fun FriSat 8.30pm $15 007 Improvised! FUNNY LATE SHOW! FriSat 10.30pm $10 Dr Smith The Robot COMICS IN THE PARK Every Mon 8 30pm $6.99 Bookings 552 2999 A CHORUS LINE Her Majesty's Theatre Mon-Sat 8pmWed 1 pmSat 2pm LAST DAYS! OosesAug27 All Remaining Tickets Mon to Thur only $29.90 Book at Theatre Ticketek 2C5 4SC3 LOOKOUT THEATRE presents CREDITORS HEARING KELP Student Rush $12 TuesThurs 27 Jul 31 Aug.

Book 362 4349 (Above Woollahra Hotel) AVAILABLE. Ji.