A Room - a Tape Recorder - and a Ghetto Cabaret. Theatre Lives! - at fortyfive downstairs

Three good pieces of theatre in the last four weeks - all seen at fortyfive downstairs, Flinders Lane, Melbourne.

An unusual production of A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf was presented by Sentient Theatre - it's an adaptation of Woolf's lectures given to the women of Cambridge University in 1928.

Somewhat surprisingly, this production had a cast of four, three women and one man. Each was an aspect of Virginia's argument. They tossed Woolf's ideas around the space, challenging each other with her witty, literary, feminist teasings. It took a while to get used to four voices, but it worked, cleverly keeping the pace of Woolf's playful propositions afloat - though not always tapping into her mischievous wit. This production is going on regional tour - do see it - the ideas are as fresh as they were when Virginia Woolf first penned them - which does not say much for the progress of women's place in society.

It's good to see Virginia Woolf still has contemporary resonance, the performance I attended was sold out. (Who can remember Pamela Rabe in the role, directed by Lois Ellis for MTC? - that performance set the benchmark.)


I have never much liked Samuel Beckett's play Krapp's Last Tape - until now. Perhaps one has to notch up a few decades in 'the experience of life' stakes to get the full perspective. Or very simply, perhaps one has to see Max Gillies do his wonderful comedic stuff in this one man play with tape recorder. His old voice, his young voice, his even younger voice and his interaction with all is a delight. The layering of life mined and re-mined; the things forgotten, the things miss-remembered.We all have our 'tape recorders' now, recording every move in the digital ether - but it's not selective in the way that Krapp has indexed his life - and rarely as self-critical.

Gillies' interpretation, directed by Laurence Strangio, is funny and clever - even the way he walks is a lesson in comedic art. If the production airs again it's a must see.


Last Sunday night we saw The Ghetto Cabaret created by Galit Klas and directed by Gary Abrahams. This is a fortyfive downstairs production in collaboration with Kadimah Yiddish Theatre.

Provocative, funny, political and deeply moving - it is also strangely hopeful.

It's described as: 'A powerful new cabaret featuring Yiddish songs written in the Jewish ghettos of WWII. Full of songs unheard of for decades, THE GHETTO CABARET speaks of the wit, courage and chutzpah of a people struggling to stay alive, as they reveal the spirit of resistance against fascism.'

Based on the real events of the 1940s ghettos, the production includes flashes of contemporary political commentary. As we arrive, audience members are given a felt colour-coded badge to wear (they are abstract shapes, but the meaning is clear, they remind us of the yellow Star of David that Jews were forced to wear, the pink triangle for homosexuals, the black triangle for asocial women).

English and Yiddish is spoken and sung throughout, and great care is taken that non-Yiddish speakers can understand - either the action tells you, or it's bilingual, or the translation is projected onto an improvised sheet. For everything is improvised here - we are all in the basement, all in the ghetto - and whatever is to hand must make do as a prop. Such improvisation enhances the theatricality wondrously; an autumnal scene set inside a wardrobe, with leaves dropping as a woman sings, is so simple yet magical... and deeply poignant.

A cast of six and two musicians, the acting, singing and music, the direction and design - it's all extremely good. Movingly good. This is true cabaret - with a kick and a kiss.

Season ends 18 August 2019. Go see.
https://www.fortyfivedownstairs.com/wp2016/event/the-ghetto-cabaret/