Fringe Review: The Year of Magical Wanking

This review originally appeared on http://www.australianstage.com.au

The Year of Magical Wanking is Neil Watkins’ one man monologue: a year of dealing with his HIV, living in his dead grandfather’s apartment, with an obsession with violent porn.

While the show’s title will put some off (while enticing many others), the production talks in great detail of subjects which are traditionally seen as taboo, but under Phillip McMahon’s direction, Watkins’ presents these elements of his self-destructive life with fact rather than in crassness.

Much of the subject matter is a risk to place in front of an audience, there is forever the chance that Watkins will horribly offended some people – and no doubt he has – but there in the choice to have such a divisive title is actually needed. There are no pretentions, and nor would there want to be, that this work is for everyone.

Festival Review: Malmö

This review contains spoilers. 

Malmö is about the art of building a home.

Or, perhaps, the competitive sport of building a home.

An external reflection of ourselves, we are told; a 3D encapsulation of what makes you you.

For their Adelaide presentation of Malmö, Torque Show could not have found a better location. The old Waterside Wokers Hall, home to Vitalstatistix, is currently undergoing renovation of its own. Regular visitors to the space will notice differences to the space starting to take shape, and for those who aren’t familiar with the space, you only need to look up to see the paint switches left before the next round of renovations begins.

A show about renovations in a space which is being renovated: now, what was that saying about life and art?

Malmö is a pice of interactive dance theatre: adorning name tags, we are greeted familiarly by name by Vincent Crowley and Ingrid Weisfelt as we enter the space. Up off our stools we pick up our copy of MALMÖ: IDEAL LIFE – the lifestyle / decoration / interiors / art / architecture / entertaining / travel magazine – and we sit down.