THERE'S NO-ONE NEW AROUND YOU: A TINDER MUSICAL

I do like the Sydney Fringe Festival. There's a plethora of alternative shows that pop up, giving an excuse to curious punters everywhere to take a chance on something a bit alternative and raw.

'There's No-One New Around You: A Tinder Musical' is just that. Developed and performed by Keira Daley, Mark Simpson and musician Steven Kreamer, 'Tinder' is an entertaining foray into the world of online dating using cabaret and multi-media as its medium.

Staged at Gingers at the Oxford Hotel and playing every Friday in September, it's a great venue for such an intimate two-hander. With vignettes like dating a torso, geographic hook-ups, homage to Ashley Madison style dating and two of my favourite moments- the oft used 'partner-in-crime' statement and song of the Dick Pic, there's definitely plenty here to make you glad you tackled the city on a Friday night.

Sometimes it's a little clunky as they sprint into costumes from scene to scene and there is a slight lapse in rhythm towards the end,  but for the most part this was a pleasant surprise in quality and content. Daley and Simpson possess the vocals and acting chomps to entertain and satirise the proliferation of online dating as a desperate search for love (or sex). I can confidently say that you will thoroughly enjoy all that is on offer.

Might be a great place to take your online date. Just saying. 

HIATUS from SOYP 2015

Hi Everyone,

It's pretty obvious by now that I have been resting from writing SOYP for a couple of months.

This year I started a new job that is incredibly demanding and finding time to invest in my old blog has fallen by the way.

Thank you to all those people who send me invitations to review shows and I'm sorry  that I often don't reply and just can't get to your show. Sometimes I get to the show and then don't get time to review it and that comes fraught with guilt.

So in a quick recompense, here are some one line reviews of shows I have seen recently:

Belvoir's 'Mother Courage and Her Children': A 'nice' version of Brecht's gutsy play- sanitised a bit too much, missing the Kurt Weill scruffiness but gets the job done.

Belvoir's 'The Dog and The Cat'- thoroughly enjoyable and even Brendon Cowell's slight penchant for misogynist writing was tempered.

Sport for Jove's 'Of Mice and Men'- seriously one of the best productions I've seen this year and director Iain Sinclair found a beautiful juxtaposition of rustic dreams and brutal reality with an outstanding cast and design.

Griffin's 'The Bleeding Tree'- So many things to enjoy in this stylistic expression of violence and community and although I think it's still got a draft to go to clarify the message of our cultural unwillingness to get involved in the wrongs around us, it creates interesting narratives and relationships in a very contemporary and sometimes powerful way.

Belvoir's 'La Traviata'- sometimes amusing, sometimes confusing and definitely ran out of steam in exploring how art comes at a price.

STC's 'The Present'- Mostly enjoyable and engaging and highlighted the talents of the actors in roles we've all seen them do before with some characters' journeys not quite fleshed out in justifying their final act but not to detract from what was a generally good play.

Belvoir's 'Seventeen'- Another fun experience but how I wish the writer made more of the fact that these 70 year old actors are playing contemporary 17 year olds and what the significance of that is now at 70.

I might crank out the odd review now and then but mostly 2015 will be a quiet one until the rhythm of life settles.

Until then, keep discussing, keep questioning and keep going to the theatre.

I'll definitely look at the 2016 seasons and give you my thoughts in due course.