Daniel Gaudiello and Lana Jones in Don Quixote | State Theatre

Shortly before his death 20 years ago Rudolf Nureyev said: “As long as they are putting on ballets my spirit will live on.” His incandescent brilliance was definitely present at the State Theatre for the opening of Don Quixote, the Australian Ballet’s 415th performance of Marius Petipa’s classic.

Choreographed by the master himself, this sensational production had a sell-out audience hollering for more as the troupe took numerous and well-deserved curtain calls, though unsurprisingly (it being Melbourne) they received no standing ovation. Perhaps I needn’t complain too much as it’s a conservative city that doesn’t display over-the-top emotion. But it’s undeniable that even sat on their bums the somewhat resevered crowd had a ripper of an evening.

It wasn’t all politicians and toffs in their finery of course; there was a nice mix of ages and many children, a cool testament to the broad reach of the company’s work in the wider community. They had come to see what is rightly claimed as an Australian classic.

The story is just a soap bubble: Don Quixote daydreams of his ideal love, and in a gesture of courtly devotion decides to go in search of adventure with his nutty sidekick Sancho Panza. On their journey they encounter merry-making townsfolk, star-crossed lovers and errant but ultimately kind gypsies. Predictable chaos and hilarity ensue, interwoven with brilliant dance and truly wonderful music. As the final curtain descends the full company continues to dance frenetically and nobody (tonight) wanted them to stop.

Rudolph Nureyev’s version of the Don brought to life in Adelaide in 1970 thrilled audiences with its colour and gaudy panache. A film of the production (made in a sweltering hangar somewhere in Flemington) helped cement the growing reputation of Australian Ballet with international audiences. The film, lauded as one of the best classical dance films ever made, is a must see for anyone interested in the history of Australian art (despite the quaint bouffant hairdos on some of the male members of the cast).

As Nureyev conceived it, Cervantes’ story is not centred on the Don but on six main characters around him who play off each other in the manner of commedia dell’arte. It was an excellent conceit as it teases virtuoso performances from across the company and demands the multiple strengths of many. Diverting attention from the introspective Don also gives more space for humour, a demanding approach requiring the best mime and acting skills, all of which were on show. Matthew Donnelly playing the foppish Gamache was superbly funny throughout as was Frank Leo as Sancho, especially when being tossed on a blanket high (four metres?) into the air by townsfolk in scene two.

Given the original story was written by a Spaniard, choreographed by a Russian and is set on the Iberian peninsula, why does it feel so quintessentially Australian? It’s more than just the great dancers’ short sojourn in Australia. Nureyev’s Quixote is full of sunniness, humour and optimism. Its jingle-jangle tutus and flagrantly camp costumes pre-date the couture of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, making the film look positively dour by comparison. Add to this Cossack high kicks and flashes of flamingo, it’s finger-clicking good.

On refection I don’t think it was mere serendipity Nureyev chose the Don for the Australian Ballet. He had already staged a version in Vienna, but he had wanted to bring it to Australia before that in 1965. Nureyev’s Don, with it’s carousel of colour, explosive energy, unrelenting good humour and fair-play ending, resonates fundamentally with Australians. If I may make a prediction, it will continue to be popular here well into this century, and beyond.

The Don could be depicted a quasi-tragic figure, a lonely old man with a fantasy of love he never realises (perhaps a mirror to Nureyev’s own fractured love-life?). But even in the most poignant moment of the night (act two, scene two), when Quixote dreams of his love the Duchinea as three spectral beauties and their gorgeous attendants appear as a vision, you feel compassion and a sense of playful irony for Steven Heathcotes’ reserved but very good Don. High-praise must go to Amber Scott who was simply marvelous in this scene as the Dryad Queen; her poise, control and charisma filled the stage in one of the highlights of the evening.

The unquestionable stars though are Daniel Gaudiello as Basillio and Lana Jones as Kitri, who burned so brightly they dazzled with an inexhaustible supply of energy, verve and theatrical wit. Their beautiful presences, supported by the efforts of a truly marvelous cast, glided across the stage effortless and elegant. At one point the lady sitting next to me audible held her breath as Lana expertly threw off what must have been a twodozen or more fouettés, spinning so fast I started to feel dizzy. Her versatility, technical skill and stamina left me gobsmacked, especially when it seemed she did not produce one visible bead of sweat all night. Brava also for consummate acting making the part believable in all its absurdities. The relationship of Basillio and Kitri is the core of this ballet and Daniel and Lana made it feel real somehow transcending the fantastical plot.

The lady to my left (a balletomane for certain) then leaned over and whispered that Daniel and Lana are “together”, which made sense as it is obvious this beautiful couple is deeply in love, trusting each implicitly with the complex and difficult moves demanded of them. With pure masculine power Daniel held Lana aloft with an incredible one arm lift, the apparent ease showing a poise and strength the best athletes in any sport would envy.

After watching this charismatic bello leap gloriously and frequently hang in the air with preternatural grace for what seemed an age tonight, I am convinced there must be a place in theatre or film when he finally hangs up his dance shoes. Gaudiello is not only a true ballet star with a handsome cheeky grin, but he is also a superb mime with great comic timing. Bravo!

The performance ended on a fantastic musical crescendo with the famous Grand Pas de Deux, almost bringing the house down — truly a joy to experience.

There are so many more things I could say about this mesmerising and joyful production. Everything came together perfectly, from the delightful costumes to the colourful sets. The ensemble pieces were a rich tableaux of colour and spectacle. Chengwu Guo as Gypsy boy and Reiko Hombo as Amour both showed rare and delightful charisma, physical charm and character. The child mannequins in the “play within a play” scene in act two also deserve praise.

And music director and chief conductor Nicolette Fraillon and her marvellous orchestra did an absolutely brilliant job with tight direction and pace with a challenging score.

Russian ballet superstars Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev from the Mikhailovsky Ballet and American Ballet Theatre are renowned for their interpretation of Basilio and Kitri, and star on the March 16 and 18 performances during the Melbourne season of Don Quixote. YouTube clips show their astonishing technical and artistic mastery and I would love to see them, but for my part I loved our homegrown stars — Gaudiello from Brisbane and Lana Jones from Coffs Harbour.

My companion and I left the theatre in a virtual bubble of joy; we hardly noticed the sheer climb of endless stairs from the theatre to St Kilda Road. The energy and cheeky verve of the show has kept me awake most of the night to write this review. I know that whatever I write is only a thin shard of the actual experience of the brilliant artistry of tonight’s performance. So if you get the chance go to this production and see it for yourself, as I can guarantee you will not regret it.

The details: Don Quixote plays the State Theatre, Arts Centre until March 26 and moves to Sydney for a season on April 5-24. Tickets on the company website.

The cast of Pornography | Malthouse Theatre

I don’t usually like to mix metaphors, but in this case I will make an exception: this abysmal train-wreck of a play should have been strangled at birth.

Director David Myleg makes a brave attempt with a professional and in places technically slick production, and his actors are for the most part quite good. But they fight a battle they massively loose — especially when attempting regional British accents.

How could it be any different against a script that reveals in each character obvious clichés and supposedly “shock-horror” sexual quirks? A girl Chav stalking her teacher turns out to be a racist-pro-Nazi with lesbian tendencies. Denied the “muff” of her prey she threatens to “cut out her cunt with a spoon”. Charming.

A flirting couple with most peculiar roving accents from somewhere “up north” talk cheesy body smells and “fuck all night”. They’re in fact brother and sister. Delightful. A lonely old lady in her 80s and possibly demented is addicted to video porn and can’t resist feeling herself up on stage. Pleassse!

You might ask, as I did, what the hell has all this got to do with the July 7, 2005 London tube and bus bombings, or with British society in general?

I doubt a more dreary collection of whinging Pom characters has graced the Melbourne stage in a very long time. Actually, I think that is the reason why this play was selected, as it is really is a nice bit of old-fashion Pom bashing. If British society was like that, and I don’t believe for one second it is, as a former Londoner born and bred, I would never, ever go back.

As the night dragged on, apart from one 15 minute scene at the beginning of act two based on the thoughts of one of the men who carried the rucksacks full of explosives, virtually nothing illuminated the bombings. In fact, the play has nothing to say about pornography either.

As far as I see it, Pornography is a collection of loosely related skits possibly improvised at a drama school and written down and twisted by “Simon Stephens”.

Midway through the second half I was so frustrated by the corny set-up for yet another trite and juvenile revelation, I toyed with the idea of starting a slow hand-clap. But quite a few of the audience had already made their decision and had left at half time, so you can imagine how delighted my companion and I felt when a booming Australian accented voice, coming out of nowhere, announced “many Londoners walked home the night of the bombings”, thankfully bringing this fiasco to an abrupt and well deserved end.

The details: Pornography plays the Beckett Theatre, Malthouse until March 3. Tickets via the venue website or through Ticketmaster.

Roger Howell, Donna-Maree Dunlop and Jason Wasley in Fidelio | Athenaeum Theatre

If words persuade just one dear reader to see this show during its astonishingly short season this review will have been worth it. Beautiful performances of sublime art and music should be seen and heard and adulation given where it is due. This extraordinary performance directed by Hugh Halliday and conducted by David Kram, of an undoubted masterpiece, is not to be missed.

Let me declare my bias straight away: I love Beethoven, in particular the symphonies, and the thing that enraptured me tonight was the hard work done by David Kram tightening the orchestra who as individuals seemed to really delight in the music they played. But how could they not in the brilliant overture Leonore 3? The score was undoubtedly challenging and full marks must go Kram for pulling it off so beautifully.

Fidelio, an opera in two acts, sung by Melbourne Opera in accessible English with modernist set and costumes, is Beethoven’s only opera and tells how Leonore (the wonderful soprano Donna-Marie Dunlop), disguised as a prison guard named Fidelio, from the Italian fido for “faithful”, dramatically rescues her husband Florestan (the marvelous tenor Jason Wasley) from certain death in a political prison.

It seems a rather farcical story to start with — in that cross-dressing, love tangled, melodramatic way typical of most romantic opera of the period. In short, girl dresses up as boy to rescue boy, almost gets married off to another girl along the way, but finally she achieves her goal. The opening act set in the contemporary open office environment of the prison finds Marzelline (sung beautifully by soprano Fiona Jopson) and Jaquino (the impressive tenor Brenton Spiteri) jousting in sing-song comedy theatrics of the Twelfth Night kind. Well done to Halliday for bringing that light touch to the fore.

In opera, theatrical set pieces are always vehicles for the music, so when even the most far-fetched scenario can move to tears you know you are in the presence of genius composing and solid production. I am referring to the famous Prisoner’s Chorus ensemble piece in the first act sung in English as: “Oh to breath the air around me.” The power of this piece for its timeless and poignant beauty is something I will remember for a very long time. Beethoven composed his work during the destructive Napoleonic wars and the aftermath of the French Revolution was present in every European mind. We, of course, recall Iraq, Vietnam and the genocidal wars and Fascist and Communist concentration camps of more recent times.

The entire ensemble work of the production with the brilliant orchestral overtures redolent of Beethoven’s breakthrough symphonies Eroica Number 3 and Number 5 were the highlight of my evening. The second act was an emotional revelation with its stark atmospheric lighting and euphoric crowd scene climax. Fidelio pisses on Les Miserable at every level. That the production overcame the poor acoustics of the Athenaeum to resound to where I was sitting in the gods is maybe the biggest compliment I can make.

Fidelio is not often played in Australia or elsewhere for that matter. Why? It has the undeserved reputation for being “problematic” to perform and “difficult” for audiences. It is undoubtedly a technical challenge for both singers and orchestra, with complex overture arrangements and singing that places extra demand on event the most talented virtuoso. This reputation seems to have its genesis right from the start because it didn’t work in the way Beethoven original conceived it, so he chopped, changed and added parts several times with collaborators over a period of ten years before scoring a success with the public in 1814.

I left the Athenaeum feeling elated but also thinking about a few “what ifs?”. What if Beethoven had written more operas? This brilliant, sublime and moving piece is testament to what could have been. The excellent notes in the program describe the composers struggle with deafness and difficulty with dialogue. I know it is selfish but wish there had been more operas from him. The other questions are more tangible. What if the Melbourne Opera company received government funding to conduct more productions with better sets in larger venues and more acoustically sound venues? Melbourne Opera survives on the generosity of great philanthropists like Gary Morgan (who I saw in the bar after the show looking particular proud of the night’s success, as so he should).

This may be too much of an aside, but the wealth of our arts scene is in stark contrast with our mean lack of support. Melbournians take the brilliance of our artists for granted, and the continued dedication of those who perform for love rather than money. And are we just blasé (or is it too bleeding shy?) to get off our arses when a standing ovation is richly deserved? I directed theatre in the UK years ago and I know for a fact that tonight the cast of Fidelio would have received a standing ovation anywhere else important for the arts in the Anglo-sphere, Sydney, New York, and even London.

I want to let the exceptional leads Donna-Marie Dunlop and Jason Wasley know that I was one of the few on my feet shouting “bravo” and “brava”. It was well deserved and you were well supported by the amusing Steven Gallop as Rocco and full-voiced Roger Howell as the evil Governor Pizzaro, and how apt that an Australian audience showed its true conservative colours by playfully jeering the evil anti-monarchist jailer at the many curtain calls.

The details: Fidelio plays the Athenaeum Theatre on February 5, 8 and 10 — tickets via Ticketek. The show has one performance at Monash University’s Alexander Theatre on March 2 — tickets on the venue website.