Normally we do not quote other reviewers. In this case, it is necessary to point out that not everything on paper is anything but the truth.
In her review for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Charlotte Smith writes: LA PUTYKA is a teasing and meticulous circus performance. Skilled and alternative, it has been put together with a professionalism that seems almost too big for its Fringe venue. This group are champions of their idiosyncratic world.”
SMH reviewer Jason Blake sees this differently, and I quote: “For the most part, the performers are not life-long circus folk and the cast has, in the main, accumulated their skills in the course of their association with the company. What they have achieved is admirable, though it’s fair to say they’re not up to the standard of the LA CLIQUE shows at previous festivals, or of CIRCUS OZ. Without that ”wow” factor, all the staggering, jabbering, swaying and braying soon wears thin (likewise the falsetto scat singing by the band’s vocalist), leaving you free to wonder if the lack of acrobatic finesse resides exclusively in the show’s drunken conceit”.
The show I saw was not too big for the venue. The venue fitted it perfectly. The skills of the cast are staggering. The band, and especially the singer, is a revelation and hugely entertaining. LA PUTYKA (THE TAVERN) is easily and may be even of higher standard than LA CLIQUE.
When it comes to CIRCUS OZ, there is no comparison to make. Oz is a Circus and LA PUTYKA turns a pub into a circus. Two very different aspects. This ensemble of 13 actors, singers, dancers, acrobats, entertainers and drunkards is highly gifted, innovative and visionary. They present a hilariously funny and breathtaking show. They connect to the audience before the lights dim. There is not a single dull moment and no one in the auditorium is able to wipe the smile of his or her face.
LA PUTYKA is the perfect example for what theatre is all about. Let there be laughter, let there be sadness. Surprise the audience, send shivers down their spines, make them breathless and full of joy to be part of an epoch making adventure.
Parramatta can feel privileged to have been the host to this formidable event. May be the people of the West are not yet as self indulged and hypocritical as those who only can accept true thespians when it is bigger, grander and better, more mainstream, more in vogue and a more trendy “It” event?!
May be true theatre lovers should conclude to seek satisfaction far away from the CBD?! In places where true artists are able to move their audience into the land of enlightenment. Where a dedicated and mischievous Ensemble from the Czech Republic inspires us to get on our feet to applaud them and no Stage Manager turns on the lights to chase the clapping people out of the theatre. Let them bow. The longer they bow, because we are enthusiastic, the more chance we have to live life and not just survive it!
LA PUTYKA opened at the Riverside Theatre, Parramatta on Friday January 13 and played until Tuesday January 17, 2012.
(c) Markus Weber, EMU Productions (theatre & music) Pty Ltd
21 January, 2012
Tags: SYDNEY THEATRE REVIEWS- LA PUTYKA (THE TAVERN), Riverside theatre Parramatta, Sydney Festival 2012, Czech theatre.