Thursday, March 06, 2008

I've had worse reviews...

“The Chronic Ills of Robert Zimmerman, aka Bob Dylan (A Lie)”

As part of ‘Short & Sweet Short Play Festival 2008,’ Seymour Centre, Sydney.

By Joanna Erskine, www.AussieTheatre.com


As soon as this play commenced, I was wondering why we were watching the stage version of the recent Dylan biopic, I’m Not There. Onstage are three ‘Dylans’ each telling their story through song or nostalgia, but the piece soon takes its own track. Benito Di Fonzo’s script almost parodies itself and its subject matter, poking fun, concocting outrageous stories focused on the eccentric muso. Lucinda Gleeson’s production moves at a cracking pace, aided greatly by the guitar soundtrack played live onstage. It’s not mind-blowing theatre, but I found it immensely more enjoyable than the film ‘equivalent.’

2 comments:

Lee Bemrose said...

Not a bad review at all. I missed Short & Sweet... will the play be showing again soon?

Benito Di Fonzo said...

Well, I am considering following people's suggestions and writing a full length version based on this short, but only if someone is going to put it on, and talks are still in progress.

Thanks for dropping in.