The strongest section, however, is without doubt the dance of the flowers, an extended large-scale classical set piece with fluent transitions into solos and duets. The costumes are radiant and the choreography is ingenious. And yet, despite its many foudroyant stage effects, this ballet does feel overly long. Indeed, from beginning to end it’s just shy of three hours. This tests the audience’s endurance, often blurring the line between enchantment and exhaustion.

Surely, a two-hour version of Alice makes a lot of sense? There are, in any case, plenty of cuts that could be made. Wheeldon’s take on the Caucus Race, for example, or his parodic Jam Tart Adagio. Neither would be missed.

The superb opening night cast included Benedicte Bemet as the wide-eyed Alice, Joseph Caley as the Knave of Hearts, Chengwu Guo as the Rabbit and the galvanic Robyn Hendricks as the Queen of Hearts.

The State Theatre will be closed for the next two-and-half years, so The Australian Ballet is set to take up residence alongside the jukebox musicals and film adaptations at the Regent Theatre, in Melbourne’s East End. If nothing else, this current production, with its crowd-pleasing illusionism, suggests the company is well-equipped to thrive in its commercial new home.
Reviewed by Andrew Fuhrmann

THEATRE
Gluttony: A Play in Three Courses ★★★★
The Lincoln Arms Private Dining Room, until March 24

Dinner and a show? Classic combo. Why not try both at once? Nick Parr’s Gluttony: A Play in Three Courses gives you the chance, in an immersive performance from Red Stitch showing as part of Melbourne’s Food & Wine Festival.

Food can assume an important supporting role in theatre. There have been intimate encounters built around sharing a meal, such as A is for Atlas’ Dining Room Tales series, featuring artists cooking for audiences and regaling them with stories.

At the other end of the scale, sprawling durational events need to feed spectators to keep fuel in the tank. The cast of Nature Theatre of Oklahoma’s avant-garde epic Life and Times, for instance, performed gymnastic theatre for a solid five hours … before donning aprons and serving up a country-style barbecue for theatregoers at interval.

Gluttony is an intimate piece, and you should banish any stray thought of themed theatre restaurants from your mind. No mass catering here. The fare is classy, with a price tag to match. First-rate performances create a voyeuristic sense of immersion as you dine.

As theatre, it works wonderfully, building a fly-on-the-wall dramedy that feels like a midlife update to Love and Other Catastrophes (or any of the Gen X share-house sitcoms popular in the 1990s).

Feted chef Max Mortimer (Aaron Campbell) has gathered his close friends for a private meal. Behind the successful veneer, Max is grieving – not just the absence of his partner Ellie (Sophia Davey), but the joy he used to find in culinary creativity.

He has long since developed a serious cocaine habit to cope with the stress of the unforgiving world of haute cuisine; the reunion is a chance to take stock of his life.

Amusing reminiscences of misspent youth yield to turbulence. There’s blood under the bridge among these old university friends – especially for fellow chef Paul (Damian Walshe-Howling), whom Max ditched as he climbed the greasy pole.

As the night proceeds, cynical banter between the four couples opens into more reflective and less inhibited chat, revealing shadows of personal loss, and travails that put Max’s midlife crisis in perspective.

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Immersive has become a buzzword in theatrical circles. Gluttony does something special with the non-traditional theatre space, putting us in the thick of things (without the remotest hint of audience participation) in a way that deepens appreciation of the ensemble performance.

You really feel that these characters have known each other for decades. I’m not sure how much ad-lib or devised dialogue there is. The fact you can’t tell is part of the charm of watching an experienced cast of actors working their magic up close.

The wines are exquisite and have been matched to dishes from culinary producer Rob Kabboord. Each recipe provides emotional flavour to the story, with a “Dirty Nelly” dessert showing how in the culinary arts, as in the performing ones, great inspiration sometimes arrives from our mistakes.

It’s unfortunate that the show will be outside the price range of most theatre artists, who might well benefit creatively from seeing this fruitful fusion of food and performance. Those with deeper pockets should jump at the chance for a fine dining experience like no other.
Reviewed by Cameron Woodhead

DANCE
Future Proof ★★★
Gravity Dolls, Darebin Arts Centre, until March 16

In its most ambitious production yet, local physical theatre troupe the Gravity Dolls offers a somewhat gloomy vision of the future in an atmospheric production featuring high-quality design elements and an experimental dream-like structure.

The show is composed of short acrobatic routines interlaced with texts that jag from bizarre apocalyptic prophecies to fragments of the everyday banal, from ironic monologues about the day the cows got organised to buying good coffee.

It’s thoughtfully presented and director Harlow Carey, who also performs in the ensemble of six, shapes an experience that is challenging but never morbid or maudlin.

Sometimes, the most striking moments arise from the simplest arrangements. Take, for instance, the scene where a performer, spotlighted, attempts a handstand. The moment it’s achieved, they are casually toppled by another performer. This is then repeated, over and over.

As with many acts in this show, the concept sounds straightforward, but its execution is orchestrated in a manner both intriguing and poignant.

In another memorable scene, a slow duet unfolds on a large rotating platform. Dressed in grey, the two performers create shadowy yet evocative images reminiscent of ancient monuments or urban ruins. It’s a sombre but beautifully composed stage picture.

There are a couple of stunning circus tricks, such as the towering three-person shoulder stand toward the end of the show, but many of the ground acts are still works in progress. The troupe will no doubt continue to improve as they get more productions under their collective belt.

Engaging an experienced writer might also help because the texts written by Carey are not always as sophisticated as they might be.

Nonetheless, this is a stylish show. The set and lighting – designed by Tim Rutty and Richard Vabre – are both wonderfully poetic and Ian Moorhead’s sound design is full of unruly textures and creeping menace.
Reviewed by Andrew Fuhrmann

MUSIC
Beethoven’s Emperor ★★★★
Australian Chamber Orchestra, Recital Centre, March 16

A superbly curated program culminating in one of the most sublime achievements of the human imagination – Beethoven’s fifth and final piano concerto – brought the composer’s sound world to glorious life at the Melbourne Recital Centre on Saturday.

London-based Australian pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout directed the Australian Chamber Orchestra from his fortepiano in a program featuring some who influenced and were influenced by Beethoven, followed by a performance of the Emperor concerto that displayed immense mastery, delicacy and near-flawless technique.

The concert opened with the allegro from the second symphony by Ferdinand Ries, for a while Beethoven’s pupil and secretary, a moderately attractive work that mostly served to highlight the contrast between the journeyman and the genius.

The same gulf from Ries was true of the second work, a fine arrangement of Schubert’s lovely Rosamunde. It started life as incidental music to a play that collapsed after just two performances and Schubert revisited it twice, in a piano impromptu and a quartet. This version interspersed the play’s entr’acte and the impromptu.

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Next came three works run together as one: A Walk to Beethoven’s First Symphony by Swedish composer Britta Byström, an excerpt from Liszt’s piano transcription of the same symphony, and the final movement of Mozart’s D minor piano concerto with a highly dramatic cadenza by Beethoven. Byström’s was an accomplished and interestingly astringent piece with themes from the symphony emerging delicately like fragrances.

The fortepiano was intended to recreate the piano sound Beethoven would have heard, but its limited power and dynamic range were not helped by partnering with a modern orchestra – the augmented ACO, as usual in top form. Occasionally, alas, it was overwhelmed by the rich orchestral sound.

Bezuidenhout, one of the world’s leading fortepiano experts, enjoyed a far better balance when he played the same work in the same hall four years ago with the specialist Freiburg Baroque Orchestra.
Reviewed by Barney Zwartz

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