Review-ONE-All Theatre Arts Association
16-12-12
By: Meaghan McGurgan
Tonight I got really lost trying to find the venue for this show. It's so remote that even Google maps couldn't find the address! Maggie Blue and the team from All Theatre Arts Association were really keen on having me at this show. I have enjoyed Miss Blue's work before so I was excited to hear her sing again. The venue, Beating Hearts in Shek Tong Tsui, is a bit of a beast to find. Thank god for the half naked guy holding the heart balloons in front of the place or I might have gone home.
All Theatre Arts concept was simple. ONE. We are all one planet, one kind of people, we are one. For this concept they would have performers from various locations perform under one roof. We had musicians, visual artists, performance artists and dancers. All the mediums were hit. All the people that performed tonight were talented. But was the show a finished product? No.
All of the issues that arose from the show for me had little to do with each individual act but how the acts were tied together. We even had a guitar player open his set with "I don't know what to play for you..." Not the best way to start out. Everyone was a separate entity and if in fact "we are all one"... shouldn't the theme resound in each set?
But like I said, all the performers were very talented at what they did. You had phenomenal performers like Oxana Banshikova whose Indian dancing skills were fantastic. Her feet made the floors rumble with their power. Hoi Chui is a truly unique Hong Kong performance artist. You also had belly dancing from the Desert Mermaid herself, Suzette Ackerman, and the lovely vocals of Maggie Blue. Having it in the variety show format meant there was something for everyone. But the format did muddy the waters when it came to the overall flow of the piece. They were going for a relaxed, playful vibe but some of it simply seemed under rehearsed.
I think the strongest moment of the show was the beginning when Maggie and the goddesses set the stage by burning candles, sage and throwing flower petals to honor the space. Then she spoke a beautiful poem about the world and the purpose of the evening. The beginning of the show was beautiful in its simplicity.
All in all, it was a wonderful evening with All Theatre Arts Association. You can always count on them to create something didactic and inventive. They certainly have their niche in HK's art scene. It's young, hip, culturally diverse, eco-friendly theatre. Tonight had an element of Brooklyn hipster chicness it. The audience seemed to enjoy themselves and stuck around for more informal art jamming after the solos were finished.
ONE was a one time only performance. For more information, click here.
Comments
Alice
Completely agree with this review.
16 December 2012Maggie Blue O'Hara
Thank you for the review. Just want to clarify my intention for ONE.
16 December 2012
The concept was Unity in Diversity for the solos in the first set. Each solos were different and separate unto themselves on purpose. Then after intermission when the 2nd set started, the performers, one by one, came on stage, listened to each other and layer by layer, created a unified performance all together. Where everyone: performers and audience felt free to flow in the moment of inspiration and One vibration.
It's too bad you didn't stay for the 2nd set and the rest of the night because you would have seen and felt the ONE-ness that we created all together!
All Theatre Art Association enjoys creating these kinds of Cabaret events only once a year or so because for us they are a creative release, a more casual event where we don't have much pressure. These creative heart projects are a place for community development, networking with like minded people, a support system for talented performers to connect with each other, a safe and beautiful place to let yourself be a free spirit. We are building sub culture in HK and creating intimate loving events that are popular in many other big cities around the world but seem to still be a "new thing" in HK.
All Theatre Art Association mainly focuses on professional large scale, big budget, multimedia theatre productions with a minimum of 6 months pre production, sometimes years, of development go into our shows. We love performing and sharing our creative spark so sometimes, once in a while, we share a night like ONE for a more simple, intimate, communal feeling so we may get back to the true essence of creativity, which is improvisation. THAT is where the inspiration of creativity is born. In the darkness of the unknown, the seed of creativity is free to bloom.
Thank you,
Maggie Blue
Co Artistic Director
All Theatre Art Association
www.alltheatreco.com
Jade
I stayed for the second half and I agree that it did seem hodge podged together. It had nice intentions but it wasn't worth 200HKD
16 December 2012ling ling
It sounds like a fun evening. Sometimes casual isn't a bad thing.
16 December 2012B Boy
I went because my friend was in it. I would not have paid for this show otherwise. It was just friends jamming together on stage- not well put together. The reviewer nailed it on the head.
16 December 2012goddess1
I agree that it was a casual evening. Everybody had fun being one together! To have it formalized and structured would have worked against the intention of the work.
16 December 2012Kate
Thank you for your review. Some of these comments are off the mark. @B Boy, "just friends jamming together on stage" - perhaps you missed the first half with all the individual and very skilled performers sharing their talent individually. To refer to it simply as "just friends jamming" is erroneous and unfair to the performers.
16 December 2012
At least goddess1 has a deeper understanding of the goal and intention of the event. It was not meant to be formal or highly structured. "Go with the flow" of the intention and the season is more in keeping with the evening's attitude.
One correction to the review: Maggie Blue is not "Miss Blue". Maggie Blue is one name, she rarely uses her surname while performing.
It must be very difficult to have high and pure intentions of love, sharing and unity (as does All Theatre Arts Association) in a culture that supports none of these.B Boy
No Kate. I saw the whole thing. And it was just a bunch of people who knew each other getting together to put on a show, at least to me. It was "under rehearsed" as Miss McGurgan put it. I support "love and sharing" as you say it. But when someone wants me to pay 200 dollars for something- I want it to be worth the money. The show wasn't worth it. 100 maybe.
17 December 2012Moira
I think this shows what a good critic you are. You can love one thing a person does and not love the next. I always respect your opinion as a reader. You are fair. You didn't say anything bad in this review. People in the comment sections need to calm down.
17 December 2012Judy
I think this site is very interesting. I love coming on it to read the comments. It allows us as an audience to create a conversation with the creators of the work. Sometimes we may not like something. It's great to have a place to do that.
18 December 2012