CIRCUS

The Age

Thursday October 1, 2009

Louise Radcliffe-Smith Reviewer

FALLENRating: 3/5Directed by Felicia O'Brien, with Matt Wilson and Mitchell Jones. Arts House, Meat Market, 5 Blackwood Street, North Melbourne. Wed-Sat 8pm, Sun 7pm, until October 10. $18. THE opening scene of Fallen is probably its best. A menacing Mephisto-like character (Matt Wilson) sits in his gothic boudoir caressing a fried chicken, surrounded by bird cages, mannikins and suitcases. It's like something out of the psychotically dark 1920 film The Cabinet of Dr Caligari. Suddenly an angel (Felicia O'Brien) falls from the sky, and he stalks her, engaging her in a predatory acrodance before imprisoning her in a cage. After this, the storyline gets a little confused. There's a third player, the clown (Mitchell Jones), who is part-rescuer, part something else. His slapstick-on-speed routines mix a little strangely with the nostalgic film noir atmosphere of the rest of the show, although in its best moments Fallen has the humour of films where women are tied gleefully to the train tracks. Definitely one for trapeze lovers.

© 2009 The Age

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