REVIEW: Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens
- Jacqui Dwyer
- 14 hours ago
- 3 min read
“You are living with,
Not dying from.”
This show could not be a more apt choice for this year’s Midsumma Festival. ‘Elegies For Angels, Punks and Raging Queens’ is a celebration of life, and an urgent call-to-action for a return to humanity in the face of the social division that accompanied the AIDS epidemic across the United States and beyond in the 1980s, not too dissimilar to the division currently plaguing the US today. This revue-style musical comprised of over 30 individual free verse monologues and a collection of accompanying songs is an ambitious choice for Heirlume Productions’ inaugural show, but this risk paid off with highly impactful moments, stand-out performances and an already nearly sold-out season.
This show takes inspiration from the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, the largest piece of community art in the world which memorialises the names and stories of those who lost their lives to AIDS over the last 40 years (although only accounting for one sixth of those within its 54,000kg weight) on nearly 50,000 panels handmade by the families and loved ones of those lost. This show almost feels like a verbatim play with this history in mind, capturing a post-mortem perspective from those that died, and the people who memorialised them.
With this in mind, I felt there were some discrepancies in style and genre, having some moments of very authentic audience address disrupted by the heightened big-ness and aesthetic-driven storytelling of mainstage musical theatre-land. My soul leant towards the earnest, simple scenes, so much so that I almost wished they’d solve the unfortunate microphone issues by turning them off completely and letting us sit in the acoustic intimacy of the MC Showroom.
Directors Jesse Matthews and Manda Rozen-Flannery took great care in allowing their cast to showcase their individuality and personal creativity which made each monologue varied and interesting. I saw many real and relatable people on that stage which made the pay-off of the darker moments even more gutting. There were beautiful choreographic moments throughout the piece from Matthews that allowed for emotive and metaphoric movement from this cast, although in some scenes I wondered if extra choreography was necessary or truly serving the genre of the piece.
It was also great seeing each of the 8 performers’ versatility showcased, as this show traditionally employs over 30 individual actors, each with their own monologue, as opposed to this smaller chorus sharing the storytelling fairly equally. I think this approach is not only easier to stage in an intimate space, but also speaks to the ‘every man’ nature of this show’s message – AIDS does not discriminate. Despite this, I do personally think some staging decisions could have been simplified to encourage the audience to rise to the intellect of the work and fill in the gaps, such as the brother and his partner being present during ‘My Brother Lived In San Francisco’ which sings beautifully on its own by Ezri Cranston.
‘And The Rain Keeps Falling Down’, gorgeously delivered by Marcus Frost and Saša Nikolic, was my first lean-in moment of the show packed with nuance, stillness and hair-standing harmonies. Cameron Davey is also a highlight, a true cast MVP both in the most believable storytelling and the finely crafted vocal delivery throughout. The final sequence of monologues leading into the emotional sucker-punch of ‘Learning To Let Go’, showcasing the extremely impressive acting chops of Mackinnley Bowen, was my favourite part of this production, and just about had me crying in the front row.
This ensemble across-the-board gave stellar vocal performances, enhanced by added harmonic arrangements from musical director Charlotte Greenslade. Musically this show was slick and polished, with the three-piece band and the cast working in gentle balance. Charlotte Kube’s cello tone was warm and grounding, while Jacinta Dennett’s beautiful harp was dreamy and ethereal.
The set design of this show was simple, which was perfect. The main feature on the back wall was a panel from the Melbourne AIDS Memorial Quilt, donated for the production by Thorne Harbour Health who support LGBTQIA+ and HIV positive communities with health and wellbeing services. We were invited to have a closer look at the panel after the show, and to donate to Thorne Harbour Health on the way out, a brilliant way to actively support the queer community within the Midsumma Festival.
This production was handled tenderly with care and commitment to community, and was executed with bold offers and a cast and creative team comprised of both emerging artists and veterans to the scene, which is always thrilling to watch. Get to this production if you can, support the important work the Midsumma Festival is doing for community, and support new companies like Heirlume Productions to grow and produce more work that needs to be seen.
Click here to check out the show!
