OBSERVER: Loving The Alien
The enigmatic rockstar David Bowie was the focus of Loving The Alien, an Arts Centre Melbourne show that sought to find out the truth behind the legend.
However, while certainly having its moments in portraying Bowie’s life, it ultimately disappointed as it felt under-rehearsed and underdeveloped.
Going from his secondary school years up until his death in 2016, the show’s two singers, Karlis Zaid and Aurora Kurth, told stories about Bowie’s personal and professional lives.
They also sang a selection of his songs, with live music from a pianist and a guitarist supplemented with recorded music.
Zaid is credited as the creator of the show. It had an appealing simple structure of anecdote followed by song followed by anecdote. Together, anecdotes and songs gave the audience something of an insight into Bowie. However, the anecdotes, while informative, were often poorly written with attempts at humour that were simply not funny.
The four performers, Zaid and Kurth singing and story-telling, with Andrew Patterson playing pianoforte and Aaron Syrjanen playing guitars, were all clearly professionals with solid stage experience.
Patterson and Syrjanen in particular stood out for their impressive display of musical talent. Unfortunately, apart from one or two instances, Zaid and Kurth’s voices didn’t feel right for many of the songs while their delivery of the anecdotes tended to be flat and uninspiring.
There was no credit for directing, other than Patterson for musical direction, and this was part of the problem; both Zaid and Kurth could have done with an outside eye to help improve their performances, of both text and song, as well as improve the writing.
Zaid, in particular, seemed lost for words at times and dependent on an autocue to get through the text.
The idea of honouring Bowie’s work in a show like this has its merits, but Loving The Alien felt like a first draft that needed a strong director to develop and grow it.
Venue: The Show Room, Arts Centre Melbourne.
Review by Peter Murphy