Review: Global Fringe 2020 Opens With The Quirky Physical Comedy Thriller Of A MURDER STORY, RETOLD.

Wednesday 2nd September 2020, 7:50pm AEST, Old 505 Theatre. (Review based on live-streamed performance)

Intriguing and inventive, Ninefold Ensemble's A MURDER STORY RETOLD is an amusing intricate assessment of human behavior presented for both an in-person and online audience. Presented as part of Sydney Fringe Festival's GLOBAL FRINGE season, this work manages the challenges of venue occupancy restrictions and live broadcast incredibly well to deliver a quality theatre experience.

Directed by Shy Magsalin, A MURDER STORY, RETOLD is a captivating trio of stories that draws on physical expression and the theatrical nature of music to tell a cycle of stories with minimal dialogue. Performed by Magsalin, Gideon Payten-Griffiths and Shane Russon, the works play out in the same cramped living room that is created with incredible detail by the creative team which includes the performers and Erica Josephine Brennan. Liam O'Keefe's lighting design takes the online broadcast into account and adds to the tension and comedy of the stories and Melanie Herbert's sound composition which incorporates Max Richter's musical re-compositions of Vivaldi's Four Seasons heightens the drama of the intimate piece.

The design for the filming of the performance is of particular note as it has been carefully planned to ensure that the home audience are led to the nuanced actions that may be missed if the performance were presented on a constant wide shot. The focus on the killers' hands as they prepare their fatal brews of powders, pills and plant matter heightens the mood. With only brief pull backs that show the limits of the performance space, the online audience is kept close and intimate with the work in similar style to immersion theatre where the audience stands in the room with the performers. For those with the benefit of proximity to Sydney who are able to secure a ticket, it would be interesting to compare the in-person experience with the on-screen viewing.

Presented with a good pace and incredible standard of physical performance by a trio of performers who understand the intricacies of human behavior, this 45-minute work is a delicious dark comedy that has adapted well to the new world constraints. A MURDER STORY, RETOLD is well worth seeing, in person or online.

https://sydneyfringe.com/events/a-murder-story-retold/