Fish And Game
Live Art and Theatre
for children and others
Now the dust from hundreds of Melbournian visitors has settled in Alma Mater’s silent white rooms, it is a good time to look at the amazing impact the show had here. What follows are excepts and links to the many press interviews, reviews and features that Alma Mater received during the Arts House season at North Melbourne Town Hall.
In The blank slate comes alive, Urszula Dawkins describes her experience of Alma Mater intercut with fragments from an interview with Robert Walton: ‘Wonder, says Walton, is one of the reasons he makes performance: “I want people to think about their own sense of wonder and about how they learned things in the first place – what were the experiences that gave them knowledge?” “To learn things, you often have to take a risk and do something scary – and you have to remember to be open and to allow fantasy and imagination to be part of your life, and to allow yourself to transform through experiences.”’ Read the full interview…
RealTime said “Fish & Game’s Alma Mater proves such a striking encounter—striking in the sense of a blow, a box about the ears. It’s deceptively simple to describe… And then the ghosts appear” Photo: Ponch Hawkes Click the photo to read the rest of the story…
In her interview with Robert and Eilidh for TheatrePeople, K. E. Weber finishes by saying ‘Alma Mater appeals on many levels but the one that holds my personal attention is this Peter Panesque doctrine: “Remember to allow childlike wonder and awe into your stern and proper adult life.” Walton’s hope is “that Alma Mater reminds you that 20 minutes is long enough to imagine almost anything, if you permit yourself to dream large.”’ Read the full interview…
Ray Gill of The Age said Alma Mater “takes theatre into creepy, spooky new dimension… that has you tingling with Hitchcockian anticipation of terrible violence.” This story also appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald and as a special in Fairfax Media’s iPad Apps. Photo: Simon Schluter
Beat Magazine were interested in the performance space in their interview with Robert: ‘The realm of childhood is a liminal zone. Unable to fend for ourselves, we are beholden to adults to teach us about the world. Our character, our worldview and our values are already beginning to take shape, many aspects of which will stay with us through our maturity. And yet once we are fully grown, our memories of these formative years remain largely out of reach.’ Read more…
Sarah Braybrooke’s 4**** review for Arts Hub opens with ‘There’s a common perception that spending too much time in front of a screen will make you stupid. Stupid, passive, and unimaginative. It’s an idea that is defied by Alma Mater; a piece of performance art which uses technology to eloquent, vivid and immersive effect.’
Click the picture to read more.
Photo: Ponch Hawkes
Director Robert Walton with iPad in The Melbourne Times. They said ‘Now for something completely different. Alma Mater seems to defy comparisons to any piece that has come before it.’
In her Aussie Theatre review Anne-Marie Peard said ‘Being glued to a screen is easy, but this is a much more personal experience. The characters see you and make you react and move, and even as the mere recorder of the girl’s story, you become part of it.’ Read more…
In her preview in The Age, Liza Power hails Alma Mater as ‘Ushering in a new intimacy’. Here Robert is in the North Melbourne Town Hall bell tower with Melanie Jame Walsh, one of the other artists in the 2012 Arts House season. Photo: Rodger Cummins
The Music said ‘It’s not often you get to see or experience something utterly new and unpredictable but theatre company Fish & Game is challenging that with Alma Mater, a performance/installation/filmic experience so original it almost defies description.’ Read more…
The Melbourne Leader said ‘ In the world’s first piece of iPad theatre, explore a whitewashed ghostly room through a child’s eyes.’ Read more..
Fish & Game were also delighted to feature on live radio interviews for ABC 774, Radio SYN FM and RRR. Alma Mater was also featured on Channel 10’s The Project live on 20 April 2012, seen by 1 million people across Australia.
Alma Mater was Critic’s Choice in Time Out and featured in a number of other publications as previews, articles or reviews, including mX, Catalyst, Melbourne City Weekly, LaLa, Theatre Alive, The Australian, Around You, The Drama Teacher.