Reviews, Reviews, Reviews
The reviews are rolling in and to the great (and “unearthly”) delight of all of us they are damn good…
Sunday Mail:
You don’t need drugs to enjoy this show, Benito Di Fonzo’s hallucinogenic script will suffice … this is the wackiest show of the fringe … it’s weird but good.
(personally we would probably say weird AND good, but weird but good will do!)
The Chronic Ills of Robert Zimmerman is a well-crafted journey into the life and times of one of the most enigmatic recording artists of our lifetime … Benito Di Fonzo has penned a great ode to a wordsmith of puzzling proportions.
The Chronic Ills… is a freewheeling ‘glissendorf’ pastiche of folk history, interview, myth, song fragment, biography and musical interlude that rattles past at breakneck speed like an angel-headed methamphetamine jive-talking ‘60s hipster … The cast rise to the challenge of an astounding number of words, characters and identities. Joan Baez is as annoying as she should be, John Lennon is hilarious and Simon Rippingale’s musical accompaniment is outstanding in its subtlety and effectiveness.”
“The play is so well written, directed and performed, that this non-Dylan fan was rapt. Director Lucinda Gleeson wrings every drop of talent from her very fine cast and has an obvious eye for humour and emotion that never becomes overdone … Matt Ralph shines as the Man Himself, Zimmerman/Dylan. Looking not unlike the singer/poet, Ralph never … stops performing. This man IS Dylan and the audience never once doubt that … This type of production can either turn out as a load of arty-farty wank or a marvellously engaging theatrical experience – Tamarama Rock Surfers have produced the latter. 4.5 Stars”
So there you have it.
