About Me

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Perth, Western Australia, Australia
I am based in Perth, Western Australia. You might enjoy my books - The Dagger of Dresnia, the first book of the Talismans Trilogy, is available at all good online book shops as is Book two, The Cloak of Challiver. Book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. I trained in piano and singing at the NSW Conservatorium of Music. I also trained in dance (Scully-Borovansky, WAAPA) and drama (NIDA). Since 1987 I have been writing reviews of performances in all genres for a variety of publications, including Music Maker, ArtsWest, Dance Australia, The Australian and others. Now semi-retired, I still write occasionally for the ArtsHub website.

My books

The first two books of my trilogy, The Talismans, (The Dagger of Dresnia, and book two, The Cloak of Challiver) are available in e-book format from Smashwords, Amazon and other online sellers. Book three of the trilogy, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation.I also have a short story, 'La Belle Dame', in print - see Mythic Resonance below - as well as well as a few poems in various places. The best way to contact me is via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/satimaflavell

Buy The Talismans

The first two books of The Talismans trilogy were published by Satalyte Publications, which, sadly, has gone out of business. However, The Dagger of Dresnia and The Cloak of Challiver are available as ebooks on the usual book-selling websites, and book three, The Seer of Syland, is in preparation. The easiest way to contact me is via Facebook.

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Dagger of Dresnia

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans

The Cloak of Challiver, Book two of The Talismans
Available as an e-book on Amazon and other online booksellers.

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance

Mythic Resonance is an excellent anthology that includes my short story 'La Belle Dame', together with great stories from Alan Baxter, Donna Maree Hanson, Sue Burstynski, Nike Sulway and nine more fantastic authors! Just $US3.99 from Amazon. Got a Kindle? Check out Mythic Resonance.

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Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Manchester, UK

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Gippsland, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong, Australia

Places I've lived: Geelong,  Australia

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've lived: Tamworth, NSW

Places I've Lived - Sydney

Places I've Lived - Sydney
Sydney Conservatorium - my old school

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've lived: Auckland, NZ

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier

Places I've Lived: Mount Gambier
Blue Lake

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've lived: Adelaide, SA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day

Places I've Lived: Perth by Day
From Kings Park

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: High View, WV

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Lynton, Devon, UK

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Braemar, Scotland

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've lived: Barre, MA, USA

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night

Places I've Lived: Perth by Night
From Kings Park

Inner Peace Blog

Inner Peace Blog
Awarded by Joanna Fay. Click on the image to visit her lovely website!

Versatile Blogger Award

Versatile Blogger Award
Awarded by Kim Falconer. Click on the pic to check out her Quantum Astrology blog!

Fabulous Blog Award

Fabulous Blog Award
Awarded by Kathryn Warner. Click on the pic to check out her Edward II blog!

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Thursday 5 February 2015

Why waste a perfectly good review?




Perth's Fringe Festival is in full swing, and I am in full-on reviewing mode. I've seen four shows so far - the most recent, Matt Prince's A British Bloke's Guide to Being a Man, was last night, and a very funny and touching show it was. (My review should go up within the next couple of days.)

However, due to 'clerical error' not one, not two, but THREE reviewers from Artshub attended the third show, Promise and Promiscuity. Two of us found out about the glitch and we agreed I would submit a review while the other lady took a break  - but we didn't know that a third reviewer, Mariyon Slany, was also in the house and unlike me, she was prompt in submitting her review. You can read Mariyon's review here But that meant I was stuck with a review that would not see light of day unless I published it myself. On the premise that no performer, writer or artist can ever have too many reviews, here it is!

Ahem (clears throat noisily) Cue review-writing mode ...

Billed as ‘A new musical by Jane Austen and Penny Ashton’ Promise and Promiscuity lives up to its title in many and varied ways. For starters, New Zealander Penny Ashton is a performer full of promise, and she is quite promiscuous in pinching bits of other people’s work to create something new and wonderful.


Much of the ‘pinching’ comes from Austen, of course – Ashton tells the audience that there are thirty-three quotes from that author’s work in the show (I must admit that some of them passed below my radar) and the characters, as might be expected, are lifted from Pride and Prejudice. And the music is plagiarised from Beethoven, Strauss and the Top Forty, inter alia.
(Spoilers follow!) Of course, the plot is loosely based on Pride and Prejudice. The Bennet family, however, has been pruned down to the widowed Mrs Slowtree, her two daughters, Elspeth and Cordelia, and an obnoxious cousin, Horatio. Mr Darcy is there, of course, in the form of one Reginald, and – here is where the plot departs from Austen – he has a friend who is Elspeth’s first choice in the husband line. However, the said friend turns out to be under the thumb of his titled mother and leaves poor Elspeth in the lurch. For, as Reginald wisely observes, ‘It is a truth universally acknowledged that a young man in possession of a fortune wants to keep it’! Mention should be made of one more character, Mr David Smith, who is pulled from the front row of the audience to learn to dance. And in the end, he is betrothed to Cordelia. (End spoilers!)
The show is funny, clever and full of subtle bawdiness (Elspeth finds balls attractive) and there are clever anachronistic jokes, such as reference to a new ‘topless Aston-Martin carriage’. Apart from the gentleman drawn from the audience, all the above roles are played by Penny Ashton, and it is one of the best solo shows I’ve ever seen. In fact, a truth that should be universally acknowledged is that Penny Ashton is a brilliant and extremely versatile performer who knows her Austen inside out, perhaps thanks to her degree in Drama and the Classics from Canterbury University. She plays all the above roles with aplomb. For just over an hour, she chats, sings, mimes and dances her way around a minimalist set, consisting of two chairs, a table, and a small screen to hide the various props. The characters are clearly recognisable, each with individual mannerisms (e.g. Cousin Horatio snorts a lot). Ashton even gives each character an individual curtain call.
A look at Ashton’s web site shows that she is a pro-active performer, full of creative ideas that have given her a repertoire of solo shows as well as a place in the ConArtists Improv Company. Multi-talented Ashton is proficient in dance, acting, singing, mime and, one suspects, stand-up comedy. She also plays a mean ukulele and knows enough about the publishing world to make in-gags about writing contracts and fan fiction (with of course, bawdy undertones). What’s more, she moonlights as a marriage celebrant! She is taking Promise and Promiscuity to the Adelaide Festival next, and Edinburgh after that. I hope the Scots love it as much I did.

Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Panache Productions Present
Promise and Promiscuity
Written and performed by Penny Ashton
Music by various composers arranged by Robbie Ellis
Workshop Director: Ben Crowder

Fringe World, Perth
www.fringeworld.com.au
29 January – 3 February, 2015

My other Fringe reviews so far have been of  the delightul Divalicious  and the loveable  La SoirĂ©e  - both of them were also 5-star performances. Never before have I given three shows in a row five stars apiece, but Perth Fringe is now attracting world class artists, many of whom spend part of every year travelling from fringefest to fringefest. Next on the circuit for most will be the Adelaide Fringe Festival, and after that, Edinburgh. If you live in either of those places watch out for the above acts. Take my word for it – they are excellent.

 


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