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Ariande auf Naxos
Playhouse Arts Centre, Melbourne; Victorian Opera
Victorian Opera’s
latest offering, Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos,
promises much but doesn’t quite deliver. This stylish production is hampered by an
unforgiving acoustic and a cast bringing mixed blessings.
Full Review
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Saturn's Return
Wharf 1, Sydney; Sydney Theatre Company
The title Saturn's Return refers to an
astrological concept. Apparently approaching the age of thirty (when Saturn has completed
one orbit of the Sun since your birth) is a time of flux and disturbance. There's also a
reference to the myth of the god Saturn, who consumed his children out of fear that they
might depose him. Tommy Murphy weaves these ideas into his latest play about taking on
adult responsibilities generally and being a member of Gen Y specifically.
Full Review
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Goat Town
St Martins Theatre, Melbourne; St Martins Theatre,
Shiny Side
Goat Town is a play about four friends coming together
on a camping trip while dealing with the death of a close friend.
Full Review
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Dead Men Tell A Thousand Tales
Toff In Town, Melbourne; Mikelangelo and The Black
Sea Gentlemen
If I ever go all Big Love and
choose a polyandrous lifestyle, it will be with Mikelangelo and The Black Sea Gentlemen.
In the meantime, the Gentlemen have been sharing their irresistible dark love around our
townships in Dead Men Tell A Thousand Tales.
Full Review
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The Sneeze
NIDA Parade Studio, Sydney; Theatre Forward
Five directors from the 2008 NIDA
directing class make up ‘Theatre Forward’: a company committed “to
taking risks… in the pursuit of something truly magical”.
Full Review
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The Cove
The Dog Theatre, Melbourne; If Theatre
The Cove, a showcase of
acclaimed playwright Daniel Keene's short plays, intertwines stories of both hope and
decay, and offers characters that are so raw and compelling they might easily break your
heart.
Full Review
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Miracle
Meat Market, Arts House, Melbourne; BalletLab
I’m just going to come right
out and say it. This is not a comfortable, enjoyable performance to watch by any means. It
is not your usual theatre/dance/multimedia experience. There is nothing predictable or
expecting about this piece. But this is all intentional –and just because it’s
not meant to sit comfortably that doesn’t mean it’s a bad show.
Full Review
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It's A Dark, Dark House
Red Stitch Theatre, Melbourne; Red Stitch
The great thing about seeing a Red
Stitch show is knowing you are going to see an amazing script written by a playwright who
loves theatre and understands the difference between writing to be read and writing to be
performed. You’re also going to see the work of some of our best independent actors,
directors and creators, who are involved because they love the emotional power of theatre.
The opening production of Red Stitch’s 2009 Season Two is the Australian premiere of
Neil La Bute’s In A Dark, Dark House.
Full Review
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Crazy For You
State Playhouse, Melbourne; The Production Company
It’s hard enough to resist
humming a single Gershwin tune let alone a whole musical full of them.
Full Review
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The Little Dog Laughed
Ensemble Theatre, Sydney; Ensemble Theatre
The Little Dog Laughed and so
did the audience at the zingers and deliciously caustic one liners in Douglas Carter
Beane's darkly funny script about hypocrisy and deception. The audience 'laughed to see
such fun', but as with all good comedy if you cared to look deeper there was a bite and
twist to the humour. Which dish ran away with which spoon?
Full Review
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The Promise
Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney; Company B.
Now, a 3-act Russian play that kicks off during the siege of Leningrad might not be
everyone's idea of a grand night out. Nevertheless this production of Alexei Arbuzov's
play is beautifully acted, directed and designed. The
Promise seems initially to be a scrutiny of the physical and psychological effects of
living under a siege, where bombardment is a regular feature of the nightlife. Yet as the
lives of Lika (Alison Bell), Marat (Ewen Leslie) and Leonidik (Chris Ryan) progress, the
play slips into contemplations of love won and lost, and the necessary compromises that
childhood dreams are subjected to in the cold hard light of adulthood.
Full Review
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Care Instructions
Tower Club CUB Malthouse, Melbourne; Malthouse
Theatre, Aphids
You know that annoying moment when
you’re watching a play, movie or even reading a book and you realise you have no idea
what’s going on because your brain wandered off?
Full Review
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Transverse Fracture Of The First Metacarpal
Sue Benner Theatre, Brisbane; Metro Arts
This abstract one-hour performance
had physical theatre that amazed, but I was left unaffected by its message.
Full Review
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Happy Days
Merlyn Theatre CUB Malthouse, Melbourne; Malthouse
Theatre
As I feel uncomfortably stuck to
my ergonomic chair and unable to move from the confines of my desk and the growing pile of
deadlines surrounding me, I have a soft spot for Winnie. Overwhelmed, out of control,
unable to move and pouring forth words to someone who may not be listening; perhaps
Beckett wrote Happy Days as an allegory for
writers?
Full Review
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Poor Boy
Sydney Theatre, Sydney; Sydney Theatre Company,
Melbourne Theatre Company
Poor Boy is billed as a "play with songs" – not a musical. Matt Cameron
provides the speech, and Tim Finn the songs, to a story about two troubled families
brought together by a strange haunting. The story is intriguing, the performances
enjoyable, but in the end the fact that it's treated as a "play with songs"
– not a musical – lets the production down.
Full Review
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Lobby Hero
Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Melbourne; Red Stitch
Actors Theatre
The power of status as a key dramatic tool in theatre has been beautifully rendered in Red
Stitch’s current production.
Full Review
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The Birthday Party
Fairfax Studio, Melbourne; Melbourne Theatre
Company
Once a creator’s name has
become an adjective, it’s difficult to approach their work without falling into a pit
of cliché or frustrating audiences by avoiding expectations – but MTCs The Birthday Party successfully avoids being
Pinteresque, whilst capturing the essence of this unforgettable work.
Full Review
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A Narrow Time For Angels
The Store Room, Melbourne; Lucy Freeman, Walking
Into Bars, The Store Room
The Store Room has been presenting
some of our most innovative and original independent theatre for ten years and opens its
five-show 2009 season with A Narrow Time For Angels
by Melbourne playwright Cerise De Gelder.
Full Review
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You're Not The Boss Of Me
La Mama Courthouse, Melbourne; La Mama
You’re Not The Boss Of Me
opens with two children playing Bonka in a red cage. Bonka is everything. We don’t
know what it is, we don’t know why they are there, but we fear the worst and hope for
the best.
Full Review
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Jersey Boys
Princess Theatre, Melbourne; Dodger Theatricals,
Newtheatricals, Dainty Consolidated Entertainment
If it was Shout! that truly made David Campbell a household name, then it is very
possible that Jersey Boys will ultimately provide a very similar vehicle for the
versatile Bobby Fox, who is simply dazzling in the role of Frankie Valli in this wonderful
tale of four musicians who took on the world - and succeeded.
Full Review
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The City
Wharf 2, Sydney; Sydney Theatre Company.
There was something unnerving
about Martin Crimp’s play The City from the start. I couldn’t quite put
my finger on it at first — it was as though the characters were not quite believable,
the plot seemed a bit haphazard, and the set, consisting of several steep, stadium-style
stairs, played havoc with perspective. After a while, the audience realises that these
effects are pre-meditated, and meticulously constructed. Wherein lies the genius of The
City.
Full Review
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Basic Training
Newtown Theatre, Sydney; Merrigong Theatre Co,
Erich Jungwirth, Richard Jordan Productions, Barry Josephson.
It could only be an American
production that schedules its opening night on the same date as the second state of origin
game. Luckily, Basic Training has more courage, more heart, and more sheer guts
in its 70-minute performance than the NRL could hope to have all season.
Full Review
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The Return
Newtown Theatre, Sydney; Devil May Care
If only all train journeys were this exciting. Maybe if we had eloquent ex-cons, or
writers with a vengeance, on Sydney’s peak hour trains we wouldn’t notice if
they were late or delayed.
Full Review
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Burlesque Hour Legends
forty five downstairs, Melbourne; Christine Dunstan
Productions, The Sunflower Foundation
I’m searching for a
superlative that hasn’t been used to describe The
Burlesque Hour. Reviewers from all over the world rave every time this show appears.
Created in Melbourne, it’s back home as The
Burlesque Hour Legends and I’m trawling my thesaurus for any word that comes near
to grasping the wildness, the sassiness, the spectacle, the irony and the understanding
behind the show that continues to leave my brain wet and wanting more.
Full Review
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Someday Suddenly
Sidetrack Theatre, Sydney; Tunks Productions
The intimate university-esque
Sideshow Theatre is the backdrop for Wayne Tunks’ latest offering, a multicultural
romantic comedy that promises to be both politically correct and incorrect. Being
performed on the Addison Road Centre, Australia’s largest not-for-profit community
centre, Someday Suddenly certainly exudes the
community theatre vibe that the location promotes.
Full Review
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The Tempest
Concert Hall, Old Museum Building, Bowen Hills; Zen
Zen Zo
Zen Zen Zo wowed on Saturday night
with its genius performance of William Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
Full Review
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Lobby Hero
Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Melbourne; Red Stitch
Actors Theatre
The power of status as a key dramatic tool in theatre has been beautifully rendered in Red
Stitch’s current production.
Full Review
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The Man From Mukinupin
Sumner Theatre, Melbourne; Melbourne Theatre
Company
It’s easy enough to see why Melbourne Theatre Company chose to produce this play. Its
scriptwriter, Dorothy Hewett, is an Australian literary genius. The subject of the play
focuses on an important period in Australian history and it tells a tale all Australians
should hear. Unfortunately, though, The Man From
Mukinupin just doesn’t tell this tale very well.
Full Review
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A Commercial Farce
Beckett Theatre, Melbourne; Malthouse Theatre
I was a bit worried when A Commercial Farce opened with a “you being
perfect and me being crap” phone call between a husband and wife, but then came the
banana skin, the whack in the nuts and the breaking of the number one comedy rule.
Full Review
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Optimism
Merlyn Theatre, Melbourne; Malthouse Theatre,
Edinburgh International Festival, Sydney Theatre Company & Sydney Festival.
When the next generation of
theatre writers wax lyrical about Australian Theatre in the mid- to late-noughties, the
Kantor-Malthouse style will not be forgotten. Since 2004, Kantor has led Playbox to
Malthouse and invigorated one of Australia’s favourite companies.
Full Review
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Wuthering Heights
The Theatre, Morningside Campus of TAFE, Brisbane;
Villanova Players
I haven’t read the novel Wuthering
Heights, and Villanova’s production of the famous love story has left me feeling
glad I never made the effort.
Full Review
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Crisis: The Cabaret
Bar Me, Sydney; Katie-Elle Reeve & Elena Baum
So often when performers make their cabaret debuts - usually fresh out of drama school -
they fall victim to simple mistakes, primarily relating to song choice.
Full Review
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Whore
Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney; B Sharp, Arts Radar
I’ll tell you right off the bat – if you like your language to be uniformly
pristine and flowery, and if you prefer your actors to be fully, non-gratuitously clothed
at all times, then Whore is probably not going
to be high on your must-see list. And that’s a shame, because you’d be missing
out on an intriguing, amusing and slightly disturbing experience. Playwright Rick Viede
won last year’s Griffin Award for Whore,
a prize that is well deserved.
Full Review
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Constance Yorkshire
Northcote Town Hall, Melbourne; Eagle's Nest
Theatre
In a week where even I actively
watched an A Current Affair interview (thank you Tracy Grimshaw), a work like Constance
Yorkshire is a curious reflection of our obsession with watching crims, freaks and
bogans and hearing their side of the story.
Full Review
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An Evening With Bernadette Peters
Festival Theatre, Adelaide; Adelaide Cabaret Festival
In a career spanning more than
four decades, Bernadette Peters has dazzled audiences with her performances on stage and
screen. The headline act of the 2009 Adelaide Cabaret Festival, audiences had the
opportunity to feast on Broadway brilliance in what many have considered the most
anticipated performance of the year.
Full Review
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August: Osage County
The Playhouse, Melbourne; Melbourne Theatre Company
If ever you ever need to refresh
your memory about
Full Review
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Steel Magnolias
Seymour Centre, Sydney; Blackbird Productions
As the deep Southern accents wash over you, watching this production of Steel Magnolias makes you feel like you’re
also ensconced on that plush pink couch and have joined the chatter about recipes and
hometown gossip in this little suburban beauty salon.
Full Review
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No Man's Island
Old Fitzroy Theatre, Sydney; Shaman Productions
An ambiguous time and location.
Two men trapped in a prison cell. With only each other’s company they are left to a
routine of soccer, nightmares and solidarity. They take turns to comfort each other as
they deal with personal problems and their complete separation from the rest of the world.
Full Review
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Avenue Q
Comedy Theatre, Melbourne; Arts Asia Pacific
Strip down to your felt, put your
finger “there” and be as loud as the hell you want, as you joyously scream for Avenue Q. Or at least click away from the porn
for a minute.
Full Review
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Catherine At Avignon
TAP Gallery Theatre, Sydney; Subtlenuance
It was a surprise to realise,
while watching the performance of Catherine at
Avignon, that the Catholic Church of the 14th Century can be relevant to
modern-day Australia. Corruption, lust, tough decisions — sounds like a day in
Parliament, doesn’t it?
Full Review
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Crime Scenes
Fusebox Theatre, Sydney; Boobook Theatre Company
The quartet of crime on offer
struck some sweet chords. However the four plays based on true Australian crimes did not
harmonise together well.
Full Review
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The Role Model
Cromwell Road Theatre, Melbourne; Boobook Theatre
Company
BOObook Theatre company tackle the issue of celebrity sportsman misconduct with
intelligence, verve and talent.
Full Review
---
Romeo And Juliet
Northcote Town Hall, Melbourne; Eagle's Nest
Theatre
Eagle’s Nest Theatre give
inexperienced and emerging actors the opportunity to get their teeth into some significant
works and substantial roles, they bring new experimental works to the stage, and they
perform VCE texts so that students get the chance to experience a “play”.
Naturally, Shakespeare always gets a run and Romeo And Juliet is the Nest’s
current hatchling.
Full Review
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The Truth About Kookaburras
Sue Benner Theatre, Brisbane; Metro Arts
The Truth About Kookaburras
is an eye-opener with more levels than a sky-scraper and more layers than an onion.
Full Review
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Thursday's Child
Seymour Centre, Sydney; Monkey Baa.
Before it was a play, Thursday’s
Child was a charming novel by award winning author Sonya Hartnett.
Full Review
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Inside Out
Seymour Centre, Sydney; Christine Dunstan
Productions, The Sunflower Foundation
When I read the blurb about a play I’m about to see and it’s described as
“courageous” and “compassionate” and it uses the word
“journey” to describe any process other than physically going from point A to
point B, I feel a deep sense of foreboding. If the play also happens to be about a
difficult subject such as mental illness, that sense of foreboding intensifies. How do you
deal with such a topic without descending into the realm of melodramatic cliché
that’s suggested by the blurb?
Full Review
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Teuila Postcards
Arts House, Melbourne; Polytoxic
Polytoxic’s collection of
cheesy Teuila Postcards finds the satire in a glorious trip to picturesque,
idyllic Samoa.
Full Review
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Speed-the-plow
Chapel off Chapel, Melbourne; Human Sacrifice
Theatre
When the economic crisis is
reduced to a single acronym then theatre about American greed and power will resonate
strongly. The GFC sits comfortably beside Speed-the-Plow,
a play that premiered over 20 years ago. In the 1980s we saw a corporate celebration of
wealth and the proverbial artistic mirror that followed.
Full Review
---
Chicago
Lyric Theatre, Sydney; The Gordon/Frost
Organisation
I would like to say that there's a
single moment in Chicago that makes you get that uncontrollable buzz only theatre
can deliver, but I can't.
Full Review
---
Let The Sunshine
Ensemble Theatre, Sydney; Ensemble Theatre
David Williamson’s first post-retirement effort is a comedy of opposites set between
his former home (Sydney) and his current abode (Noosa). Let the Sunshine follows the trials and
tribulations of two very different couples.
Full Review
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A Little Night Music
State Theatre, Melbourne; Opera Australia
I had never seen a full production
of A Little Night Music until now and Opera
Australia’s version has supported my wonder at the Stephen Sondheim’s mastery,
but it wasn’t this production that convinced me of its greatness.
Full Review
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When The Rain Stops Falling
Drama Theatre, Sydney; Sydney Theatre Company
When The Rain Stops Falling is
a transporting piece of theatre.
Full Review
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The Delusionist
La Mama Theatre, Melbourne; La Mama
Director, Lauren Clair, and
performer, Curtis Fernandez, developed The
Delusionist as a response to well known contemporary communications that were
monitored, edited and interpreted for us by media. The concept is great, but I’m not
sure that it’s a piece of theatre.
Full Review
---
The Keeper
La Mama Theatre, Melbourne; La Mama
Never doubt the power of simple,
evocative story telling. Like the best bedtime
story or campfire yarn, The Keeper gently lulls
us into a beautiful, mysterious world and never leaves out the scary or the sad bits.
Full Review
---
The Call
SBW Stables Theatre, Sydney; Griffin Theatre
Company
The Call by Patricia Cornelius
is a piece of Australian theatre that accurately articulates the experience of living a
culture.
Full Review
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Someone Who'll Watch Over Me
FortyFiveDownstairs, Melbourne; West East Theatre
An American, an Irishman and an
Englishman walk into Beirut and find themselves locked in cell together for four and a
half years.
Full Review
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Love Song
Darlinghurst Theatre, Sydney; Darlinghurst Theatre
Company
If you met someone who dressed
like you, thought like you and understood you like no one else, would you call it true
love? Or would you call it too good to be true.
Full Review
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Tom Fool
Mechanics Institute Performing Arts Centre,
Melbourne; Hoy Polloy
Franz Xaver Kroetz’s play Tom Fool, set in
1970s Germany, is an examination of family life corrupted by bourgeois ideals. This works
portrays the inevitable chaos and disappointment when life cannot acquiesce to a
capitalist doctrine.
Full Review
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Leaves Of Glass
Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Melbourne; Red Stitch
Actors Theatre
You can peer through any window and find family secrets and painful memories. But
if the curtains are closed don’t ask any questions! In the Australian premier of Leaves of Glass those curtains are transparent and
layered and whether they are open or closed we gain insight into a cockney household full
of denial and control.
Full Review
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Call Girl The Musical
Chapel Off Chapel, Melbourne;
Even if you haven’t worked in
a call centre, you probably know someone who has.
Full Review
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Jerry Springer The Opera
Sydney Opera House, Sydney; Sydney Opera House,
Avalon Productions
If the title wasn’t hint
enough, you know you’re not in for an ordinary opera as soon as the lights go down.
The usual pre-show voice over implores you to turn off your mobile phones, but this time
the announcer repeats in a droll tone ‘is it off, is it off, is it off?’ as
though the audience is as dim as the typical Jerry Springer contestants.
Full Review
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The Wonderful World Of Dissocia
Wharf 1, Sydney; Sydney Theatre Company
Press notes for The Wonderful World Of Dissocia call it a 'dazzling' play. I'm
not sure if that's the right word. Weird, bizarre, grotesque or eccentric may be a better
word.
Full Review
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Beckett's Shorts
Carlton Courthouse, Melbourne; La Mama
We see performance artists in the street, avant-garde video clips or countless fringe
shows. They can challenge the boundaries of realism. They can sit on the edge of society
or emerge from its core. Yet all have joined the fabric of modern culture. If we
don’t recognise the traditions that influence these art forms or the evolution they
represent then we risk trivialising their importance in reflecting our inner qualities.
Full Review
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Waiting For Godot
La Mama, Melbourne; La Mama
Waiting for Godot is currently on stage at La Mama as they commemorate twenty years
since Beckett’s death. In times of upheaval, when false gods present themselves
everywhere, it’s worth being reminded of the folly of life. Samuel Beckett’s
seminal work, like all great art, remains both universal and unique.
Full Review
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Metro Street
Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide; State Theatre Company,
Arts Asia Pacific & Power Arts
In a matter of weeks Adelaide
audiences have been treated to two world premiere productions of Australian work, the
latest, Matthew Robinson’s Metro Street, a fresh and gutsy contemporary work
that hits all the right buttons.
Full Review
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Breast Wishes
Seymour Centre, Sydney; Anne Looby, Neil Gooding & Simone
Parrott
Breast Wishes has its
place and will provide plenty of people with a few laughs tinged with a tear or two, but
it struggles to tick all the boxes and falls just that little bit flat.
Full Review
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DNA
Old Fitzroy Theatre, Sydney; Spiky Red Things &
Tamarama Rock Surfers
At first impression, the subject
matter of this play seems a bit too morbidly fanciful. A group of teenagers somehow manage
to encourage a fellow classmate to commit a variety of actions that ultimately lead to his
death. However with reports this week of vicious knife attacks in the UK by children as
young as ten or eleven, never has the themes of this play resounded more strongly.
Full Review
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The Distance From Here
SBW Stables Theatre, Sydney; Griffin !ndependent,
Inscription
Griffin !ndependent’s latest production is written by Neil LaBute, so you know
you’re not in for a shiny, happy, feel-good experience. You don’t watch The Distance From Here, you get pummelled and
bruised along with the characters. The characters are cruel to each other and to
themselves. They put themselves in terrible situations and perform some truly sickening
acts. All of which makes The Distance From Here
one of the most interesting productions in Sydney so far this year.
Full Review
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The Man From Mukinupin
Belvoir Street Theatre, Sydney; Company B,
Melbourne Theatre Company
"With great power, comes
great responsibility".
Full Review
---
Melbourne International Comedy Festival Reviews
Our Melbourne team has all the shows covered.
Full Review
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Jekyll And Hyde
Civic Theatre, Newcastle; Newcastle Dramatic Art
Club
A mix of magic, elaborate sets,
strong leads and effective direction brought Newcastle Dramatic Art Club’s production
of Jekyll and Hyde home. Director Tyran Parke
utilised his vision, expertise and the skills of his cast to create a well-rounded night
of theatrical entertainment.
Full Review
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Yimmy Yukka And His Amazing Band
IDGAF, Melbourne;
Somewhere along the spectrum of
satire to rock god sits Jimmy Yukka.
Full Review
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Abigail's Party
Ensemble Theatre, Sydney; Ensemble Theatre Company
Keeping up with the Jones’
has never been so entertaining. By lending an Australian flavour to Mike Leigh’s play
Abigail’s Party, Director Mark Kilmurry
has spiced up a mid-seventies classic.
Full Review
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Night Garden
Arts House, Melbourne; My Darling Patricia
Visually intricate, deliberately
complex, and never dull, My Darling Patricia awakens our subconscious in their Night Garden
dreamscape.
Full Review
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Salon de Danse
La Mama, Melbourne; La Mama, Finucane & Smith
So you think you know dance?
Forgive the television analogy - but you don’t know squat until you’ve been to Salone de Danse.
Full Review
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Woyzeck
Merlyn Theatre, Melbourne; Malthouse Theatre
With music by Nick Cave and Warren
Ellis, and Tim Rogers strutting around the stage, Malthouse’s Woyzeck was tipped to lure the cool folk back to the theatre
and confirm the ultra-hipness of those who love hanging out in the dark spaces. It is
rating well on the cool-o-meter, but opinions are very mixed on its value and success.
Full Review
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Everynight, Everynight
La Mama, Melbourne; La Mama
The power of the masses – it’s a popular theme. We as a society like to think
that if enough of us band together and stand up for something we think is wrong, we will
be noticed. Stories told on screen and stage are similarly popular for this reason; they
empower the average Joe Bloe. And this is certainly what Ray Mooney’s 1978 play Everynight, Everynight does.
Full Review
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Goodbye Vaudeville Charlie Mudd
Beckett Theatre, Melbourne; Malthouse Theatre,
Arena Theatre Company
In recent years, playwright Lally
Katz and director Chris Kohn have created some of the most fascinating and original
independent theatre in town. Goodbye Vaudeville Charlie Mudd is the result of research grant, a
commission from Malthouse and the resources of Arena Theatre - and I’m left wondering
if this support has hindered their style.
Full Review
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Concussion
Wharf 2, Sydney; Sydney Theatre Company, Griffin
Theatre Company
Can a little play live up to so much big hype? As part of STC’s Next Stage program,
Ross Mueller’s Concussion comes to us with
a string of accolades: Winner of the 2009 New York New Dramatists Award, short-listed in
2008 for both the Patrick White and Griffin Awards, developed through the 2008 National
Play Festival…with a list like that, you’d be entitled to expect something
mind-blowing. What you actually get is something that is merely thought provoking and
highly amusing.
Full Review
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The Mad & Ugly Show
The Garden Of Unearthly Delights, Adelaide;
Cocoloco
Best known for their eccentric and
sometimes shocking street theatre, London’s Cocoloco warn that The Mad & Ugly Show is not for the faint
hearted or children – a sure way to entice an Adelaide Fringe crowd into the theatre.
Full Review
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Potted Potter
The Garden Of Unearthly Delights, Adelaide;
Adelaide Fringe Festival
Two nerds have 70 minutes to tell
the stories of all seven Harry Potter books to a sold-out audience of obsessive Harry
Potter fans (myself included)...
Full Review
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Floating
Arts House, Melbourne; Hoipolloi in association
with Hugh Hughes Productions
After eight shows this week, I
wanted to go home and watch bad telly, especially as the city was shaking again and the
sky was filled with black hawk helicopters – but I saw Floating - and now I’m a bit in love with
creator Hugh Hughes.
Full Review
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A Company Of Strangers
Spiegeltent,
Adelaide; Strut & Fret Productions
It didn’t take long among the
company of strangers (and an old friend) to be reminded of the things that Adelaide does
well.
Full Review
---
The Feast Of Argentina Gina Catalina
La
Mama, Melbourne; La Mama
The Feast of Argentina Gina
Catalina combines fantastical story telling with a feast for the senses –
food, wine, music, atmosphere, and most importantly, a mesmerising performance by
performance artist and writer Moira Finucane make this a show not to be missed.
Full Review
---
The Dark Party
The
Garden of Unearthly Delights - Le Cascadeur,
Adelaide; The Dirty Brothers Sideshow
The Dark Party is what Waiting
for Godot might have been if Beckett had been brought up in a travelling circus.
Full Review
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Lady Windermere's Fan
Darlinghurst Theatre, Sydney; Darlinghurst Theatre
Company, Luncheon On The Grass
“Retro”. A worrying word
to read as the lights go down, especially when the production is adapted from an iconic
playwright. Yet a retro 1950's revamp of Oscar Wilde's play Lady Windermere's Fan
is as much campy fun as you'd expect from such a combination. Throw in some costumes that
can only described by the term “hot mess” and accents that sound like they're
sound-looped from 'Kath and Kim' attempting to be Jane Austen and you have yourself a
great night out. Really.
Full Review
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Barb Dwyer - Mickey D
Rhino Room, Adelaide; Velocity Boy Productions
Adelaide creates many exceptionally funny, but ironically complex
things: Don Dunstan’s pink
shorts, the Mall’s Balls,
Pie Floaters and Mickey D.
Full Review
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Vigil
Old Fitzroy Theatre, Sydney; Spirithouse Theatre
Company
It’s not often that you find
yourself laughing in the face of death. In fact, I can’t think of any other instance
where I have chuckled about the concepts of palliative care, funeral arrangements and
final resting places.
Full Review
---
The Year Of Magical Thinking
Fairfax Studio, Melbourne; Melbourne Theatre
Company, Sydney Theatre Company
Joan Didion had a blessed life.
She married the man she loved, had a much-adored child and enjoyed an envious writing
career among the New York and LA literati. In an unfair matter of months her husband and
daughter died, leaving Didion with only her writing. The Year of Magical Thinking
is her memoir of that unimaginable time. She wasn’t convinced she should re-write it as a play. Fortunately,
she took that risk.
Full Review
---
The Year Of Magical Thinking
Fairfax Studio, Melbourne; Melbourne Theatre
Company, Sydney Theatre Company
Joan Didion had a blessed life.
She married the man she loved, had a much-adored child and enjoyed an envious writing
career among the New York and LA literati. In an unfair matter of months her husband and
daughter died, leaving Didion with only her writing. The Year of Magical Thinking
is her memoir of that unimaginable time. She wasn’t convinced she should re-write it as a play. Fortunately,
she took that risk.
Full Review
---
Tattoo
SBW Stables Theatre, Sydney; Stories Like These,
Griffin Theatre Company, Antipodea
Tattoo, Dea Loher's first play, is a grim little piece that's not for everyone. If
you're going to put on a play about an abusive family then you're going to need a certain
amount of skill and delicacy to carry it off. Unfortunately there's not much of either in
evidence here. What we have instead is a strangely confused, sometimes muted production
that seems unable to decide exactly what it wants to achieve.
Full Review
---
Musical Of Musicals
Parade Theatre, Sydney; Triptych Theatre
Funny, it seems like I saw something with “The Musical!” at the end of the title
only a week or so ago... Anyway, The Musical of
Musicals: The Musical! is different to other recent musical spoofs in that it takes
aim at as many composers as possible. To achieve this, writers Eric Rockwell and Joanne
Bogart have taken a simple story (Girl can’t pay rent, is terrorised by evil landlord
until the hero steps in and coughs up the cash) and retold it five times in the style of
different composers. The results are entertaining and hilarious.
Full Review
---
Gutenberg! The Musical
Seymour Centre, Sydney; Neil Gooding Productions
The latest in a long line of spoof musicals to hit our shores, Gutenberg! The Musical! is pretty much what you
would expect. There are plenty of crazy jokes and funny songs and a little bit of
cross-dressing (if you count a bloke wearing a blonde wig). The life and times of the
inventor of the printing press mightn’t be the most obvious subject for a musical,
but it’s a decent vehicle for a satire of musicals.
Full Review
---
Take Me Out
New Theatre, Sydney; New Theatre
When one of the world’s most famous baseball players, Darren Lemming (Terence
Priester) reveals to the media that he is gay, he expects that there will be some fall
out, but consumed by arrogance and a belief in his invincibility, he doesn’t really
care. However, when Shane Mungitt (Andrew
Johnston), a hick teammate who grew up in Tennessee, (or is that Mississippi? –
he’s not really sure) verbalises the homophobia that many of his teammates have been
feeling, Lemming embarks on a personal vendetta against him which ultimately has
devastating consequences.
Full Review
---
I Love You, Bro
The Tower, CUB Malthouse, Melbourne; Three To A
Room, Malthouse Theatre
If you heard that I Love You Bro was not to be missed – but you
missed its 2007 and 2008 seasons – don’t worry because it’s at the
Malthouse Theatre until the end of the month. Don’t miss it this time.
Full Review
---
Eyton Road
La Mama, Melbourne; La Mama
Eyton Road, created and
directed by Tayla Chalef, explores themes of displacement and identity using the
constructs of memory. This works captures quintessential moments of loss and disconnection
but needs to enhance this momentum in other parts of the play.
Full Review
---
Short & Sweet: Wildcards Final
Seymour Centre, Sydney,
Sydney; Short & Sweet
Felicity Burke checks out the Wildcards Final.
Full Review
---
Zanna, Don't!
Chapel Off Chapel, Melbourne; Quirky Productions
As much as I support the premise
of this show; the idea of going against the flow of society, of fighting the tough
cultural fight and battling small-minded attitudes – the production as a whole just
didn’t do it for me. I’m sorry.
Full Review
---
Short & Sweet: Newtown Theatre Week Five
Newtown Theatre, Sydney; Short & Sweet
Volunteers are the backbone of
Short and Sweet. Hats off to the backstage crews who work hard with little
acknowledgement. However they do need to be coordinated and organised. Unfortunately last
night felt like a dress rehearsal with little recognition that there was an audience
present. Good technical work (the lighting designs by Larry Kelly were consistently good
throughout) was let down by slow and clumsy changes with delayed play starts. It also
might have been better to clear the auditorium at interval to allow stage crew to reset
and give the clearly visible members of the cast in the dressing room (in various stages
of undress) some privacy.
Full Review
---
As Bees In Honey Drown
Darlinghurst Theatre, Sydney; Darlinghurst Theatre.
As Bees In Honey Drown is
such a quintessentially American performance that I was hesitant to see it brought to the
Australian stage, especially as all the cast had to affect dreadful American accents.
Still, this is the era of globalisation, and James Beach's direction of Douglas Carter
Bean's play manage to bring home a few truths to our desparate-for-sucess-at-any-cost
generation.
Full Review
---
The Removalists
Wharf 1, Sydney; Sydney Theatre Company
Thirty-seven years on from when it
was first written, David Williamsons play The Removalists draws a very different
reaction from its audience.
Full Review
---
Little Nell
Ensemble Theatre, Sydney; Ensemble Theatre
One of the problems with historical plays is that a certain amount of exposition is
needed. If you're not careful your expositionary device of choice might drown out the rest
of the material. So it is, unfortunately, with the late Simon Gray's Little Nell. All too often the golden rule of
"show, don't tell" is broken. The audience is repeatedly enticed with glimpses
of shiny baubles, only to have them blanketed by lengthy scenes of angst-laden
handwringing in someone's parlour.
Full Review
---
Short & Sweet: Seymour Centre Week 3
Seymour Centre, Sydney;
Short & Sweet
Our coverage of Short & Sweet continues.
Full Review
---
Short & Sweet: Newtown Theatre Week 4
Newtown Theatre, Sydney;
Short & Sweet
Our coverage of Short & Sweet continues.
Full Review
---
Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story
Lyric Theatre, Sydney; Live Theatre Productions
(Aust) Pty Ltd
To say Buddy Holly was
groundbreaking probably does the man an injustice. After all, his songs set the tone for
the most exciting musical era of all-time and the legacy he left behind when he died 50
years ago has never showed signs of fading.
Full Review
---
Short & Sweet: Newtown Theatre Week 3
Newtown Theatre, Sydney;
Short & Sweet
Our coverage of Short & Sweet continues.
Full Review
---
Poor Boy
Sumner Theatre, Melbourne; Melbourne Theatre
Company
The Melbourne Theatre Company opened the shiny, brand-spanking-new Sumner Theatre
this very-hot week with a shiny, new, very hot Australian work.
Full Review
---
Short & Sweet: Seymour Centre Week 2
Seymour Centre, Sydney; Short & Sweet
Our coverage of Short & Sweet continues.
Full Review
---
Short & Sweet Wildcards Week 1
Seymour Centre, Sydney;
Short & Sweet
Our coverage of Short & Sweet continues.
Full Review
---
Short & Sweet Seymour Centre Week 1
Seymour Centre, Sydney;
Short & Sweet
Our coverage of Short & Sweet continues.
Full Review
---
Short & Sweet Newtown Theatre Week 2
Newtown Theatre, Sydney; Short & Sweet
Our coverage of Short & Sweet continues.
Full Review
---
Golden Valley
Northcote Town Hall, Melbourne; Perilous
Productions
In 1982, Dorothy Hewett’s Golden Valley won the Australia Writers’
Guild Augie award for best children’s script. Perilous Productions bring this
Australian fairy tale to the stage for its first professional Melbourne production since
1985.
Full Review
---
Short & Sweet Week 1
Newtown Theatre, Sydney; Short & Sweet
Our coverage of Short & Sweet continues.
Full Review
---
Grace
Fairfax Studio, Melbourne; Melbourne Theatre
Company
MTC’s 2009 season starts with
Grace, a comprehensive debate about religion,
belief, faith and love. It’s another play about middle aged academics in crisis, but
no one can ever say that this company don’t target their core audience.
Full Review
---
Vincent River
Old Fitzroy Theatre, Sydney; Hot Seat, Roar
Theatre, 2SER, Tamarama Rock Surfers
Philip Ridley’s play Vincent
River is magnificent.
Full Review
---
Short & Sweet Week 0
Newtown Theatre, Sydney; Short & Sweet
We kick off our Short & Sweet 2009 coverage.
Full Review
---
Tuesday's With Morrie
Ensemble Theatre, Sydney; Ensemble Theatre Company
This was one of those plays I felt a little edgy about seeing. In this particular case my
apprehension was due to the fact that Tuesdays With
Morrie seems to be inextricably linked to the Oprah Winfrey brand – and I'm
afraid I suffer from an extreme, adversely snobbish reaction to anything that has the big
O's name appended to it.
Full Review
---
Short & Sweet 2008: Wildcards, Week Three
Fairfax Studio, Melbourne; Short & Sweet
The final ten Short and Sweet Wildcards concluded the annual
three-week 10 minute theatre fest. As with week three’s Top 20, they were undercooked
and left a slightly bitter aftertaste.
Full Review
---
Short & Sweet 2008: Top 20, Week Three
Fairfax Studio, Melbourne; Short & Sweet
The opportunity and support given
to theatre makers by the Short and Sweet
festival is incomparable and over the last four years, the festival has offered some of
the most memorable moments on the Fairfax stage. So I’m not sure what’s going on
this year.
Full Review
---
_________________________________________________________________________________
2008 REVIEW ARCHIVE
Click here for 2008 reviews
2006/7 REVIEW ARCHIVE
Click here for 2006 and 2007 reviews |
