Come From Away (OSMaD), at Scotch College – musical theatre review
Come From Away is a brilliantly composed, intense and emotional musical. So much so, that…
Soul of Possum, at fortyfivedownstairs – theatre review
The ugly threat of colonialism looms large in Brodie Murray’s well realised Soul of Possum. We are on the Murray River – Wamba Wamba country – in 1853. Suddenly, the bush is devoid of its usual wildlife. There is an unseen danger. Wirramanda (Balla Neba) tries to warn brothers from another clan, but they are…
Come From Away (OSMaD), at Scotch College – musical theatre review
Come From Away is a brilliantly composed, intense and emotional musical. So much so, that it gets me every time. When I first saw it, I thought I had seen nothing like it. Now, several years later, having attended several productions, I feel the same way. Perhaps that is why I keep coming back to…
Orpheus & Eurydice (Opera Australia), at Regent Theatre – opera review
Imagine losing the love of your life on your wedding night, only to have the chance to win her back from the underworld, subject to strict conditions. Surely, you’d back yourself. But wait, the story gets much darker because although you and your wife are reunited, the conditions are too much to bear. In short,…
A Few Good Men, at QPAC – theatre review
Many know the iconic cinematic phrase, ‘You can’t handle the truth!’, even if they haven’t seen the 1992 film A Few Good Men. I’m one of them. Perhaps it’s my aversion to Tom Cruise, but somehow the film passed me by, so seeing Queensland Theatre’s riveting production of Aaron Sorkin’s 1989 play was a pleasant…
The Old Vic’s A Christmas Carol, at Comedy Theatre – theatre review
Each year I keep coming back for a repeat dose of Christmas cheer. Why? Because The Old Vic’s A Christmas Carol is a fine, heartfelt and meaningful production, in which the actor who plays Scrooge changes from year to year. Charles Dickens’ tale of greed at the expense of humanity may date back to 1843,…
Nihilistic Optimism On Trampolines, at Theatre Works – theatre review
In good conscience, I can’t say I could recommend this play to … well, anyone. Within minutes, I was wishing I was anywhere else other than in Theatre Works watching Nihilistic Optimism On Trampolines. Seeing workers at a trampolining facility hooking up, bonding, squabbling and bored out of their tiny minds hardly seemed like the…
Maho Magic Bar, at Spiegel Haus Melbourne – magic review
An array of cocktails, mocktails and sleight of hand at close quarters, with some hijinks and a party atmosphere to boot. That is what in store for you when you step into the Japanese Magic Bar experience. As you order your drinks, seated at five “stations” – a table and four bars – five magicians…
RED at fortyfivedownstairs – theatre review
Intense. Visceral. Passionate. Angry. Confronting. My instant reaction to a remarkable two-man show about art and what it means. It is the late 1950s. A master painter lets loose – doesn’t hold back – in “schooling” his assistant. In short, it is verbal diatribe of biblical proportions. Ken (Jordan Briggs) is like the cat that…
Meow Meow’s The Red Shoes at Malthouse Theatre – theatre review
Danish author and poet Hans Christian Anderson based the literary fairy tale The Red Shoes about a peasant girl named Karen on his loathed half-sister of that name. The story, first published in an 1845 collection of his works, is that of a girl being forced to dance continually in red shoes. The peasant girl’s…
Much Ado About Nothing (MTC), at Southbank Theatre, The Sumner – theatre review
Insults, treachery and love are interchangeable in this new, modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, which crackles with absurdity and wit. It centres around the vicissitudes faced by two couples feted to be together, but not before a whole heap of melodrama. I speak of the acerbic Beatrice (Alison Bell) and aristocratic soldier…
