A contemporary twist on an old fancy, Monash University Student Theatre (MUST) in association with Bloomshed, have taken aim at supermarket greed. The plot is drawn from the satirical play The Government Inspector (1836) by Russian dramatist and novelist Nikolai Gogol. It is a comedy of errors, satirising greed, stupidity and political corruption in Russia. In The Government…
Billy Elliot The Musical remains as moving and evocative as when I first saw it at Her Majesty’s Theatre on 1stJanuary, 2009 … and what a magnificent show it is. For me, this is up there with the best musicals brought to the stage. It is based on the successful 2000 film, which starred Jamie…
Discard any preconceived notions of an ancient Greek play by Euripides about a woman who kills her children. Adaptations of Medea usually have the titular character front and centre, but this unique take on the story by Kate Mulvany and Anne-Louise Sarks has her two sons as the focal point. In fact, the two young…
Being identifiable as Jewish today is more fraught than at any time since the Holocaust. Since the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, the growing tide of antisemitism has been relentless. That is why Ron Elisha’s thought-provoking work could not be more relevant or timely. Many words are spoken in Rootless Cosmopolitans, at the heart of which…
I’ve now seen A Midsummer Night’s Dream countless times, including at The Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon (#sogood), because despite its comic complications, it is an easy story to follow and thoroughly enjoy. Though things may not quite be as they seem, Shakespeare’s play about true love’s lack of smooth course, is quite simple in…
Sharing a house with friends and/or strangers can be anything but straightforward. Sometimes, mighty testing, in fact. So it is in the new Australian musical Share House, which is simply delightful. Former classmates Lucy and Jane are as different as chalk and cheese. Now young adults, they have been living together for what seems like forever. Bossy, at times…
Noted for her interpretation of French ballads, Edith Piaf (19th December 1915 – 11th October, 1963) was one of the world’s most lauded singers. Forever searching for love, her dramatic style and expressive voice appeared to reflect the troubled and difficult life she led. Her small stature (she was only four foot eight inches tall) and stage…
What did I know about Pentecostalism when I entered the Malthouse Theatre? Little to nothing, save for a few colourful stories about Hillsong. Suffice to say, it is a charismatic Protestant movement, which is subject to much scrutiny in the no holds barred offering Homo Pentecostus. Co-creators (with Emma Valente) and performers Joel Bray and Peter Paltos…
Queensland writer and composer Paul Hodge’s Black Box touches down in world premiere at QPAC with unique proposition. It presents a bi-aural 3D-soundscaped musical telling of the life of a little-known Australian inventor. On paper it sounds like a niche, curious combination of elements. In reality it clearly works; in fact it not only works,…
Memories – personal, intimate, global … over time and space … on Earth and beyond. A monologue that is vivid and humorous and, at times, matter of fact, a kaleidoscope of disparate thoughts that come together to form a time capsule. That is what writer Emma May Hall pulled together seven years ago and revised slightly earlier…
