Seventy-five years on, Guys & Dolls continues to charm and delight. The Handa Opera production on Sydney Harbour is polished, memorable and so much fun. I attended on a fine, still night and it was a privilege to be in the audience. There was a sense of the magical about the evening. Specifically in that…
Is the rock a portal to other worlds, the conduit for transformative magic, which allows people to simply disappear? These are questions raised in playwright Tom Wright’s adaptation of Joan Lindsay’s classic 1967 Australian novel, which spawned Peter Weir’s 1975 film. As Lindsay originally intended in her book, the theatre production raises important questions about…
What a powerhouse of a show this is. The music, the moves and magnitude of it all were certainly not lost on me. The setting is the rehearsal room in the lead up to Michael Jackson’s Dangerous world tour, which kicked off in June 1992 and finished in November 1993. Michael Jackson (Ilario Grant), ever…
Twenty-one-year-old Leo Joseph-Connell (Shiv Palekar) values his independence. He’s fallen out with his mother Jane and is on a cross-country bike trip. The family hasn’t heard from him in weeks and they are worried. Leo lands on the doorstep of his 91-year-old grandmother Vera Joseph’s (Nancye Hayes) apartment in Greenwich Village, dirty and smelly. He’s…
One of the most powerful opening nights I have attended, the cast of Jesus Christ Superstar absolutely nailed it at the Princess Theatre. They elevated the drama and spectacle of an already mighty, angst riddled and potent story. It is about Jesus and the 12 apostles, one of whom – Judas Iscariot – isn’t happy…
Boys on the Verge of Tears is one of the toughest, grittiest plays I have come across. Having premiered at the Soho Theatre in London in 2023, it is an unrelenting 95 minutes of mainly toxic masculinity, in all its forms. These are boys and men, some grappling with their identity and feeling the pressure…
Can we escape a tortured past? That question is at the heart of the new drama Lyceum Highway, written by KV Adams and debuting at Meat Market Stables. The story starts with Maggie (Laura Iris Hill) wrapping herself in a brightly coloured crocheted blanket, admitting that she needs help. A blackness is overwhelming and consuming…
Strong socially progressive views, music and poetry distinguish Neil Cole’s new play An Audience with Don Dunstan. It shines a light on the South Australia’s premier, who served in the role from 1967 to 1968 and again from 1970 to 1979. The flamboyant and eclectic Dunstan (21st September, 1926 – 6th February, 1999) was born…
A Zen experience involving the late, great Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto (17th January, 1952 – 28th March, 2023), Kagami fuses music with technology. Before he passed, he collaborated with mixed-reality pioneers Tin Drum to create a final concert that will endure. Through cutting-edge technology, Kagami enables us to feel as if Sakamoto is performing directly…
A rogue cop, police brutality and domestic violence are front and centre in David Williamson’s incendiary satire The Removalists. Written by the prolific and highly acclaimed playwright 54 years ago, the piece has lost none of its bite. With crime the number one issue in the state and partner abuse showing no signs of dissipating,…
