Just why Deborah Conway and her husband Willy Zygier are cherished as Australian music royalty is evident when you see Songs from the Book of Life. It is an 80-minute narrative concert featuring a cavalcade of life experiences, as outlined by Conway, along with eight songs. She goes back to her childhood when her parents used…
Their father was big and strong. He could be fun, but more often than not he was scary, angry, brutal and dogmatic. He couldn’t land a job and so money was always tight. He drank. After surviving WWII, which included being shipwrecked and a prisoner of war on the Thai-Burma Railway, he had PTSD. His wife,…
Bananaland opens in the wake of Covid’s decimation of the performing arts sector. Only the determined can survive, and lead singer of Kitty Litter, 21-year-old Ruby Semblance (Maz McKenna) is certainly determined… uncompromising in her pursuit to have society wake up and also realise her unconventional onstage artistry. It’s all quite tongue-in-cheek as along with…
Justin Williams makes the impossible possible with a big smile on his face. He is an illusionist and balloon artist who recently won the Australian reality TV series Blow Up. That saw 10 people competing to create the best balloon artworks. He has parlayed that success into the world premiere of Justin’s BIG Balloon Show, in which he…
Stunning. That word best sums up The Australian Ballet’s reinvention of Anne Woolliams’ acclaimed 1977 production of the world’s most famous ballet, Swan Lake. The tragically beautiful story with instantly recognisable score remains an audience favourite and the centrepiece and shining light of many companies’ repertoire. Swan Lake is magnificent, majestic and mesmerising. Dancer, ballet mistress, teacher,…
How clever and creative. Circa’s Carnival of the Animals is an engaging, endearing, comedic and delightful family show – circus with a decided difference. When we enter the Playhouse at Arts Centre Melbourne, in the middle of a barren stage is a small stack of old-style suitcases of various sizes. As the show starts, these “props” are…
It is the future and Earth Seven is becoming uninhabitable. Too many people, too few resources. It is time to get out, but the opportunity is not there for everyone. In fact, even amongst “the chosen”, everything has to be just right … and it isn’t for Hon, otherwise known as Panther (Melanie Audrey) and Tee (Sodi…
Immersive and interactive theatre excites me. It always has. We don’t see enough of it in Australia. That is why I entered The Austral in Collingwood (a former theatre, cinema and roller-skating rink that dates back to 1921) with a heightened sense of anticipation. Forty-three rooms, eight characters, with us – the audience – free to go where…
SLUTNIK 2: Planet of Incels has cult classic written all over it. Think lashings of The Rocky Horror Show liberally mixed with Magic Mike and you have a starting point. The theme is women treated poorly and men behaving badly. It is a play with a series of up-tempo musical numbers, accompanied by buff male dancers. Unfortunately, I didn’t…
Myra in Space is a dramatic comedy from independent theatre company Baggage Productions, which is dedicated to producing original scripts written by women. It concerns female agency, unfulfilled potential and, possibly, mental illness. Myra Foreman (Kelly Nash) is a 65-year-old married woman with two grown children, who is at the crossroads. For as long as she can…
