Risqué and ribald, the R-rated treat that is Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett features an astounding cavalcade of talent. Provocative costuming, sexual tension, bawdy humour, original music and death-defying feats of strength, dexterity and precision are the order of the day. Aerial skills, pole dancing and fire eating are hot on the menu, as is hilarious audience interaction. There…
CLOC’s production of the hit musical Chicago sizzles. It is cheeky and cheery and holds its own nearly half a century after it was first produced and more than a quarter century on from its revival. The music by John Kander with lyrics from Fred Ebb and book by Ebb and Bob Fosse continue to resonate. Musically, it…
After a 19-year hiatus, the emotion charged, highly acclaimed production of Romeo and Juliet by choreographer John Cranko takes centre stage at Arts Centre Melbourne. It has power, passion and playfulness and introduces a new generation of The Australian Ballet Dancers. They are headlined by Callum Linnane and Sharni Spencer in the lead roles on opening night. In…
Dr John Everyman (Dennis Coard) is a retired and much-loved GP who lost his wife Sophia, when she was just 59. She was taken 13 years ago and he hasn’t been able to fill that void. To this day he rages at God for the “theft” of his beloved wife (he calls it “an act of divine…
Based on a memoir by the late Timothy Conigrave, playwright Tommy Murphy has given us an up close and personal look at a 15-year gay relationship. It starts in the teen years and works its way through to the HIV/AIDS crisis of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Tim (Gene Efron) has his eyes on the school football captain…
A secret imaginary rendezvous between two towering but polar opposite African American leaders plays out in The Meeting. The pair lived in the same era. Both were assassinated at age 39. One preached non-violence, the other violent rebellion. I speak of Baptist minister and activist Martin Luther King Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) and Muslim…
Cyrano is a massive triumph. The MTC production of the season. A talented cast, headlined by writer and star Virginia Gay prove that the pen is mightier than the sword. This is a contemporary rewrite of the classic play by Edmond Rostand about a French army soldier and gifted poet with a particularly large nose enamoured…
An engaging professor of parapsychology talks us through the history of ghost stories – how they came to be and how they have evolved over time. Phillip Goodman’s (Steve Rodgers) dissertation comes complete with photographic and video “evidence”. Among the most compelling is a photo of four people taken in Scotland in 1972, which, upon closer inspection,…
The second line of Peter Allen’s iconic anthem I Still Call Australia Home contains the words “From New York to Rio and old London Town”. It then goes on to say, “I still call Australia home”. Only Rio doesn’t feature in The Australia Ballet’s three parter Instruments of Dance. The triple bill has the works of resident…
Othello has long been one of Shakespeare’s most controversial plays, but with its challenges comes great potential. That potential is realised in Queensland Theatre’s production, part of the 2022 Brisbane Festival program. It is an electric adaption that approaches the tragedy from a uniquely-Queensland perspective. Jimi Bani and Jason Klarwein inject Australian and Torres Strait Islander…
