If tables could talk, I think most of us would want them to shut up pretty quickly. They just sit there watching, year after year, recording all the great events that take place around them, on them and, apparently, under them. In Tanya Ronder’s Table, secrets of the Best family are aired publicly and without…
Massive wealth is hidden to thwart gold diggers in pursuit of true love in the captivating comedy Thoroughly Modern Millie. A second narrative thread concerns a ruthless hotelier who cashes in on vulnerable young women looking to become actresses. The Production Company has done an outstanding job bringing to life the subterfuge and hijinks, ensuring…
Marriage is hard work. How often have you heard that? Well, the subject is given a working-over in American playwright Michael Weller’s drama Fifty Words. Adam (Daniel Schepisi) is an architect who works a long way from home. Jan (Katharine Innes) is a former dancer turned businesswoman. They have a love/hate relationship. Their child (who…
Slingsby’s production of Oscar Wilde’s The Young King (adapted for the stage by Nicki Bloom) is a deceptively simple but lusciously layered show. That is once the acclaimed Adelaide theatre company’s show actually starts as before the audience makes it into the theatre space, things begin with an immersive entry process through the Cremorne Theatre…
The Curators’ homage to great Norwegian playwright Henrick Ibsen’s controversial Ghosts is innovative from even the initial moments. Smoke haze meets the audience on entering the Vintage Pop-Up Theatre in Red Hill’s St Barnabas Hall. In opening, characters emerge to move forward towards us from behind a makeshift plastic scrim screen. A menacing soundtrack signals…
This Wide Night deals with the trials and tribulations of a couple of ex-cons – former cell mates – from English playwright Chloë Moss. Marie (Claire Sara) looks to have it all together. She’s finally extracted herself from an abusive relationship with a bloke who is still on the gear. She has a job at…
Slapstick humour and pantomime feature in MTC’s version of Shakespeare in Love. Adapted for the stage by Lee Hall, with music by Paddy Cunneen, this Australian premiere is based on the 1998 film of the same name. More specifically, it’s based Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard’s screenplay for that movie. In the MTC’s production, laughs…
In 1929, Virginia Woolf reflected on the treatment of women in general and female authors in particular. Her searing essay, A Room of One’s Own, has now been adapted for the stage. Woolf didn’t hold back. She laid it on the line, pointing out what theatrical adapter and director Peta Hanrahan calls “the profound inconsistencies,…
What a magnificent feel good show. Come From Away restores your faith in humanity. Moving, energetic and melodic, I defy anyone not to be in raptures … because it really is that good. The story is set in Newfoundland, an island off the northeast coast of Canada, after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. For…
Grim storytelling at its nasty best, the dystopian thriller Pomona set me back on my heels. Ollie’s (Mona Mina Leon) sister has disappeared and she’s desperate to find her. But because her sister was involved in some shady goings-on, Ollie doesn’t want to call the police. Instead, she’s referred to a driver, Zeppo (Dion Mills),…
