Some people should not see this play – the squeamish, religious zealots and those who don’t have a sense of humour! Everyone else, line up for two hours of enthralling entertainment thanks to Deborah Mulhall’s successfully creative directorship. The New Theatre is a small, intimate venue and the audience had a great experience from any…
Desire, loss and madness are in the spotlight in the Australian premiere of Right Now. This comedic drama asks the question: what’s real and what is imagined? Quebecois playwright Catherine-Anne Toupin wrote the play, and Chris Campbell translated it from the French. Alice (Christina O’Neill) is a beautiful young woman. She’s been married for three…
Young Jewish comedian Michael Shafar relates stories about his life as they pertain to his girlfriend of nine years, Amanda, and his parents. They include a particularly lame “dad joke” that keeps haunting him and various body parts of his that his mother has kept. His grandmother also isn’t spared his opprobrium – all these…
On stage in her cabaret show 39 Forever, Amity Dry is funny and empowered. It’s hard to believe that back in 2003 this versatile performer shot to prominence in the first season of The Block. Now on a fun girls’ night out (with a few new age sensitive guys in tow), Amity charms us with…
As an 18-year-old nerd, Brit Steve Bugeja decided to reinvent himself. So he flew to the US and volunteered at a summer camp for children with autism. For the first time in his life, he wanted to be known as “Cool Steve”. Well, that didn’t work out, but still he gives a hilarious account of…
A series of massive, crowd-pleasing chorus numbers are among the highlights of Grease: The Arena Experience. More than 500 enthusiastic youngsters join the 19-strong main cast and make a big impression. Harvest Rain Theatre Company is responsible for touring this production. They’re intent on introducing thousands of youngsters to the musical art form. For those…
David O’Doherty delivers lightning-speed patter both spoken and sung – the latter with the accompaniment of an old fashioned keyboard. His latest Melbourne International Comedy Festival show is You Have To Laugh at the Forum. The Irish comedian has been plying his trade for a couple of decades now. O’Doherty won £1,000 as the best…
My take on Garfield: The Musical with Cattitude – energetic, fun and funny. This musical is based on the world’s most widely syndicated comic strip. Jim Davis created the cat Garfield, the human Jon Arbuckle and the dog Odie in 1978. Today it is syndicated to more than 2,500 media outlets worldwide. Common themes in…
Going Down by Michelle Lee is a new Australian play. Last year, the Griffin Theatre presented her play, Rice. Natalie Yang (Catherine Davies), a Chinese-Australian, has written her first book, “Banana Girl”, a no-holds-barred sex memoir. No-one is really interested. On the other hand Lu Lu Jayadi (Jenny Wu), an Muslim-Australian from Indonesia, has written…
Superbly written by Jane e Thompson, Fierce is a beautiful nuanced play that highlights gender disparity in sports. I was riveted throughout. Suzie Flack is better than other female AFL footballers. She doesn’t want to play in the women’s league. Rather, she’s intent on competing against men. And she gets her chance to do so,…
