Hardly enough happens in The House of Bernarda Alba to sustain its 105 minute running time. Playwright Patricia Cornelius takes on Federico Garcia Lorca’s classic tragedy. Cornelius has transported the action from the villages of Spain in the 1930s to contemporary rural Western Australia. Along the way, she explores themes of passion, repression and isolation….
Mark Haddon’s best-selling award-winning novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time has been adapted to the stage by fellow playwright an Olivier winner himself. The novel which has become a staple of the school curriculum. Haddon himself thought the novel unadaptable, but Stephens’ version has been quite successful, remaining reasonably faithful to the novel….
Powerful, distressing and humorous, The Father is MTC’s best production of the season. Andre (played by John Bell – founder of Bell Shakespeare) is 80 years of age. Constantly losing his watch is the least of his worries. Although he steadfastly refuses to acknowledge it, he can no longer look after himself. His daughter Anne (Anita Hegh) is…
Characterised by soaring vocals, Jesus Christ Superstar is a bold and moving version of Jesus’ betrayal and crucifixion. With no spoken dialogue (it’s all sung), the show is set to wow audiences anew. That’s just what it did nearly 50 years ago when composer Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyricist Tim Rice got together. It debuted on Broadway in 1971,…
Noises Off has been around for a few decades – it was written by British playwright Michael Frayn in 1982. And unlike The Play That Goes Wrong or Fawlty Towers, it feels like it. The farce appeared dated to me and it was inclined to push the envelope too far at every turn. The first act…
In a tour de force performance, the multi-talented Christie Whelan Browne (The Drowsy Chaperone) takes us on a journey on Christmas Eve, while visiting her character’s dying mother. But don’t fret, Vigil is no downer. Using Steve Vizard’s words and lyrics, and composer Joe Chindamo’s original music, Whelan Browne mesmerises us, switching seamlessly from humour to…
Released in 1975, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest was arguably the most searing and memorable motion picture of my youth. The film starring Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher, helmed by Milos Forman shone a light on mental illness and claimed five Oscars in the process. With a title drawn from a nursery rhyme, Ken Kesey’s…
Wonderful music, a kaleidoscope of colourful costumes, warmth and good humour permeate the Playhouse in a showcase of talent that is Hello, Dolly! circa 2017. Lyrics and music are by Jerry Herman and a book by Michael Stewart. The show is based on Thornton Wilder‘s 1938 farce The Merchant of Yonkers, which Wilder revised and retitled The…
If you are looking for a play where all the threads come together in the end and you can readily make sense of what has gone before, then this isn’t for you. A mystery, John brings together a young couple who have been “an item” for three years, but who are having their troubles, with…
