Hijinks abound in the witty, irreverent, farcical hit musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. A world first, all-female identifying cast of 10 give voice to a comedy that has its roots in Roman times. It is feel good material, with plenty of laughs along the way. Pseudolus (Charmaine Gorman) is a wily…
The atmosphere of the era is set the moment one enters The Chapel at Chapel Off Chapel, which has been transformed into a den of iniquity. The band is playing and the mood is raucous and raunchy, with gamblers, showgirls and puritans mixing freely with the audience. Particular attention is paid to those seated at the two…
Based on a true story, injustice and antisemitism are at the core of the powerful musical Parade. It is 1913 and we are in Atlanta, Georgia. That is where Leo Frank (Aaron Robuck) has moved from Brooklyn to be with his wife Lucille (Montana Sharp) after her uncle offered him a good job. Leo is a hard-working, conservative…
Today, deteriorating mental health is spoken about far more often than it used to be, which is a good thing, but what does it look like up close and personal? Based on her own experiences, Chelsea Plumley’s insightful work takes us there. 41-year-old Shelley (Petra Glieson) is quite a handful. She always has been. She has…
Nominated for eight Oscars, David Lynch’s 1980 dramatic biographical film The Elephant Man – featuring Anthony Hopkins, John Hurt, Anne Bancroft and John Gielgud – remains seared into my consciousness. Now a clever and creative group of writers and composers (Marc Lucchesi, Sarah Nandagopan and Jayan Nandagopan) has taken the story’s essence, twisted it and turned…
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 (Declan Clifford) has his eyes on the school football…
Three disaffected young men are at the centre of punk rock band Green Day’s rock opera American Idiot. The story is expanded from its album of the same name, (released in 2004) and also features music from its 2009 album 21st Century Breakdown. The band – formed in 1986 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and…
Relationship often start with sizzle and succumb to pressure and misalignment between parties. Lion Heart Dance Company has cleverly captured that with movement and song. Don’t Go is characterised by star turns from principals Jemma Craig and Andrew J Liu. They are dynamic leads. As the saying goes, the “lovers” are “all over each other” at…
Showmanship, humour, pathos, anger, overt messaging and song are part of this well-meaning but noticeably stretched offering. At its core is a gay man, Cole (Stephen Loftus), now comfortable in his own skin, although it wasn’t always that way. He talks about his school years and coming out to his parents. And then, after Cole references a mentor…
The rough lot of an impoverished farming clan is front and centre in Gundog, a dramatic and confronting play with lashes of humour. Although written by Simon Longman from the West Midlands and set on a remote, rundown property in the UK, it fits comfortably into the Australian milieu. The introduction makes quite the impression, courtesy…
