Do you believe in ghosts? Noted sceptic and author Professor Adrian Chambers (Peter Houghton) most certainly does not? The 62-year-old has written 14 books on the subject. At a very poorly attended new book reading and signing, he is waylaid by the only person who turns up, librarian Beth Jackson (Emily Trheny). Although their awkward…
What a great talent this man is. Reuben Kaye headlines a bawdy show to remember, introducing three Australian Opera headliners in the camped-up Opera Up Late. Making its first appearance in Melbourne, it has been a staple in Sydney since it was conceived by Kaye and award-winning director Shaun Rennie for WorldPride in 2023. It…
From cabaret to comedy, music to dance, theatre to the visual arts and a lot more, diversity is the key to the 2025 Melbourne Fringe Festival. That was on display at the opening night gala at the Capitol Theatre, which gave us a taste of the almost 500-strong show lineup in this, the festival’s 43rd…
In this family friendly tale, an ambitious, self-serving, 35-year-old Sydney TV weather presenter makes an unexpected sea change. Inspired by the true story of Chris ‘Brolga’ Barns, he has been reimagined as Chris Masterman (Ryan Corr). Chris has his eyes on a television hosting role when he inadvertently becomes public enemy #1, after a weather…
Slick and oh so cleverly acted and staged, this enticing parody of the 1935 Alfred Hitchcock movie is riotously funny. Patrick Barlow’s adaptation of the 1915 novel by Scottish author John Buchan, brings slapstick humour to the mystery crime thriller and it works brilliantly. It is August 1935 and 47-year-old Richard Hannay (Ian Stenlake) lives…
If you are into slapstick humour, you are going to have a ball. This riotous theatrical disaster is stumbling its way around Australia and has just opened in Melbourne. The premise is straight forward enough, but its execution something else entirely. The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society is attempting to stage a 1920s Agatha Christie-style murder…
Everything old is new again. That popular expression could apply to the sequel to Disney’s Freaky Friday, which again features Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan and Mark Harmon. The conceit of the original, 22 years ago, was that Tess Coleman (Curtis) and her daughter, Anna (Lohan), are at loggerheads. And then, after a freak accident,…
What a weapon invective is in Bloomshed’s fun-filled, hilarious take on Pride and Prejudice. The basic ingredients are there, but the twists are delicious and enormously satisfying in what is a social satire dressed as a period drama. For starters, Mr Bennet is a withering plant (yes, a potted monstera, in fact) that Mrs Bennet…
Oh my. What would lauded Russian playwright Anton Chekhov think if he came back to life and saw Pony Cam’s hilarious reimagining of The Cherry Orchard. Written in 1903, the original concerns an aristocratic landowner returning to her family estate and sanctioning its sale to pay the mortgage. As the orchard literally faces the chop,…
MTC keeps lifting the bar. Kimberly Akimbo is a superb, zany, comical and tender production. The five-time Tony Award winner, which included Best Musical, concerns a lonely girl about to turn 16 who has a very rare genetic condition. She ages four to five times faster than normal, which means she looks old long before…
