Scheming and passion abound in Melbourne Shakespeare Company’s Cleopatra & Antony. Based on the Shakespearean tragedy Antony and Cleopatra, written about 1606, it concerns power and politics, but is a deeply personal story. Set during the final years of the Roman Republic, the 13-strong cast throws itself headlong into the desire and subterfuge that drive…
If theatre of the absurd tickles your fancy, you will have a field day with theatre company Pummel Squad’s Marginalia. It is a new play adapted from Nikolai Gogol’s 1936 satirical short story ‘The Nose’. That was about a St Petersburg official who awakens to find his proboscis has disappeared and taken on a life…
It was the print media that exposed the tale of two reclusive, idiosyncratic, upper-class women – a mother and daughter – in the early 1970s. That was when an article in the National Enquirer and a cover story in New York Magazine shone a light on the pair’s living conditions. Home for them was a…
Set between Australia and the Philippines, the tragicomedy MR BIG aka Tatay, A Transwoman and That Tiring Tune! deals with pain and regret. Diana (Dax Carnay-Hanrahan) is a trans Filipina woman who now lives in Australia and is engaged to be married to the love of her life, Jerry (Aiden Gale Miranda). At the same…
What a fascinating, intriguing, thrilling premise this James Joyce actioner has! Imagine if the Irish writer of Ulysses, one of the most lauded books ever published, exchanged correspondence with one of the world’s most famous comedians. Yes, Joyce and Groucho Marx in regular communication, after Groucho reached out to Joyce having acquired a first edition…
Set against the backdrop of The Troubles* in Northern Ireland, this searing debut play for Australian writer Grace Chapple tells of the personal fallout for a group of friends. With explosions heard at close quarters, events take place in Belfast, near the border, over three time frames. Besties Dierdre (Enya Daly) and Niamh (Ella Ferris)…
Twenty tracks, some deliberately discordant, others melodic, written to one of history’s greatest literary figures – that is the inventiveness of The Juliet Letters. The changes in tempo reflect significant mood shifts – from bitterness, disillusion and despair to vulnerability, cynicism and obsession. It is the work of an unlikely pairing, English rock singer/songwriter Elvis…
Bold and bodacious, why wouldn’t I start crowing about Year of the Rooster (the third part of what has become known as The Beast Trilogy by Spinning Plates Co.)? The others were The Crocodile (2023) and Rhinoceros (2024). Year of the Rooster is theatre of the absurd on steroids, with larger-than-life characters that bring attitude….
The power and punch of Martin Crimp’s 2019 free adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac, as superbly realised by Artefact Theatre Company, will stay with me for a long time. It is a sharp, modern version of Edmond Rostand’s classic love triangle, set in 17th century France, with toxic masculinity at its core. Insecurity and self-loathing…
The ugly threat of colonialism looms large in Brodie Murray’s well realised Soul of Possum. We are on the Murray River – Wamba Wamba country – in 1853. Suddenly, the bush is devoid of its usual wildlife. There is an unseen danger. Wirramanda (Balla Neba) tries to warn brothers from another clan, but they are…
