Just as all families are unique, it’s safe to say that all have their own individual issues and, accordingly, suburban family life has long been fodder for theatrical works. In the case of From Darkness Steven Oliver’s take comes with humour but so much more; the darkly funny drama is, at its core, about bigger…
When The Little Red Theatre Company first bought Lady Beatle to La Boite, the show soon became one of my favourites of 2017. And from the moment Naomi Price bursts forth with “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” it’s clear the tradition will continue with its return to Brisbane. Her appropriate dress of military-style jacket,…
The pre-show soundtrack of “Teenage Dirtbag” type songs seems to be an apt choice ahead of La Boite Theatre’s Romeo and Juliet reminding its audience of the youth at the core of this story of vulnerable teenagers infatuated in spite of their familial-tie expectations. We see it on stage also in the show’s performances and…
‘Single Asian Female’… it’s a clever play-on-movie-title precis for dating profile purposes. Zoe (Michelle Law) however, is so much more than just this descriptor… classical musician, sister and daughter. Like many, her fractured family oscillates between being a constant of disorder and an annoying inconvenience… and this is even without her knowledge of her mother’s…
Back when I was reviewing for Brisbane’s Spectrum radio show I created the “Scottie” Awards. They were based entirely on my taste in entertainment and collated basically as a tribute the people who gave me a lot of pleasure and whose work I admire. This year I have decided to revive this annual event. So…
Neon Tiger is billed as the ‘adult gap year you never knew you needed’. Set to the beat of Bangkok, the musical love story promises karaoke, travel and romance. Rather than presenting a hustle-and-bustle travel tale of the tourist mecca, however, the two-hander tells an intimate account of an arduous and relatable relationship. Brisbane girl…
Aristophanes’ classic Greek comedy Lysistrata is a comic account of women’s extraordinary mission to end the Peloponnesian War. They withhold sexual privileges from their men as a means of forcing peace talks. As an early exposé of sexual relations in a male-dominated society, it’s an apt source for Lysa and the Freeborn Dames. This new…
The letter i is the square root of -1, which cannot occur; it is impossible, not because it doesn’t exist as much as because it makes no sense. It is a metaphor, perhaps for theatre, but even more so for experience of The Mathematics of Longing, a co-production between La Boite, The Farm and The…
Kathryn Marquet’s The Dead Devils of Cockle Creek begins in darkness. When the stage is lit, it reveals a ramshackle ranger’s station shack somewhere in the wilds of south-western Tasmania. Centre-stage is Dr George Templeton (Emily Weir), cradling an infant devil in her arms. The environmental scientist is determined, passionate and intelligent enough to know…
In true international award-winning Black Honey Company style, One the Bear bursts on the audience. In an apocalyptic aesthetic avalanche, its stars, the story’s titular One (Candy Bowers) and her best friend Ursula (Nancy Denis), emerge from a rubbish skip. One and Ursula are bears attempting to escape a hunter. Such is the reality of…
