A group of writers sit around a boardroom table trying to come up with a compelling story in Annie Baker’s latest play, The Antipodes, now showing at Red Stitch in Melbourne. Under the watchful eyes of their older mentor in Sandy (Jim Daly) the group of seven – though only one woman, Eleanor (Ngaire Dawn Fair)…
Well, the last Mary Rachel Brown play I saw in Sydney was Silent Night for the Darlinghurst Theatre Company late last year. It was a disaster. Approaching another evening with Ms Brown was a tentative commitment. However, I can say, it was worth taking a punt, for the experience was a better one. Permission to…
John Misto’s witty and acerbic Lip Service translates to a top night of entertainment. The play concerns a battle royale between cosmetics giants between 1954 and 1965. It’s Helena Rubinstein versus Elizabeth Arden, with both under siege from Revlon. Misto has taken the truth and embellished it with sparkling effect. Don’t for a moment think…
Sparkling wit, energy and enthusiasm characterise Coral Browne: This F***ing Lady!. Maureen Sherlock’s smart script showcases the colourful life of a girl raised in Melbourne’s West who went on to conquer the West End. Now all but forgotten, BAFTA winner Coral Browne wasn’t one to pull her punches. After Melbourne success, she took all before…
Joanne (Jessica Meyer), Gillian (Babette Bellini), Lulu (Hayley Fielding), Beezus (Elizabeth Horrowitz) and Penny (Lauren Evans) are the equally loved and feared glamourous Real Housewives of Brisbane. One by one they introduce themselves at the start of the Brisbane Arts Theatre musical of the same name, in parody of the US media franchise of shows…
Unqualified is a new Australian play nurtured and commissioned by the Ensemble Theatre. Joanne (Genevieve Hegney) has found her TV star husband is heading to bankruptcy – and to Bali with his latest girlfriend. Enough is enough – this relationship MUST end. Felicity (Catherine Moore) has worked as a butcher in her father’s meat business…
Indigenous Australia’s fight for justice and equality is given superhero treatment in Blackie Blackie Brown. We may well be looking at the stage equivalent of the movies Deadpool or Kick-Ass. Exaggerated theatrics are liberally supplemented by evocative graphics, animation, mock television news reports, and mood lighting. The staging is most effective. A series of joined…
Marjorie Prime is an American play by Jordan Harrison, that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2015. The play is set in the mid-21st century. Tess (Lucy Bell) is caring for her ageing mother Marjorie (Maggie Dence). Marjorie is beginning to experience a creeping dementia. Jon (Richard Sydenham), Tess’ husband, has contacted a…
Unbridled ambition gets a thorough workout in Gloria. This Pulitzer Prize-nominated drama from American playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is one of four MTC Australian premieres this season. Set in the offices of a prestigious Manhattan magazine, the play is a contemporary satire. The day-to-day drudgery is particularly wearing on a small group of editorial assistants. They…
George Bernard Shaw wrote Saint Joan, in 1923, six scenes and an epilogue. Imara Savage, the Director of this production, has ambitiously taken many liberties with the original text. This Sydney Theatre Company production of Saint Joan occupies the stage for one hour and forty-five minutes, straight through, without an interval. A great deal of…
