Luna Gale is an American play, by Rebecca Gilman, written in 2014. Luna Gale has been taken into custody for her own safety. She is the baby daughter of Karlie (Lucy Heffernan) and Peter (Jacob Warner). They are, unfortunately, meth addicts, and have been dangerously neglectful of their child. Karlie’s mother, Cindy (Michelle Doake), a…
The world premiere comedy Lottie in the Late Afternoon explores some big questions. What is life all about? Can it be meaningful? What is the path to true happiness? Lottie (Laura Maitland) who works in a craft store, and her 37-year-old husband Ryan (Linc Hasler), are stress-heads. They rarely get time to see each other,…
What the hell am I seeing? What does it mean? Why am I even in the theatre? What a total and utter waste of time and space. How boring. These thoughts came flooding into my head five minutes into Working With Children. A slightly transparent white curtain and a pair of white runners and folded…
As clever and highly regarded as it is, I can’t say I particularly warmed to Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter. An atmosphere of frustration and menace permeates the setting – a basement in Birmingham. A couple of hit men are awaiting instructions for their next assignment. As the play starts, Ben (John Wood) – the…
Blasted is a remarkably insightful and deeply traumatising work from British playwright Sarah Kane, first performed in 1995. Ian (David Woods) is a broken, middle-aged journalist. He’s brought a much younger woman, Cate (Eloise Mignon) – who he’s known for some time – to an upmarket hotel room. But when she resists his advances, he…
I love Hamlet; it’s my preferred Shakespearean tragedy. Visiting its Kronborg Castle setting was my favourite of all days when touring in Denmark. There’s something rotten in the Denmark of this ultimate revenge drama though. After his father’s death, Prince Hamlet (Silvan Rus) is overlooked for the crown in favour of his uncle, Claudius (Ben…
Poignant. Deeply moving. Brilliantly conceived and executed. A life story rich and redolent. That’s what awaits you when you enter Red Stitch Theatre to experience multi award-winning British playwright Abi Morgan’s Lovesong. Billy and Maggie are a young English couple who have migrated to Australia. He practices as a dentist and she’s a librarian. They…
Nell Gwynn, by Jessica Swale, won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy in 2016. In a large number of short scenes – it’s in two acts and almost three hours long – the play brings to life the career of Nell Gwynn (Bishanyia Vincent). She’s a young woman who grew up in Cheapside experiencing…
A bravura performance from renowned Australian actor Colin Friels highlights Scaramouche Jones. This intoxicating work was written by Brit Justin Butcher in the final months of 1999. Scaramouche Jones has been a clown for 50 years. Now he’s marking the final hour of his life on Earth. It’s New Year’s Eve 1999, exactly 100 years to…
King of Pigs is a new Australian play by Steve Rodgers. This play targets domestic violence for discussion. Says director, Blazey Best: I’ve been hearing a lot about the ‘Epidemic’ of Family Violence and – faced with the statistics and the sheer relentless regularity of horrific stories in the news – it’s hard to dismiss…
