A pre-show soundtrack of Oz-rock classics adds an air of excitement to the experience of audience members awaiting the Brisbane season of Belvoir Theatre’s Barbara and the Camp Dogs by Ursula Yovich and Alana Valentine. It’s an effective emphasis of the pub rock atmosphere for anyone who hasn’t gathered the feel of set designer Stephen…
Lies, bravado and one-upmanship are explored in the satire Four Dogs and a Bone. The “bone” is a Hollywood film and the “dogs” baring their teeth are the producer, an ageing starlet, a newbie actor and the writer. Each wants things on their terms. The producer, Bradley (Kostas Ilias), throws his weight around. He needs…
Those familiar with Batman will know that he had a good working relationship with Commissioner Gordon of the Gotham City Police Department. A fictional character aiding a law enforcement agency. In the 1890’s, the fictional superhero is Sherlock Holmes, a private detective with uncanny investigative skills. And the law enforcement agency is the London Metropolitan…
Absurdist but with heart, Louis Nowra’s Cosi is fun to watch but appears to have aged. The setting is the Vietnam War era – 1971 to be specific – and the location is a mental institution. So, yes there’s a little bit of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest about it. A young man, Lewis…
The classic tale of Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw is a crowd-pleaser for all ages. The latest production by the New Theatre is no exception. It’s a story that’s been told in many versions since it was written in 1912, the most loved being My Fair Lady. The play’s title is apt, named after the…
Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810 – 1891) was the master of smoke and mirrors; the ultimate flimflam man. Although often down on his luck and short of money, he always managed to find a way out. That had something to do with his vivid imagination and a lot more to do with his grounded wife, Charity….
The unerring passage of time as death nears is the subject of Wakey, Wakey. In it, an everyday man contemplates what has gone before. He is Guy, a role filled by Justin Hosking who has a delightful demeanour. The first lines say it all: “Is it now? I thought I had more time. Wow. That…
Amy Ingram has a talent for portraying insecure or downtrodden females and she uses that talent well in this rib-tickling little two-hander as Ashley. She was joined by the equally talented Thomas Larkin as the same-name, same problem character. Between them kept the audience laughing, quietly empathising or groaning at ineptitude. The action was played…
La Traviata Stripped and Dressed in Jazz and Blues is classic opera shortened and mashed with contemporary music. It’s operatic numbers interspersed with popular modern tunes … a fusion of the two. It is quite a heady mix and one pursued passionately by Emotionworks Cut Opera and specifically its creative force, Julie Edwardson. She’s a…
Fleur Kilpatrick’s stage adaptation of Kurt Vonnegut’s novel Slaughterhouse Five explores the horrors of war and the effects of PTSD. The play centres on the Allies’ firebombing of Dresden between February 13 and 15, 1945 in which tens of thousands of people died. The book’s narrator (and author), who’s also part of the play, has…
