The Nightingale and The Rose is a Gothic fable. It was first published in 1888 as part of Oscar Wilde’s anthology titled The Happy Prince and Other Stories. It explores the beauty of love and art from the perspective of an effervescent nightingale. The bird hears the longing cries of a young student desperate to…
Hardly enough happens in The House of Bernarda Alba to sustain its 105 minute running time. Playwright Patricia Cornelius takes on Federico Garcia Lorca’s classic tragedy. Cornelius has transported the action from the villages of Spain in the 1930s to contemporary rural Western Australia. Along the way, she explores themes of passion, repression and isolation….
I have rarely seen an audience stunned into silent stillness as the audience was during The Firebird. It was one of the most astonishing ballets I’ve ever seen. The 55 minute long production was just mesmerising; it pulsated with emotion, character, amazing choreography from Liam Scarlett, and some brilliant interpretation from the dancers. And of…
Rodgers & Hammerstein’s classic Oklahoma! revolutionised the American musical. This version from The Production Company (TPC) features a searing lead performance, a superb principal cast, and a wonderfully creative set. Thirty-two performers take to the stage, along with TPC’s own orchestra. Oklahoma! is set outside the town of Claremont in 1906. It tells the story…
Good Cook. Friendly. Clean. is a new Australian play by newcomer, Brooke Robinson. It was short listed for the 2017 Griffin Award. Sandra, a 58 year old finds herself with a two week deadline to find new rental sharehouse accommodation in Sydney. Over nine scenes we travel with Sandra to a series of meetings –…
Technological endeavour and craftsmanship combine in the beautifully realised The Wizard of Oz. This fun-filled family musical will have cross-generational appeal. This London Palladium production was developed from the popular MGM movie of 1939. The movie, in turn, was based on L. Frank Baum’s 1900 children’s book The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The Wizard of…
Going Down gives cultural identity a good old-fashioned pounding. A stellar lead performance provides the highlight of this 90-minute play (no interval). Hmong-Australian playwright Michele Lee (winner of the 2018 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Rice) provides the source material. Going Down is one for the “me” generation; the hedonists who would rebel against their past. The…
You might not be able to buy love, but you can Rent it. I discovered this 22 years ago when I saw Jonathan Larson’s iconic rock musical on Broadway. That year it won the Pulitzer Prize for drama and received four Tony Awards, including Best Musical. As a self-confessed Renthead, I not only know the…
The MTC’s Wild is an example of a play in which technological achievement outdoes narrative content. To say any more about the former would be to spoil the surprise and I’m not about to be a party pooper. Andrew (Nicholas Denton) is an ordinary Joe one day – and America’s most wanted the next. The…
What a night; laughs galore, some of the funniest characters you’ll ever seen on a stage, amazing comic performances from a superb cast, brilliant set, lighting and costumes, a whole heap of catchy new music from Tim Finn and finally a well deserved and triumphant standing ovation. Shakespeare would have been applauding in his grave….
