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…
It mightn’t be Riverdance or Lord of the Dance, but Irish Celtic has elements of both and a more linear story. Having toured France and Germany, the 90 minute hour show features performers from the top Irish dance companies. Twelve talented dancers – five men and seven women – together with a five-piece band perform…
What is truth and what is fiction? At times it’s hard to tell when watching Pvt. Wars. It’s 1975 and three Vietnam vets have good reason to be housed in a mental institution. Their reality is a most unfortunate one. Perhaps there are moments of clarity among their delusions, but if so very few. The…
You Got Older is an American play, from a young up-and-coming playwright, Clare Barron. It premiered in 2014 and won the Obie Award in 2015. You Got Older concerns cancer and dying. It seems the writer, Ms Barron, lost her job, had a break-up and received the news that her father had a bad cancer…
Just as outrageous as when it first appeared 45 years ago, The Rocky Horror Show has lost none of its sass either. I dare say a fair chunk of the audience know the words to almost every song. The revivals have been that plentiful. The Rocky Horror Show is a tribute to sci-fi and B-grade…
What a delightful turn of phrase Oscar Wilde had. His wit and playfulness are there for all to see in the verbiage-dense An Ideal Husband. In case you’re not familiar, the play deals with blackmail and corruption in high society. And doesn’t this sterling 11-string cast do it justice! They have loads of fun with…
You might have seen Lars Von Trier’s film Melancholia. This world premiere stage production is based on it. But if you enter the theatre knowing nothing about it, I dare say you’re likely to find much perplexing. Suffice to say that like the film, events unfold in two distinct chapters. Underpinning both is depression that…
Good Muslim Boy is a tale of procrastination, bureaucratic somnambulance and frustration, but it’s brilliantly told at a breakneck pace. It’s fast, funny and powerful and had me fretting for the hero and so much relating to his predicament of being stuck in a foreign place where no one really cared about your predicament. It…
A troubling mind-puzzle in English, French (often without translation) and a touch of German, Polygraph takes concentration to follow. I did finally make sense of it, I’m pleased to say, near the end. For much of the play the disparate elements appear like a jigsaw, where try as you do, you simply cannot connect the…
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…
