Reviews

The quiet suffering of grief can be as soft as gravel crunching underfoot to some and as loud as a car crash to others. No matter how it feels it is always heard. Perhaps that is the intended message of Lot Vekeman’s Poison? Catarina Hebbard, the director of this production, interestingly enough compares the characters…

Padraic’s long been away from his home of Inishmore, fighting with the Irish National Liberation Army. Too mad even for the IRA, he’s built an epic thirst for murder and torture, picking small-time pot dealers and bombing chip shops in his spare time. His father Donny calls to inform him his beloved cat is ill,…

After Jane spectacularly quits her awful job, she and housemate Kel decide it’s time to rent out the sunroom. Roy seems to be the perfect candidate. He’s quiet and he cooks and he’s not looking to impose on the girls’ karaoke nights any time soon. But Kel isn’t so sure and she’s ready to put…

America has an interesting and contentious relationship with soccer. Where the world game has been at the centre of global sports (and often politics) for centuries, Americans sidelined the sport during the depression years, only to resurrect it in the 1960s as a high school game. With many young boys choosing American football (the nation’s…

What do you get when you combine a much-maligned American religion, Disney-movie songs and the writers of a politically incorrect adult cartoon? A ridiculously so-wrong-it’s-right musical called The Book of Mormon. As close to Broadway as you’re likely to see on the Australian stage, this show is an all-singing, all-dancing, joke-filled tribute to American musical theatre….

When news first broke of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical making its way to Australia, the buzz was high. But who would play the coveted role of Carole King? In what has to be one of the best casting triumphs in Australian musical theatre history, Esther Hannaford was the prized winner. It’s safe to say…

The Chinese restaurant is a bastion of our urban culture. Birthdays in the suburbs spent with red lanterns, lazy susans and honey chicken dot our collective memory. While contemporary Australia’s lust for foodie culture and an ever refining palette may have moved away from the Red/Golden Phoenix/Centuries in the 00s, they still form culinary centres…

In Muriel’s Wedding, Muriel wishes that her life was as good as an ABBA song. Presumably, that life looks a lot like Mamma Mia – a glittering Greek Island paradise where beautiful young men and women burst into song and dance at the drop of a hat, fall in love, have a wedding and live…

From the very first riff at the beginning of the title track, American Idiot sounded different. Even in 2004 – when baggy jeans were still cool and I was still using a CD Walkman (because iPods were too expensive) – I knew this was going to be huge. Not being old enough to have experienced…

Seeing is believing. Especially when you are watching a theatre show like, The Unbelievables. This variety show comes from the producers of The Illusionists and Circus 1903 and promises to be the “greatest” one on earth. The finished product is a grand assortment of different treats and tricks, with performers from multiple disciplines and presentations…

Love, Actually is one of those Christmas films that had a significant impact on me the first time I saw it. I’ve since seen it more than once, and each time it has elicited a similar set of emotions within me that have confounded many. I absolutely detested the film and felt it was a…

The Depot Theatre and Secret House have once again worked their magic on a classic, this time bringing Anton Chekov’s The Seagull into the modern era. Stripped back to its heart, this is a compelling tale of the frailty of the mind. Cleverly adapted, beautifully designed and expertly cast, there is nothing to fear from…

A question commonly asked in arts circles is where all the new Australian musicals are. Surely, they do exist, but grand-scale, blockbuster song-and-dance shows isn’t something we’re generally known for. Hot Shoe Shuffle – arguably Australia’s first hit musical – premiered only 24 years ago, and since then only Pricilla and Strictly Ballroom have made…

With a title like Violent Extremism and Other Adult Party Games you can’t help but expect a few controversial laughs. But this new play by Sydney-based writer Richie Black is a cut above and a genuinely funny piece of work. Supported by a very good cast and strong production values, this is yet another triumph…

What is Christmas like with your family? I can guarantee it’s not nearly as dysfunctional as the one depicted in Mary Rachel Brown’s new play, Silent Night. Chock-full of jokes and characters that have to be seen to be believed, this is a play that makes the final rush to the supermarket on Christmas Eve…

The GFC hit 10 years ago, yet it’s wave still lingers on. In a post GFC world, wages are stagnant, jobs are threatened, house prices skyrocket and global warming’s dark cloud hangs in concert. 10 years on, we’re still asking questions; how did this happen? Can it happen again? And, if so, who’s best equipped…

To some people, “Atlantis” is a utopian city lost underneath a wall of water. For Lally Katz it’s a semi-autobiographical play about her mid-30s trip home to America as a newly-single girl. The results are like Bridget Jones played by Kathy Lette. With a panther thrown into the mix. Because you can. Katz is no…

Bell Shakespeare Company’s latest production of The Merchant of Venice has a few high points. But overall Director Anne-Louise Sarks has played it pretty safe and as a result there’s nothing about this show that really stands out. Listed among Shakespeare’s comedies, The Merchant of Venice contains some of Shakespeare’s most well-known characters. First, there’s…

In an average restaurant, somewhere in America, a guy and girl meet. What follows is a familiar story, told in a not so average way; a lifetime condensed into just over an hour. The Depot Theatre’s latest production, The Big Meal, is an epic tale shrunk to fit a tiny stage. It is big on…

Miracle City is not your typical musical. The show’s director even dubbed it an anti-musical. It’s what you get when the shiny veneer of a Christian family of televangelists implode, live on air. The results are something that are ironic, funny and tragic in almost equal measure. This show first premiered at Sydney Theatre in…

If you enjoyed Jersey Boys then you’re sure to love the latest jukebox musical to hit Aussie shores: Beautiful – The Carole King Musical. Starring the sublime Esther Hannaford and featuring an incredible collection of hits, Beautiful is slickly produced and expertly performed. It’s a guaranteed good night out for all. Billed as a musical…

Sondheim, as always, has to make things difficult. If it’s not in his chords then it’s the subject matter of his musicals. However Assassins, one of the more rarely performed of the Sondheim repertoire, finds itself locked and loaded in good hands with Dean Bryant at this latest production at the Hayes. Superb casting all…

Over thirty years old, Diving for Pearls still has resonance for today’s audience. It paints a bleak picture of the future of manufacturing in Australia, which has been on a steady decline since the 1980s and 90s, when this play was written. It is a very Australian story, and the images the text and set…

Bram Stoker’s Dracula has been interpreted many times over the years on stage and screen. This time, Queensland based Shake and Stir Theatre Company have breathed new life into the ageless classic. A single lit window on a darkened stage is the only clue to what is to come. There are shocks a plenty –…

Be they flocking or fleeing, birds are always a sign of impending danger. Hell, if you grew up in Brisbane, the clicking sound of a magpie’s beak and the beat of black wings are a certain sign of danger. The Bluebird Mechanicals is no less than this. A neat artist’s palate of danger organised, devised…

Plunge is innovative theatre at its best. What an extraordinary experience to be able to be a part of a production where you follow the actors across various locations of The Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, soon to be centre pieced for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The audience are provided with headphones where a mixture of…

Khon is a genre of dance drama from Thailand that combines several forms – dance, music, painting and crafts. Traditionally performed exclusively at the court and for royal functions, the masked dance is created for the Devine King with scenes from the Ramakien. On this night at the Sydney Opera House, KHON: Exquisite Masked Dance…

In 2016, My Fair Lady celebrated its Diamond Jubilee with a series of stunning shows around Australia, including a run at the Sydney Opera House. An encore season at the Capitol Theatre with most of the same principal cast and crew returns in 2017 and it still dazzles like a rare diamond. It is a reminder…

Modern Jesus is an intriguing new play that reminds us that you only need a tiny spark to start a raging inferno. It is thought-provoking look at what it means to be 20-something in Australia today, although the themes would resonate with audiences anywhere in the West. But a couple of things hold it back…

Dementia is a truly terrifying condition, one that attacks the very sense of self. It affects not only the sufferer but also those closest to them in the most distressing of ways. In Sydney Theatre Company’s production of The Father this distress is both portrayed and felt keenly, even when the play itself deliberately makes…