Reviews

Theatre lovers prepare yourselves for a truly exquisite piece work from the mastermind that is Tennessee Williams. This autobiographical play is an awakening to the internal struggles that both men and women faced in the early 1940s; a time when women longed to find a man and as well homosexuality being taboo. From the opening monologue…

To shamelessly borrow from a popular nineties sitcom It’s like you’re always stuck in second gear, When it hasn’t been your day, your week, your month, or even your year, (handclaps) So to it is with some of the characters in Maiden Voyage Theatre Company’s Belated. There are breakups, bust ups, bickering, and a tiny…

The Killer Queen (Casey Donovan) is, well, a Killer Queen – but she also likes Fat Bottomed Girls. Is one such girl, in fact. When she’s not indulging, she’s doing what she can to make sure that all the music on the iPlanet is Computer Recorded Autotune Pop (or CRAP). The last thing she wants…

In this period of YouTube celebrities, reality TV starlets and Kardashians, it can be challenging to relate to theatrical characters. Audiences are regularly plated-up a plethora of classics, complete with over-the-top performances and melodious, fruity language contrasted against edgy, overly dark interpretations of long-lost fables. Presented on stark stages that we struggle to comprehend (but…

Before any actor graces the stage, the apartment is full of stories. The cracks on the wall tell us it was built-to-last a long time ago. The beaded curtains in the doorway are permanently drawn to the side; while charming, they quickly became a nuisance. By the red corduroy couch, there’s a pair of boots…

After a successful run at the Brisbane Powerhouse during last year’s Brisbane Festival, raucous disco cabaret VELVET made a triumphant return to the River City, taking over the Cremorne Theatre at QPAC. Once a huge fan of the standard cabaret fare, the borderline offensive humour and the sexy-but-kinda-weird acts offered by shows like Club Swizzle, Absinthe, and La…

Directed by Jennifer Hagan and presented by Strange Duck Productions, Blonde Poison is a gripping tale of betrayal, war and the high price of survival. Based on a true story, Stella Goldschlag is preparing to be interviewed in her home by an old childhood friend, now a successful journalist. As she becomes increasingly anxious about…

It’s hard to be critical of non-professional productions, because they are the training ground for so many working in the industry. Certainly, newcomers should be congratulated for sticking out their proverbial necks and adding to Sydney’s ever-expanding theatrical quilt. But unfortunately, some productions just don’t work, no matter how much effort the creatives put in….

The Mars Project is the new work from writer Will O’Mahony and The Skeletal System, the team behind the acclaimed Great White. The Mars Project tells the story of Wren and Sam, Sister and Brother, detailing their diverging lives, as one tries to reach Mars and one struggles to speak – Sam has autism. The…

The April – July Season at Perth’s Blue Room Theatre kicked off last week with Renegade Productions’ Selkie the new work from writer Finn O’Branagáin, and directed by Joe Lui. Selkie is a contemporary reimagining of the old myth; stripped of the romanticism and whimsy; an exploration of the darker themes at play. I was…

And you thought your family was bad. Meet the Blisses. Mother Judith (Heather Mitchell) is a retired stage actress, her husband David (Tony Llewellyn-Jones) is a novelist and their two grown children, Simon (Tom Conroy) and Sorel (Harriet Dyer) still live at home. Hay Fever opens with the siblings exchanging insults and generally talking around…

On a cold Wednesday night in Melbourne a small selection of ‘in the know’ theatre goers headed down to La Mama Theatre in Carlton, Melbourne for the opening night of esteemed Norwegian play Night Sings Its Songs. Patrons mingled in the outside courtyard, anticipation growing with every passing moment, wondering just what they were in…

The subject of masculinity and what it means to be a man in today’s Australia are skillfully explored in Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s production of Savages, written by Patricia Cornelius. Opening with a blast of light and sound, we meet four thirty-something Aussie men, about to embark on the ‘trip of a lifetime’ aboard a cruise…

As the curtain opens you would be forgiven for thinking you had stumbled into the wrong theatre. On stage we see Sherlock Holmes concluding a murder investigation and catching his killer – but how can that be when we are only three minutes in? Here, at the start of the Pavilion Theatre’s The Game’s Afoot;…

Love will tear us apart. This song lyric by the late Ian Curtis of Joy Division seems an appropriate way to sum up the gothic romance tale, Wuthering Heights. Queensland’s shake & stir theatre co. have produced a rather faithful and intense adaptation of Emily Brontë’s story, but it also manages to add a few…

I probably say this every time I review a production of the play, but Hamlet is my favourite Shakespeare play. I’ve seen the oft-performed revenge tragedy many times, both here in Australia and in the UK. I have, however, never seen a Hamlet quite like the one presented by The Tiger Lillies and Theatre Republique…

Shimchong: Daughter Overboard! is the latest production by Motherboard Productions. Its story is both rooted in old Korean tales, and tales anew painted by the tumultuous state of Australian affairs. It begins in a far away land of another time where Shimchong, daughter of a blind man sacrifices herself by leaping overboard and sinking down…

Well Shane Adamczak has done it again. His latest production with Weeping Spoon Productions, The Ballad of Frank Allen has just opened at Perth’s Fringe World. A strange and comic tale about a man who lives in another man’s beard; The Ballad of Frank Allen is a wonderfully funny and utterly charming work that will…

Griffin Theatre Company proudly supports and presents all new Australian works, a fitting program for their stables-turned-theatre venue. “Australian” and “new” means that the work can often hit a little closer to home in terms of language, setting and relevance. In their latest production, Ladies Day, nothing is more fitting then describing it as hitting,…

Henry Lawson and Dame Mary Gilmore (nee Cameron) are famous Australian authors who appeared on Australia’s old paper $10 note. They’re also the subject of an intense period drama and romantic play called All My Love. It’s a story that asks a number of “What if?” style questions and hints at what could have been a great…

Did you know? Ludwig II of Bavaria was known as the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King? No? How about that Ludwig II was a massive fan of Wagner and decked out his palaces in homage to Wagner’s operas? Me neither. That was until I saw Ludwig – a one-man operetta – presented by…

Sky-hi & So-lo is the first one-man show from Viktor Griffioen, formerly of music theatre group The Sadists. It’s been 24 hours and quite frankly I’m still not entirely sure what to make of it. It’s chaotic, wilfully absurd – but utterly entertaining and hilarious (if you don’t mind your humour a bit dark and…

Tom Stoppard’s plays are just so damn entertaining and clever. They always give off such a vibe of established sophistication that he easily fits into the most respected playwrights of history, but his writing remains relevant and modern. And when one gets to experience his plays in such a production as Sydney Theatre Company’s latest…

The idea of the interactive theatre experience is nothing new. From “whodunit” dinner parties to whatever it is people get up to at those Rocky Horror screenings, there’s always been a market for those of us who want to feel a part of the action. Even sitting front row at a comedy show brings out…

Tooth and Sinew in association with bAKEHOUSE Theatre present Year of the Family, written by Anthony Neilson. This production is an incredibly dark comedy that had me laughing at what could arguably be described as rather inappropriate circumstances. Highlighting how truly dysfunctional families can be, the play follows the relationships of half-sisters Fliss and Claire as…

Even if you haven’t yet seen a production of West Side Story, chances are you a probably familiar with one of its very recognisable tunes or melodies. From “Something’s Coming” to “Tonight” to “Somewhere” to even the very “Overture”, you’ll recognize something (eh). But really, seeing them all together in their original setting is the…

Based on the classic Robert Louis Stevensen novel and adapted by Ken Ludwig, Treasure Island is a tale of pirates, adventure, treasure and family. Our narrator and protagonist is Jim Hawkins (Jonathon Burt) who, by chance, finds himself in possession of a map and becomes embroiled in a plot to discover hidden treasure. Of course, a…

Alfred Hitchcock’s classic thriller film North by Northwest has become a stage sensation, and its return season has confirmed just how extraordinary this theatrical reimagining is. Given the technicalities of film it really begged the question: how were they going to put this onto the stage? Well, I’m not going to tell you. This is…

What are labels? They’re the words we use to define ourselves, to define others; and how we are ourselves defined. They are the words that make us categorised, grouped and understood. Of course context is key. These labels can often be quite innocuous, even positive. But there are also those times when they can be…

“To sleep perchance to dream,” said Hamlet. Well not if you’re a “guest” at the Dream Motel, a sleep clinic that forms the backdrop of Ian Sinclair and Renee Newman’s latest work Sleeping Beauty a contemporary re-telling of the classic fairy tale. Sinclair and Newman have stripped back the whimsy, removed all traces of cute…