Reviews

Billy Elliotis technically about a small boy in a small town, but it translates to a massive theatrical experience which packs multiple emotional punches, especially with Lee Hall’s lyrics married to Elton John’s score, with direction by Stephen Daldry, choreography by Peter Darling, and the orchestra under the virtuosic direction of Michael Azzopardi.  

For a highly entertaining night of theatre with a great variety of themes and styles make sure you get to the Short+Sweet Festival, running for 8 weeks, plus finals weeks, at Tom Mann Theatre in Chalmers Street Surry Hills.

Each week there are 10 or more plays, each no more than 10 minutes, which range from light comedies to serious drama and everything in between. At the end of the night the audience gets to vote for two plays, which adds another layer of interest as winners progress to a big finals week.

Drawn from the Balinese philosophy of Sekala Niskala that is translated as ‘the seen and the unseen’, this work is inspired by Director Kamila Andini’s film of the same name.     

Exotic and absorbing, Seen and Unseen is a rich, evocative, intoxicating triumph for the senses. On the face of things it is beautifully fluid and superbly presented dance and music performance of mystical and almost hypnotic nature. 

It’s always somewhat mind-blowing from the perspective of the relative comfort and safety of our 21st Century lives, with our antibiotics and immunisations and understanding of the importance of hygiene, to imagine what it must have been like for our forebears. Even those with relative privilege were vulnerable to the sort of disease that’s almost unthinkable to us today. That reminder, presented with some fine story-telling, is what makes Michael Veitch’s new show Hell Ship so very compelling.