Reviews

Switzerland

By Joanna Murray-Smith. Pigeonhole Theatre. Directed by Jordan Best. The Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre. 3 – 14 July 2018

Gripping. Tense. Hilarious. A sparkling gem of brilliant characterisation and vicious wit. This is one of those mind-blowingly great pieces of theatre that deserves a thesaurus of superlatives. Following on from their excellent productions of Playhouse Creatures and Summer of the 17th Doll, Pigeonhole takes Joanna Murray-Smith’s incredible script and applies Jordan Best’s incredible facility for flow, timing and nuance to create a breathtaking experience. At the centre of it all is the virtuoso performance by Karen Vickery as Patricia Highsmith.

Precarious

Circus OZ. Big Top, Southern Cross Lawn, Royal Botanic Gardens. June 29 – July 25, 2018.

A truly magical experience under the heated Big Top!

Precarious is the new show by Circus Oz, currently on at the Botanical Gardens.

Celebrating their forty years, Circus Oz have produced yet another wonderful circus extravaganza.

Director Rob Tannion has teamed up with independent director Kate Fryer to deliver a new era in circus entertainment, reflecting on the past to create an up-scaled grass roots production.

Last Cab To Darwin

by Reg Cribb. Directed by Trevor Dhu. Old Mill Theatre, South Perth, WA. Jun 28 - Jul 7, 2018

Earlier this year, a valued and much loved member of the Perth community theatre community, 104 year old David Goodall, made international headlines when he travelled to Switzerland to avail himself of physician assisted suicide. In 1995, voluntary euthanasia was briefly available in the Northern Territory, and terminally ill Max Bell attracted similar media attention when he drove from Broken Hill to Darwin in order to die with dignity.

Brothers Wreck

By Jada Alberts. State Theatre Company SA & Malthouse Theatre. Odean Theatre, Norwwod. Friday 27 June – 17 July, 2018

Jada Alberts’ Brothers Wreck is a relatively new indigenous Australian play that has had highly successful seasons in Sydney and Melbourne. This production come from the Malthouse, Melbourne, and is part of the South Australian Theatre Company’s 2018 season. It is wonderful that Geordie Brookman managed to secure this production for South Australia, otherwise we may not have seen such an important new indigenous play.

The Girl The Woman

By Aanisa Vylet. National Theatre of Parramatta. Riverside Theatres. June 28 – July 7, 2018

To say this production is a work of love would be to understate the concentration of experiences and diverse performance styles Aanisa Vylet has artistically fused “to smash the limitations of how female narratives can exist on stage”. Nor would it adequately explain the feeling of ‘family’ that radiates from the production.

Kiss Me, Kate

Music and lyrics by Cole Porter. Book by Sam and Bella Spewack Gold Coast Little Theatre, Southport. Director: Andrew Cockcroft-Penman. 30th June to 28th July, 2018

GCLT’s production of Kiss Me, Kate blends culture, class and Cole Porter’s memorable score into a great theatrical experience.

In this fresh approach, the director has assembled a talented cast and a basic, workable set complete with Shakespearian costumes in a predominately Black and White theme to convey the off-stage/on-stage battles of the previously married leading lady and leading man with hilarious results.

Baby Bi Bi Bi

Created & performed by Erin Pattison, Samantha Andrew & Annabel Larcombe. A Flesh Coloured Panties Production. Melbourne Cabaret Festival. Chapel off Chapel, Prahran, VIC. 30 June & 1 July (only) 2018

The ‘Bi’, in case you’re wondering, means bi-sexual. That is what this show is about.  It’s explicit, graphic (verbally anyway) and not afraid to send itself up.  It’s a show delivered with such panache, such humour, charm and polish by three very talented women that it overcomes any resistance that might still be out there (in fact, that is its serious purpose), is hugely enjoyable and my audience – gay or straight – had a thoroughly good time.

Carrion

Justin Shoulder. Arts House, North Melbourne. June 27 – 30, 2018.

Carrion is a mesmerizing new solo show by Justin Shoulder. It is a challenging  performance combining dance, music, multi media and modern sculptural practice.

Justin Shoulder is a multi–disciplinary artist who develops work around alter- personas, queer ancestral myths and migration. Carrion is an evolutionary extension that has beckoned its own life from his two earlier shows, also combining masks, costume, and gestural language.

Lucia di Lammermoor

Opera by Gaetano Donizetti. Libretto by Savlatore Cammarano/ After Sir Walter Scott’s novel The Bride of Lammermoore. Opera Australia. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. June 28 – July 27, 2018.

This opera is famous for launching the career of Dame Joan Sutherland into the stratosphere. The frenzied ovation on opening night had an intensity which brought back memories of La Stupenda.

Jessica Pratt was towering and terrifying as the insane Lucia. Her top notes could almost crack glass.  Driven to murder on her wedding night she enters the stage covered in blood. In a giddy night of highlights her duetto with a flute, at the height of her madness, was the most sublime moment of the evening as her voice and the instrument echoed then melted into each other.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time

By Simon Stephens. The National Theatre of Great Britain. Directed by Marianne Elliott. Canberra Theatre, 27 June – 1 July 2018, and touring nationally.

The National Theatre of Great Britain’s production of Simon Stephens’s play The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time reflects very well the tenor of Mark Haddon’s very popular 2003 novel, admirably translating to live theatre the novel’s depiction of the inner world of the play’s young protagonist, Christopher.  The play succeeds in adding nuances impossible in book form, and in fact is sprinkled throughout with delightful surprises, including circular references to writing the book and turning it into a play.

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