Reviews

Cosi Fan Tutte

By Mozart. Libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte. Canberra Opera. Directed by Elisha Holley. Belconnen Community Theatre. July 27 – August 6, 2018

“I suffer horrible twitches, oh you bitches, this is totally your fault!” Canberra Opera’s Cosi Fan Tutte is unabashedly daggy fun. Director Elisha Holley has moved the setting to Braddon, an inner suburb of Canberra and inserted Australian vernacular through the libretto, which is an old technique which can be either funny or excruciating. Here it works well. The boys are Duntroon cadets, the girls are spoilt Canberra Prius-driving brats and Despina is pure Charnwood (for non-Canberrans, think Western Sydney).

The Memory of Water

By Shelagh Stephenson. St. Jude’s Players (SA). St. Jude’s Hall, 2nd-11th August 2018

This Olivier Award winning play by English writer and actress Shelagh Stephenson is set in a remote northern coastal village, presumably Yorkshire, in the family home of three sisters, Teresa, Mary and Catherine.  The death of their mother, Vi, has forcibly brought the siblings back to the place in which they grew up as they prepare for her funeral and the sale of the house. It’s a well-worn theme that has also been explored by Australian playwrights, such as Louis Nowra in Radiance and Hannie Rayson in Hotel Sorrento.

Snow White

Ballet Preljocaj. State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne. August 1 – 5, 2018

The original Brothers Grimm fairy tale of Snow White, as with all their stories, is dark and gritty. This is what choreographer Angelin Preljocaj had in mind when he first put together this retelling of the tale. The 2008 production was in many ways on the cutting edge of contemporary dance. Now 10 years later it seems, well, adequate.

Hell’s Canyon

By Emily Sheehan. The Old 505 Theatre, Sydney. Director: Katie Cawthorne. 1 – 11 August 2018

Up many unmarked, outside steps in the heart of Newtown is this ‘home to Sydney’s independent theatre makers’. In the upstairs ballroom of the old School of Arts a small crowd sits in awed silence as Emily Sheehan’s award-winning short play unfolds. If this is an example of 505 Theatre’s ‘warm, strange, exceptional theatre’, then bring it on, though perhaps with less steps to get there.

The Widow Unplugged

Written by and starring Reg Livermore. Ensemble Theatre. Directed by Mark Kilmurry. August 4 - September 1, 2018

What a brilliant way to ward off dementia - write and perform a fiendishly clever - language muddling one man play set in a nursing home, then perform it eight times a week for over a month.

Just a few months shy of turning 80, it’s a feat which more than deserved the standing ovation he received on opening night.

When Icebergs Burn

By Michael Griffith. The Wolves Theatre Company. Northcote Town Hall. Aug 2 – 19, 2018.

An isolated tin shack in dense bushland, a fugitive daughter and a remorseful father caught between the cops, an encroaching bushfire and their own personal demons. When Icebergs Burn is a new play written by Michael Griffith and directed by Aarne Neeme for The Wolves Theatre Company.

Point of No Return

Written & directed by Alaine Beek. Essence Productions. The Melba Spiegeltent, Johnston Street Collingwood VIC. 1-4 & 9-11 August 2018

Alaine Beek creates a ‘pressure cooker’ environment in which isolation, hunger, filth and cruel punishments aggravate conflicts between four boys transported to a remote prison in 19th century Tasmania.  Worse, their guards are former inmates of the notorious Port Arthur prison, just across a narrow stretch of sea.  

Irish Celtic – Spirit of Ireland

Melbourne Palms at Crown, 31 July – 5 August, 2018 and Sydney Capitol Theatre, 7 – 12 August.

Take a journey to the Emerald Isle as the cast of Irish Celtic dance and sing their way through a brief history of Ireland.

Paddy Flynn shares the story of his traditional Irish pub with his son, to whom he is about to pass on ownership. 12 dancers, led by dance captain Emmett McMorrow, and five musicians bring the story to life. The small cast is packed with talent. The dancers are precise and agile on their lightning-fast fee. The band, complete with uilleann pipes, produce stirring music and beautiful vocals.

Jasper Jones

By Kate Mulvany, based on the novel by Craig Silvey. Director: Sam Strong. Queensland Theatre. Playhouse, QPAC. 28 Jul - 18 Aug 2018

Craig Silvey’s widely-praised novel Jasper Jones comes to Queensland in a highly acclaimed stage adaptation by Kate Mulvany. First seen in a 2014 Barking Gecko production in Perth, the work has since been staged at Belvoir Street Theatre in early 2016 and later in the same year by Melbourne Theatre Company. It’s basically the MTC production, which was directed by Sam Strong who again directs it for Brisbane that is on display at the Playhouse with, excepting for two replacements, the same cast.

Hotel Sorrento

By Hannie Rayson. HIT Productions. Riverside Theatres, Parramatta. July 31 to August 4, 2018 and touring.

Is Hotel Sorrento really about the ‘ghost’ that has haunted and divided the Moynihan family, or is it a treatise on the Australian attitude to the arts? If it is the latter, does that mean the play is a little dated? That the cultural criticism it makes is less relevant today than it was in 1990 when the play was awarded an AWGIE, a Premier’s Literary Award and a Green Room Award? Or do the cuts in government funding to many of the arts suggest the ‘home grown cringe’ does still exist?

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