Reviews

Adelaide Fringe: A History

Adelaide Fringe. Presented by Flamboyance Tours. Adelaide CBD. 23 February – 7 March 2024

Meeting outside the ornate gates of Government House, we wonder about the connection between this grand building and the always-alternative image of Adelaide Fringe. Katina, our guide, explains how it was the site of one of the first information booths for the festival, then called the Focus Festival in 1976.

Wright & Grainger – Say It & Play It

Presented by Wright & Grainger with Joanne Hartstone. Adelaide Fringe. 24-25 February 2024

Wright & Grainger are two friends from Yorkshire who have been writing and playing together for most of their lives. In Adelaide, we know them as the storytellers of Orpheus, Eurydice – and new this year, the superb Helios; and the euphoric songs and spoken word of The Gods, The Gods, The Gods. They take their stories and music all over the world, playing in back gardens, Fringe yurts, and the Sydney Opera House.

Yoah

Cirquework. Adelaide Fringe Festival 2024. The Moa at Gluttony. Feb 16 – Mar 10, 2024

Contemporary Japanese circus company Cirquework are wowing audiences with their Australian premiere of Yoah. The tale of a woman full of hope, aerial artist and gymnast Tsumugi Masui plays the title role. We follow her on a mystical journey that delights all the senses. Directed by cast member Yusaku Mochizuki, he combines circus feats, music, lighting and video art to bring us a breathtaking and fresh take on the circus genre; not to mention his skill as a juggler.

Sun and Crystal

Adelaide Fringe Festival 2024. Art Group Seigai & The Garage International. The Garage International at the Town Hall, Adelaide. Feb 18 to 24, 2024

Reminiscent of Japanese Noh theatre and performed with the care and dedication to perfection of a Japanese Tea Ceremony, Sun and Crystal is visually striking in its minimalism.

A black stage, a gong, a mirror and an image of a large flower in grey/black tones and two performers, one in a blue kimono with tabi shoes and one in an orange kimono set the scene.

Deborah Conway

Writers Weekend Opening Night. Discovery Lounge, State Library of Western Australia, in association with Writing WA. 23 February, 2024

Deborah Conway and Willy Zygier have been part of the musical fabric of people’s lives for nearly 35 years.

Way before their personal and professional collaborations, Ms Conway was at the forefront of Australian music with band, Do Re Mi (she describes their big hit, “Man Overboard”, as an “evergreen”), and her solo recordings, “String of Pearls” and “Bitch Epic”.

Invisible Opera

By Sophia Brous. Perth Festival. Scarborough Beach Amphitheatre. 22 to 25 February, 2024.

Wander along the Esplanade, through the Scarborough Night Markets, to grab your headphones and sit watching the glistening waves crashing into the beach, waiting for the Invisible Opera.

Indeed, the Opera is invisible since we are facing an empty “stage” of wood-chipped lawn surrounded by people taking selfies with the sunset, and crowds milling around the food stalls.

An Inspector Calls

By J. B. Priestley. Presented by Fifth Business Theatre Company. Adelaide Fringe: Tyndale Theatre, Salisbury East. 23 February – 2 March 2024

A well-to-do family gathers after dinner: there are toasts from the father, and the daughter’s suitor presents her with an engagement ring, whilst the son sulks in the corner. The women have just retired to the drawing room, when there is the sound of a doorbell and a servant walks into to announce an Inspector has called.

Taxithi – The Long Journey Home

By Helen Yotis Patterson. La Mama Courthouse, Carlton, Vic. Feb 21 – 25, 2024

Taxithi explores many migrant stories - rich reflections of lives and memories combined with traditional songs remain forever. Of parents who sailed across the oceans; flew over continents to come to a new land, who dreamt of prosperity, love, and a new life.

Noël and Gertie, Down and Dirty

By Jonathan J Mill. Adelaide Fringe Festival 2024. The Ballroom at Ayers House, Adelaide. Feb 23 to 25, 2024

Noël Coward once said ‘There will always be a few people…in every generation who will find my work entertaining and true.’ An understatement indeed, and one of the premises of Noël and Gertie, Down and Dirty, a revue detailing the lives of Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, both LGBTQIA+ stars of the early part of the 20th century.

The Dictionary of Lost Words

By Verity Laughton, adapted from the novel by Pip Williams. State Theatre Company South Australia & Sydney Theatre Company. Arts Centre Melbourne, The Playhouse. 17 February – 17 March 2024

Set against the slow, meticulous, and selective creation of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), The Dictionary of Lost Words traces the story of Esme Nicoll (Brenna Harding) – a fictitious character - from a precocious child of four in 1886 to a thirty-three-year-old mature woman in 1915 – plus an epilogue set in 1889.  The play is the story of Esme’s education – literary and moral - change and growth from a cossetted, insulated, timid, curious girl to a complex and courageous young woman who becomes a lexicographer, but finds experience in the wider w

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