Reviews

Deluge

By Phillip Kavanagh. Director: Nescha Jelk. Tiny Bricks in association with Brink Productions & Adelaide Festival of Arts. Plant 1, Bowden. 8-13 March, 2016.

This year's Adelaide Festival of Arts has thus far been commendably adventurous, unafraid to take an audience out of its comfort zone, willing to stretch the parameters of theatre beyond what feels familiar. Deluge is an experiment that should prove interesting and rewarding for all those willing and eager to be taken somewhere new and different; the unique concept behind this venture makes for an intriguing, excitingly unpredictable experience.

Golem

Adelaide Festival. Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre - March 8–13, 2016, then The Roslyn Packer Theatre from March 16 - 26.

London-based company 1927 has brought a unique multimedia theatre production to the Adelaide Festival and in doing so has without doubt created a Festival hit. Golem is gob-smacking; it’s wonderful.

Machu Picchu

By Sue Smith. Sydney Theatre Company and State Theatre Company of South Australia. Wharf 1 Theatre - 3 March to 9 April 2016, then Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre – 13 Apr – May 1.

Haunted by a depressing cancer diagnosis, Sue Smith draws in this new play on own journey back to living in the moment and smelling the roses.

Paul is an idealistic, self-doubting engineer whose esteem is further challenged when he’s paralysed in a car accident.  From his hospital bed, with his academic wife Gabby, he daydreams back to moments in their relationship which they always wanted to remember as bliss - their engagement, the birth of their daughter Lucy. 

The Country

By Martin Crimp. Stone/Castro Company. Adelaide Festival of Arts. State Opera Studio. March 7th – 13th, 2016

British playwright Martin Crimp is ruthless in his portrayal of human relationships. His detached dialogue evokes a myriad of emotions; his flawed characters are full of cynicism, distrust and sadness. As you enter the performing space you are face to face with a renovator’s dream; an old grainery set in the countryside. A maze of exits lead to the backyard. It is desolate, cold and mirrors the action of the play perfectly.

Legally Blonde

Music & Lyrics: Laurence O’Keefe & Nell Benjamin. Book: Heather Hach. Savoyards (Qld). Director: Johanna Toia. Musical Director: Mark Beilby. Choreographer: Jo Badenhorst. Iona Performing Arts Centre, Wynnum. 5-19 March 2016

Girl-power musicals weren’t born with Legally Blonde but the show has done more than its fair share to keep the franchise going. An average success on Broadway, and a monster hit in London, the musical has been embraced by community theatre companies around the country and it’s now Savoyards’ turn, in a first-class production by director Johanna Toia.

 

High Fidelity

Book by David Lindsay-Abaire, lyrics by Amanda Green, and music by Tom Kitt. Directed by Kristen Twynam-Perkins. Roleystone Theatre, WA. Mar 4-19, 2016

I am told that Opening Night at High Fidelity required some hefty discounting to create a decent crowd. By night #2, word of mouth had led to an almost full house, with audience loving this quirky but moving musical.

Mark Vincent – Best So Far

Queensland Pops Orchestra. Conductor: Patrick Pickett. Concert Hall, QPAC. 5 March 2016

Mark Vincent fans were out in force for this concert by the Queensland Pops Orchestra, their first for the year. Vincent, who’s the only classical artist in Australian history to have released six albums before he was twenty (he’s only 23 now), has a legion of followers who can’t get enough of his signature brand of Neopolitan love songs, opera arias, and musical theatre power-ballads.

Mary Poppins

Music & Lyrics: Richard M. Sherman & Robert B. Sherman. Additional Music & Lyrics: George Stiles & Anthony Drewe. Book: Julian Fellowes. Redcliffe Musical Theatre (Qld). Director: Madeleine Johns. Musical Director: Lucas D. Lynch. Choreography: Mike Lapot & Meredith Johns. Redcliffe Cultural Centre. 4-20 March 2016

At only eight years old, Redcliffe Musical Theatre are a young company by community theatre standards in Brisbane, and over the years they have always been ambitious, never shied away from the daunting, and have come through with flying colours on several occasions. But with Mary Poppins the company came of age. It’s by far their best production to date.

Arj Barker

Adelaide Fringe. Arts Theatre. March 5th – 13th, 2016

Arj Barker has been bringing his brand of comedy to Australia for over twenty years. It is fair to say that he has built up a following based on his observations and unique casual delivery. As he walks on stage to rapturous applause he undoubtedly feels the pressure to perform, but does not show it. Barker is comfortable in his surroundings and reads the audience well.

The Addams Family – The Broadway Musical

Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, score by Andrew Lippa. Gosford Musical Society. Director: Daryl Kirkness. Musical Director: Bronwynne Anderson. Choreographer: Karen Snook. Laycock Street Theatre. March 4-19, 2016

There is little doubt that black humour is abundantly fertile territory. Turn every nicety on its head – and the in-jokes just keep giving.

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