Reviews

The Midnight Gang

A play by Maryam Master based on the bestselling novel by David Walliams. CDP Kids. Director: Susanna Dowling. Associate Director: Nigel Turner-Carroll. Designer: Isla Shaw. Lighting Designer: Matthew Marshall. Sound Designer: James Brown. Costume Supervisor: Marg Howell. 2021 Australian Tour including Regent Theatre, Melbourne - April 9 – 11, 2021.

Ironically, after a year of COVID lockdown in Melbourne, one of the first theatre productions to hit the boards is set in a hospital and deals with sickness. But in contrast to the past twelve months of mask wearing, this production is a breath of fresh air. The Midnight Gang is perfect for the first-time young theatre goer. From lights up the audience fell silent and remained transfixed, hanging off every word throughout the hour-long performance. This wasn’t due to boredom either.

Dumtectives in Cirque Noir

Dummies Corp. Directed by Jamie Bretman and Clare Bartholomew. Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The Famous Spiegeltent, Arts Centre Melbourne. 6 - 18 April 2021.

Amy Nightingale-Olsen, Thomas McDonald and Leigh Rhodes are a wonderfully frivolous circus trio who bring sheer delight to the stage, along with great support from puppeteer David Splatt. Their show draws on a variety of styles and traditions which are beautifully fused to create a highly visual and hilarious performance. Dumtectives is a spoof of the detective genre and this is exploited to draw out all its comic potential. The three detectives are on a mission to solve a murder mystery only to find themselves at the centre of a criminal underworld. 

Venus In Fur

By David Ives. Starc Productions. Bakehouse Theatre, SA. April 7-17, 2021

First performed in 2010 and written by David Ives, director Tony Knight* and actors Stefani Rossi and Marc Clement are immensely courageous in presenting the multi-award winning, but not widely performed play, Venus In Fur. Also made into a French erotic drama by Roman Polanski in 2013, it is an intricate piece that can be enjoyed on multiple levels: an obvious comedy/drama level; as a titillating risqué night at the theatre; and it can be mined for the fragile layers of shale that the story embraces.

New York Dialects

The Australian Ballet. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. April 6 – 24, 2021.

The Australian Ballet finally returns to the Sydney Opera House with this impressive triple bill calling card from its new artistic director David Hallberg. 

New York Dialects is a homage to two abstract neo-classical ballets from the Russian choreographer turned New Yorker, George Balanchine, and, sandwiched between, with teasing references to Balanchine, the premiere of a startling contemporary work from a frequent collaborator of Hallberg’s, Pam Tanowitz.

Two Short Plays: The Pash & An Evening With The Vegetarian Librarian

By Tracy Crisp and Rita Papillo. Dusty Reds. The Arch, Holden Street Theatres, Adelaide SA. 6-10 April 2021

I first saw Tracy Crisp on stage in 2019 at the premiere of her poignant solo memoir The Forgettery. I was struck then by her image-rich writing and this new venture, An Evening With The Vegetarian Librarian, does not disappoint.  It is also a pleasure to observe Ms Crisp’s increased confidence as a performer.

Dead Skin

By Laneikka Denne. White Box Theatre Company at Kings Cross Theatre, Sydney. Director: Kim Hardwick. 2 - 17 April 2021

Dead Skin is the first post-pandemic production at the King Cross Theatre to be performed to a full house (80 people) and we all nestled behind our masks waiting to see how this play, written by 17-year-old Western Sydney girl Laneikka Denne and winner of the 2019 Flinders University Young Playwrights Award, would go. The truth is it went like a brilliant, multi-coloured sparkler!

Half Time

Book by Chad Beguelin & Bob Martin. Music by Matthew Sklar. Lyrics by Nell Benjamin. Additional Music by Marvin Hamlisch. Based on the motion picture GOTTA DANCE. Nineteen 98 Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co. Directed by Helen Dallimore. Musical Director: Jessica Manning. Choreographer/Asst Director: Madison Lee. April 1 – May 2, 2021

This would have to be the best value live entertainment going around. A sizzling cast and band of 20 on stage up close– for an audience of 111.

The star Nancye Hayes only needed to walk onto the stage to score a rousing ovation, but being the mature professional that she is, was undistracted by the adulation.

Happy Birthday

By Marc Camoletti. Tea Tree Players. Tea Tree Players Theatre, Surrey Downs, SA. April 7 – 24 2021

Tea Tree Players celebrate their post-covid relaunch with Happy Birthday by the French master of bedroom farce, Marc Camoletti.

No Hat! No Play! The Cabaret

Written & performed by Samantha Andrew & Mel O’Brien. Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The Toff in Town. 6 – 18 April 2021

Mel O’Brien and Samantha Andrew are dressed as primary school (Year 6) girls in those uniforms primary school kids have to wear – in this case bright yellow tops, red pants and, of course, wide-brimmed red hats. 

Miss Lily’s Fabulous Feather Boa

By Michael Barlow adapted from the book by Margaret Wild and Kerry Argent. Directed by Michael Barlow. Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, Short St, Fremantle, WA. Apr 3-17, 2021

Miss Lily’s Fabulous Feather Boa is somewhat of a Spare Parts Puppet Theatre favourite, with revivals every few years to entertain a new group of children. The latest incarnation features a new cast and remains just as delightful.

A lovely little tale about a lonely little potoroo who finds her confidence at Miss Lily’s Tropical Holiday House, it has a myriad of lovely little subtle messages about conservation, the importance of not judging people by appearance, the value of building other people’s confidence of family and belonging.

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