Reviews

Mr Burns, A Post-Electric Play

By Anne Washburn; score by Michael Friedman. Lightning Jar Theatre. fortyfivedownstairs, Flinders Lane, Melbourne. 15 February – 10 March 2019

Anne Washburn’s thesis in her play is that in a post-catastrophe future, what people will hang onto and comfort themselves with will be their memories of television shows – or movies, or operetta or maybe theatre.  Not books.  Not even, from the evidence of this play, people’s own stories, the memories of their own lives, transmuted into ‘stories’.  Maybe that’s an argument worth considering, but must it be considered at such inordinate length? 

The Caretaker

By Harold Pinter. Throwing Shade Theatre Company. Riverside Theatres, Parramatta. Feb 21 – 23, 2019

Harold Pinter’s plays are multi-faceted; his characters multi-dimensional. Getting inside them, even before putting them on the stage, requires insightful study of the script and the complexities and tensions it reveals between the characters. Director and cast need to work closely together in this process, melding ideas that arise with the director’s vision – and the original intention of the playwright.

Judge Jackie: Disorder in the Court.

Book & Lyrics by Christopher Dimond. Music by Michael Kooman. Based on a concept by Van Kaplan. David Gauci & Davine Productions. Adelaide Fringe Festival. Parks Theatre, Angle Park. 20 Feb – 2 Mar, 2019.

A phenomenally talented (and tireless) cast of five performers - backed by a flexible and powerful trio of musicians - go a long way toward making up for a less-than-impressive script, overcoming/transforming so-so material to make Judge Jackie into a largely pleasing musical theatre experience.

Tosca

Adelaide Fringe 2019. Mopoke Theatre Productions. Clayton Wesley Uniting Church, Beulah Park. 19, 21, 23 February 2019

Mopoke Theatre’s production of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca (1900), with Italian libretti by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, is an absolutely charming and engaging new production, continuing Mopoke’s particular theatre aesthetic of performing opera in the most unlikely but accessible places.

For the 1hr and 40 minute edited and adapted version of this great romantic and tragic opera, they are performing in the Clayton Wesley Uniting Church, and very effectively too.

Amity Dry – Fortified

Adelaide Fringe 2019. The Octagon, Gluttony. February 21-24, 2018

Fortified is a powerful, ‘wakeup call’ piece of theatre. Amity Dry does not disappoint in her latest theatre offering. Raw and open hearted, she bravely touches the audience’s souls with her exposé on divorce and the fallout from “blowing shit up” in your life. Her vocals are strong and the songs, most of which she has written, come from the heart-a broken one at that. She has a stunning voice and the messages in the songs will remain with you well after the show is over.

Grace and Willpower

By William Zappa and Bob Charteris. Directed by Tim Riessen and Bob Charteris. Stirling Theatre, Innaloo (WA). Feb 8 - 23, 2019

Grace and Willpower is actually two plays combined to create an evening’s entertainment. Both plays are by Australian authors and both are centred on strong, older women.

Paper Doll

By Katy Warner. New Ghosts Theatre Company / Fringe World. Directed by Lucy Clements. The Blue Room Theatre, Perth Cultural Centre, WA. February 12-16, 2019

A man arrives at a woman’s door. He is familiar, but not expected. He is wet from the rain. He has been away a long time. She is older than he thought she would be. This gripping and intriguing play untangles their relationship, and how they have come to arrive at this point. Dark and moving, this thriller of sorts keeps the audience emotionally enmeshed throughout.

All Change

Adelaide Fringe 2019. Smokescreen Productions, supported by STARC Productions. Supporting Dementia Australia. Mainstage, Bakehouse Theatre. February 25 - March 2, 2019

Life can be at least as messy as elderly Ivor’s room. Whenever we think we’ve tidied it up, something else comes along to throw the cat among the pigeons…or in Ivor’s particular situation, to throw the clothes out of the suitcase and back on the floor.

Eddie Ifft - Walking on Eggshells

Adelaide Fringe 2019. The Factory, Garden of Unearthly Delights. February 19- March 17, 2019

Eddie Ifft’s Walking on Eggshells is not for the politically correct- the very title should prepare the audience for a precarious ride through difficult conversations and some funny situations.

A Doll’s House

By Henrik Ibsen. English translation by Simon Stephens. Canberra Repertory, directed by Aarne Neeme AM. Theatre 3, Canberra, 14 February – 2 March 2019.

Aarne Neeme’s direction of this play, written 140 years ago, keeps it relevant, realistic, and easy to relate to as it exposes the potentially catastrophic consequences of both misguided desperate actions and inescapable social strictures.

 

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