Reviews

Just A Boy In A Dress

Written and Directed by Manuao TeAotonga. Old Mill Theatre, South Perth, WA. May 5 and 6, 2023

Manuao TeAotonga’s cabaret Just a Boy in A Dress played a two-night, sell-out season at the Old Mill Theatre, in South Perth. Billed as “A cabaret about a life of gender exploration, sexuality and sequins”, it tells of this popular performer’s life from his premature birth in a small town in New Zealand, through growing up in Bunbury, realising his sexuality and finding love, all while performing.

Full Circle

By Janet Shaw. Directed by Barry Lefort. Limelight Theatre, Civic Drive, Wanneroo WA. May 4-20, 2023

When Wanneroo Repertory’s originally scheduled May production fell through, Barry Lefort came to the rescue with a remount (of sorts) of Full Circle, a play he directed for Stirling Players in November 2020. This interesting little comedy is set in the lounge room of a family, as their daughter Nicola’s wedding day approaches - and a cascade of skeletons emerge from the closet.

Rolling Thunder Vietnam

By Bryce Hallett. Produced by Blake Entertainment. Directed by David Berthold. Sydney Coliseum Theatre. May 6, 2023, and touring.

This concert grabs you by the ears, and by the heart and doesn’t let go.

The first thing to strike me was the phenomenal surround sound of the Sydney Coliseum Theatre. It allowed the audience to appreciate the band, under the direction of Chong Lim, which nailed one ‘60s and ‘70s rock song after another, from artists raging from The Rolling Stones to Simon and Garfunkel.

Thrashing guitar solos were just as thrilling as the singers who were also all in very fine form.

Facing Up

Written & directed by Lynden Nicholls. Theatre Works, St Kilda. 3 – 13 May 2023

Facing up was first performed in Ballarat’s beautiful Botanic Gardens.  A feature of those gardens is a series of busts of all our Prime Ministers since Federation.  Lynden Nicholls’ text juxtaposes statements made by those Prime Ministers about Australia’s First Nations people with contrasting (and often hidden) pieces of First Nations history.  In other words, a mixed bag of white fellas’ good and bad intentions up against what really occurred…

Bard Wars: Hope Renew’d

By John Grey. Directed by John Grey and Tallulah M.E.Grey. Brisbane Arts Theatre. May 4 – 27, 2023.

This very different play, both in staging and storyline, was finally found deep in Da Vinci’s vault beyond countless locks and traps – Shakespeare’s lost manuscript.

Bayou Bart

Written & directed by Kalina Lauer. Theatre Works Fresh Works. Theatre Works, St Kilda. 3 – 13 May, 2023

Two homeless children, Henrietta or, as she prefers, ‘Henri’ (Pippa Asome) and Tristan (Rowan O’Keeffe) long for a home.  They scratch a living catching fish in the longest bayou in the world, in the southern United States.  A dense mist separates the two.  A Siren (Tash Atkins) lures Henri deeper into the swamp where she will meet a variety of creatures – animals who talk, have their own city, and some downriver humans bent on exploitation and destruction...

Shore Break

By Chris Pitman. Brink Productions, SA. 4 - 13 May 2023 Goodwood Theatre and Studios

There have been four major theatre premieres in Adelaide this week, three of them one person offerings.  Shore Break shines brightly among these as an exquisite work of theatre written and performed by Chris Pitman, an actor who is utterly spellbinding as he inhabits a character existing on the edges of society. 

Double Bill: Culture Evolves + Kisiskâciwan.

Presented by YIRRAMBOI and Arts House. Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall 521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne. 5 & 6 May 2023.

Double Bill offers two great opportunities to experience the cultural force of indigeneity.

Value For Money

GUTS Dance, Central Australia. Toured by Artback NT. Riverside Theatres Parramatta. May 4-6, 2023

The great thing about contemporary dance is that you never really know what to expect. You can read the media releases and the program notes – and they are always very descriptive and thought provoking – but they are just words! They can’t really prepare you for the way the choreographers and the performers translate those words into allusive, complex, even provocative, movement.

SHE (See us, Hear us, Engage with us)

Indelabilityarts in collaboration with PIP Theatre and The Good Room. New Benner Theatre, Metro Arts, Brisbane. 3 to 13 May 2023

With anxiety and depression up by 25% worldwide in only the first year of the pandemic, the most important question we might face today is: How are you? To address the increasing stress on our mental health, PIP Theatre, The Good Room and Indelabilityarts collaborated to find a creative solution.

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