Reviews

Nelken (Carnations)

Tanztheater Wuppertal/Pina Bausch. Adelaide Festival of Arts. Festival Theatre. March 9th – 12th, 2016

Tanztheater Wuppertal welcomed choreographer Pina Bausch as dance director back in 1973; with this appointment began 36 years of collaborations that transformed the way the world viewed this genre. She gave dancers a voice and developed a combination of theatre and dance that was her personal social commentary. Although Bausch passed away in 2009, we are blessed that this company has resurrected this exceptional piece.

In The Heights

Music and Lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda. Book by Quiara Alegria Hudes. Directed by James Cutler. A StageArt Production. The National Theatre. March 11 and 12, 2016.

It’s back…the musical that caught us all off guard last year and has us gasping for breath. On a rainy Melbourne night we piled into the quaint St Kilda National theatre and managed to dry out in just a few minutes.

The 39 Steps

Adapted by Parick Barlow from an original concept by Simon Corble & Nobby Dimon. Director: Felicity Burke. Campbelltown Theatre Group Inc. Town Hall Theatre. March 4 – 19, 2016.

I had mixed feelings about this show.

Songbook

Music and Lyrics by Craig Christie. Produced and directed by Nick Hedger and Ben Nicholson. Home Grown at Chapel off Chapel. March 6, 2016

With yet another Home Grown theatrical event this Sunday 13th March, it’s hard to keep up with the Dynamic Duo of Hedger and Nicholson – and yet last Sunday, a first in the Song Book Series, was a musical theatre treat worth writing about.

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.

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