Reviews

Of Thee I Sing

Music by George Gershwin, lyrics by Ira Gershwin and a book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind. Squabbalogic and Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House. September 26 & 27, 2015

Boutique musical theatre company Squabbalogic and Sydney Philharmonia unlocked a Gershwin treasure chest for just two performances at the Opera House, and the city’s music theatre tragics will be forever grateful.

Mwathirika

Papermoon Puppet Theatre. Oz/Asia Festival (SA). Rehearsal Room. 25 & 26 September, 2015,

The anti-communist slaughter of Indonesian people in 1965-66 is the backdrop to this devastatingly poignant tale. Through the use of puppetry this horrific time is given a voice of innocence. Imaginations explore identity and society and the result is hauntingly brilliant.

The Secret Life of Suitcases

By Lewis Hetherington and Ailie Cohen. Monkey Baa Theatre Company. Lend Lease Darling Quarter Theatre. September 28 to October 2, 2015

Monkey Baa consistently brings fun and fantasy to the school holidays – and this production has come all the way from the Edinburgh Festival via London and Chicago. Puppeteers Ailie and Sam have literally flown their set of lights and multiple suitcases through the sky and across the sea just like their puppet hero Larry is in this quirky and beautifully contrived performance about taking a little time to dream …

The Gondoliers

By Gilbert and Sullivan. Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Sydney. Smith Auditorium Lyric Theatre, Shore School, North Sydney. September 25 – October 3, 2015.

Joyously setting the mood under Rod Mounjed’s baton, a full pit orchestra delights the audience with as good a rendition of Sullivan’s overture to The Gondoliers as  I’ve ever heard, before the curtain rises on a gorgeous Venetian backdrop complete with the city’s trademark canals and the Bridge of Sighs.

Urinetown

Book and lyrics by Greg Kotis. Music and lyrics by Mark Hollman. Waterdale (Vic) Director: Daniel Cooper. Musical Director: Ian Nisbet. Choreographer: Narada Edgar. Rivergum Theatre, Parade College. September 25 – October 3, 2015.

Though I was aware of Urinetown, this was my first encounter with this alternative musical. It was certainly different! The whole concept of a drought forcing a town to close all private toilets and make people pay to pee was smack bang in the theatre of the absurd. At the start the narrator spoke about the fact that it was a musical and foreshadowed what was to happen.

I found the production thoroughly enjoyable. It was fast moving. The direction was good and the choreography amazing and tight. The lighting was exciting.

Red Racing Hood

By Sean Monro. Director: Sam Routledge. Designer: Jill Munro. Composer: Heath Brown. Lighting and AV Designer: Jason James. Terrapin Puppet Theatre. Backspace, Theatre Royal, Hobart Tasmania, September 25 – October 3, 2015 and October 6, Burnie Arts & Function Centre, October 6.

Any latent desire (by an adult) to return to childhood can be fulfilled by seeing a Terrapin Puppet Theatre production for children. That was my recent experience when I took myself along to see Red Racing Hood at the Theatre Royal Backspace. Terrapin’s Red Racing Hood is not so much a reworking (or reimagining) of Little Red Riding Hood, as a nod to the well known and loved children’s story.

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying

Music & Lyrics: Frank Loesser. Book: Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, Willie Gilbert Savoyards. Director: Sherryl-Lee Secomb. Musical Director: Geoffrey Secomb. Choreographer: Desney Toia-Sinapati. Iona Performing Arts Centre, Wynnum, Qld. 26 Sep – 10 Oct 2015

Back when it premiered How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying was The Book of Mormon of its day. Wall-to-wall satire that hadn’t been seen since the Gershwin’s Of Thee I Sing in 1931, which also, like Succeed, won the Pulitzer Prize.

 

A Steady Rain

By Kevin Huff. Old Fitzroy Theatre. Red Line Productions. September 22 – October 17, 2015.

Keith Huff became my hero when I knew he wrote Mad Men and the brilliant House of Cards.  His expertise at storytelling and snappy dialogue is also on show at Sydney’s Old Fitz with A Steady Rain, a two hander about a couple of longtime partners patrolling the hardened streets of Chicago.

#PRINCESS.

Written and devised by fear+love. Melbourne Fringe Festival at the Fringe Hub, The Ballroom, Lithuanian Club, 26 September–3 October, 2015.

This play has thoughtful reflections on politics, morals, and the malaise of mediated existences that saturate contemporary society.  The seemingly eclectic mix of genres makes perfect sense and has direct bearing on the themes that are the central concern of the rich text.  The centuries old art of spin and ruthless power games is exposed with wry humour and wit. The performance is edifying without being clichéd and is injected with a healthy dose of antics and buffoonery.

Speechless

Devised and performed by Toni Main & Sara di Segna, dramaturge & director Georgina Capper. Helvetica at Melbourne Fringe Festival. Club Voltaire, Raglan Street, North Melbourne. 24 September – 4 October, 2015

Toni’s grant application (for something undoubtedly very artistic) is refused.  Toni is so stunned that she is, well, speechless.  But undeterred, she contacts Sara (whom she has never met) far away in Rome and invites her to join the project.  It’s a project, Toni asserts, that ‘is going to make millions’.  Sara likes the sound of ‘millions’, but otherwise exhibits not a shred of comprehension of Toni’s project – and we’re not too sure what it is either.  Possibly Toni herself hasn’t quite got it

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