Reviews

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

By William Shakespeare, adapted for opera by Benjamin Britten and Peter Pears. Adelaide Festival 2021. The Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre. Feb 26 - Mar 3, 2021

A Midsummer Night’s Dream is literally a masterpiece!

Robin Hood - Pantomime

By Tracy Rogers. Directed by Guy Jackson. Marloo Theatre, Greenmount, WA. Feb 26 – Mar 20, 2021

It is somewhat of a recurring theme at the moment, but Robin Hood is another show that had a particularly challenging rehearsal period. In addition to the lockdown in the final part of the rehearsal period, Robin Hood lost both its leading man and its villain just a few weeks out, the leading lady was in intensive care just a week before the production and they lost the permission to perform one of their biggest numbers on the day of the first show. None of this is apparent in this fun, well-presented production.

Life Without Me

By Daniel Keene. Cairns Little Theatre. The Rondo Theatre. Feb 26 – Mar 6, 2021

Live theatre is back at The Rondo with Cairns Little Theatre’s production of Life Without Me by Daniel Keene. This is a strange, absurd, but fascinating play, set in a rundown, two star hotel in an unnamed city.  The characters that arrive at the hotel all seem to have problems, problems that the hotel only seems to exacerbate.

Running the establishment is Nigel, superbly played by Wayne Hogan. You are not sure if Nigel is a blithering idiot, a serial killer or just lonely.  

Runt

By Patricia Cornelius. Presented and co-created by Dee & Cornelius & Wilks. Directed by Susie Dee. fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. 24 February – 7 March 2021.

This is an impeccable production with a clear and cohesive approach across a variety of elements in the play. Runt has a lyrical and poetic style that is also infused with confronting everyday language. This makes the text hard-hitting and compelling. The play is a combination of musing, laments, hard truths and uncomfortable accounts of what it is like to eke out an existence from the margins of society.

We’re Probably Really Really Happy Right Now

By Ellen Grimshaw. Theatre Works, St Kilda. Feb 24 – Mar 6, 2021

We’re Probably Really Really Happy Right Now, a quirky new upbeat theatrical performance written by VCA Master of Writing for Performance graduate Ellen Grimshaw, and directed by Sarah Vickery, opens the 2021 Theatre Works season.

The Boy Who Talked to Dogs

From the book by Martin McKenna, and adapted by Amy Conroy. Slingsby and State Theatre Company SA. Adelaide Festival. Thomas Edmonds Opera Studio. Feb 25 – Mar 14, 2021

‘What’s wrong with you?’ screams almost everyone in Marty’s life, but there’s little wrong with this wonderful piece of theatre from South Australia’s Slingsby and State Theatre Company.

I Made an Adult

Conceived and performed by Tracy Crisp. Adelaide Fringe Festival 2021, Main Stage at Bakehouse, Feb 22 – Mar 6, 2021

It is midnight. Well doesn’t every Mum only have that time available to make a cake? Not just any cake, however; this is the final Women’s Weekly Birthday Cake, lovingly made by Tracy Crisp for her youngest son’s 18th birthday. As she stirs, she turns the pages of her memories back to the start of her journey as a mother. The fourth in a quartet of plays, this 50 minute gem is a warm, loving and beautifully drawn story.

Theatre of Bondage

Adelaide Fringe Festival 2021. The Shed Rehearsal Theatre, Rear Warehouse, Cumberland Park. Feb 25 – 27, 2021

Theatre of Bondage is a journey into the art of shibari. ‘Shibari is a contemporary form of rope bondage that originated in Japan.

Unsung

Amelia Ryan and Libby O’Donovan. Adelaide Fringe Festival. The Queens. Feb 25 - Mar 7, 2021

Amelia Ryan and Libby O’Donovan are a powerhouse combination, oozing energy and an abundance of talent, as they effortlessly command the stage with their undeniable chemistry taking the audience on a journey through a musical landscape stretching as far back as the 1960s.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

By Tennessee Williams. Canberra Repertory, directed by Anne Somes. Canberra Rep Theatre, 18 February – 6 March 2021.

 

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