Reviews

Brothers Bare

By Jessica Fallico & Iley Jones. Melbourne Fringe Festival. Ranting Mime Productions & Theatre Works. Explosives Factory, Inkerman Street. 7 – 11 October 2025

If Sondheim’s fairytale mash-up Into the Woods is a wry, ironic, comic and a gently moral tale, Brothers Bare is subversive, confrontational (but funny) and very black.  Playwrights Fallico and Jones depict the hidden subtext, not just of one, two or three fairy tales but the dark insidious ideology of the fairy tale world – the stories told and retold, shaping the minds of children – especially girls - and on into their futures.  Models of passivity – until rescued by a Prince or a Fairy Godmother.

Chicken in a Biscuit

By Mary Rachel Brown and Jamie Oxenbould. Fixed Foot Productions. Director Mary Rachel Brown. Old Fitz Theatre. 3 – 18 Oct, 2025

Do you ever wonder what your dog is trying to tell you? Or why your cat scratches at the sofa rather the scratching pole that cost a fortune? Or why some pet owners appear obsessive?

Mary Rachel Brown and Jamie Oxenbould have gone beyond wondering! In Chicken in a Biscuit they’ve imagined life through the eyes of an aging labrador, a haughty Burmese cat, a yappy protective terrier – and three quite fanatical animal lovers.

Conversations with a Fried Egg

Big Dog Theatre at The Meat Market, Vic. Melbourne Fringe. Oct 7th - 18th, 2025

Slick, whacky fringe theatre. Conversations with a Fried Egg is an absurd comedy theatre show about a family of rats who all encounter an ephemeral fried egg. The show appears well organized and well-rehearsed, for an opening night this cast really nailed it. It seems like no-one missed an entrance and no-one dropped a line. The cast of four work very well together and are not flying by the seat of their pants, they play in a generous and tight way.

Shadow Boxing

By James Gaddas. Feet First Collective at Flight Path Theatre, Marrickville, Sydney. Directed by Teresa Izzard. 7 – 11 October, 2025

Though written 36 years ago for performance at Sydney’s Stables Theatre, this hour-length play shows exactly how a one-person production can carry the full weight of investigation. In this case, it’s into the masculinity and sheer brutal violence of prize fighting. The play, written by James Gaddas in tribute to his boxer father, is an extended boxing match. 

Dangerous Liaisons

Queensland Ballet, Talbot Theatre, Thomas Dixon Centre, Brisbane. 2–18 October 2025

As Queensland Ballet’s new artistic director, Ivan Gil-Ortega, prepares to announce his plans for 2026, the current season at the Thomas Dixon Centre is coming to a curtain call. This year the adult ballet productions that started in March with Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo & Juliet will be bookended with another unconventional love story – the highly anticipated, erotically charged Dangerous Liaisons.

Bachelor of Acting 2025 Showcase

Griffith University, Queensland Conservatorium, Third Year Bachelor of Acting students. Diane Cilento Studio, Queensland Theatre. 3 and 4 October 2025

Griffith University, Queensland Conservatorium’s Class of 2025 are: Ari Banerjee, Lachlan Brayshaw, Rhys Canham, Riley Fahey, Grace Faint, Rory Gryffin, Matthew Ianna, Darcy Jackson, Callum Johnston, Rushad Katrak, Emma Kidd, Allegra Marino, Liam McMahon, Angela Lal, Cameron Rixon, Cecelia Varese, and Jordana Wenke.

Mrs Warren’s Profession

By George Bernard Shaw. National Theatre Live. Sharmill Films. In cinemas from Oct 24th, 2025

These days, it’s hard to believe that Mrs Warren’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw, written in 1893, was not performed until 1902 because the Lord Chamberlain, the censor of plays, refused it a license because its subject is organized prostitution.

It is, of course, about much more than prostitution. It is a play about relationships, power and compassion.

Loserland

Performed by Michele Owen. Motley Bauhaus. Melbourne Fringe Festival. Oct 6th - 12th, 2025

Loserland is a solo character comedy performed by Melbourne based physical comedian Michele Owen. She performs to a full room in The Cellar at The Motley Bauhaus. The Motley Bauhaus is truly living up to its modus operandi of being a hub venue for fringe artists. Even at 6pm on a sunny Tuesday evening the venue has a buzz. The Cellar stage that Michele performs on is less than one metre deep, the room is small, so the audience, by necessity, is directly involved in the show.

Rebecca

By Daphne Du Maurier. Adapted and directed by Anne-Louise Sarks. Presented by Melbourne Theatre Company, Southbank Theatre. The Sumner, 140 Southbank Blvd, Southbank, Melbourne. 30 September — 5 November 2025.

This sumptuous adaptation preserves all the fundamental elements of De Maurier’s novel whilst also acknowledging its contemporary relevance. This is achieved by de-contextualising the setting visually. Locations are still referred to in the text, but the set design (Marg Horwell) is more suggestive of the locations rather than attempting to recreate them. This is particularly effective as the set design incorporates some stunning elements that make a great aesthetic impact. The costume design (Marg Horwell) is also mostly quite timeless. 

RENT

By Jonathan Larson. Opera Australia and LPD Productions. Director: Shaun Rennie. Music Director: Jack Earle. Choreographer: Luca Dinardo. Set Design: Dann Barber. Lighting Design: Paul Jackson. Sound Designer: Evan Drill. Costume Design: Ella Butler: Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. 27 September to 1 November, 2025

As a teenager in the 1960s and early1970s growing up to a dual soundtrack of Broadway musicals on the family stereo and rock’n’roll on my transistor, their synthesis into rock musicals like Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar and Rocky Horror was my theatrical and musical happy place.

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