Reviews

THRIVE: Queer Voices, Out Loud

Black Apple Theatre. Midsumma Festival. Bluestone Church Arts Space. January 24 to 28, 2023

THRIVE: Queer Voices, Out Loud is a vivid exploration of true stories from LGBTQIA+ community across rural Victoria, conceived and directed by Cheyney Caddy, co-founder and artistic director of Black Apple, a Castlemaine based theatre company.

A thoughtful and considered theatrical interpretation of interviews conducted by Caddy, who has meticulously carved out a historical and contemporary analysis of six colourful personalities across a generation, reflects on change within an evolving awareness of the LGBTQIA+ community in a contemporary setting.

Slava’s Snowshow

Live Nation and ATA Entertainment. State Theatre, Sydney. January 20 – 29, 2023

If you haven’t heard about this one, put on your beanie and grab yourself a front row seat, the forecast is snow!  Yes, literally snow. Ok, so not the icy fluffy stuff but you will feel like you are in the middle of a giant snowstorm with whirling winds and mayhem before the night is through. The title is going to give you a giant clue about what is to come, but not much else.

Shadowfall

Written and directed by Joachim Matschoss. Sound design /music: Michelle Eddington. Visual design: Philip Roberts. La Mama HQ. 17- 25 January 2023

With a nod towards Brecht and myth of Icarus, the writer/director presents a complex, layered play which uses spoken word, dance, movement, song, sound and lighting to lay bare some of the treacherous and challenging aspects of relationships and life.

The Gruffalo’s Child

Adapted from the award-winning picture book by Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler. Tall Stories / CDP. 2023 Summer Tour. Riverside Theatre, Parramatta. Jan 19 – 21, 2023

When you tell anyone you are off to see The Gruffalo’s Child by Julia Donaldson it is met with delightful musings and open displays of a story much revered. So how does this presentation hold up? It is just delightful! CDP’s production of Tall Stories’ magical musical adaptation of

The Gospel According to Jesus Queen of Heaven

By Jo Clifford. Ben Anderson Presents. Midsumma Festival. At fortyfivedownstairs, Flinders Lane. 18 - 29 January 2023

Jesus is a woman – we are told.  Jesus always was a woman.  Why not?  It makes sense.  It makes better sense – and this show will convince you.  Jesus is here to reveal that she is a woman and what that means – and to find, reveal, reinterpret and contradict Christian dogma, beliefs, myths and stories.  ‘The world is changing’ is the optimistic mantra.  That is the conclusion and the meaning of the monologue that makes up this show.  It takes the form of a sermon.  Or if you like, an anti-sermon because it i

Sunday

By Anthony Weigh. Melbourne Theatre Company. Southbank, The Sumner. 16 January – 18 February 2023

Sunday Reed (Nikki Shiels) stands alone in Anna Cordingley’s vast and empty set.  Stage left, a wall of impenetrable black; otherwise, walls covered with huge brushstrokes, and, high across the back, a rectangle of yellow and green – a particular motif for Australian art.  Sunday looks out over the vista down to the river at Heide, the legendary haven, sanctuary and home established in the 1930s by Sunday and John Reed (Matt Day) at Bulleen.  Sunday was the patron, supporter, muse and den mother for such artists as Albert Tucker, Joy Hester, and most crucially her

Spring Awakening

By Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik. Millennial Productions. Ron Hurley Theatre, Seven Hills, Queensland. 20 - 29 Jan, 2023

If this production of Spring Awakening is anything to go by, it’s clear that Millennial Productions know exactly what they want and how to execute it to perfection. 

So, what’s it about? Spring Awakening is a rock musical with music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Based on the 1891 German play of the same name by Frank Wedekind, the story explores the struggles of teenage self-discovery and the challenges of growing up in a repressed society. 

Holding Achilles

By David Morton. Legs on the Wall and the Dead Puppet Society. Sydney Festival. Carriageworks – Bay 17. Jan 19 – 22, 2023

It’s hard to fit Homer’s epic The Iliad into just two hours.  One success starting at an earlier Sydney Festival was William Zappa’s modestly staged version with few effects and just three other actors – that took two long days to unfold! 

Cruel Intentions – the 90’s Musical

Created by Jordan Ross, Lindsey Rosin and Roger Kumble. David Venn Productions. Directed by Alister Smith. HOTA Gold Coast. Jan 20th-28th, 2023

When you combine jaw-dropping performances from a brilliant Australian cast with fabulous production values, and a hit soundtrack from the Nineties, you are guaranteed a solid gold success…and that’s what Cruel Intentions -The 90’s Musical delivers. It’s an Australian premiere production and another of the new form of hybrid musicals aimed at a younger audience…an audience that has not been noted in the past for embracing the feast that is Musical Theatre.

Polite Mammals

Conceived & performed by The Wholesome Hour. Presented by ArtPlay and Midsumma Festival. ArtPlay, Birrarung Marr, Melbourne. 10 am and 2 pm, 20-29 January 2023

Polite Mammals is a marvellous sort of cheeky, off-the-wall sketch show for small kids.  A cabaret for tots. It’s fun and it’s silly, but it’s also witty and sophisticated and just as much fun for parents, carers and any other random adults who wander in.  Kids sit on cushions, right down the front – entranced, and engaged - and I scarcely saw any of them move from start to finish.

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