Reviews

Peepshow

Circa. Director: Yaron Lifschitz. Cremorne Theatre, QPAC. 14-25 January 2020

Circa Contemporary Circus have become a phenomenon since being first established in 2004, having toured the world and performed in over 40 countries to over one million people. Peepshow, their latest show, premiered in Lismore in March 2018 and has since toured regionally across Australia and throughout Europe including London, Berlin and France and comes to Brisbane for the first time after performances in Austria and the Netherlands.

Alice In Wonderland Jr

Adapted from Lewis Carroll’s novel, with music and lyrics by Sammy Fain and Bob Hilliard, Oliver Wallace and Cycoban, Allie Wrubel and Ray Gilbert, Mack David, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livington. Gosford Musical Society Jnrs. Laycock Street Theatre Community Theatre. Jan 14 – 18, 2020.

Alice In Wonderland Jr is, at its heart, a story about finding oneself. Lewis Carroll’s story is universally loved, having been adapted and readapted since the turn of the last century. If you are unaware of the plot – Firstly, how? Secondly, it’s a unique adventure story following a young girl who falls down a rabbit hole and wakes up in a Wonderland filled with all sorts of crazy characters.

Room on the Broom – Live on Stage

CDP Kids presents a Tall Stories production. Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne. 10 – 15 January. 2020.

Room on the Broom has flown into Melbourne for the summer holidays. Julia Donaldson and Axel Scheffler’s award winning children’s picture book has been reimagined for the stage. Four theatrical performers and a talented team of stage creatives combine physical theatre, music and clever puppetry to bring this marvelous tale to life.

Captain Hook’s Revenge

Pantomime written by Richard Coleman. Director Jean Bowra. Musical Director Karen Matthews. Mousetrap Theatre Redcliffe, Qld. Jan 10 – 19, 2020.

This production is an interesting and exciting way to start the year as it allows the young, student performers a chance to show and develop their skills.  Captain Hook! We remember what a nasty type he was and here he is joined by an Indian tribe, Peter Pan, a family of three kidnapped from England and, of course, a crocodile. The plot had more twists and turns than a mountain road but it was presented in such a way that the audience was on track. In fact, the audience members became part of the show at times

Every Brilliant Thing

By Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe. Belvoir St Theatre, Sydney. Director: Kate Champion. 10 - 26 January 2020

Less than a year later, Every Brilliant Thing makes a great return visit to the Belvoir stage but, instead of being a one-woman show (with Kate Mulvany), it’s now headed by a man. Steve Rodgers has only recently been playing the grumpy Walter Matthau role in The Odd Couple at the Ensemble. Here he’s the opposite: kindly and compassionate, uncertain of the future, clutching desperately to every brilliant thing about life that he can imagine.

Dr Doolittle Jr

Book, music and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. Players Theatre, Ballina. Director: Peter Harding. 10th – 25th January, 2020

Ballina’s Youth production this year is Dr Doolittle Jr, an adaptation of the popular Twentieth Century Fox movie and staged by and for young people.

With a cast ranging from 8 to 17, director Peter Harding has crafted the production to the talents of his large junior company.

In only his second experience on stage, the Doctor was in the capable hands of Declan Lodge, a youngster with a big future, who was suitably supported by Erica Little, Elisha Lodge, Evie Sargent, Reuben Addington, Hugo Addington, Nichole Travers and Riley Evens.

SIX

By Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. Louise Withers, Michael Coppel and Linda Bewick. The Studio, Sydney Opera House. Opening Night: January 9, 2020. Comedy Theatre Melbourne, from April 23. Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide, from June 11.

SIX is a musical unlike any Tudor history lesson! Ever!

Reincarnating Henry VIII’s six wives today as vibrant, irreverent, contemporary pop divas (conveyed by fabulous local triple threats), SIX is a constantly surprising ‘her-story’, seen through a 21st century lens, while deflating long perpetuated myths.

Lady Tabouli

By James Elazzi. Riverside’s National Theatre of Parramatta and Sydney Festival. Riverside Theatres Parramatta. January 9 – 18, 2020.

In a short, opening scene of James Elazzi’s play, Danny (Anthony Makhlouf) and Josephine (Nisrine Amine), dance as children to a tape of famed Lebanese singer and actress, Sabah. Josephine encourages Danny to “dance like Sabah” and in a “dream sequence” to the side of the stage Sabah, complete with flowing blonde hair and shimmering dress, appears briefly to him demonstrating her sinewy hip movements for him to imitate.

Betty Blokk-Buster Reimagined

Sydney Festival. Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent. January 7 – 26, 2020

Betty Blokk-Buster hit Australian audiences with a raunchy belly blow in 1975. Reg Livermore’s saucy, white-faced, bare-bottomed, feather duster-flicking, cabaret-style ‘hausfrau’ charged on to the stage challenging critics to accept that his performance was much more than a “wank”!

Black Ties

Ilbijerri Theatre Company and Te Rehia Theatre. Sydney Festival. Sydney Town Hall. 10 – 18 January, 2020

Two smitten lovers, one Aboriginal, the other Maori, try hard to unite their families, their cultures, behind their engagement.  

Back home in the Maori community or atop a towering Melbourne housing estate, Kane and Hera’s efforts to assimilate produces some hilarious disasters in cultural protocol.  But somehow the wedding is booked – despite possessive Mums running indigenous guilt trips, fierce racisms across the ditch, errant males and some toxic family baggage.

Subscribe to our E-Newsletter, buy our latest print edition or find a Performing Arts book at Book Nook.