Reviews

TOME

Freeroam Theatre Inc. Directed by Jhi Rayner. The Sideshow, West End. Anywhere Festival, Brisbane. 14 and 15 May, 2021

I think it was Peter O'Toole who once likened stage acting to an ice sculpture that is unique each performance and of course, melts afterwards, never to be seen again. Freeroam Theatre is experimenting with improvised performances that highlight this aspect of the theatrical experience. Freeroam Theatre is a very young, very new theatre company developed by performers who are recent graduates of the Bachelor of Creative Industries (Acting and Performance) in Wagga Wagga. The cast for TOME is: Charles Sykes; Keeden Hendriks; Sally Jackson; Natasha Shimpf and Haya Arzidin.

Clue on Stage

By Johnathan Lynn, adapted from the screenplay by Hunter Foster, Eric Price and Sandy Rustin. Directed by Jordan D’Arcy. Garrick Theatre, Meadow St, Guildford, WA. May 6-22, 2021

Clue on Stage is a campy, consciously theatrical, stage adaptation of the film of the same name - itself a homage to the boardgames, known in Australia as Cluedo. Six eccentric characters gather in a mansion for a dinner party - invited by the mysterious Mr Boddy. Throw in an eccentric butler, the compulsory French maid and a number of quirky cameos - and you have a night of murder and mayhem.

YIRRAMBOI Festival Opening Night

Melbourne. 6 to 16 May 2021

Smoke billows from the cleansing fire on a mild Melbourne autumn evening. The space is surrounded by gumtrees and the words “Our Narratives, Our Way” are projected onto the walls enclosing the Malthouse Outdoor Stage. The show opens with Neon Ngargee (Corroboree), led by Amos Roach (Archie Roach’s son), dancing through the crowd. The Welcome to Country is done by two of the festival’s matriarchs, Boonwurrung Elder, N’Arweet Carolyn Briggs and Woiwurrung Elder Aunty Di Kerr.

The Music Of The Night - The Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber. Spears Entertainment. Director: Theresa Borg. Producer: Caitlin Spears. Musical Director & Arrangements: Stephen Gray. Choreographer: Celina Yuen. Chapel Off Chapel, Melbourne. May 12 - 16, 2021.

This year marks two musical theatre milestones for British composer Andrew Lloyd Webber - the 40th anniversary of Cats and 35 years of The Phantom Of The Opera. A musical with lyrics based on T. S. Eliot poems, featuring singing and dancing felines? Who could have predicted it's worldwide popularity.

A German Life

By Christopher Hampton. Starring Robyn Nevin. John Frost for The Gordon Frost Organisation. Directed by Neil Armfield. Canberra Theatre Centre. 11 – 16 May, 2021 and touring

As a young woman in the mid-1930s, the naive and apolitical Brunhilde Pomsel found herself seconded to the Department of Propaganda to work as a secretary for Joseph Goebbels. She went on to live to 106 and was one of the last people alive who had been with the Nazi elite right up until the end. Based on many hours of interviews conducted in 2012 for a documentary, Christopher Hampton’s play accurately captures her voice—intelligent, pragmatic, articulate and resourceful. She was also ordinary and not evil. She had Jewish friends. Her father had Jewish clients.

Animal Farm

By George Orwell. Adapted by Nick Skubij. Created by Shake & Stir. Director Michael Futcher. The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre. 6-9 May and touring

In this era of Trump, war in Israel, post-Brexit blues and an increasing gap between rich and poor, shake & stir’s adaptation of the Orwell classic Animal Farm is as timely as it is colourful and thought provoking. While no less dark than Orwell’s 1984, Animal Farm is made less horrifying and more accessible by its fairy-tale setting of anthropomorphic farm animals.

Taming of the Shrew

By William Shakespeare, directed by Damien Ryan. Queensland Theatre (QT), Brisbane. 13 May to 5 June, 2021

Putting on a Shakespeare comedy must be like asking a performer to play the guitar, juggle, and tell jokes at the same time. There are so many individual elements that the writer has threaded together to form his canvas. In Taming of the Shrew, he plays with the Italian commedia dell'arte style and the 'masked' characters and situations that audiences expected in the 17th century, while smuggling in an unexpected love story.

Dogs in the Schoolyard

Flipside Circus in association with Assembly of Elephants. Cremorne Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC). 5 to 15 May 2021

When independent performance company Assembly of Elephants approached Flipside Circus to develop a children's theatre show about the difficult subject of 'exclusion', the result was Dogs in the Schoolyard. This is a very physical piece of theatre with minimal text and maximum energy, directed by Elaine Ackworth, Robert Kronk and Amy Stuart, who are passionate about supporting the next generation of performers.

The Magnolia Tree

The Wolves Theatre Company and Regional Arts Victoria present The Magnolia Tree. A play written and directed by Michael Gray Griffith. Opening night Altona Theatre, Melbourne. May 13, 2021 followed by Regional Tour.

Playwright. director and co-founder of The Wolves Theatre Company Michael Gray Griffith presents 70 minutes of mesmerizing, thought provoking and often times nail-biting theatre.   

The Summer of Our Lives

Book and lyrics by Tyler Jacob Jones. Music by Robert Woods. Western Sky Productions. Directed by Katt Osborne. The Blue Room Theatre, Perth Cultural Centre, WA. May 4-22, 2021

It has been too long since Perth has had the pleasure of a new Woods and Jones musical. Thanks to Western Sky Productions, this brand new, beautiful and bizarre production is delighting capacity audiences as part of the latest Blue Room Season.

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