Reviews

Sun and Crystal

Adelaide Fringe Festival 2024. Art Group Seigai & The Garage International. The Garage International at the Town Hall, Adelaide. Feb 18 to 24, 2024

Reminiscent of Japanese Noh theatre and performed with the care and dedication to perfection of a Japanese Tea Ceremony, Sun and Crystal is visually striking in its minimalism.

A black stage, a gong, a mirror and an image of a large flower in grey/black tones and two performers, one in a blue kimono with tabi shoes and one in an orange kimono set the scene.

Deborah Conway

Writers Weekend Opening Night. Discovery Lounge, State Library of Western Australia, in association with Writing WA. 23 February, 2024

Deborah Conway and Willy Zygier have been part of the musical fabric of people’s lives for nearly 35 years.

Way before their personal and professional collaborations, Ms Conway was at the forefront of Australian music with band, Do Re Mi (she describes their big hit, “Man Overboard”, as an “evergreen”), and her solo recordings, “String of Pearls” and “Bitch Epic”.

Invisible Opera

By Sophia Brous. Perth Festival. Scarborough Beach Amphitheatre. 22 to 25 February, 2024.

Wander along the Esplanade, through the Scarborough Night Markets, to grab your headphones and sit watching the glistening waves crashing into the beach, waiting for the Invisible Opera.

Indeed, the Opera is invisible since we are facing an empty “stage” of wood-chipped lawn surrounded by people taking selfies with the sunset, and crowds milling around the food stalls.

An Inspector Calls

By J. B. Priestley. Presented by Fifth Business Theatre Company. Adelaide Fringe: Tyndale Theatre, Salisbury East. 23 February – 2 March 2024

A well-to-do family gathers after dinner: there are toasts from the father, and the daughter’s suitor presents her with an engagement ring, whilst the son sulks in the corner. The women have just retired to the drawing room, when there is the sound of a doorbell and a servant walks into to announce an Inspector has called.

Taxithi – The Long Journey Home

By Helen Yotis Patterson. La Mama Courthouse, Carlton, Vic. Feb 21 – 25, 2024

Taxithi explores many migrant stories - rich reflections of lives and memories combined with traditional songs remain forever. Of parents who sailed across the oceans; flew over continents to come to a new land, who dreamt of prosperity, love, and a new life.

Noël and Gertie, Down and Dirty

By Jonathan J Mill. Adelaide Fringe Festival 2024. The Ballroom at Ayers House, Adelaide. Feb 23 to 25, 2024

Noël Coward once said ‘There will always be a few people…in every generation who will find my work entertaining and true.’ An understatement indeed, and one of the premises of Noël and Gertie, Down and Dirty, a revue detailing the lives of Noël Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, both LGBTQIA+ stars of the early part of the 20th century.

The Dictionary of Lost Words

By Verity Laughton, adapted from the novel by Pip Williams. State Theatre Company South Australia & Sydney Theatre Company. Arts Centre Melbourne, The Playhouse. 17 February – 17 March 2024

Set against the slow, meticulous, and selective creation of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), The Dictionary of Lost Words traces the story of Esme Nicoll (Brenna Harding) – a fictitious character - from a precocious child of four in 1886 to a thirty-three-year-old mature woman in 1915 – plus an epilogue set in 1889.  The play is the story of Esme’s education – literary and moral - change and growth from a cossetted, insulated, timid, curious girl to a complex and courageous young woman who becomes a lexicographer, but finds experience in the wider w

Limbo – The Return

Strut & Fret. Adelaide Fringe Festival 2024. The Spiegeltent – Garden of Unearthly Delights. 16th Feb – 17th March, 2024

Award-winning creators Strut and Fret have delivered another vibrant and dynamic production, with the new and improved Limbo – The Return.

Sxip Shirley, an avant-garde composer and performer, along with musicians Grant Arthur and Mick Stuart, provided an electrifying soundtrack that filled the performing space. The bass tones of the giant tuba felt like a heartbeat. The music added an intensity to an already exciting production.

Gaslight

By Patrick Hamilton, adapted by Johnna Wright and Patty Jamieson, Playhouse, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Brisbane, 20 February to 3 March 2024

Queensland Theatre (QT) started its 2024 season with a play that introduced the term ‘gaslighting’ into many conversations about relationships in the last decade. Written in the 1930s by troubled playwright and novelist, Patrick Hamilton, the action is set at the very tail end of the Victorian era in a claustrophobic and gloomy London terrace house.

Happy Endings

Adelaide Fringe: The Octagon at Gluttony. Presented by Tone & Cheek Productions. 21 February – 3 March 2024

If you’re in need of some energy at the end of a long day at the Fringe, and you’re a sucker for fairy tales, Happy Endings is your ticket to satisfaction.

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