Reviews

Plaza Suite

By Neil Simon. Melville Theatre. Directed by Clare Talbot, Michelle Sharp and Siobhan O’Gara. Roy Edinger Theatre, Melville, WA. Feb 17-Mar 4, 2023

Melville Theatre’s Plaza Suite features three different stories, all set in the same room of New York’s Plaza Hotel, on three different days in 1968. 

Overseen by creative director Susan Lynch, the three acts all have different directors, but feature the same practical but beautiful set design (again by Susan Lynch), and effective sound and lighting design by Clare Talbot. Gorgeous, era appropriate costumes were designed by Michelle Sharp. Despite three directors, this is a production with overall unity and a sense of being a single show.

Sandi Mac Full Circle

Adelaide Fringe: World Premiere. The Arch at Holden Street Theatres. 26 Feb – 5 Mar, 2023

Despite recently defecting to Melbourne, Sandi McMenamin can be described as part of Adelaide’s ‘musical theatre royalty’. It would be hard to find a company or established performer that she has not nurtured, supported or worked with and for much of that time, few knew of her extensive, successful international career as a pianist, teacher, songwriter, television presenter and cabaret performer.

A Star is Torn

Adelaide Fringe Festival 2023. Schnitty Theatre. Holden Street Theatres.14th Feb – 19th Mar, 2023

Greg Fleet wears many caps for his latest venture – playwright, comedian, and actor. Joining him on stage are fellow comedian Kru Harale and actor Brant Eustice. A Star is Torn is equal parts comedy, drama, and tragedy. Amali (Harale) is a dynamic comedian on her way up, when she is heckled by an audience member, who happens to be her comedic hero Matt Francis (Fleet). What follows is an unlikely friendship.     

Rabbit Hole

By David Lindsay-Abaire. Directed by Christopher Hill. Old Mill Theatre, South Perth, WA. Feb 17 - Mar 4, 2023

Old Mill Theatre’s production of Rabbit Hole is the World Premiere of a new adaptation of this Pulitzer Prize Winning work. This version is set locally in Perth, and the central couple, in what was a story of a husband and wife trying to cope after the sudden loss of their son, now become a gay couple.

You Ready for This?

Adelaide Fringe. Presented by: Tutti Arts Inc. February 25th, 2023

I have to confess to becoming somewhat of a ‘Tutti groupie’, having seen two of their different shows this week, and ‘different’ is, in fact the word to use. The 4 Sisters of Invention, the stars of this show, spent a delightful hour explaining how their ‘difference’ is, in fact uniqueness. Aimee Crathern, Michelle Hall, Caroline Hardy and Annika Hooper have been singing together for 12 years, and it shows. There are no prima donnas.

Sex Magick

By Nicholas Brown. Griffin Theatre Company / Sydney WorldPride 2023. SBW Stables Theatre. Feb 17 – Mar 25, 2023

You’ve probably never seen a play like this, and with so many angles – erotic and playful, thoughtful, spiritual and political, and yet so inclusive and hilarious.

It’s queer theatre in all ways, pushing boundaries not just in love and sexual identities, but also shape-shifting the limits of play-making itself.   

I Know The End

By Alix Kuijpers. Adelaide Fringe. Studio 166 at Goodwood Theatre and Studios, Adelaide. 23 Feb — 26 Feb 2023.

Entering into the intimate, dimly lit space of Studio 166 we were met with comforting softness: an environment of pale sheets, pillows, and covered mattress, including draped audience seating.  One dancer, Fern Mines, greets you at the door to query your level of comfort with audience interactive moments then leads you to be seated. The other dancer, Caroline De Wan, is poised with slight unsteadiness on a mattress in the centre, book in hand. A gentle, routine series of actions around the ritual of bedtime unfolds, the two dancers finally snuggling as a couple under a sheet. 

BackBeat 60 presents 'The Beat Goes On!'

Adelaide Fringe 2023. The Warehouse Atrium at The Warehouse Theatre. Saturday February 25th 7.30pm

The Beat Goes On is not just a bargain priced, toe tapping and hand clapping night of great 1960s music, it is a cleverly crafted journey through the songs and stories of the beloved musicians who created the back beat, anthems and hits for the Baby Boomer generation. Spanning 2.5 hours (and I am reliably informed they have another hour of fabulous musical material for the ‘60s), this show’s story begins around the early 1960’s.

Orpheus

Adelaide Fringe. Rymill Park Lake. 17 February – 19 March 2023

Dave has a monochrome life until he sees Eurydice across a crowded Karaoke bar whilst singing Springsteen. And then it’s all colour and light, until… until… well, no spoilers. You have to experience this for yourself.

Wright is our narrator – but he doesn’t just speak, he draws us a picture with words, with the way he looks and lingers, how he moves his body, how he holds his body. And despite the cacophony from other shows surrounding this open-air venue on a Saturday evening, he is utterly captivating.

Disney 100 The Concert

MM Productions. Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Feb 23 to 25, 2023, then HOTA Gold Coast, outdoor stage, Mar 31 – Apr 1, and Riverside Theatre, PCEC, Perth, Apr 21 & 22.

The first delight of the evening was seeing so many young people walking into the Opera House for a performance by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The little ones remained transfixed by over two hours of scintillating sound from the SSO accompanying highlights of Disney movies on a giant video screen.

Facing a daunting challenge were the singers who had to compete with the juggernaut of sound and vision. They needed a little boost at times to be heard. Pavarotti in his prime would struggle to get much of a look at an event like this.

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