Reviews

Witches

Concert featuring the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and four leading ladies with Ben Lewis. Sydney Opera House. July 15 and 16, 2016

Helen Dallimore, Lucy Durack, Amanda Harrison and Jemma Rix provided enough soaring musical theatre moments to lift the audience to its feet after the finale when they sang Defying Gravity as a quartet. They were not hoisted in the air, as happens in the musical Wicked, but their fans were.

The first outing for this concert presentation though was not without its turbulence. The four divas entered the concert hall of the Sydney Opera House looking sparkling but the opening numbers were on the low-key side.

Othello

By William Shakespeare. Directed by Peter Evans, presented by Bell Shakespeare. Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio.12-23 July 2016.

In this play the villainy of Iago is a perplexing phenomenon, and the ease with which the Moorish General falls prey to his own weakness of character is indicative of the insecure masculinity that dominates the story. While the male characters are often the focus of this play, this production goes to great lengths to ensure that the female voices are not only strong but also rebellious. Desdemona (Elizabeth Nabben) retains her sweetness and innocence while also proving she is wilful and resistant to her fate.

We Will Rock You

Music & Lyrics: Queen. Book & Direction: Ben Elton. Musical Director: David Skelton John Frost Production. Lyric Theatre, QPAC, Brisbane. From 14 July 2016.

As far as jukebox musicals go We Will Rock You hits the jackpot time and time again. The fans were in Queen heaven as hit after hit of their amazing catalogue was squeezed into the narration and the enthusiasm didn’t end until the last chord of the encore “Bohemian Rhapsody” had resonated around the theatre.

The History of Falling Things

By James Graham. Ensemble Theatre (NSW). July 7 – August 20, 2016.

The Australian premiere of Welsh playwright James Graham’s delightfully poignant play sits beautifully on the intimate Ensemble stage. First produced in Wales in 2009, the play has been acclaimed in the UK and Broadway. It’s a gentle, touching story about love, fear … and some of the good things about modern technology. In the deft hands of director Nicole Buffoni, this production finds the “all heart and love” the play deserves.

Bad Jews

By Joshua Harmon. Aleksandar Vass & Vass Theatre Group Production. Director: Gary Abrahams. Cremorne Theatre, QPAC. 12 - 31 July 2016.

Joshua Harmon’s corrosively brutal comedy Bad Jews takes the dynamics of a dysfunctional family to the extreme. The day after their grandfather Poppy’s funeral, in a cramped New York studio apartment, two Jewish brothers, their cousin and a gentile squabble over a piece of religious jewellery that belonged to the deceased. Throughout his internment in a concentration camp Poppy hid the Chai (which in Hebrew means living) from the Nazi’s under his tongue.

House of Dreams

By Penelope Bartlau & Barking Spider Visual Theatre. Fairhall Exhibition House, The Johnston Collection, Melbourne. 12 July – 20 September 2016.

The Johnston Collection of Georgian, Regency and Louis XV paintings, furniture, objet d’art and bric-a-brac is held at ‘Fairhall’, an 1860s house in East Melbourne.  Now a private museum, it was the house of William Johnston (1911-1986), an antique dealer and collector.  He bequeathed his Collection and the house to the people of Victoria ‘as a place of historical and educational interest’.  He wished for his collection to be accessible – no velvet ropes and restricted areas – and for it to be regularly rearranged, which it h

Brief Encounter

By Noël Coward, adapted by Emma Rice. Directed by Jane Sherwood Stirling Theatre, Innaloo, WA. 1-16 July 2016

Based on the Noël Coward play, Still Life, Brief Encounter is an adaptation of the film of the same name. This adaptation is by Emma Rice, who enhances the story with songs by Noël Coward, set to music by Stu Baker.

Jane Sherwood has cast this show very well, her excellent choices giving lovely chemistry and very commendable performances.

Desire Under The Elms

By Eugene O’Neill. Directed by Andrei Schiller-Chan. Sol III Company. Chapel off Chapel. July 7 – 24, 2016

There is a small core of classic playwrights, but some are eternal, and some are of their time; not thematically, for they all use the same tropes and traditions of universal storytelling, but in terms of language, sophistication and their ability to connect with us years later. Shakespeare wrote for the masses 500 years ago, and yet is timeless. Eugene O’Neill wrote less than 100 years ago – yet seems dated in his storytelling, even though both wrote about the same themes many times over.

Harvey

Play by Mary Chase. Nash Theatre. Director: Bianca Butler Reynolds. Merthyr Road Uniting Church, New Farm, Brisbane. 9-30 July 2016

Until The Big Bang Theory’s Jim Parsons revived Harvey on Broadway in 2012, productions of Mary Chase’s Pulitzer Prize winner had been thin on the ground. Formerlya staple on the community theatre circuit it now seems to be back in favour again. Nash Theatre’s production is the second I’ve reviewed this year.

Despite being written in 1944 the play about a man whose best friend is an imaginary six-foot rabbit still has currency. That’s because at its heart it’s a play about friendships, beliefs and morals.

Titanic

Music and Lyrics by Maury Yeaton. Story and Book by Peter Stone. Directed by James Cutler. StageArt. Chapel off Chapel. July 7 – 24, 2016

“Charming” is an odd word to use about a show which tells of the death of more than 1,000 people, but charming is the first word that comes to mind with Titanic. Maury Yeston’s lovely score (albeit a little repetitive) is poignant and evocative, and Peter Stone’s book quite brilliantly establishes 60 unique and very different characters in just a few vignettes each, creating people we actually care for. It’s also often witty and clever, providing much needed chuckles to break the tension of what is to come.

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