Reviews

Waiting in the Wings

By Noël Coward. The Mount Players. Director: Chery Servis. 13 November – 5 December 2015

The Mount Players have just closed another very successful reworking of a significant, beautifully produced theatre classic.  It is wonderful to have the opportunity to enjoy the mores of theatre’s traditional cannon in the beautiful rural setting of Macedon.  Full marks must go to this highly regarded theatre company for not shying away from producing works with large older casts.  In fact The Mount Players has embraced that concept with this final production for the year with a high degree of success.

City of Perth Nativity

Directed by Marina Del Basso. Forrest Chase, Perth. Dec 21-23, 2015

The City of Perth Nativity is an annual free event as part of the City's Festival of Christmas. Held in Forrest Chase, in the centre of the city, it attracts audiences of over 5000 people each evening.

This year the story is narrated lovingly and passionately by Lisa Adam, portraying a woman who lived in the time of Jesus, as she tells the story to her awestruck daughter, gorgeously played by Phoebe Tennant, in a performance reminiscent of a young Angela Cartwright.

Spirit of Christmas

Queensland Symphony Orchestra with guest artists Michael Cormick & Anna Dowsley QPAC Choir, Brisbane Chorale, Voices of Birralee, Brisbane Birralee Voices, Jaewoo Kim, Sophie Perkins, Oliver Samson. Host: Jenny Woodward. Concert Hall, QPAC. 18-19 December 2015

Highlight of this year’s Spirit of Christmas was undoubtedly Simon Kenway and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Under his baton this amazingly versatile group of players capped off a brilliant year by giving this concert passion and personality. Starting with the late great Tommy Tycho’s classy arrangement of a “Christmas Overture” and following with “Merry Christmas, Merry Christmas” with the combined 250 voice choir, this annual event of Christmas songs and carols was off to a rousing start.

The Great Australian Disclaimer

By Andrew R. Kelly. La Mama, EXPLORATIONS, 205 Faraday Street, 14,15, & 16 November 2015.

The temptation to laugh at or with Ivor Azzanego (Andrew Hondromatidis) is often difficult to resist in this play, even though it is dealing with some serious issues that are essentially no laughing matter. The play does not make light of these problems and the text provides an accurate depiction of the daily hypocrisy practiced by people when their attitudes and beliefs regarding gender, sexuality and race are challenged.

Babes In The Wood

Written and directed by Stephen Lee. GRADS. Roleystone Theatre, WA. Dec 4-19, 2015

GRADS Seasonal Pantomime was presented this year at Roleystone Theatre, giving both groups a Christmas treat.

Nicely written and directed by Stephen Lee, this version of Babes had up-to-the-minute political references, teamed with very old jokes and a great blend of sauciness and sweetness.

Barry Park could have been born to play Dames, and was delightful as Dame Martha Twitchett, sweet funny and gorgeously attired, Dame Martha swept the audience along with her loveliness.

The Sound of Music

Music by Richard Rodgers. Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse. Capitol Theatre, Sydney. Opening night: December 17, 2015. Touring nationally.

Pardon my indulgence, but I felt a connection to Captain von Trapp. Recently, due to my family ancestry, I became an Austrian citizen and like Georg I too received a stern letter from the military attempting to call me up for active service.  Thankfully I did not have to climb a mountain to avoid conscription.  

This production of The Sound of Music based on the Lloyd Webber London Palladium revival runs with military precision. It is tight, tuneful and barrels of fun.

From the Heart

A collaboration from Barking Spider Visual Theatre in association with Boroondara Community Outreach. Kew Court House (VIC). (Supported by the City of Boroondara and Kew Court House.) 16 December 2015

Is this ‘theatre’?  It is and it isn’t.  It is deceptively simple yet moving and  purposeful in every detail.  Three women from the Boroondara Community Outreach program tell their stories on tape in a calm and matter-of-fact way.  The women themselves do not appear.

Peter Pan

Directed by Neroli Burton and Katherine Friend. STAGE KEY. Melville Theatre, Melville WA. Dec 12-13, 2015

I had the pleasure of attending the final performance of the STAGE KEY Company's Musical Theatre Class - end of year production, a pantomime version of Peter Pan, presented by students aged 7 to 16.

This was classic British Pantomime, with most of the young performers demonstrating an excellent understanding of the genre, working well with the audience, who joined in with the fun.

The show opened with a direct address to the audience from Tinkerbell played by Cadence Smythe - an eight year old with confidence, style and poise.

No Names, No Packdrill

By Bob Herbert. Directed by Kristen Twynam-Perkins. Old Mill Theatre, South Perth, WA. 4-19 December 2015

No Names, No Packdrill is the final production in Old Mill Theatre's 2015 Season of Australian plays. This Bob Herbert play is set in Sydney, during World War II.

Central character Kathy is brilliantly played by Melissa Merchant, who captures this no-nonsense single girl beautifully, a wonderful, with whom the audience quickly bond. Like all of the ladies in this production, she looks like she has stepped out of a 1942 Women's Weekly with outstanding  wartime costuming, hair and makeup.

About Remembering

Devised and directed by Lloyd Jones in close collaboration with O.T.H.A.N. Theatre Company Ensemble. La Mama EXPLORATIONS, 205 Faraday Street, 14, 15, & 16 December 2015.

Remembering can be a tricky exercise; selective memory, burying memories, preserving memories, provide insight into the psyche and daily activities around remembering can be both a source of frustration and immense joy. All of these themes are explored in this play by deliberately and playfully forgetting the basic rules of theatre. The boundaries between performer and spectator are explored in a new and interesting mode, and linear narrative, memorising lines, traditional staging, focal points and character development are all dispensed with and replaced with spontaneous improvisation.

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