Reviews

The Socially Distanced Play

By Damon Hill. Tea Tree Players. Tea Tree Players Theatre, Surrey Downs, SA. May 25 – June 4, 2022

How many theatre companies have their own resident playwright? The Socially Distanced Play had its genesis at the beginning of the infamous COVID outbreak when Damon Hill decided to write a play based on the premise of a local theatre company trying to rehearse a play with social distancing and all the other precautions that accompany COVID.

Before the Meeting

By Adam Bock. White Box Theatre. Directed by Kim Hardwick. Seymour Centre, NSW. 21 May – 11 June, 2022

Adam Bock is a Canadian playwright working in America. Before the Meeting  is one of his most recent plays. First performed in 2019 at the Williamstown Festival in the United States, it is set in the basement of St Stephen’s church, where a branch of Alcoholics Anonymous meets regularly. Bock’s characters come together beforehand to make the coffee and ensure the chairs in the meeting room next door are set up. Gail is in charge. She’s a bit bossy but caring. Nicole is young, pregnant and collects jokes about addicts.

Hercules

Devised & written by Daniel Schlusser & the cast: Katherine Tonkin, Mary-Helen Sassman & Edwina Wren. Daniel Schlusser Ensemble. Arts House, North Melbourne. 24 – 28 May 2022

We take our seats in the cavernous Arts House space and we have plenty of time to check out Romanie Harper’s and Bethany J Fellows’s brightly lit set before the show begins.  It’s a spacious kindergarten, stocked with toys, blocks, little chairs and a dress-up box.  Colourful cushions.  Lots of kids’ art on the walls.  There are big windows up stage.  Then: blackout. 

The Removalists

By David Williamson. PAANDA. Directed by Matthew Jones and Orla Poole. University of Notre Dame, Fremantle, WA. May 24 - Jun 4, 2022

The Performing Arts Society of WA (PAANDA) approaches the 1970s Australian classic, The Removalists, with a female perspective, in a strong and thought-provoking production.

The Removalists follows a rookie cop and his senior officer after they receive a domestic violence complaint.

Mefistofele in Concert

By Arrigo Boito. Presented by Opera Australia. State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne. 25 & 27 May 2022.

There are significant advantages in producing concert versions of a major opera. The savings in production costs is enormous and it is possible to make such performances more feasible and accessible. There are more than just pragmatic considerations as the singing and the music become the entire focal point. This concentrates attention on the performers and the musicians in a rather different and unique way. 

Theatresports All Stars

Enmore Theatre, NSW. Sunday 22nd May, 2022

The Comedy Festival is over! But it closed with a bang! A mighty, improvised bang – fuelled and detonated by some of the best improvisors in the country! Inspired by two years of Covid closures and six weeks of political posturing, they hit the stage running, keen to consolidate their “All Star” status. Which they certainly did!

The Wizard of Oz

By L. Frank Baum, Harold Arlen, E. Y. Harburg and Herbert Stothart. Murray Music and Drama Club. Directed by Cathy Puzey. Pinjarra Civic Centre, WA. May 6-22, 2022

This well-loved musical, produced by Murray Music and Drama Club, has been performing to capacity crowds in Pinjarra. Losing their middle week of three to Covid complications, they bounced back (albeit one leading role down) to mount a successful final week.

Featuring a cast of 35, including some fabulous children, the show featured some gorgeous costumes - co-ordinated by Tammy Peckover. Well-constructed set pieces from Trevor Delaporte and Andy Peckover and colourful lighting from Terry Peckover help the show to look good.

Tartuffe - The Imposter

By Writer: Molière, adapted by the cast and crew. Monash University Student Theatre. Directed by Celeste Cody. 19th-28th May, 2022

This play, originally from 1664, is still relevant since it holds up human frailty, hypocrisy and misrepresentations of the truth for examination and ridicule. The director, Celeste Cody, has included the best parts of student theatre – exuberance, creative discursions and irreverent takes on the classic text, and the actors have made the most of the opportunity.

References to current issues and culture abound and add to the classic tale. All of the actors brought consistent focus and energy to their roles and the original caricatures were given new life and relevance.

Hearth

By Fleur Murphy. La Mama Courthouse. 18 – 29 May 2022

A family drama, set (mostly) in the Robinson family home on the bushy outskirts of Melbourne, just before, during and after the bushfires of 2009. (The year could equally well be 2019.) The fires bring tragedy, but they are also the catalyst in the aching conflict between brothers: Matthew (Martin Blum, in a powerful brooding performance) thirty-five, and Tom (Kurt Pimblett, disturbingly mercurial) eighteen. 

SIX

By Toby Marlow & Lucy Moss, Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide – 21 May – 12 June 2022

‘Welcome to the show, to the historemix’ sing the six ex-wives of Henry VIII, introducing the story you think you’ve heard before. Only this time, it’s as an all-female pop sextet, complete with signature costumes, tiaras with attitude, and personalities larger than the king himself.

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