Reviews

Frame Narrative

By Emily Sheehan. New Ghosts Company. Old Fitzroy Theatre, Sydney. Directed by Lucy Clements. March 8 – 30, 2024

There’s so much to like about this first production by the new team at Sydney’s Old Fitzroy Theatre. Let’s start with the amazing setting by Soham Apte. It begins as a beautiful period European interior, with carefully matching accessories, but is soon ripped apart as an American movie setting, but then it becomes just another setting with removable walls for a play at – well, a Sydney venue like the Old Fitzroy pub.

& Juliet

Music and Lyrics by Max Martin and friends. Book by David West Read. Michael Cassel Group in association with MTM/LEYLINE. Sydney Lyric Theatre. February 27 - June 16, 2024

Writer David West Read came up with the idea for & Juliet whilst recovering from a concussion. He was not able to look at screens, so instead he lay in a dark room where he focused on listening to the 250 songs written by Max Martin – the pop composer no-one had heard of, but everyone knew though his hits.

A common thread of the songs Martin wrote for everyone from Britney Spears to Taylor Swift to Kate Perry, and many more, is heartache.  So, Read’s mind wandered to Shakepeare’s tragedy which has bucket loads of love and despair.

& Juliet

Music and Lyrics by Max Martin and friends. Book by David West Read. Michael Cassel Group. Sydney Lyric Theatre. February 27 - June 16, 2024

Writer David West Read came up with the idea for & Juliet whilst recovering from a concussion. He was not able to look at screens, so instead he lay in a dark room where he focused on listening to the 250 songs written by Max Martin – the pop composer no-one had heard of, but everyone knew though his hits.

A common thread of the songs Martin wrote for everyone from Britney Spears to Taylor Swift to Kate Perry, and many more, is heartache.  So, Read’s mind wandered to Shakepeare’s tragedy which has bucket loads of love and despair.

The Black Cat

Penzak Productions. Adelaide Fringe. The Garage International @ Scots Church. Mon 11 Mar - Sun 17 Mar 2024

One of the delights of Adelaide Fringe, if you dare venture from the big names that pepper The Guide with full page ads, is seeing very fine theatre, dance, or other artforms from artists on small budgets, with (sadly) often smaller audiences.  For a number of years there has been ongoing discussion among the artistic rank and file about how to address problems of commercial shows and corporate interests making Fringe a difficult gig for independently-produced shows.  Case in point: Mark Penzak (Victoria) has brought a tight, professional show to town for its SA premiere

Hopelessly Devoted: A Celebration of Olivia Newton-John

MSO Conductor: Jessica Gethin. Creative Director: Mark Sutcliffe. Music Arranger: Nicholas Buc. Host: Tottie Goldsmith. Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall. 7 & 9 March 2024

This tribute to Australia’s beloved Dame Olivia Newton-John AC DBE did more than reprise and celebrate the songs she is so well known for; it gave the audience a chance to grieve her loss and acknowledge her contribution to cancer care in Melbourne. The performers and audience basked in the wonderful songs Olivia Newton-John gave us and the stories the performers shared brought her shining presence into the concert hall.

Skye Scraper: The Life and Times of a Drag Queen Accountant

Adelaide Fringe Festival 2024. Skye Scraper Entertainment. The Bally at Gluttony, Rymill Park, Adelaide. Mar 12 to Mar 17, 2024

Skye Scraper: The Life and Times of a Drag Queen Accountant is a sixty-minute audience with Ethel Merman, Anne Miller, and Joan Crawford all in one woman!

Skye bustles in seemingly late to the performance. At seven foot tall and wearing a business-like pants suit with more than a touch of bling, flaming red hair and the widest shoulder pads I’ve seen since Mommie Dearest, she is certainly eye catching!

SA Inventors Escape Room

Adelaide Fringe Festival 2024. The Park at Gluttony - Rymill Park, Adelaide. Feb 17 to Mar 16, 2024

Like Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark I approached my first escape room with trepidation. How hard could it be?

Collaborating with Adelaide Fringe and Gluttony, the Escapeneers have crafted a thrilling escape room experience taking players back-in-time to learn of SA’s amazing and revolutionary scientific history – and save the world!

With puzzles designed by Yuri Vilmanis (Senior Software Engineer at Maptek) and a lot of research and planning, upon entering, the small room looks deceptively simple, and is air conditioned.

Angélique Kidjo

Adelaide Festival. The Festival Theatre, Adelaide. Tuesday 12 March 2024

Five-time Grammy Award winner and named in The Guardian’s top 100 most inspiring women in 2011, Angélique Kidjo returned to Adelaide for both WOMADelaide (replacing UK artist Nitin Sawhney after a medical emergency) and a one night only performance at the Festival Theatre. The acclaimed Beninese-French singer, songwriter, and renowned activist is celebrating her 40th year on the world stage and showcasing her most recent album Mother Nature

Spies Are Forever

Book by Corey Lubowich, Joey Richter, and Brian Rosenthal. By Special Arrangement with Tin Can Bros – www.tincanbros.com. North Shore Theatre Company. Music and Lyrics by Clark Baxtresser and Pierce Siebers. Directed by Matthew Dorahy. Zenith Theatre, Chatswood. 8-16 March 2024

A wise man once said ‘youth is wasted on the young’ however, if he had seen the opening night performance of Spies are Forever, I’m sure he would agree with me – the young are best to handle youthful enthusiasm, youthful confidence and have a great time doing it!

Before an enthusiastic and very supportive audience this cast of bright young things threw themselves into every aspect of the production and held it together despite technical difficulties, miscues, costume malfunctions and prop failures.

Qui a tué mon père

Adelaide Festival. Dunstan Playhouse. March 8-10, 2024

As the audience files into the Dunstan Playhouse, we find writer and philosopher Édouard Louis seated at a desk, typing on a laptop. The cyclorama behind him produced by Sébastien Dupouey and Marie Sanchez, transforms into a never-ending road, subtly lit, indicating that we are on a journey - initially, a clouded and foggy one, which eventually clears as the turmoil of this talented performer come to a crescendo.

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