Reviews

The Gospel According to Jesus Queen of Heaven

By Jo Clifford. Ben Anderson Presents. Midsumma Festival. At fortyfivedownstairs, Flinders Lane. 18 - 29 January 2023

Jesus is a woman – we are told.  Jesus always was a woman.  Why not?  It makes sense.  It makes better sense – and this show will convince you.  Jesus is here to reveal that she is a woman and what that means – and to find, reveal, reinterpret and contradict Christian dogma, beliefs, myths and stories.  ‘The world is changing’ is the optimistic mantra.  That is the conclusion and the meaning of the monologue that makes up this show.  It takes the form of a sermon.  Or if you like, an anti-sermon because it i

Sunday

By Anthony Weigh. Melbourne Theatre Company. Southbank, The Sumner. 16 January – 18 February 2023

Sunday Reed (Nikki Shiels) stands alone in Anna Cordingley’s vast and empty set.  Stage left, a wall of impenetrable black; otherwise, walls covered with huge brushstrokes, and, high across the back, a rectangle of yellow and green – a particular motif for Australian art.  Sunday looks out over the vista down to the river at Heide, the legendary haven, sanctuary and home established in the 1930s by Sunday and John Reed (Matt Day) at Bulleen.  Sunday was the patron, supporter, muse and den mother for such artists as Albert Tucker, Joy Hester, and most crucially her

Spring Awakening

By Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik. Millennial Productions. Ron Hurley Theatre, Seven Hills, Queensland. 20 - 29 Jan, 2023

If this production of Spring Awakening is anything to go by, it’s clear that Millennial Productions know exactly what they want and how to execute it to perfection. 

So, what’s it about? Spring Awakening is a rock musical with music by Duncan Sheik and a book and lyrics by Steven Sater. Based on the 1891 German play of the same name by Frank Wedekind, the story explores the struggles of teenage self-discovery and the challenges of growing up in a repressed society. 

Holding Achilles

By David Morton. Legs on the Wall and the Dead Puppet Society. Sydney Festival. Carriageworks – Bay 17. Jan 19 – 22, 2023

It’s hard to fit Homer’s epic The Iliad into just two hours.  One success starting at an earlier Sydney Festival was William Zappa’s modestly staged version with few effects and just three other actors – that took two long days to unfold! 

Cruel Intentions – the 90’s Musical

Created by Jordan Ross, Lindsey Rosin and Roger Kumble. David Venn Productions. Directed by Alister Smith. HOTA Gold Coast. Jan 20th-28th, 2023

When you combine jaw-dropping performances from a brilliant Australian cast with fabulous production values, and a hit soundtrack from the Nineties, you are guaranteed a solid gold success…and that’s what Cruel Intentions -The 90’s Musical delivers. It’s an Australian premiere production and another of the new form of hybrid musicals aimed at a younger audience…an audience that has not been noted in the past for embracing the feast that is Musical Theatre.

Polite Mammals

Conceived & performed by The Wholesome Hour. Presented by ArtPlay and Midsumma Festival. ArtPlay, Birrarung Marr, Melbourne. 10 am and 2 pm, 20-29 January 2023

Polite Mammals is a marvellous sort of cheeky, off-the-wall sketch show for small kids.  A cabaret for tots. It’s fun and it’s silly, but it’s also witty and sophisticated and just as much fun for parents, carers and any other random adults who wander in.  Kids sit on cushions, right down the front – entranced, and engaged - and I scarcely saw any of them move from start to finish.

The Hours

Composer: Kevin Puts. Librettist: Greg Pierce. Based on the novel by Michael Cunningham. Metropolitan Opera and Sharmill Films. In select Australian cinemas from January 28, 2023

The Hours is an outstanding example of where opera should be heading. As much as we love the classics, the world is moving on and it is refreshing to see that Metropolitan Opera has the foresight to present newer works along with our much-loved favourites!

It began its life as Michael Cunningham’s 1998 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, followed by the 2002 film adaptation starring Nicole Kidman, Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore.

The Western Jukebox

By Alex McLennan. Playlovers. Directed by Alex McLennan. The Actor’s Hub, Kensington St, East Perth WA. Jan 19-22, 2023

Playlovers’ youth production The Western Jukebox is a jukebox musical in two parts. Act One is a celebration of country and western, while Act 2, almost a different show, is a musical about jukebox musicals.

Kairos

FORM Dance Projects. Carriageworks – Bay 30, Everleigh. January 19 – 21, 2023

Meryl Tankard draws masterfully on stunning creative collaborations to create our current turbulent world, “collapsing and expanding through a concertina of floods, fire, plaque and war”.  The choreographer calls her vision, Kairos; it’s an ancient Greek word suggesting a random but opportune moment.  And it’s now.

Blue

By Thomas Weatherall. Director: Deborah Brown. Belvoir St Theatre Upstairs. 14-29 January, 2023

When Thomas Weatherall’s agent advised him to “just start writing, Tom” she probably realised much more vividly than Tom himself just how clearly he would be able to translate his thoughts and feelings into words – and just how vividly he would

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