Reviews

Take a Chance on Me

By Roger Hall. Spotlight Basement Theatre, Benowa, Gold Coast. Director: Helen Maden. September 15th – October 1st, 2017

Speed Dating: ever tried it? Well, if this show is any indication, it involves jumping through hoops for little reward.

Kiwi playwright Roger Hall has written an hilarious script unravelling the mysteries of this popular (?) pastime.

Director Helen Maden has delivered another production that is sure to bring back memories for past, present and future speed daters and it does so without the use of SPEED!

Too Ready Mirror

By Jamaica Zuanetti. Darebin Arts. Directed by Rachel Baring and presented by Darebin Arts Speakeasy and Melbourne Fringe Festival. Studio 2, Northcote Town Hall, Melbourne. 15-28 September, 2017.

Jamaica Zuanetti’s play is inspired by Simone de Beauvoir’s observation: “It is, again, one of the loving woman’s misfortunes to find that her very love disfigures her, destroys her, she is nothing more than this slave, this servant, this too ready mirror, this too faithful echo.”

I Remember You

Javeenbah Theatre, Nerang, Gold Coast. Created and Directed by Gai Byrne. September 15th – 30th, 2017

I Remember You is a musical stroll down memory lane featuring the hits of the 50’s and 60’s, brought to you via that ‘modern medium’ Television.

With a cast of 17 plus “Monty” (pictured), Gai and her Vocal Director Lynn Campbell (who appeared on TV shows like In Melbourne Tonight and Showcase 65 & 66) have captured the ‘buzz’ of the variety show – popular in the early days of television.

Erotic Intelligence for Dummies

Written and performed by Helen Cassidy. Pretend Productions and Wilde Applause. Melbourne Fringe Festival. Fringe Hub: Arts House – Underground, North Melbourne. 15-22 September 2017

A polished, funny show about sex.  But wittily risqué rather than ‘shocking’ – naughty but nice, surprising and funny all the way through.  Helen Cassidy comes on as the cliché librarian with the glasses and the under-control hair –except that the hair is red, the heels are a little too high and the skirt is a little too tight and too short.  Within minutes she’s perched on a mound of soft toys, reading us a story from a nice, illustrated picture book about her first sexual experiences with a fluffy koala… who then gets to te

Diving for Pearls

By Katherine Thomson. Griffin Theatre Co. SBW Stables Theatre. September 8 – October 28, 2017.

With our technology revolution and global anxieties its easy to think no other generation faced worries as big as ours. 

Kath Thomson’s play takes us back to 1991, to those stranded in a coastal industrial city as manufacturing is closed down, and recession and economic rationalism rolls in.  This classic play is in fact crisply contemporary, very back to the future.

Hello, Dolly!

Book by Michael Stewart. Music and Lyrics by Jerry Herman. Based on the play The Matchmaker by Thornton Wilder. Miranda Musical Society. Sutherland Entertainment Centre. September 13 – 17, 2017.

“Hello, Dolly! Well, Hello Dolly! It's so nice to have you back where you belong” – on stage, at Sutherland Entertainment Centre.

Classic 1960s musical Hello, Dolly! has an infectious score and a witty, engaging script which stands up well. Even the odd moment of political incorrectness feels like it was written tongue-in-cheek, and it’s certainly delivered that way. It’s a show brimming with humanity and heart.

Cockfight

The Farm. Arts Centre Gold Coast. Sept 13th – 16th, 2017, then London. National Tour early 2018

Innovation and originality are all too rare in theatre these days. That’s why The Farm’s Cockfight is such a delight. But innovation without excellence would be an incomplete theatrical equation. Fortunately, the execution of this brilliant piece is equal to the concept.

The Bluebird Mechanicals

Presented by Metro Arts and Too Close To The Sun (a Canada/Australia co-production). Sue Benner Theatre, Metro Arts, Brisbane. September 7 – 16, 2017.

Days later I can still hear the birds, squawking at each other as they debate humanity’s ineptitude: “Stupid…human….stupid….human….AARRRG.”

You’re more than an observer in the audience of The Bluebird Mechanicals, you’re committed to taking a ride that is at times awkward, uncomfortable, vulgar, intense, humorous and mesmerising.

You do not leave the theatre unmoved, just as you can’t leave a relationship unchanged, but what you do feel can take a while to process.

The Wharf Revue: The Patriotic Rag

Written and created by Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe, and Phillip Scott. Sydney Theatre Company. Musical direction by Phillip Scott. The Playhouse, Canberra. 12–23 September 2017

Come rain or shine, in sickness and in health, from year to year The Wharf Revue only gets richer and funnier.  Its dedicated writers and staple cast, Biggins, Forsythe, and Scott, have spent some 18 years in bringing their craft to such a finely honed point that you can only marvel at the ingenuity that makes you laugh even at a joke by Donald J.

Glorious!

By Peter Quilter. Hit Productions. Director: Denny Lawrence. Gardens Theatre, Brisbane. 12-13 September 2017 and touring.

Meryl Streep is a hard act to follow but Diana McLean makes you forget her in an instant the moment she walks on stage in this touring production of Glorious!, Peter Quilter’s play about the legendary off-key singing soprano Florence Foster Jenkins. Bringing zeal, passion and considerable warmth to the character, she establishes instant rapport with the audience (as Foster Jenkins obviously did back in the forties) massacring some of the most difficult arias in the opera canon. Who knew McLean could sing and sing so well badly?

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