Reviews

Jasper Jones

By Kate Mulvany, based on the novel by Craig Silvey. Director: Sam Strong. Queensland Theatre. Playhouse, QPAC. 28 Jul - 18 Aug 2018

Craig Silvey’s widely-praised novel Jasper Jones comes to Queensland in a highly acclaimed stage adaptation by Kate Mulvany. First seen in a 2014 Barking Gecko production in Perth, the work has since been staged at Belvoir Street Theatre in early 2016 and later in the same year by Melbourne Theatre Company. It’s basically the MTC production, which was directed by Sam Strong who again directs it for Brisbane that is on display at the Playhouse with, excepting for two replacements, the same cast.

Hotel Sorrento

By Hannie Rayson. HIT Productions. Riverside Theatres, Parramatta. July 31 to August 4, 2018 and touring.

Is Hotel Sorrento really about the ‘ghost’ that has haunted and divided the Moynihan family, or is it a treatise on the Australian attitude to the arts? If it is the latter, does that mean the play is a little dated? That the cultural criticism it makes is less relevant today than it was in 1990 when the play was awarded an AWGIE, a Premier’s Literary Award and a Green Room Award? Or do the cuts in government funding to many of the arts suggest the ‘home grown cringe’ does still exist?

The Almighty Sometimes

By Kendall Feaver. Griffin Theatre Company. Director: Lee Lewis. SBW Stables Theatre, Sydney 27 July – 8 September, 2018

This story of a mother-daughter relationship has you continually shifting sympathy. One minute you’re on the side of the moody 18-year-old daughter, who has been on medication since she was 11 and who now has proof (Proof!) that all those pills have stopped her creative flow. Next minute you’re on the side of the single mother, desperate that her depressed, hormonal daughter is heading for self-destruction. Now she’s an adult, with a boyfriend, what will happen when the maternal chains are loosened?

 

Legally Blonde The Musical

Music and Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin. Book by Heather Hach. Based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture. Packemin Productions. Riverside Theatre Parramatta. July 27 - August 11, 2018

Some musicals show their age, but Legally Blonde is a production which has become more topical since it debuted not less. The central character is Elle – a blonde, pink loving, Chihuahua carrying shopaholic who gives the outward impression of being on the shallow side. She turns the tables on the snooty law school at Harvard University – and her ex-boyfriend - by displaying street smarts.

Company

Music & Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim. Book: George Furth. Griffith Musical Theatre. Director: Jacqui Somerville. Musical Director: Heidi Loveland. Choreographer: Joseph Simons. Powerhouse, Brisbane. 28 Jul – 4 Aug 2018

Although Stephen Sondheim’s ‘concept musical’ Company was groundbreaking in its time there have been few professional productions of it in Australia, so it was a bold choice for Griffith Music Theatre third-year students to produce it as one of their showcase musicals of 2018.

My Fair Lady

Book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and Music by Fredrick Lowe. Based on George Bernard Shaw's “Pygmalion”. Gosford Musical Society. Directed by Daniel Craig. Musical Direction by Roslyn English. Choreography by Scott Webster. Costume Designer – Narelle Wotton. Set Designer – Daryl Kirkness. Lighting – Damien Rice. Laycock Street Theatre. July 27-August 11, 2018

Just when you think you know enough about a musical (having performed in it once) it's genuinely refreshing to sit amongst the audience 16 years later (and 16 years wiser) and really take it in. In writing this review, I found myself doing more research regarding the source material than I had anticipated. Did you know, for instance, that the original version which previewed in 1956 contained seven more songs than it does now?

The Sound of Music

Music by Richard Rodgers, Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II, Book by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse. Bankstown Theatre Company. Director, Glenda Kenyon, Musical Director Ian Buchanan. Bryan Brown Theatre, Bankstown. July 27 – August 5, 2018

I must be upfront in presenting this review of the music theatre classic, The Sound of Music.

I have known Glenda Kenyon for a long time, indeed directing her as Maria many years ago. I also admit to designing and creating the scenery for this production. Both the direction and design of this production is unashamedly traditional, not a T shirt in sight, or a milk crate or ladder. This production is Glenda’s directorial debut, fitting, as she knows this show so well, having performed the role of Maria on several occasions.

Marjorie Prime

By Jordon Harrison Ensemble Theatre Production & Noosa Alive! Director: Mitchell Butel. J Theatre, Noosa. Qld. 24-25 July 2018

Noosa Alive!, or as it used to known, Noosa Long Weekend, is the Sunshine Coast’s celebration of Arts and Culture and has been a highlight of the area for a phenomenal 17 years. It’s usually jam-packed with events and artists including premieres, and this year is no exception. In between the contemporary a-capella group The Idea of North, and Blake Bowden’s Lorenz Hart tribute Straight From the Hart, there was Jordan Harrison’s (Orange is the New Black) little gem of a play Marjorie Prime.

Contest

By Emilie Collyer. Darebin Arts Speakeasy. Directed by Prue Clark; produced by Erin Milne. Northcote Town Hall, Main Hall. 25 July – 4 August 2018

The nexus of Emilie Collyer’s play is netball – a game you can see being played any night of the week in any city and a lot of country towns across Australia.  Under lights, all seasons, mostly women – and women of all ages.  A lot of fun, a lot of bonding – and a lot of commitment – to be there, to give up something else, to work hard, to be fit and to compete.  Besides, the exercise, the physical demands, the game, the playing to win, means you can switch off for an hour from all your troubles and life’s myriad dissatisfactions.  The

Cry-Baby

Book by Mark O’Donnell and Thomas Meehan. Songs by David Javerbaum and Adam Schlesinger. Based on the film by John Waters. LPD in association with Hayes Theatre Co. Hayes Theatre, Potts Point. July 20 - August 19, 2018

What can fizzle on Broadway can sizzle on other stages. Cry-Baby only lasted 68 performances when it premiered in New York in 2008. At the Hayes Theatre - with its intimate staging - the musical is a delicious treat.

In an echo of GreaseCry-Baby is set in the early golden era of the 1950’s – where the Cold War is at its most terrifying and bad boys wore leather jackets.  It’s about teenagers from two different tribes who fall in love in the flavour of Romeo and Juliet.

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