Reviews

The Queensland Symphony Orchestra was in fine form for this concert, which married a vibrant suite from Stravinsky’s incomparable Firebird ballet, with some virtuostic playing by Simon Tedeschi, and a little pre-Wagner dark German folklore by Weber. It proved to be a great mix.

Ballina’s first offering for 2021 is a frothy comedy.

As the title suggests it’s a Girls’ Weekend but before long (through a series of secret assignations) a number of gentlemen appear and the merry romp begins.

The plot - four members of a book club gather to ‘discuss’ the chosen ‘tome of the week’. Like many plots in this genre, the first act is a little flat as the characters and their connection to the story are introduced.

Ordinary Days had a less than ordinary journey to production. Originally scheduled for a run at His Majesty’s Theatre during FringeWorld, it was postponed, then cancelled during the most recent Perth Lockdown. Three of the four actors changed during the rehearsal period. Eventually Ordinary Days had a very successful Covid-capacity run as a co-production between ACP and Playlovers at Stirling Theatre, warmly supported by Stirling Players.

THERE is a great deal to be said for living in regional Australia, where we have been relatively untouched by this pandemic, and as we slowly come out of this hole called 2020, community theatre companies are rather like tortoises cautiously poking their heads out to gather the lay of the land.

They are responding to the fact that people have woken up to the fact that they have been starved of live entertainment and consequently this may probably well lead to larger audiences as we – who had been spoilt with so much choice – realise what we have been missing.