Reviews

Ladies Write Letters of Lemony Love

Written & Directed by Maeve Hook. Digital Fringe. Melbourne Fringe Festival. 24 & 25, 28 & 29 November 2020

Do not be misled by the rather twee title.  In 1901 and into 1902, two intelligent, articulate young women, Isobel (Meg Hickey) and Henrietta (Maeve Hook) write to each other.  They’re friends in the remote rural town of Toobloodyfaraway in the wheat belt of south-west Victoria.  At first, their letters are brief and bright girlish notes.  But then they are separated when Henrietta moves to Melbourne. 

Music of the Night

Director: Madeleine Johns. Redcliffe Musical Theatre. November 13 – 19, 2021.

This production was really a celebration of the ten year life of this company and a great exhibition for the audience to remember past shows. Obviously many people have followed the RMT productions over the years as the large audience in attendance felt fully involved. I was amazed at how many musical based shows they have done over the ten years – thirty main house shows and twenty two by the junior theatre.  They have been busy.

The Third Culture Kid

By MC Emkew. Melbourne Fringe Festival. 24 to 28 November 2020

In The Third Culture Kid, Mashood Qureshi, also known as MC Emkew, tells the story of his life so far through spoken word and original rap songs. This coming-of-age story has universal themes, with deeply personal insights into the challenges Emkew faced because he was a Pakistani Muslim migrant kid growing up in Australia.

Much Ado About Nothing

By William Shakespeare. Shakesbeer. Kadidjiny Park Hall, Melville, WA. November 21-22, 2020

Shakesbeer, a company that focuses on bringing the spirit of original Shakespeare productions to modern audiences, presented Much Ado About Nothing for a short season in a cabaret setting. The vibrant, pacy and fun production was a joy to watch.

Full Circle

By Janet Shaw. Directed by Barry Lefort. Stirling Theatre, Morris Place, Innaloo, WA. Nov 20 - Dec 5, 2020

Full Circle is an interesting little comedy with a spring in its step. Nicely directed and well performed, it is set as Nicola’s wedding day approaches - and a multitude of skeletons come crashing out the closet.

Young Cezanne – A Lived Perspective

Written and directed by Leslie Gurusinghe. Melbourne Fringe Festival, 12 - 29 November 2020.

This play examines the life and relationship of the artists Paul Cezanne (Leslie Gurusinghe) and Marie Fiquet (Dominik Shields). The play is intriguingly set in both 1856 and 2020. The oscillation between the two time periods is well handled as the costumes and set clearly evoke the historical period but could also just as easily be a contemporary scene. The striking similarity between the time frames is continually reiterated throughout the text and is an important basis of the narrative.

2.20AM

By Rebecca Lister. Ad Astra, Brisbane. 13 to 28 November 2020

I didn’t expect to enjoy a short play that deals with suicide as its central subject. But Ad Astra co-founder and director Jacqueline Kerr presents the Brisbane premiere of Rebecca Lister’s 2.20AM as a warm and humour-filled story about the resilience of friendship and human connections. The title relates to the time that one character wakes up every morning to run the gauntlet of emotions and questions that she manages to supress during the daylight hours.

Love, Loss and What I Wore

By Nora and Delia Ephron. Based on the book by Ilene Beckerman. Centenary Players. Director: Rhyll Bucknell. Chelmer Community Centre, Chelmer, Qld. 7-28 Nov 2020

Love, Loss and What I Wore is an amusing look at women and their matters of the heart, their wardrobes, and their accessories. Based on the best-selling book by Ilene Beckerman, Nora and Delia Ephron sourced additional stories from friends, including Rosie O’Donnell, and have added them to this chick-flick/chick-lit collection of monologues. The authors know something about this audience with Nora having written, When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless In Seattle, and with Delia, You’ve Got Mail.

Motherhood the Musical

By Sue Fabisch. Murray Music and Drama. Directed by Tammy Peckover. Pinjarra Civic Centre, WA. Nov 13-28, 2020

Murray Music and Drama’s Motherhood the Musical is another ‘replacement show’, as in the wake of Covid, the decision was made to downsize from a planned production of Happy Days to this fun, easy to stage four hander.

Old Love

By Norm Foster. Directed by Vanessa Jensen. Melville Theatre, Stock Rd, Palmyra, WA. Nov 19 - Dec 5, 2020

Usually when you see a show that feels very tight, very polished and beautifully finished, it is the result of a year or more’s planning by the director and many months of thought and preparation by the production team prior to rehearsal. Old Love feels like that - but it was in fact a very late replacement in the season, replacing not one, but two alternative productions slated for this season.

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