Reviews

Neville’s Island

By Tim Firth. Ensemble Theatre, Sydney. Director: Mark Kilmurry. 29 June – 12 August 2017

Trees, ferns and mist engulf the assembling audience. A patron in Row A bats away the thick mist that whirls round his seat. Setting is everything at the Ensemble: you’re so close to the action every small detail must work. Full marks then to Designer Hugh O’Connor for his impressive work on this comedy set on a small, uninhabited Tasmanian Island. 

Vigil

Book & lyrics by Steve Vizard. Composer Joe Chindamo. Arts Centre Melbourne, commissioned by Adelaide Cabaret Festival. Arts Centre Melbourne, The Fairfax. 4-8 July 2017.

Lizzie (Christie Whelan Browne in another of the performances that have made her name), is the 30-something screw-up younger daughter, the one who never finishes anything, the one who’s blown her opportunities.  She tries to sweep into a ‘nursing home’ (that awful euphemism) where her Mum lies dying.  It’s Christmas Eve, that time of far-flung families’ return and reunion.

The Mikado

By Gilbert and Sullivan. Diamond Valley Singers and the Eltham Orchestras. Warrandyte High School Theatre, July 7th-15th 2017

One of the joys of Gilbert and Sullivan is that the operettas lend themselves to endless re-invention, and this production follows that path in turning the Kingdom of Titipu into the Hotel Titipu, with the Mikado recast as a CEO; and Ko-Ko the Lord High Executioner becoming – what else? – the head of Human Resources. 

HUMAN_ERROR

By Angus Cameron. Baker’s Dozen Theatre Company. Meat Market, North Melbourne. June 29 – July 8, 2017.

I was a tad concerned heading into North Melbourne’s Meat Market for Baker’s Dozen Theatre Company’s new piece HUMAN_ERROR.  I had brought my mother along, who is a somewhat proudly self-proclaimed ‘non-play person’ and ‘prefers not to think’ when engaging in any kind of entertainment.  So you can imagine my trepidation at taking her to a play about the looming threat of artificial intelligence (AI) and the human race’s inevitable plunge into singularity.  It is a credit then (and to my surprise) that this production ma

Yada Yada Yada: A 90s Sitcom Special

By Lauren Edwards and Jude Perl. The Butterfly Club, Melbourne. 5 to 9 July 2017

One of the most entertaining new shows of 2017, Yada Yada Yada – A 90s Sitcom Special is every bit as enjoyable as it sounds. Nostalgic for some, perhaps retro for others, this show has the best, or worst, of 90s television jam packed into one hour of hilarity.

Besides two of your favourite 90s silver screen queens, the show features theme songs, quotes and trivia. Edwards and Perl achieve no mean feat by singing in tune while keeping up their characters’ accents.

The Winter’s Tale

Ballet by Christopher Wheeldon based on Shakespeare’s play (1611) of the same name. Scenario: Christopher Wheeldon & Joby Talbot. Music: Joby Talbot. Royal Ballet, with Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Alondra de la Parra. Lyric Theatre, QPAC. 5 – 9 July, 2017

Christopher Wheeldon’s ballet of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale has already been claimed a “modern classic” and last night the Royal Ballet showed just how good his adaptation is. One of the last plays Shakespeare ever wrote, it deals with the destructive power of jealousy and the redemptive power of love.

Heart is a Wasteland

Written and produced by John Harvey. Malthouse Theatre, The Beckett. 29 June – 16 July 2017

John Harvey’s play Heart is a Wasteland is a testament to the healing power of falling in love.  It is a delightful romantic comedy grounded in a rich contemporary indigenous context.

Commencing with the best welcome to country ever, flying in from the West, it is a very finely tuned work throughout. This is a confirmation of the high degree of skill of all who have created and worked on it.   It is a co-production with Brown Cabs and made with the support of Footscray Community Arts Centre.

A Doll’s House

By Henrik Ibsen, adapted by by Elena Carapetis. State Theatre Company of SA. Dunstan Playhouse. June 30-July 22, 2017

Henrik Ibsen’s 1879 play A Doll’s House was the most controversial play of the 19th Century. This was primarily due to the ending in which the main female character, Nora, decides to leave her comfortable bourgeois home, husband and children.

Merrily We Roll Along

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Book by George Furth. Directed by Sara Grenfell. Musical Director Cameron Thomas. Southbank Theatre – The Lawler. 29th June- 15th July, 2017

Let’s be honest, ANY Sondheim is better than no Sondheim at all. And, although the chronologically reversed narrative doesn’t truly work, so the emotional arc is hugely problematic, Merrily does contain one of Sondheim’s most beautiful ballads in “Not a Day Goes By.”

Rice

By Michele Lee. Queensland Theatre. Directed by Lee Lewis. Bille Brown Studio. June 24 - July 16, 2017, followed by seasons in New South Wales.

This is the part where we talk about something new. A renaissance of new contemporary Asian-Australian stories on stages across Brisbane this year.

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