Reviews

Rinaldo

By George Frideric Handel. Libretto Giacomo Rossi. Pinchgut Opera. Conductor Erin Helyard. Director Louisa Muller. City Recital Hall, Sydney. 30 Nov – 6 Dec, 2023

For twenty-two years Pinchgut Opera has “scoured the period from opera’s birth to its flowering in the Baroque” to offer different opera experiences to Sydney audiences.

Their production of Rinaldo not only realises that philosophy, but with war and devastation dominating our world, and the possibility of peace seeming so remote, Pinchgut and the maestro Handel bring us an opera that includes a cease fire, a truce, reconciliations, love … and, gratefully, no tragic deaths!

Cosi

By Louis Nowra. Townsville Little Theatre. Directed by Katherine Shield. Pimpac Theatre, Townsville. 29 Nov – 2 Dec 2023.

NOW CONSIDERED to be a classic Australian comedy, Louis Nowra’s 1992 play is familiar territory for actors and theatregoers alike as it receives regular airings on the community theatre stage throughout Australia.

Of course revivals of the 1996 film which starred Ben Mendelsohn, Toni Colette, Rachel Griffiths and Jackie Weaver amongst others have contributed a great deal to the lasting quality of the work, and this version has an enjoyable overall quality, featuring some extremely strong performances from several actors.

The Italian Comedy

By Stephen Hopley and Alexander Gibbs. Presented by Something Wicked. Directed by Stephen Hopley. 107 Projects, 107 Redfern Street, Sydney. November 29 – December 3, 2023

Caught by the sudden closure of the trendy Meraki Arts Bar in Oxford Street, The Italian Comedy has now found a home in Redfern.

In an improvised theatre space, featuring the bare minimum props for a cut-price fashion shop in Venice, eight players go for it. Each with his/her own accented English, they prance and bicker in a plot that could have been hacked from a commedia dell’arte stock pile.

ON/OFF

NICA - National Institute of Circus Arts. Curator: James Brown. Digital Technologies Coordinator: Kaleb Hawkins. Lighting design and operation: Kris Chainey. Sound design: Rachel ‘Stoz’ Stone. 39-59 Green Street, Prahran. 28 November - 2 December 2023

ON/OFF provides an evening of circus delights including thrills, heart in mouth intense moments and laughs. Although this is a showcase for individual talents with changes in large pieces of equipment, it is moulded into a coherent show by the very slick stage management (Edwina Guiness) and thoughtful use of recorded reflections on circus life by the cast. Each performance had individual background music to support the various personas presented.

Dead Man’s Cell Phone

By Sarah Ruhl. Wicked Good Productions, SA. State Theatre Company SA Stateside program. Slingsby’s Hall of Possibility. 28 November - 13 December 2023.

Supported by Slingsby and Brink Productions and presented by Caitlin Ellen Moore (Wicked Good Productions) and Tim Overton, Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Sarah Ruhl 2008) is a whimsical glimpse into a collection of absurd moments in the lives of several people linked by one unexpected and unexplained death.  This play is also presented as part of State Theatre Company SA’s generous and important Stateside program, supporting smaller local theatre companies to produce new work.

Track Works

BBT. Mortuary Station, Chippendale NSW. 21 November – 19 December, 2023

With a backdrop of constant rumbling trains, the old gothic Mortuary Station near Sydney’s Central is perfect for this short and artful pastiche opera.

Track Works shows five people waiting for their train, a young lawyer fed up with her corporate job, a homeless artist, two schoolgirls out to make trouble and a station master who thinks his is the best in the world.

Mariedl – Selfies with a Giantess

Written by Penny Black. Performed by Maxi Blaha. The Street, Canberra. Nov 25 & 26, 2023

As the audience enters the theatre, we are welcomed by “Roll Up! Roll Up! Come, marvel, be amazed!” Indeed, we are amazed! Here, from her lofty post, is a woman of uncommon height who describes herself in the manner of a carnival barker. Audience members are encouraged to take a selfie with this giantess – and I assure you, it isn’t easy, even with Mariedl (played by the excellent Maxi Blaha) bending to get in shot. (For the sake of Stage Whispers readership, I shan’t share my selfie!)

Hansel and Gretel

By Norm Robbins. Directed by Tim Riessen. Roxy Lane Theatre, Marylands, WA. Nov 24-Dec 2, 2023

Another of a trio of shows losing their opening weekends to Covid in the cast, Hansel and Gretel has opened to a shortened season.    

Lizzie’s A Darlin’

By Siobhan Wright. Directed by Valerie Henry, Stirling Theatre, Morris Pl, Innaloo. Nov 24 – Dec 9, 2023

This show is a bit of a dark horse – a little, locally written Irish, domestic drama, unpretentious and female dominated, but this show is a heavy hitter in terms of quality – a top notch production that deserves to be seen.

First played at the Irish Club, in an impressive production by Irish Theatre Players, this more fully realised production (in terms of set etc) allows the show to soar.

The Appleton Ladies’ Potato Race

By Melanie Tait. Hunters Hill Theatre at Club Ryde. Director Jennifer Willison. 17 Nov – 3 Dec, 2023

Melanie Tait’s wonderful play about Australian women going into bat for equality is a great way for Hunters Hill Theatre to conclude its 2023 season. And with five women on stage, a woman directing and at least half of the creatives and crew also women, it is a tribute to the strong female cohort at all of Sydney’s community theatre companies! Go girls!

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