Reviews

Billy Elliot: The Musical

Music by Elton John and book and lyrics by Lee Hall. Free-Rain, directed by Jarrad West. The Q, Queanbeyan. 11 April to 5 May 2024

After a quiet opening introducing protagonist Billy Elliot (Fergus Paterson in the children’s cast of the session we attended) and his best friend, Michael Caffrey (Charlie Murphy in this children’s cast), we meet Billy’s interesting family: his strongly principled unionist miner father, Jackie (Joe Dinn); brother, Tony (Lachlan Elderton), also strongly unionist and a miner himself; and outrageously irreverent Grandma (Alice Ferguson).

That’s One Damn Sexy Ape

Writer and Director: Gavin Roach. La Mama Courthouse. 349 Drummond Street, Carlton. 16 -21 April 2024

The director Gavin Roach has chosen an approach which caricatures the zoo personel (Perri Cummings, Rupert Bevan) and the PR company’s two workers (Dax Carnay, Asher Griffith-Jones). There is sudden, incomprehensible shouting, hardly believable motivations and an awful lot of overt sexualised behaviour which would lead to instant stand downs in any workplace. Unfortunately, while being somewhat funny, and perhaps wanting to draw a parallel to animals, this approach undercuts the very real issues being addressed.

Loot

Written by Joe Orton. Directed by Jennifer Flowers. Ad Astra Theatre, 4 – 27 April, 2024.

Joe Orton loved to shock and challenge people, so he’d surely be glad to know some of the black humour in Loot still has the power to raise a few modern eyebrows. Penned by Orton in 1966 during the vibrant era of the Swinging Sixties, “Loot” stands out as one of his most renowned farces.

I Have No Enemies

Devised & Performed by Christopher Samuel Carroll, Lloyd Allison Young, Brendan Kelly & Rachel Pengilly. Bare Witness Theatre Co. Theatre Works’ Explosive Factory. 10 – 20 April 2024

Christopher Samuel Carroll – the director, lead performer and probably lead devisor – says in the closing moments of I Have No Enemies, ‘This is a play about surveillance.’  It is - and as this witty, subversive, rocket speed, and superbly performed show demonstrates, we are all under surveillance.  You might say, ‘Me?  Surely not.  I have no enemies!’  Maybe not, but should you acquire some or just an algorithm (and not even know it), your data is being collected every moment and could be used against you.  Watch ca

The Lisbon Traviata

By Terrence McNally. Directed by Barry Park. Garrick Theatre, Guildford, WA. April 11-27, 2024

The Lisbon Traviata has a strong, well-directed and strongly performed production that steps a little out of Garrick’s usual comfort zone.

A show that premiered in 1985 at the height of the AIDS crisis, the threat of AIDS is a sinister backdrop to a show that is about much more.  The Lisbon Traviata is the story of two opera fanatics who use opera to escape their troubles - whether that is loneliness or a crumbling relationship. 

The Trout

Ensemble Q. Concert Hall, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC). 14 April 2024

Ensemble Q kickstarted their 2024 season as Company in Residence at QPAC with the first of three specially curated concerts. The Trout was a considered and thoughtful program by Paul and Trish Dean, Ensemble Q’s co-artistic directors, who also perform on clarinet and cello. Collated to bring to light underappreciated and underperformed works, the five quintets by Reicha, Beach, Skipworth, Glazunov and Schubert all added up to pure musical afternoon delight in what felt like an intimate family affair.

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By Nathan Maynard. A Queensland Theatre and Melbourne Theatre Company co-production. Bille Brown Theatre, Brisbane. 11 April - 4 May, 2024

If one wanted to create an original play with an Australian theme, what better than to choose the subject of Aussie rules football. But to mould it into a more intriguing opus why not include current issues that ask questions, explore characters in depth and touch on elements of Australia's complicated history. First Nation person, Nathan Maynard has successfully achieved this in his play about a failing football team in a small country town, which includes two Aboriginal cousins, and all the pros and cons of rising to stardom and being accepted as a team member.

Comedy Roulette – Spin That Wheel.

Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Trades Hall – Music Room. April 9 – 21, 2024

The Comedy Festival is great for your average punter - we pick and choose what takes our fancy, but for all comedians hustling and bustling for big crowds so they can give up their day jobs, it can be a time-consuming task.

Hosts Olga Loitsenko and Kru Harale, together take the stage with clever introductory routines reflecting on the funny side of life in their quirky daily battles. They are hilarious together and as solo performers; they are engaging and are both quick off the mark with hecklers.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Choreographed by Liam Scarlett based on the Shakespeare play. Music by Felix Mendelssohn. A co-production of Queensland Ballet and Royal New Zealand Ballet. Artistic Director for QB Leanne Benjamin. Playhouse Theatre, Brisbane. 12-27 April, 2024

Even those who are not fans of classical ballet wouldn't be disappointed with this display of creative and physical energy: its colourful setting and humorous plot will always withstand the annals of time and is well worthwhile staging again after its initial success with the RNZB and QB in 2015-6. Mendelssohn originally composed the opening as a concert overture and was later commissioned to write additional incidental music for the play, a score now well-known and performed by Camerata in this production, conducted and arranged by accomplished Principal Conductor and MD Nigel Gaynor.

A Case for the Existence of God

By Samuel D Hunter. Outhouse Theatre Co and Seymour Centre. Reginald Theatre. April 11 – May 4, 2024

This mesmerising, slow cooker of a play is about the unlikely bond between two contrasting men.  God has little to do with it, except perhaps blessing these Idaho blokes with friendship and a faintly optimistic end.

Ryan is desperately chasing a bank loan when he visits a mortgage broker Keith.  Uneducated and broke, divorced and reared in a family of drugs and mental ill health, Ryan at least has some remaining naïve faith in humanity.  Keith, on the other hand, is fairly privileged and university educated (in early music); he’s also black and gay.

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