Reviews

Dogs in the Schoolyard

Flipside Circus in association with Assembly of Elephants. Cremorne Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC). 5 to 15 May 2021

When independent performance company Assembly of Elephants approached Flipside Circus to develop a children's theatre show about the difficult subject of 'exclusion', the result was Dogs in the Schoolyard. This is a very physical piece of theatre with minimal text and maximum energy, directed by Elaine Ackworth, Robert Kronk and Amy Stuart, who are passionate about supporting the next generation of performers.

The Magnolia Tree

The Wolves Theatre Company and Regional Arts Victoria present The Magnolia Tree. A play written and directed by Michael Gray Griffith. Opening night Altona Theatre, Melbourne. May 13, 2021 followed by Regional Tour.

Playwright. director and co-founder of The Wolves Theatre Company Michael Gray Griffith presents 70 minutes of mesmerizing, thought provoking and often times nail-biting theatre.   

The Summer of Our Lives

Book and lyrics by Tyler Jacob Jones. Music by Robert Woods. Western Sky Productions. Directed by Katt Osborne. The Blue Room Theatre, Perth Cultural Centre, WA. May 4-22, 2021

It has been too long since Perth has had the pleasure of a new Woods and Jones musical. Thanks to Western Sky Productions, this brand new, beautiful and bizarre production is delighting capacity audiences as part of the latest Blue Room Season.

A Flower for Moses

By Clare Mendes. Melbourne Writers’ Theatre & Gasworks. Studio Theatre, Gasworks Arts Park, Albert Park. 11 – 15 May 2021

Here is a fractured tale of a mystery, guilt, missed chances, cryptic crosswords, and of memories lost and found.  Germaine (Uschi Felix) is resident in an ‘aged care facility’ in the country town of Trentham.  She says she was a journalist who covered the big stories.  She believes she still is – and her bedroom is her office.  She has the clippings of those big stories, but we are never quite sure whether her memories are true - or fantasy.

The Pitts

Brendy Ford and Stephanie Marion Wood. Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne. May 8, 2021

The Shady Pines Nursing Home is a drab and dreary place, except on a Wednesday when ‘The Pitts’ roll up and shake up the house with song, dance and comedy routines, that set every blue rinse - wheelie - geriatric on fire and onto the weekly Wellness Program.

After its sell out show at the MC Showroom, the hilarious camp cabaret musical The Pitts is now gaining celebrity kudos for their riotously applauded shows at the Athenaeum.

Considerable Sexual License

By Joel Bray. Darebin Speakeasy. Yirramboi First Nations Festival. Main Hall, Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre. May 5 – 15, 2021

A massive disco ball hangs high, smoke and roving lights reminiscent of an eighties niteclub, set the scene. This is a modern corroboree where people meet, dance and fuck. Considerable Sexual License is the new immersive work by multidisciplinary performer Joel Bray, presented by Darebin Speakeasy in association with the biennial Yirramboi First Nations arts and cultural Festival currently on in Melbourne.

Michael Griffiths: Greatest Hits

fortyfivedownstairs theatre, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. 5 – 9 May 2021

This collection of classic hits curated by Griffiths expands his repertoire and shows that his style is well suited beyond the usual artists he is renowned for. Cole Porter music features in this show which is otherwise focused on some great favourites from the 80s.

The Time Travel Café

Creative Producer James Elliott. Directed by Kristian Santic. Presented by SpaceFold Technology. The Canvas Club – Tailor Shop, Brisbane. 5 – 23 May, 2021

The Time Travel Café invites audiences to take a trip through time and have a conversation with history. The premise is that you and your fellow time travellers have arrived at a party inhabited by famous historical figures. Best described as semi-scripted, immersive theatre, the entertainers work through several rooms where they perform some scripted pieces and improvise conversations with the crowd.

Theatresports All Stars

Enmore Theatre. Sunday 9th May, 2021

What a treat! The beautifully renovated Enmore Theatre with its custom-designed, monogrammed carpet, all clean and ‘unsticky’, the art deco reliefs all newly painted and picked out in gold - and sixteen improvisation  “All Stars”  introduced and compered by none other than Mr Mathematics, Adam Spencer, himself another Theatresports All Star! What more could one wish for!

Well, a great night of improvised theatre for one thing. And that’s what we got!

A wonderful supportive audience for another thing. We got that too!

Bengal Tiger At The Baghdad Zoo

By Rajiv Joseph. Theatre Guild. Little Theatre, The Cloisters, North Terrace, University of Adelaide. May 8 – 22, 2021

Set in war-torn Baghdad in 2003, interestingly, playwright Rajiv Joseph says that Bengal Tiger At The Baghdad Zoo is not necessarily about war and the conflict in Iraq. A short article in the New York Times in 2003 about bombs destroying the Baghdad Zoo, American soldiers guarding the zoo and a soldier who lost his hand feeding a Bengal tiger which was subsequently shot, inspired Joseph to write this complex, multi-faceted play. The style is known as a documentary drama, using imagined and real places and events.

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