Reviews

Oh, the bliss of going to see a live show once again. My heart sang with joy when I saw the audience all dressed up for something special. And special it was. The Lakeside Room of Home of the Arts was bathed in dappled light, with tables socially distanced and set with candles. There was a great air of anticipation as people waved to each other but avoided hugging and other intimacy. These are different times indeed. Nevertheless, we were HERE and we were part of a defining moment that reassured us that live performance could not be beaten down, Covid or not.

Before television started in Australia in 1956 there was radio! Families would sit in their lounge rooms, forget the humdrum of everyday life and tune in to Blue Hills or Dad and Dave from Snake Gully.

Radio plays are a genre all of their own. In fact, over the last two years they have made a comeback in Adelaide. First there was the Tea Tree Players’ 2019 production of Vintage Hitchcock – A live Radio Play and now the Adelaide Repertory Theatre’s third virtual play, The Mystic Dr. Drake Radio Plays!

Radio plays are a genre all of their own. When you see the words ‘radio dramas’, you probably connect them with War of the Worlds back in 1938, but they are still around. In fact, we’re entering something of a golden age of an update to radio plays, thanks to the podcast boom.

Realscape Productions are a Melbourne based theatre company that specialise in producing multi-sensory theatre and events and have combined with Darkfield to present Darkfield Radio - Double.

As Coronavirus struck Australia, closing theatres all around the country and in the process darkening the lives of all those involved in arts, actors, directors, creatives, technicians and administrators were suddenly out of work and facing an uncertain future. But hope and the possibilities of technology soon stirred creative minds, and a small wealth of theatrical ideas emerged.