Reviews

Melbourne Opera’s oft-revived production of ‘ The Barber of Seville’ retains a rather enviable freshness and vitality, in no small part due to the direction of Hugh Halliday, that all too rare director who can never bore an audience.  By leaving the piece squarely ‘in period’ and essentially following the instructions left by composer Rossini, librettist Sterbini and playwright Beaumarchais, the audience was kept laughing from curtain-up to the final scene.  Halliday’s first brilliant touch is to leave the curtain down for the overture.

Metanoia’s 10CSoffers a self directed, almost arbitrary, visit to ten sites exploring the Ten Commandments.   In all, it’s a very personal journey predicated on one’s personal attitudes, understandings and inclinations towards a variety of religions. 

This challenging unconventional work is compiled in a variety of mediums.  There are 10 delineated sites with various installations; most are peopled and a couple of these purely electronic, a number subdued and a couple loud to the point of being brash.   

A play sure to delight animal lovers, but imbued with enough perceptive wit to engage a more general audience, Mutts tells the story of nine poor, unfortunate dogs who have wound up thrown in the pound. In order to stave off the boredom of their incarceration, and keep their minds from dwelling on the bleak fate that awaits should no one come to claim them, this motley assortment of canines engage in spirited arguments about the facts of life and share stories of their past.

QPAC Choir’s annual concert this year celebrated 30 Years of Musicals at the Performing Arts venue since it first opened in 1985.