Reviews

Tender

Adelaide Fringe Festival 2024. Cirque X. The Vault at Fool's Paradise, Victoria Square, Adelaide. Mar 13 to Mar 17, 2024

Exploring the notion of Tender, this production combines the breaking down of stereotypes with some amazing aerial work, acrobatics, and cabaret.

The stage is set with a bare tubular steel cube sitting alone on the stage along with two performers who strip down to underwear. However, the male performer wears female underwear and vice versa. This tantalising opener establishes the mood for the night.

Someday We’ll Find It

Presented by Karla & Zachary. Adelaide Fringe: Studio 166 at Goodwood Theatre and Studios. 12-17 March 2024

A play written by Google search suggestions and ChatGPT shouldn’t be as compelling as this – it certainly should be so emotional. Yet what Zachary Sheridan and Karla Livingstone-Pardy have created from these unfeeling and non-judgemental sources is spellbinding. Mirroring the rabbit holes that are all too easy to disappear into when searching for something innocuous, the story is a skilful assembly of choices that Sheridan and Livingstone-Pardy have taken to provide not so much a narrative, as a stream of consciousness from unconscious algorithms.

What Will Have Been

Created by Yaron Lifschitz and The Circa Ensemble. Presented by QPAC and Circa. Playhouse Theatre. 13 - 17 Mar 2024

Circa's What Will Have Been transcends the realm of traditional circus performances, offering a profound and emotionally resonant experience that leaves audiences spellbound. Set against the backdrop of the Playhouse Theatre at QPAC, this special hometown premiere marks the culmination of Circa's 20th anniversary celebrations, showcasing their evolution as one of the world's leading performance companies.

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge

By Bec Bradley and Michael Barlow from the book by Men Fox and Julie Vivas. Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. Directed by Bec Bradley. Ellie Eaton Theatre, Claremont Showground, WA. March 30 - April 12, 2024

Unable to attend the official press night for Spare Parts Puppet Theatre’s new production, Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge, I had the pleasure of seeing the show as part of the school season, with the Year One students from East Fremantle Primary School, their teachers, and adults from the school community.

The Addams Family: The Musical Comedy

Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. Music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa. North Queensland Opera and Music Theatre. Directed by Sarah Valinoti and Kylie Ball. Vocal Direction Sharon Ransom. Musical Direction Suzanne Darrigan. Choreography Katie Grace & Mackenzie Hocking. Townsville Civic Theatre, 13 – 17 March 2024.

LIKE MANY people of the 1960s and 1970s I grew up with the macabre and madcap craziness of the now-cult TV series The Addams Family. In the days before Netflix and the ability to source and re-run any TV show of your choosing, we had to earnestly await each weekly program to watch the next kooky exploits of Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday and Pugsley Addams – not to mention Uncle Fester, Grandma, Cousin Ittt, Lurch and not forgetting Thing!

Frame Narrative

By Emily Sheehan. New Ghosts Company. Old Fitzroy Theatre, Sydney. Directed by Lucy Clements. March 8 – 30, 2024

There’s so much to like about this first production by the new team at Sydney’s Old Fitzroy Theatre. Let’s start with the amazing setting by Soham Apte. It begins as a beautiful period European interior, with carefully matching accessories, but is soon ripped apart as an American movie setting, but then it becomes just another setting with removable walls for a play at – well, a Sydney venue like the Old Fitzroy pub.

& Juliet

Music and Lyrics by Max Martin and friends. Book by David West Read. Michael Cassel Group in association with MTM/LEYLINE. Sydney Lyric Theatre. February 27 - June 16, 2024

Writer David West Read came up with the idea for & Juliet whilst recovering from a concussion. He was not able to look at screens, so instead he lay in a dark room where he focused on listening to the 250 songs written by Max Martin – the pop composer no-one had heard of, but everyone knew though his hits.

A common thread of the songs Martin wrote for everyone from Britney Spears to Taylor Swift to Kate Perry, and many more, is heartache.  So, Read’s mind wandered to Shakepeare’s tragedy which has bucket loads of love and despair.

& Juliet

Music and Lyrics by Max Martin and friends. Book by David West Read. Michael Cassel Group. Sydney Lyric Theatre. February 27 - June 16, 2024

Writer David West Read came up with the idea for & Juliet whilst recovering from a concussion. He was not able to look at screens, so instead he lay in a dark room where he focused on listening to the 250 songs written by Max Martin – the pop composer no-one had heard of, but everyone knew though his hits.

A common thread of the songs Martin wrote for everyone from Britney Spears to Taylor Swift to Kate Perry, and many more, is heartache.  So, Read’s mind wandered to Shakepeare’s tragedy which has bucket loads of love and despair.

The Black Cat

Penzak Productions. Adelaide Fringe. The Garage International @ Scots Church. Mon 11 Mar - Sun 17 Mar 2024

One of the delights of Adelaide Fringe, if you dare venture from the big names that pepper The Guide with full page ads, is seeing very fine theatre, dance, or other artforms from artists on small budgets, with (sadly) often smaller audiences.  For a number of years there has been ongoing discussion among the artistic rank and file about how to address problems of commercial shows and corporate interests making Fringe a difficult gig for independently-produced shows.  Case in point: Mark Penzak (Victoria) has brought a tight, professional show to town for its SA premiere

Hopelessly Devoted: A Celebration of Olivia Newton-John

MSO Conductor: Jessica Gethin. Creative Director: Mark Sutcliffe. Music Arranger: Nicholas Buc. Host: Tottie Goldsmith. Arts Centre Melbourne, Hamer Hall. 7 & 9 March 2024

This tribute to Australia’s beloved Dame Olivia Newton-John AC DBE did more than reprise and celebrate the songs she is so well known for; it gave the audience a chance to grieve her loss and acknowledge her contribution to cancer care in Melbourne. The performers and audience basked in the wonderful songs Olivia Newton-John gave us and the stories the performers shared brought her shining presence into the concert hall.

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