Reviews

Out of the Box Festival

Duck, World Premiere created by the Out of the Box Festival, Cremorne Theatre, QPAC, Brisbane, June 26-July 1, 2018 and The Arrival, Red Leap Theatre Company, Playhouse Theatre, QPAC, June 26-July 7, 2018

Shoes belong in boxes. Children don’t. Building a theatre festival specifically for children requires looking beyond the stereotypes and traditional theatrical devices. With characters in Duck and The Arrival taking to the stage without shoes, the early indication is that the box has its rightful occupant.

White Hat Hackers

An Ella Filar and Krows Bar Kabaret Production. Performed by Greg Fryer, Linda Cookson, Joanna Millet, Anthony Winnick & Chris Molyneux. La Mama Courthouse, Carlton, VIC. 26 June – 1 July 2018

Billed as the story of a ‘self-confessed Internet addict… [who] stumbles on Krows Bar Kabaret – a special branch of the wildly subversive White Hat Hackers’, this black comedy cabaret show satirises our contemporary obsessions with on-line stuff and how it can take over our lives. 

Don’t Monkey With Broadway

Patti Lupone with Joseph Thalken (Piano) & QCGU Choir. QPAC, Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University. Conservatorium Theatre, Southbank. Brisbane, 27 June 2018

Patti LuPone is a Broadway legend. In a spectacular career that has seen her win two Tony Awards and been nominated for another five, there has rarely been a theatre season on Broadway since she starred as Evita in 1979 when she hasn’t appeared in a musical or play. This new show, which originated in her hometown of Newport, Long Island, is a career run-down with a difference as she sings songs from shows that influenced her, songs that were originally sung by other characters, and of course songs from her hit shows.

Unqualified

By Genevieve Hegney and Catherine Moore. Ensemble Theatre, Sydney. Director: Janine Watson. 22 June – 21 July 2018

Before an over-insistent backdrop of Casual Jobs advertisements (‘Must be willing to wear coconut shells’) and on the setting for another play (Marjorie Prime), come two 30-something female actors with something to say. Between raising young families and all the stresses of feeding acting careers, Genevieve Hegney and Catherine Moore have snatched the time to write and perform Unqualified, the story of two women who start a temp agency with no extra employees. They’re on to a winner.

Les Misérables

Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg. Lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer. Original French text byAlain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel. Additional Material by James Fenton. Adaptation by Trevor Nunn and John Caird. Savoyards (Qld). Iona Performing Arts Centre. June 23 – July 7, 2018.

When Victor Hugo wrote about the political and social issues of his day, he never would have imagined the ripple effect his novel would have in the musical world. The questions are epic. We follow protagonist Jean Valjean and the iconic characters and their struggles to face what it means to be humane and compassionate, to love and to die, and to listen to the stories of silenced voices. With Savoyards at the helm, they take this already iconic show and bundle it together with some of the best talent Brisbane has to offer.

Brave World

Retro Futurismus. fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. June 21 – July 8, 2018.

Brave World is the dynamic new show by Retro Futurismus!

Robust and fabulous, distilled with their own peculiar blend of feminist cabaret, circus and vaudeville, they ardently deliver innovative acts that question our dystopian age.

The show begins with the Gemini twins Anni and Maude Davey delving into a poignant socio–politico singing commentary about the passing decades from the sixties through to our current Trump era. A dazzling duet with cutting edge material that sets the show on fire.

4Seasons

Devised by Expressions Dance Company and City Contemporary Dance Company (Hong Kong). Choreographed by Natalie Weir, Dominic Wong and Kristina Chan. Rehearsal Directors Bruce Wong, Sally Wicks and Lizzie Vilmanis. Presented by Expressions Dance Company, City Contemporary Dance Company (Hong Kong) and Queensland Performing Arts Centre. Playhouse Theatre QPAC, 14 – 22 June, 2018

A truly magical cross cultural collaboration of contemporary dance was presented on the Playhouse Theatre stage this month. The show was the result of months of teamwork between the highly regarded Expressions Dance Company from Australia and City Contemporary Dance Company from China. Three amazing choreographers created work with the dancers from both companies on the theme of ‘four seasons’.

Gloria

By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. Melbourne Theatre Company. Southbank Theatre, The Sumner. 16 June – 21 July 2018

Gloria begins as an ‘office comedy’, but it goes so much darker and deeper.  It is rich in contemporary issues and themes, integrated so skilfully and so entertainingly that things never get preachy and it is only by the play’s end that its full, sobering import registers.

Winter Soulstice

2018 Adelaide Cabaret Festival Closing Gala. Artistic Director – Ali McGregor. Festival Theatre. 23rd June 2018

In her swan song as Artistic Director, Ali McGregor did a fine job in assembling a cast of incredibly talented performers to wrap up the Adelaide Cabaret Festival for 2018 with a closing gala, Winter Soulstice.

Having scouted the cabaret world for artists, McGregor made special mention of the fact that there were more South Australians in this year’s line-up than any other year.

Verve

The Australian Ballet. State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne. June 21 – 30, 2018

I’m never sure how much I will enjoy an evening of modern dance, even or perhaps especially when it comes from The Australian Ballet.  However, some of my favourite moments of contemporary dance have come from these programs.  Verve brings together three works that seem at once well matched and disparate.

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