Reviews

Staging David Mamet's modern classic Glengarry Glen Ross as your debut outing comes with high expectations and pressure to deliver. And while I did have high hopes for this production, I am not convinced it delivered.

New independent Sydney theatre company Seriousboys comes with a pedigree in Artistic Director Marcus Graham. He is a fantastic actor. But as a director I am troubled by the series of mistakes or decisions he made which indicate a lack of skill that ultimately undermined what could have been a very impressive piece of theatre.

Pea! is a funny, short play for children and parents who haven’t forgotten what it’s like to be a child. It was advertised as being for children aged from 4 years to 10 years, though I think maybe 5 years would be a better lower age as the audience seemed to drift in the first 5 minutes while there was a long preamble involving histories of vegetables.

Fury is a play of ideas which entertains and confounds its audience.

Sarah Peirse plays Alice, an acclaimed Neurologist, being interviewed by a student journalist about her latest award. She drops many gems, including the advice that when angry it’s wise not to respond for the first five minutes, but laments that in that time the most exciting words come to mind.

Her husband Patrick, played by Robert Menzies, is a firebrand novelist. He laments that the only literary groupies he attracts look like Susan Boyle.

Lyric Opera of Melbourne continues to introduce rarely heard operas to the Melbourne public and this was one of their most ambitious.           

La Voix Humane in a little-known one-woman opera by Poulenc. Elle spends the evening on the phone to her former lover, who is getting married the next day. The unreliable telephone service adds to her agony.