Reviews

What happens when a woman unleashes her unbridled sexuality on a seemingly sympatico target – who turns out to be a dud choice? Wrong-footed romance leaves you feeling like Ariadne of Greek myth fame, abandoned on the beach at Naxos by Theseus – but with a glimmer of hope that Dionysus – the Greek God of wine and ecstasy –  will come along for a final rescue. In The Bull, the Moon & the Coronet of Stars, Van Badham takes this myth and weaves a magical, mystical tale of lust, love and destiny.

Beautiful Thing was a West End hit for playwright Jonathan Hardy in 1993. It is a gentle play about emerging gay love. Though set in the UK, its characters and their relationships are poignantly universal. Hardy injects their story with hope and humour that director Mark G Nagle describes as “touching and funny”.

Rafael Bonachela’s new work was cancelled a year ago when COVID closed our theatres just days before its opening.  No wonder it’s called Impermanence.

Bonachela then reforged it into a full one-hour work, with his frequent musical collaborator, Bryce Dessner, the American founder of the rock band The National, now Paris-based.  Impermanence was of course enveloping us all, our climate, the Australian bushfires, the incineration of the ancient Notre Dame and Trump’s America. 

The World Premiere of Barking Gecko’s House was delayed slightly by Covid, but was well worth waiting for. This warm hug of a family show is from the same writer / director team who created the brilliant Bambert’s Book of Lost Stories, and has a similar combination of wonder, charm and surprise.