Reviews

A Steady Rain

By Kevin Huff. Old Fitzroy Theatre. Red Line Productions. September 22 – October 17, 2015.

Keith Huff became my hero when I knew he wrote Mad Men and the brilliant House of Cards.  His expertise at storytelling and snappy dialogue is also on show at Sydney’s Old Fitz with A Steady Rain, a two hander about a couple of longtime partners patrolling the hardened streets of Chicago.

#PRINCESS.

Written and devised by fear+love. Melbourne Fringe Festival at the Fringe Hub, The Ballroom, Lithuanian Club, 26 September–3 October, 2015.

This play has thoughtful reflections on politics, morals, and the malaise of mediated existences that saturate contemporary society.  The seemingly eclectic mix of genres makes perfect sense and has direct bearing on the themes that are the central concern of the rich text.  The centuries old art of spin and ruthless power games is exposed with wry humour and wit. The performance is edifying without being clichéd and is injected with a healthy dose of antics and buffoonery.

Speechless

Devised and performed by Toni Main & Sara di Segna, dramaturge & director Georgina Capper. Helvetica at Melbourne Fringe Festival. Club Voltaire, Raglan Street, North Melbourne. 24 September – 4 October, 2015

Toni’s grant application (for something undoubtedly very artistic) is refused.  Toni is so stunned that she is, well, speechless.  But undeterred, she contacts Sara (whom she has never met) far away in Rome and invites her to join the project.  It’s a project, Toni asserts, that ‘is going to make millions’.  Sara likes the sound of ‘millions’, but otherwise exhibits not a shred of comprehension of Toni’s project – and we’re not too sure what it is either.  Possibly Toni herself hasn’t quite got it

Zigzag Street

By Philip Dean, from the novel by Nick Earls. The Stirling Players. South Australian Premiere. Stirling Community Theatre. September 25-October 10, 2015.

There are times for all of us when life is…well…just plain crappy, but for some people, fate seems to hold a personal grudge. The current production for Adelaide’s Stirling Players epitomises this in a funny and bittersweet way.

Ivanov

By Anton Chekhov, adapted by Eamon Flack. Belvoir, Upstairs Theatre. September 19 – November 1, 2015.

Belvoir’s new artistic director Eamon Flack both scripted and directed this remarkable reworking of Chekhov's first full-length play.  With a strong comic cast who capture both the pathos and full ridiculousness of Chekhov's lost characters, Flack’s rollicking but sensitive production reaches beyond pre-revolutionary Russia to our Australia today.  The actors somehow inhabit both worlds, and so point to what we have in common, as our social progress also falters into inertia and the only bottom line is economic growth.

But Wait… There’s More

Circus Oz. Canberra Theatre. 23–26 September 2015

Though its programme cover suggests that But Wait… There’s More is touring a repetition of the performance it last presented, most of its acts are in fact fresh ones.  This production has something for everybody: a good deal of skylarking and costumery aimed at children, more than a suggestion of raunchiness aimed at adults, rap for young admirers of U.S.

Stella

By GWL Marshall-Hall. Lyric Opera of Melbourne. Director: Jessica Harris. Conductor: Pat Miller. David Williamson Theatre, Prahran. September 25 – 30, 2015

Lyric Opera continues to explore obscurity with the first staged version of G. W. L. Marshall-Hall’s opera, Stella, in over 100 years. The Englishman Marshall-Hall was brought out to Australia as founding Ormond Professor of Music at the University of Melbourne and had a profound impact on the musical life of the city. This is believed to be the first opera written in Australia.

Written at the time of Puccini and Massenet, Stella is very melodic and pure verismo. The title character had a couple of beautiful arias and there were some lovely ensembles.

The Streets

Teater Garasi. Oz/Asia Festival. Space Theatre, Adelaide. 24th-26th Sep, 2015

Performance collective Teater Garasi bring the streets of Jakarta to Adelaide and they do so with a frenetic energy. From the moment you are ushered into the performing space you are a part of the show. Hawkers selling their many wares, a karaoke singer with her mobile amplifier and the locals going about their daily activities. The background noises are structured yet offer a feeling of chaos.

The Boy At The Edge of Everything

By Finegan Kruckemeyer. Directed by Peter Houghton. MTC – Lawler Theatre. 23rd Sept – 3rd Oct, 2015.

In the Intergalactic Book of Alien planets, Earth is described thus – “The blue bits are water – the green bits are land.” Succinct, simple, and perceptive – as is all of this beautiful and hysterically funny play – aimed at children but a delight for adults whose inner kid is still alive and kicking.

Spamalot

By Eric Idle and John Du Prez. Queen’s College Music and Drama Society. Director: Christian Sullivan. Musical Director: Trevor Adelson. Union Theatre, University of Melbourne. September 23 – 26, 2015.

Spamalot is one of my favourite shows and this production did not disappoint. The young cast was energetic, funny and showed wonderful comic timing to have the audience in stitches. Some roles usually played by males were played by females, but this did not detract from the enjoyment.

Raja Noureddine was the bemused King Arthur and worked well with the over-the-top Lady of the Lake, played by Elle Richards. Her big voice matched her big personality.

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