Reviews

The Widow Unplugged

Written by and starring Reg Livermore. Ensemble Theatre. Directed by Mark Kilmurry. August 4 - September 1, 2018

What a brilliant way to ward off dementia - write and perform a fiendishly clever - language muddling one man play set in a nursing home, then perform it eight times a week for over a month.

Just a few months shy of turning 80, it’s a feat which more than deserved the standing ovation he received on opening night.

When Icebergs Burn

By Michael Griffith. The Wolves Theatre Company. Northcote Town Hall. Aug 2 – 19, 2018.

An isolated tin shack in dense bushland, a fugitive daughter and a remorseful father caught between the cops, an encroaching bushfire and their own personal demons. When Icebergs Burn is a new play written by Michael Griffith and directed by Aarne Neeme for The Wolves Theatre Company.

Point of No Return

Written & directed by Alaine Beek. Essence Productions. The Melba Spiegeltent, Johnston Street Collingwood VIC. 1-4 & 9-11 August 2018

Alaine Beek creates a ‘pressure cooker’ environment in which isolation, hunger, filth and cruel punishments aggravate conflicts between four boys transported to a remote prison in 19th century Tasmania.  Worse, their guards are former inmates of the notorious Port Arthur prison, just across a narrow stretch of sea.  

Irish Celtic – Spirit of Ireland

Melbourne Palms at Crown, 31 July – 5 August, 2018 and Sydney Capitol Theatre, 7 – 12 August.

Take a journey to the Emerald Isle as the cast of Irish Celtic dance and sing their way through a brief history of Ireland.

Paddy Flynn shares the story of his traditional Irish pub with his son, to whom he is about to pass on ownership. 12 dancers, led by dance captain Emmett McMorrow, and five musicians bring the story to life. The small cast is packed with talent. The dancers are precise and agile on their lightning-fast fee. The band, complete with uilleann pipes, produce stirring music and beautiful vocals.

Jasper Jones

By Kate Mulvany, based on the novel by Craig Silvey. Director: Sam Strong. Queensland Theatre. Playhouse, QPAC. 28 Jul - 18 Aug 2018

Craig Silvey’s widely-praised novel Jasper Jones comes to Queensland in a highly acclaimed stage adaptation by Kate Mulvany. First seen in a 2014 Barking Gecko production in Perth, the work has since been staged at Belvoir Street Theatre in early 2016 and later in the same year by Melbourne Theatre Company. It’s basically the MTC production, which was directed by Sam Strong who again directs it for Brisbane that is on display at the Playhouse with, excepting for two replacements, the same cast.

Hotel Sorrento

By Hannie Rayson. HIT Productions. Riverside Theatres, Parramatta. July 31 to August 4, 2018 and touring.

Is Hotel Sorrento really about the ‘ghost’ that has haunted and divided the Moynihan family, or is it a treatise on the Australian attitude to the arts? If it is the latter, does that mean the play is a little dated? That the cultural criticism it makes is less relevant today than it was in 1990 when the play was awarded an AWGIE, a Premier’s Literary Award and a Green Room Award? Or do the cuts in government funding to many of the arts suggest the ‘home grown cringe’ does still exist?

The Almighty Sometimes

By Kendall Feaver. Griffin Theatre Company. Director: Lee Lewis. SBW Stables Theatre, Sydney 27 July – 8 September, 2018

This story of a mother-daughter relationship has you continually shifting sympathy. One minute you’re on the side of the moody 18-year-old daughter, who has been on medication since she was 11 and who now has proof (Proof!) that all those pills have stopped her creative flow. Next minute you’re on the side of the single mother, desperate that her depressed, hormonal daughter is heading for self-destruction. Now she’s an adult, with a boyfriend, what will happen when the maternal chains are loosened?

 

Legally Blonde The Musical

Music and Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin. Book by Heather Hach. Based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture. Packemin Productions. Riverside Theatre Parramatta. July 27 - August 11, 2018

Some musicals show their age, but Legally Blonde is a production which has become more topical since it debuted not less. The central character is Elle – a blonde, pink loving, Chihuahua carrying shopaholic who gives the outward impression of being on the shallow side. She turns the tables on the snooty law school at Harvard University – and her ex-boyfriend - by displaying street smarts.

Company

Music & Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim. Book: George Furth. Griffith Musical Theatre. Director: Jacqui Somerville. Musical Director: Heidi Loveland. Choreographer: Joseph Simons. Powerhouse, Brisbane. 28 Jul – 4 Aug 2018

Although Stephen Sondheim’s ‘concept musical’ Company was groundbreaking in its time there have been few professional productions of it in Australia, so it was a bold choice for Griffith Music Theatre third-year students to produce it as one of their showcase musicals of 2018.

My Fair Lady

Book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and Music by Fredrick Lowe. Based on George Bernard Shaw's “Pygmalion”. Gosford Musical Society. Directed by Daniel Craig. Musical Direction by Roslyn English. Choreography by Scott Webster. Costume Designer – Narelle Wotton. Set Designer – Daryl Kirkness. Lighting – Damien Rice. Laycock Street Theatre. July 27-August 11, 2018

Just when you think you know enough about a musical (having performed in it once) it's genuinely refreshing to sit amongst the audience 16 years later (and 16 years wiser) and really take it in. In writing this review, I found myself doing more research regarding the source material than I had anticipated. Did you know, for instance, that the original version which previewed in 1956 contained seven more songs than it does now?

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