Reviews

Serenading Adela, A Street Opera

Artistic Director, Jeannie Marsh. Centenary Performance, Pentridge Piazza, 1 Champ street Coburg. 7th January, 2018.

On 7 January 1918 supporters of Adela Pankhurst’s WWI anti-conscription cause gathered outside the bluestone walls of the women’s prison at Pentridge to serenade her with socialist songs, cooees, and coloured lights. Adela, who was exiled to Australia when she fell out of favour with her famous UK suffragette family, had been imprisoned for her energetic anti-war campaigning.

Tree of Codes

Wayne McGregor, Olafur Eliasson and Jamie xx. Sydney Festival / Studio Wayne McGregor and Manchester International Festival. Darling Harbour Theatre. January 6 – 10, 2018.

The kaleidoscopic impact of London wunderkind Wayne McGregor’s dance epic Tree of Codes even fills the cavernous theatre space in Sydney’s new International Convention Centre.  It comes to the Sydney Festival from Melbourne’s last October.

Model Citizens

Circus Oz. Sydney Festival Circus City. Prince Alfred Square, Parramatta, Sydney. Jan 2-28, 2018

Notions of national identity and what it means to be a good - indeed a model - citizen are all around us. Circus Oz believes that these notions should be inclusive - rather than exclusive. It’s no coincidence that they’re running an appeal for the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre, with audience members encouraged to donate money after the show.

Aquasonic

Between Music. Sydney Festival. Carriageworks, Sydney. Jan 6-9, 2018

To be able to perform musical instruments underwater is quite a skill. Between Music, an avant-garde ensemble from Denmark, make the breathing as much a part of Aquasonic as the instruments they play (presumably they never considered scuba gear - there would be no fun in that).

Lady Rizo: Red, White and Indigo

Sydney Festival. Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent, Hyde Park North. January 7 – 13, 2017

Lady Rizo from New York joins Riot from Ireland and the burlesque boys with Briefs as the first acts of the Sydney Festival’s cabaret program in the Spiegeltent in Hyde Park.

She was here in 2012 (when she fell in love with her current man, an Aussie) but this she bills as an Apology Tour for what’s happening now in the States.

Trial by Jukebox

Written by Gilbert & Sullivan, score re-imagined by Matt Harris. The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Tasmania. Directed by Anne Blythe-Cooper. Court 1, Supreme Court Hobart. January 5-27, 2018

The timeframe 1875 – 2018 has seen many presentations of Gilbert and Sullivan’s operetta “Trial by Jury”performed around the world. The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Tasmania has presented it some 20 times since 1974. Usually they put a bit of a new spin on it, however, director Anne Blythe-Cooper said that never has the music been changed like it has for this production.

The Merry Widow

Music by Franz Lehár. Lyrics by Leo Stein and Viktor Léon. English Translation Justin Fleming. Directed and choreographed by Graeme Murphy. Opera Australia. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. January 2 – February 3, 2017.

Seventy years after the death of Franz Lehár in 1948, now free of copyright restrictions, The Merry Widow has been transformed by Opera Australia into an exquisite jewel of a production - perfect to debut in the newly refurbished Joan Sutherland Theatre.

The Wizard of Oz

Music: Harold Arlen. Lyrics: E.Y. Harburg. Additional Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber. Additional Lyrics: Tim Rice. Adaptation: Andrew Lloyd Webber & Jeremy Sams. John Frost, Suzanne Jones Production in association with The Production Company. Director: Jeremy Sams. Choreographer: Arlene Philips. Capitol Theatre, Sydney. Sydney Premiere: 4 January 2018.

If, like myself, you’ve been travelling down the cinematic Yellow Brick Road with Dorothy and her pals since childhood, get set to enjoy this newest incarnation, easily the best of the several stage versions that I’ve seen.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

By William Shakespeare. Australian Shakespeare Company. Director: Glenn Elston Musical Director: Paul Norton. Choreographer: Sue-Ellen Shook The Royal Botanical Gardens, Melbourne. 21st December 2017 – 3rd March 2018

Take Shakespeare’s tale about a magic love triangle, perform it amongst nature in the Royal Botanical Gardens, add kooky costuming and clever sound and lighting, and you’re half way to imagining this spin on the classic A Midsummer Night’s Dream. 

The 78-Storey Treehouse

A play by Richard Tulloch, adapted from the book by Andy Griffiths and Terry Denton. Sydney Opera House (Playhouse). 3-21 January 2018

The 78-Storey Treehouse is a show that definitely appeals to the kids. My eight year old loved it and found it very entertaining and incredibly funny.

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