Reviews

There are few feelings more pleasurable to experience in a theatre than that of pride in a new Australian work, one that has taken artistic risks, confronted and confounded the seeming contradictions at its core, emerging onto the stage as both a splendid entertainment and a work that looks to have the power to endure and spread its magic through the years and across the nation, if not the world.

This is the second production of Urinetown I have encountered and it was equally enjoyable. Being a university production, it was also even further over the top.

Everything about the production was high energy. Every member of the ensemble was fully engaged. Movements and dancing were strong and coordinated. There were no weak links here.

Avenue Q presents performers with the unique opportunity of working with puppets, as well as acting, singing, dancing … and doing things many performers would not necessarily do … on stage that is!

Using very jaunty puppet characters, and a handful of ‘real’ people, writers Jeff Whitty, Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx were able to make some pithy comments about such things as racism, homophobia, homelessness, unemployment, loneliness and marriage in lively tunes and suggestive lyrics.

Imagine Cormac McCarthy's The Road set in the Australian bush, and you have Yellow Skies.

Like the post-apocalyptic dystopic future (aren't they all since 9/11?) presented in The Walking Dead, the apocalypse brings out the worst in people. 'Hunters' pillage and kill to obtain ever-diminishing supplies. Even going as far as eating other survivors.

Noah (Aaron Trevaskis) and Glenn (Arli Faruk) lean on each other to survive and have to decide how to handle a malevolent intruder in their camp (Gabriella Imrich).