Reviews

Following sold out seasons walking the streets of Kensington, Bowden, and Parkside, this year’s street theatre from Oily Rag Theatre is in the lush suburb of St. Peters. Its wide streets and big houses give some clue to their age from the early developments of the Adelaide eastern suburbs, but it is through the stories from Milly and Tilly that we get a richer knowledge of the history of the area’s buildings and their inhabitants.

The Brooklyn Rider string quartet was set to perform in Australia a few years ago, but travel restrictions meant their first Australian performance of their collection called The 4 Elements had to wait until this year.

This week, modern classical music fans must have felt they were in New York (where the quartet formed nearly 20 years ago), Berlin, Paris, or London, being able to see curated musical pieces evoking Air, Water, Fire and Earth, performed live on stage.

This is a visually stunning, inspiring, and witty stage adaptation of this iconic story. The separation of sex, body and mind underpins the dialogue, action, and the staging. The set design has a haunting chiaroscuro, quasi-German expressionist effect. The smoke-filled backgrounds combined with the stony natural environment in the foreground create a somewhat eerie atmosphere.

Ruby Rae Spiegel’s Dry Land (2014) is the story of a friendship – a turbulent, difficult, advance-then-retreat, accept-then-reject, insult-then-beg, needy, cruel-then-kind, touching but shocking, and very hard-earned friendship. 

Amy (Luce Wirthensohn) and Ester (Cassidy Dunn) are in their final year at a Florida high school, and in the swim team.  In the pool, it’s simple and safe, there are rules, you train hard, you swim in a straight line, and the aim is to win. On dry land, things are not so clear.