Reviews

In its inaugural International season, ‘PUFFS or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic’has arrived at the Alex Theatre in St Kilda.

Asked if I thought this script outdated and wordy, I immediately refuted the idea. There is something very satisfying and compelling about Appointment with Death, as with all Agatha Christie mysteries. The characters, or their type, are what we have come to expect and the fun is anticipating how the action will play out.

The set (Rogan Josh and Scott Hunt) is clever, considering the difficulty of depicting desert ruins. 

A Migrant’s Son is a fascinating exploration of a diasporic journey by the multi-talented Micheala Burger, who has written and performed her new cabaret show with genuine spirit and heartwarming vivaciousness.

The journey centres around Burger’s extended family, stemming back to her great–grandfather, when in 1936 a twelve year old Greek girl (her grandmother) sees her father for the first time after a ten year hiatus following her arrival in Australia.

There is no messing about with this play, as the publicity promises. The journalist David Holthouse walks into a spotlight to explain that 25 years after he was sexually assaulted as a boy – the ‘bogeyman’ has moved into his neighbourhood, giving him the long cherished opportunity to exact revenge.

The tight space of the Old Fitz works brilliantly for this intense drama. The assault took place in the basement of his home. The ladder reaching down into the square box room evokes a feeling of being trapped.