Reviews

Climbers

By Elly D’Arcy. Presented by fever103 theatre. Directed by Monique Marani. fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. 1-11 June 2023.

Elly D’Arcy has created a very detailed and in-depth study of Cambridge in the pre-WWII era. The play recreates the social milieu of the colleges and captures the historical context with enormous accuracy. This makes for an extraordinary period piece. The extremely feasible narrative supports the realism of the play and although the characters seem somewhat stereotypical, they appear nonetheless as historically accurate. 

A Baroque Tribute

Queensland Symphony Orchestra (QSO). QSO Studio, Brisbane. 2 & 3 June 2023

In the musical hands of QSO’s Concert Master, Natsuko Yoshimoto, an hour-long tribute to Baroque music was a wonderful way to end the week. This sold-out performance featured emotional and inspirational work by Bach, Mozart, Stravinsky and Haydn. Natsuko introduced her choice of pieces by explaining that Bach was the lynchpin for many major composers who followed in his wake.

Scenes from the Climate Era

By David Finnegan. Upstairs Theatre, Belvoir St Theatre. May 27 – June 25, 2023

Dozens of people have helped David Finnegan collect the kaleidoscopic snatches of chat, revelation, predictions, dire forecasts, facts, government fudging and existential inertia we all experience with this great global challenge.

We’re all in the Climate Era. Besides this human pastiche, how else can you write about this impending catastrophe? Finnegan has thought alot about this, moving on from his earlier, confrontational plays, Kill Climate Deniers and Are You Ready To Take The Law Into Your Own Hands. 

Things I Know To Be True

By Andrew Bovell. Black Swan State Theatre Company. Directed by Kate Champion. Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre Centre of WA, Perth. WA. May 27 - Jun 18, 2023

An outstanding production from Black Swan State Theatre Company, Things I Know To Be True is a superbly directed, sensitively acted story of a beautifully flawed people, the resilience of a long marriage and the bonds of family.

The Hound of the Baskervilles

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson. Genesian Theatre, Sydney. Directed by Richard Cotter. 27 May – 17 June, 2023

Following the style of the oft’ staged The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridg’d and the popular adaptation of The 39 Steps, Steve Canny and John Nicholson condense Conan Doyle’s story to a comedy played by 3 actors. Richard Cotter cleverly leads the audience into the spirit of his production with his guileful choice of ‘mood’ music and wry program notes!

The World According to Dinosaurs

By Belle Hansen & Amelia Newman. Frenzy Theatre. La Mama Courthouse, Carlton. 24 May – 2 June 2023

A café.  A perfectly ordinary café.  Customers come and go.  Meanwhile, outside, the world is coming to an end – a sort of an end, a not-quite-the-end end.  In fact, according the V.O. Narrator, the world has already ended and what we’re seeing is a ‘story’ – and stories are vitally, crucially important in this play. 

Glass Child

By The Farm. Cremorne Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Brisbane. 31 May to 3 June 2023

Created by performers Kayah and Maitreyah Guenther, with Kate Harman and Gavin Webber, Glass Child is a celebration of sibling support – and frustration – told through text, movement, home video, animation, music – and dance!

Do Not Go Gentle

By Patricia Cornelius. Sydney Theatre Company. Roslyn Packer Theatre. May 23 – Jun 17, 2023.

It takes a while to be fully on board Patricia Cornelius’ play as she follows the icy tracks of Robert Scott and his doomed team trudging to the South Pole in 1911.

By the second act, after Scott arrives there beaten by the Norwegian explorer Amundsen, Do Not Go Gentle is an articulate, compelling and beautiful exploration of the challenges, regrets and stubborn dreams of old age.  

Beneath the Music

By Kathika Nair. Encounter / Performing Lines. Directed by Jay Emmanuel. Subiaco Arts Centre – Studio, WA. May 30 – Jun 3, 2023

Beneath the Music, presented by Encounter and produced by Performing Lines, is a beautiful piece of theatre that is poetic, highly physical, and very sensual. Inspired by the Australian Marriage Equality legislation of 2017 and the decrimalisation of homosexuality in India in 2019, but set before that, it explores the acceptance of oneself and the acceptance of loved ones and asks how a human can honour two conflicting worlds within them.

The Tap Pack

Created by Jesse Rassmussen, Jordan Pollard and Thomas J. Egan. Directed by Nigel Turner-Carol. Canberra Theatre. 6 May 2023. Touring to Brisbane and Sydney in July

This show is sheer exhilaration, a celebration of that magic that happens when rhythm meets movement, presented on a bed of retro cool and a side of daggy schtick. Tap is unique, combining dance and percussion in a way that uses the entire body as an instrument. If it’s an instrument, four of these guys are virtuosos, and two have the voices of angels (if angels wore fedoras).

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