Reviews

Pramkicker

Written by Sadie Hasler. Directed by Amy Ingram and Nerida Matthaei. Presented by MO Theatre for DOOR 3. Diane Cilento Studio. 16 May – 7 June 2025

There’s a particular brand of rage that lives just beneath the surface of being a woman in the 21st century. MO Theatre’s Pramkicker, written by Sadie Hasler, grabs that simmering fury by the almond mum ponytail and drags it out into the open—with hilarious, devastating, and unflinching effect. Equal parts gut punch and belly laugh, this blisteringly funny two-hander doesn’t hold anything back, and frankly, thank Goddess for that!

The Shape of Things

By Neil LaBute. Lane Cove Theatre Company. Director: Kathryn Thomas. The Pottery Lane Performance Space. 14 – 25 May, 2025

What seems on the surface to be a story of young love, The Shape of Things is really an indictment of the power of one person to manipulate another. And even though it was written in 2001, years before #MeToo, “consent”, “intimacy training” and the recognition of manipulation and intimidation in relationships, Neil LaBute’s psychological, black comedy still has the power to delude and stun its audience.

Henry 5

By William Shakespeare. Bell Shakespeare. Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio. 11 – 25 May 2025

This ‘patriotic’ play presents contradictions in the character, actions and decisions of recently crowned young King Henry.  Director Marion Potts and her cast don’t soften them.  Henry has much to prove.  Despite claims that he has left his ‘wildness’ behind and that the nation is ‘blessed in the change’, Henry has his roistering past to live down and what better way than to go to war... 

The Pajama Game

By Richard Adler, Jerry Ross, George Abbot and Richard Bisselll. Murray Music and Drama Club. Directed by Carole Dhu. Pinjarra Civic Centre, WA. May 2 – 17, 2025

The Pajama Game is a story of community, as employees of the Sleep-Tite Pajama Factory work together to secure a 7 and a half cent an hour pay rise. This production has the same feel as that very social factory. Proudly casting everyone who auditioned, this show had a lovely feel which transferred to the audience.

Sitting cabaret style (at nicely decorated tables) the audience feels very full and allows for a more social evening as you make and share food with new friends.

Rapture

Australian String Quartet. Elder Hall, The University of Adelaide, North Tce, Adelaide. May 16th, 2025

Rapture is the perfect title for The Australian String Quartet’s latest Australian tour, celebrating their 40th year. Rapture they promised and rapture it was!

Performing in the stately Elder Hall at the University of Adelaide and evocatively lit in shades of red, blue and purple, the quartet present a program of intensity, excitement and peace featuring the music of Beethoven, Perica, Janacek and Golijov, a perfect evening!

The Strauss Gala

Conducted by Gábor Káli. Performed and Presented by Queensland Symphony Orchestra. QPAC Concert Hall. 10 – 11 May, 2025

Forget celebrity selfies and far-out fashions – this May, the true gala worth attending was Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s Strauss Gala at QPAC. It’s where charm, virtuosity and Viennese glamour collided in a sparkling celebration of Johann Strauss II’s most beloved works.

Body Corp - A Dance Of Assembled Parts

By Sarah Aiken. Darebin Arts Speakeasy, Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre, Vic. 14 - 25 May 2025

Body Corp is the new project by consummate Naarm performer /artist/choreographer Sarah Aiken from Bellingen NSW. Her recent work Make Your Own Life Count premiered at The Arts House in 2022 and was a Green Room winner. Her multidisciplinary work involves technology, dance, performance and assemblage – she combines found objects and other materials into 3D compositional movements.

Mayhem and Madness

Bittersweet Productions. Independent Theatre, North Sydney. May 16 & 17, 2025

Bittersweet is an efficient new company taking root in North Sydney’s historic, restored Independent Theatre with a mission to profile one act plays. There’s lots of available short plays apparently, given their popularity last century and their certain appeal today for those of us who can’t concentrate on long ones.

Dubbed Mayhem and Madness, these three playlets are all over in 90 minutes.

Love, Loss and What I Wore

By Nora and Delia Ephron. Tugun Theatre Company, Qld. May 9 – 31, 2025

Love, Loss and What I Wore is relatable.

Heaven

By Eugene O’Brien. Bitchen Wolf Productions. Qtopia Sydney’s Loading Dock Theatre. 14 - 31 May 2025

Mal and Mairead are a fifty something married couple returning for a wedding to the dreary Irish village of her childhood, the place now in much the same decline as her marriage. 

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