Reviews

The Exact Dimensions of Hell

By Bridget Mackey. Presented by Mackey, Darling & Collaborators. Directed by Alice Darling. fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. 18 – 28 April 2024.

Bridget Mackey has penned a very unusual story in that she prioritises the perspective and fantasies of a teenage girl and fully indulges them. Bored by life in mundane Australian suburbs, the fourteen-year-old girl (Matilda Gibbs) has strong fantasies about becoming a witch. While online she finds an older man (Daniel Schlusser) who claims he can teach her how to practice witchcraft. 

Little Women

Book by Allan Key. Music by Jason Howland. Lyrics by Mindi Dickstein. Based on the novel by Louisa May Alcott. Elder Conservatorium Music Theatre. Scott Theatre – University of Adelaide. 18th – 21st April, 2024

Louisa May Alcott’s novel Little Women was originally published in 1868. The coming-of-age story of the March sisters follows their transition from childhood to womanhood. Set against the backdrop of the American Civil War, the musical adaptation follows our headstrong protagonist Jo March and her passion for storytelling, only rivalled by her love and devotion to her family.

Effie in Upyourselfness

Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Arts Centre Melbourne. April 12 – 21, 2024

 

Wild Dogs Under my Skirt

By Tusiata Avia. Director Anapela Polata’ivao. Riverside Theatre Parramatta. 18-20 April, 2024

I am so glad I had the chance see this production! Not just because it is feisty and funny; nor because its messages “hit us hardhard” like “Aunty Fale’ and her broomstick in the poem “My Dog”! But because I knew that before I could start writing about the performance itself, I had to find out more about Tusiata Avia and her work!

And that has been very moving … stirring … and disturbing … just like the production itself.

Into The Shimmering World

By Angus Cerini. Sydney Theatre Company. Wharf 1. April 2 – May 19, 2024

This is the last of Angus Cerini’s loose trilogy of dark Gothic plays about violent and insecure men or defiant women out on the land grappling with Australian nature.

Farmer Ray is near cracking with anxieties as the drought digs in. The rains – and elation – do finally arrive but, as is the Australian way, they bring a catastrophe of flooding. His farm is destitute, the cattle swallowed by mud or shot dead, and Ray’s anguish is seeping through his stoic, blokey reticence.  

21 Hearts

By Jenny Davis. Theatre 180. Directed by Stuart Halusz. Como Theatre, WA. April 11-21, 2024

21 Hearts, subtitled Vivian Bullwinkel and the Nurses of the Vyner Brooke, is advertised as “A compelling true story of friendship and courage.” The latest in a series of plays from Theatre 180, that combine live theatre with film and projected images in a cinema setting. 

Burn

Written by James Hall. The Basement Theatre. Spotlight Theatre Company – Gold Coast. Directed by Clem Halpin. 12th – 27th April, 2024

It speaks volumes when a community theatre fosters - and even discovers - new writing talent. Even at its most frugal, the budget for mounting a full-length play puts considerable strain on the company. And yet, without these productions, how is new talent ever going to be nurtured? Spotlight knows this and, for the sake of future theatre, gives new talent every chance it needs to grow.

Woo Woo

Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Bard’s Apothecary. April 18 – 20, 2024.

Improvisational comedy is unpredictable, relying on audiences to spur on gags. In turn, it builds up a friendly camaraderie with punters and creates a fun atmosphere.

Woo Woo is an improv show, it is more than just laughing at the skinny -weird guy Damien Vosk who kindly introduces himself as your average insignificant blend-in-the-crowd-type, as he stands behind the microphone on the makeshift stage in the cellar of a chic bar with a cool name such as Bard’s Apothecary, located down a side street somewhere in the CBD.

Anne and Gilbert: The Musical

Book and lyrics by Jeff Hochhauser. Music and lyrics by Bob Johnston and Nancy White. From the novel by LM Montgomery. Hobart Repertory Theatre. Directed by Anne Blythe-Cooper. 17–27 April 2024

Director Anne Blythe-Cooper and the Hobart Repertory Theatre bring us the musical Anne and Gilbert, sequel to their successful production of Anne of Green Gables last year. Many principle and ensemble performers reprise their 2023 roles, alongside a few new faces and the very welcome addition of a live band (replacing last year’s prerecorded accompaniment). As a sequel, written around 40 years later, the plot is self-contained, however, the musical (like the first) is unashamedly written for those who already know and love LM Montgomery’s original novels.

Billy Elliot: The Musical

Music by Elton John and book and lyrics by Lee Hall. Free-Rain, directed by Jarrad West. The Q, Queanbeyan. 11 April to 5 May 2024

After a quiet opening introducing protagonist Billy Elliot (Fergus Paterson in the children’s cast of the session we attended) and his best friend, Michael Caffrey (Charlie Murphy in this children’s cast), we meet Billy’s interesting family: his strongly principled unionist miner father, Jackie (Joe Dinn); brother, Tony (Lachlan Elderton), also strongly unionist and a miner himself; and outrageously irreverent Grandma (Alice Ferguson).

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