Reviews

The Teaches of Peaches

20th Anniversary International Tour, until July 20th, 2023

I want to preface this review by stating that I knew nothing about the musician Peaches when I attended her concert last night at Northcote Theatre in Melbourne, on the eve of International Women’s Day. I requested review tickets based on a friend’s recommendation – you have to see Peaches, she’s right down your alley.

Hans & Gret

By Lally Katz. Adelaide Festival. Windmill Theatre Company and Sandpit. Queens Theatre. 3-12 March 2023

It was almost two hundred years ago when The Brothers Grimm published their version of two children abandoned in a forest, but the tale of the siblings who are seduced into a witch’s house had already been around five hundred years before that. Now Lally Katz has built on a concept from Rosemary Myers to retell the story in the near future, with an emphasis on the choices that children make, as much as those of their parents. It challenges us to consider what we’re prepared to sacrifice to get what we want.

Oscar Winning Improv

Adelaide Fringe: World Premiere. Presented by The Changing Jennifers. 5 – 19 Mar, 2023

I need to declare that after the 2022 Letters to the Editor from this troupe, I had to see what they could do with a cinematic masterpiece! Those of us who were addicted to shows like Thank God You’re Here or Would I Lie To You? will be fans of the craft of ‘improvisational theatre’, often called improvisation or improv, where performance, commonly it is (for good reason) comedy that is performed is unplanned or unscripted: created spontaneously by the performers.

The Golden Pathway Annual

By John. Burrows and John Harding. Directed by Roxanne Moore. Garrick Theatre, Guildford, WA. Mar 2-16, 2023

The Golden Pathway Annual is a vignette play told in twenty-four sketches. It tells the story of Michael Peters as he grows up, accompanied and entertained by his parents’ gift of a subscription to the Golden Pathway Annual.

Simply staged, with rostra blocks and uniform costuming, a cast of five, all female in this rendition, play multiple roles with just the addition of accessories. The story is interesting and examines a period of huge generational and societal change, with the glimpses at Michael’s life both moving and funny. 

The Goat or, Who Is Sylvia?

By Edward Albee. Sydney Theatre Company / STCSA. Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney. Directed by Mitchell Butel. 2 March – 1 April 2023

Everything seems great in the Gray family. Martin has reached 50 and is about to receive a prestigious award for architecture, wife Stevie is feeling great after 22 years of happy marriage and 19-year-old son Billy is finding his way as a perky gay guy. They live in a big American house with modern paintings on the living room walls and lots of costly (and highly breakable) pots and plates. So why is Martin so damned restless and moody?

Bourgeois and Maurice: Pleasure Seekers

Adelaide Fringe. Empire Cabaret Theatre. Wonderland Festival Hub: Hindmarsh Square. 4 - 12 March, 2023

Debuting at the Adelaide Fringe in 2019, Bourgeois and Maurice are back with a brand new show.

When the Rain Stops Falling

By Andrew Bovell. Iron Lung Theatre. Theatre Works, St Kilda. 2 – 18 March 2023

I was fortunate to see this moving, ambitious play at its Melbourne premiere performance at Theatre Works in July 2021. The next day, lockdown bit, theatres were closed, and the rest of the season was cancelled.  Now it returns with exactly the same fine cast, director, designers, and set – an achievement in itself.  Seeing the play a second time, I have little reason to amend my review.

The Party

Strut & Fret. Adelaide Fringe Festival 2023. Feb 17th – Mar 19th, 2023

Strap yourself in, because you are about to attend the party of the century and the first rule is…there are no rules. Nothing is off-limits in this risqué comedy circus cabaret. Founding director of Strut & Fret and director of this latest extravaganza Scott Maidment has assembled an incredibly talented and versatile cast; along with comedy direction by Spencer Novich and choreography by Kevin Maher they have produced a high-octane two hours of adult fun.

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

By Robert Louis Stevenson, adapted by Kip Williams. Adelaide Festival. Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide. 3-12 March 2023

Gabriel Utterson is a lawyer drawn into a mystery of horrific brutality from an unknown man known as Mr Hyde, that is inextricably wrapped up with his old friends, particularly the well-regarded Doctor Henry Jekyll. Even if you haven’t read the original Robert Louis Stevenson story, it’s likely you’re familiar with the concept – and I wish I didn’t know the story, because the twists of this clever adaptation would have hit home even harder.

Slip

By Rebecca Jensen. FRAME: A biennial of dance. Darebin Arts Speakeasy. Northcote Town Hall. 1 – 4 March 2023

Split is a not an ‘easy’ show: difficult to describe, even more difficult to sum up.  The creator is Rebecca Jensen.  The show is both abstract and concrete; it reaches for wider meaning and it mixes in down-to-earth comedy and slapstick.  It is about sound and images and movement.  Jensen says in her program note, ‘Sound and movement separate, loop and return to each other, asking us to be attentive to new ways of seeing and relating to our environments, amplifying what is less perceptible.’  Split is then about paying atte

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