Reviews

Maybe Today

By Noah Sargent. Lost Theatre Company, Tasmania. Directed by Noah Sargent. Costumes by Elise Bagorski and Maddie Clifford. Lighting and Stage Management by Jenna Grosvenor. Sound Design by Elise Bagorski. Moonah Arts Centre. 14th-21st January 2023.

The future of Theatre in Tasmania is in safe hands.

Exemplified by this young writer/director, Noah Sargent, and his equally young colleagues in this passion project, it is clear that ambitious and thoughtful creatives are preparing to take up the baton.

Maybe Today is not perfect, and mentoring is needed before the mantle can be assumed but what is missing in terms of dramaturgy is ameliorated by some interesting characters tackling some universal issues.

Manifesto

The Stephanie Lake Company. Sydney Festival. Carriageworks, Bay 17. Jan 12 – 15, 2023

Drummers are in a rare spotlight in Stephanie Lake’s thunderous new dance work. Nine of them with drum kits are grandly elevated in a semi-circle draped in glamorous pink velvet, hard-hitters, but with a touch of Busby Berkley opulence.  

At their feet, are nine dancers, sitting initially on chairs, with each making their own idiosyncratic movements twitching to a staccato percussion.  This is classic Stephanie Lake.

La Vie En Rouge

Written and performed by Hanna Holmes, Jessica May & Elyse Batson. Consultant Director: Emmanuelle Mattana. Speakeasy Theatre, 522 Flinders Street, Melbourne. 12-14 January 2023.

The belle epoque is delightfully recreated in this original cabaret performance which explores the strong relationships among the women who populated this titillating and controversial era. Genevieve (Jessica May) operates a parlour to entertain men alongside Seraphina (Elyse Batson).  A young, naïve Yvette (Hanna Holmes) seeks to learn the arts of seduction from her two mentors but ultimately gets some tough lessons in life and love.

Urinetown the Musical

Music and Lyrics by Mark Hollman. Book and Lyrics by Greg Kotis. Heart Strings Theatre Company. Hayes Theatre. Directed by Ylaria Rogers. Choreography by Cameron Mitchell. Musical Direction by Matthew Reid. January 13 to February 13, 2023

This is a brainy, quirky musical that is dripping with classy stagecraft in this production.

Two decades after it debuted on Broadway, the title still makes you do a double take, and the musical plays on that with tongue-in-cheek references to the awkward subject matter.

Neighbours

Sydney Festival. Sydney Opera House. January 12 – 15, 2023

Two dancers talk to each other for one hour without saying a word. It’s a miracle that their “chat” is so engrossing, even thrilling, and that only rarely does your mind wander.

A likely reason is that dance legend William Forsyth, once long time director of the Frankfurt  Ballet, first brought these two together, and this new collaboration shows all the smart wit and electric speed of the master himself.

La Bohème

By Giacomo Puccini. Opera Australia. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. Jan 12 – Mar 11, 2023

Though Giacomo Puccini set La Bohème in the busy, artistic Latin Quarter of Paris in 1896, director Gale Edwards saw how easily it could be transposed to Berlin in the1930s during the final licentious years of the Weimar Republic. That was a Berlin alive with street theatre, cabaret, jazz, innovative art, Bauhaus architecture … and very probably hopeful artists struggling to make a living, just like the artists Puccini created in La Bohème.

A Promenade of Shorts – Season 2

Red Phoenix Theatre. Holden St Theatres, Hindmarsh, Adelaide. Jan 12-21, 2023

A Promenade of Shorts – Season 2 is the follow up to the original, presented in 2020 as a way to showcase a variety of plays that would not normally be seen due to their length (about 10 minutes).

The presentation of this production is fascinating. The audience is divided into three groups, each with their own ‘keeper’. Ours was the Governess, whose job it is to guide us through the three venues and ensure we behave. (If we didn’t, there was a threat of public Bible reading.)

Tracker

Writer: Ursula Yovich. Australian Dance Theatre and Ilbijerri Theatre. Sydney Festival. Carriageworks, Bay 20. January 10 – 14, 2023.

Tracker is an impressive, all-Indigenous collaboration between the Australian Dance Theatre in Adelaide and the Ilbijerri Theatre in Melbourne, co-directed by their two ADs, respectively, choreographer Daniel Riley and Rachael Maza, for the Sydney Festival.

Three dancers and one actor, as Riley himself, artfully track through the early twentieth story of his great-great uncle Alex “Tracker” Riley and the remarkable cases he helped solve as a Wiradjuri Elder serving in the NSW Police Force. 

Blanc De Blanc

Strut n Fret. The Grand Electric, 199 Cleveland Street, Surry Hills. January 7 – March 4, 2023.

From the moment I entered the newly refurbished The Grand Electric’ 

Twelfth Night

By William Shakespeare. Fremantle Theatre Company. Directed by Renato Fabretti. Saw Amphitheatre, Kings Park, WA. Jan 10-21, 2023

Fremantle Theatre Company’s second Shakespeare in the Park, Twelfth Night, has reached the beautiful Saw Amphitheatre in Kings Park after short seasons in Margaret River, Bunbury and Albany. A vibrant performance with modern references, some clever twists and an Australian air, this is a fun way to spend a summer’s evening.