Reviews

Tukre’

Form Dance. Lennox Theatre, Riverside Parramatta. April 29 – May 2, 2015.

Tukre’, which means pieces in English,is choreographed and performed by Raghav Handa. Born in Australia of Indian heritage, Handa uses movement and music to recall and revere the artistry of his ancestors, who for over a hundred and fifty years, painstakingly created jewellery from gold and precious stones. Handa says “I came to appreciate the ‘tension’ that builds when a jewellery maker maintains a speed and precision of movement to cut a jewel or shape molten metal ..”.

Flak

Written and Performed by Michael Veitch. Presented by Ellis Productions. The Q – Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre. 28 April – 2 May, 2015 and touring.

If the Lancaster bomber you were piloting five miles over Sweden suddenly disintegrated in a flash of white light, would you have the wherewithal to think: “Now might be a good time to open my parachute”? Bruce Clifton did, surviving to be interviewed by Michael Veitch, along with about fifty other WWII pilots. A life-long aviation geek, Veitch compiled these into his best-selling history of combat aviation, Flak. For this show, Mr Veitch has adapted the five most remarkable of these stories.

As You Like It

By William Shakespeare, Directed by Peter Evans. Bell Shakespeare. Fairfax Studio. Melbourne Arts Centre. April 24 - May 10, 2015.

Last year Peter Evans brought us a version of “The Dream” that was sheer magic. This year however, his wand has a definite crack in it and, try as it might, the cast was unable to weave a spell to transport us. Don’t misunderstand – it is a very good quality production, but it isn’t breathtakingly special in a way we have come to expect from this company.

Hot Shoe Shuffle

Story and concept by David Atkins and Max Lambert. Original choreography by David Atkins and Dein Perry. Book by Larry Buttrose and Kathryn Riding. Birdie Productions. Bryan Brown Theatre, Bankstown. April 24 - May 2, 2015.

It was a new theatre company, inside an almost new venue and cripes the man who wrote it, is sitting in the audience right in the middle of the third row. That would be enough to set the butterflies fluttering in the sturdiest of stomachs.

No wonder that afterwards one of the performers burst into tears off stage. It was prompted by the standing ovation led by David Atkins at the curtain call.

Storm Boy

By Colin Thiele, adapted by Tom Holloway. Sydney Theatre Company / Barking Gecko Theatre Company. Wharf 1, Sydney Theatre Company. 24 April to 17 May 2015, then touring to Wollongong, Geelong, Canberra, Mandurah and Perth

Tom Holloway’s sensitive adaptation of Colin Thiele’s timeless story of a boy and a pelican has returned to Sydney before beginning a national tour. Under the direction of John Sheedy, Storm Boy, Mr Percival and the great sweeping sand dunes of the Coorong itself come to life on the evocative landscape suggested by Michael Scott-Mitchell’s set and the incredible puppets he has designed.

Disney’s Beauty & The Beast

Music by Alan Menken. Lyrics by Howard Ashman & Tim Rice. Book by Linda Woolverton. Adelaide Youth Theatre. Directed by Paula Williams. Star Theatre, Sir Donald Bradman Drive, Adelaide. April 23-26, 2015

Fans of the evergreen Disney musical should not be put off by the fact that this is a youth theatre production. Most of the young cast deliver performances of astonishing depth and range, that are comparable to the work of professionals twice their age. Though the production values aren’t on the level of a Broadway show, they are still impressively polished for an amateur production.

You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown

Book, Music and Lyrics by Clark Geisner, Based on the Comic Strip Peanuts by Charles M. Schultz. Hills Musical Company (SA). Stirling Community Theatre. April 24 – May 9, 2015

The Peanuts gang came to the attention of the public during the 1950s, through the popular comic strip by cartoonist Charles Shulz. The 1967 musical comedy with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner was based on those loveable characters; a few songs he had put together to accompany humorous and touching skits.

Le Noir: The Dark Side of Cirque

Executive Producer: Tim Lawson. Director/Choreographer: Neil Dorward. Resident Director Mathieu Laplante. Adelaide Festival Centre. April 22- May 2, 2015

Sexy and slick, the fabulous event that is Le Noir is circus for grownups.

Displaying superb skills, Le Noir’s extraordinarily talented lineup includes several performers who are veterans of Cirque Du Soleil. This is not another Circus Soleil though, but more a mix of circus and sultry burlesque. There is no attempt to disguise performers as other-worldly creatures as occurs in Circus Soleil. Instead, their human attributes are flaunted in their top notch skills and sensual costuming.

Summer Rain

Book and lyrics by Nick Enright, music by Terence Clarke. The Theatre On Chester (Epping, NSW). Director: Joy Sweeney. Musical Director: Mark Pigot. Choreographer: Janina Hamerlok. Apr 10 – May 2.

Every so often a community theatre company makes a choice in their repertoire that absolutely delights me. This is one.

It’s an all too rare joy to hear a musical theatre score with an authentic Aussie voice and vernacular, something that the late Nick Enright had an absolute flair for.

Theatre on Chester celebrates Summer Rain with Joy Sweeney’s splendidly crafted intimate production, balancing just the right mix of exuberance, sensitivity and sentimentality, helped by a set and lighting which utterly evoke dry outback heat.

Black Diggers

By Tom Wright. Queensland Theatre Company. Directed by Wesley Enoch. Playhouse, Arts Centre Melbourne. 22-26 April, 2015

The first sound that rang out at the official ANZAC Day dawn service in Canberra on April 25 (today) was a didgeridoo. Those who heard it said it was reminiscent of gun shots. It’s a powerful symbol of how far we have come as a nation in recognising Indigenous Australians, and specifically, the Indigenous men who served in WWI at Gallipoli, and other battlefields in France, Belgium and Palestine.

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