Reviews

Savage Grace

By Alana Valentine. Steamworks Arts. Directed by Sally Richardson. Rehearsal Room 1, State Theatre Centre of WA. August 11-14, 2021

2021 marks 21 years of Steamworks Arts and to celebrate they are remounting their first production, Alana Valentine’s Savage Grace, with the original director and original cast.

First produced in 2001 at the Blue Room Theatre, Savage Grace is a story of love, death and ethics, featuring a relationship between a visiting American doctor and a hospital ethics professor. A clash of personalities and ethics precedes a passionate affair, against the background of the AIDS crisis. 

Seasons of Skin and Bark

Tracks Dance Company. Concept and Artistic Directors: Tim Newth and David McMicken. Choreographers: David McMicken, Jessica Devereux, Kate Mornane and Kelly Beneforti (creative development). Designer: Tim Newth. Musical Director: James Mangohig. Musical Collaborator: Lena Kellie. Lighting Designer: Chris Kluge. Costumes: Cj Fraser-Bell. Performed by Anokai Susi, Bintang Daly, Brinda Magar, Bryn Wackett, Eleanor Rushforth, Ellen Hankin, Jenelle Saunders, Kate Mornane, Lucy Found, Maari Gray, Omaya Padmaperuma, Perrin Orlandini, Piper Mules, Ruttiya McElroy, Sarah Lacy, Sheila Rose, Sophia Hodges, Stephanie Spillett, Stephanie Thompson, Tara Schmidt, Teresa Helm and Venaska Cheliah. Darwin Festival. George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens, Darwin. 8–16 August 2021.

When Cyclone Tracy made landfall directly onto Darwin at 3.30am on 25 December 1974, it would not be until between 6.30am and 8.30am on Christmas Day, that the winds and rainfall would begin to ease. In the city’s Botanic Gardens, an uprooted ‘cyclone-resistant and waterwise’ Albizia saman (South American Rain Tree) was one of only 10% of the gardens’ inhabitants to survive the devastation.

The Canterville Ghost

A Lux Radio Play based on the story by Oscar Wilde. Directed by Phil Carney. New Farm Nash Theatre. August 13 – 21, 2021.

The radio play was the home entertainment norm in the days before television and here it is presented in that same manner but with the audience watching the “broadcast” while listening at the same time.  An interesting experience.  Actually, the initial short story was published in 1887 and has been adapted to both radio and film over the years since. This version is somewhat updated from the original but the effects are much the same. It is the fear of the unknown that frightens us more than anything else does - in this case, a three hundred year old ghost.

Emilie La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight

By Lauren Gunderson. Anatomical Heart Productions. Directed by Michelle Ezzy. The Studio, Subiaco Arts Centre, WA. Aug 11-14, 2021

Emilie La Marquise Du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight, the debut production of Anatomical Heart Productions, is a fascinating story about a brilliant woman, overlooked by history. Beautifully presented, this cleverly constructed story is well directed and told with intelligence and style.

Blithe Spirit

By Noël Coward. University of Adelaide Theatre Guild. Little Theatre, University of Adelaide, August 11 -21, 2021

Blithe Spirit is one of Noël Coward’s iconic plays, along with Private Lives, Present Laughter and Hay Fever. First seen in the West End in 1941, it created a new long-run record for non-musical British plays and also did well on Broadway later that year.

This year marks its 80th anniversary, following a new film adaption in 2020 starring Judi Dench as the inimitable Madame Arcarti (first played on stage by Margaret Rutherford).

King Lear (Online)

By William Shakespeare. Melbourne Shakespeare Company. Directed by Ayesha Gibson. fortyfivedownstairs. Watch at Home: 4 – 18 August, 2021.

There has been a determination to see this performance come to fruition despite the continual last-minute changes to scheduling due to COVID. As a result, this formidable performance of Lear is available to view online. While the recording could be more imaginative and technically proficient, the numerous strong points of the production are perfectly captured. Evelyn Krape as King Lear is magisterial. Her rendition of his sense of absolute power has a blatant stubbornness which is infused with arrogance.

Miss Westralia

Concept and story by Amelia Burke, Madeline Clouston and Jake Nielsen. Book by Madeline Clouston, music and lyrics by Jake Nielsen, music by Matthew Predny. Blonde Moment and co-producers Western Sky Projects. Directed by Jake Nielsen. City of Gosnells, Don Russell Performing Arts Centre,Thornlie, WA. Aug 6-7, 2021

Miss Westralia is a gorgeous home-grown musical about a wonderful Western Australian woman. This updated show, which premiered at the Blue Room Theatre in 2019, is completing a regional tour, which included performances in Geraldton, the home town of Beryl Mills, the first Miss Australia and heroine of this show.

Sleepy Hollow.

By Vera Morris and Bill Francoeur. Murray Music and Drama Club. Directed by Carole Dhu. Pinjarra Civic Centre, WA. Jul 30-Aug 7,2021

Horror Musical Theatre is perhaps one of the more obscure of the musical theatre sub-genres, but Murray Music and Drama Club have embraced the style and have managed to produce a very effective production of the scary Sleepy Hollow. Possibly the Western Australian debut of this musical, this large cast show allows a big cast to shine.

Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks

By Richard Alfieri. Directed by Karin Staflund. KADS Town Square Theatre, Kalamunda. 23 Jul - 7 Aug, 2021

Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks is a strong two-hander, with clear direction and a talented cast, shortly to finish its run at KADS’ Theatre in Kalamunda

The story of Lily, an elderly lady in Florida, and her dance teacher Michael, it is the meeting of two lonely people who develop a special relationship between dancing the Viennese Waltz, the Tango and the Cha Cha.

The Lady in the Van

By Alan Bennett. Mousetrap Theatre, Redcliffe, Qld. Directed by Graeme Roberts. July 30 – August 15, 2021

This play is the basically true story of Alan Bennett’s strained relationship and friendship with a Miss Mary Shepherd, a grubby, eccentric woman whom he allowed to park her van in the driveway for three months but who stayed for fifteen years. We, as he does, learn so much about this unusual, very different woman and the effect she has on Bennett. Much of the dialogue is between two versions of Bennett – his “real” self and his “writer” self.

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