Reviews

We’re All Gonna Die!

Written by Maddie Nixon. Directed by David Morton & Courtney Stewart with Music by Dean Hanson. Presented by La Boite Theatre and Dead Puppet Society. La Boite Theatre. 30 July – 16 August, 2025.

There’s something thrilling about sitting in a theatre and feeling as if you’ve stumbled into a fever dream full of local landmarks, anthropomorphic rubbish piles, and unparalleled creative hilarity. We’re All Gonna Die!, the latest collaboration between Dead Puppet Society and La Boite, is that dream brought vividly to life in a high-octane comedy that’s as gleeful as it is thoughtful, delivering spectacle without ever losing its heart.

Veronica’s Room

Written by Ira Levin. Directed by Susan O’Toole-Gridland. New Farm Nash Theatre, Brisbane. 8-30 August, 2025.

The curtain opens on Veronica’s room, full of sheet covered furniture, with the appearance matching its period, 1935. What happens from that moment is both challenging and intriguing to the audience. To help muddle the thinking, the characters are not named on the progamme but are just the woman, the man, the girl and the boy, as in the original production of 1973. Initially, a young girl is brought to the house, supposedly because she looks like Veronica and is convinced to help give Veronica’s elderly sister Cissie a sense of closure.

Lior & Westlake

Conducted by Benjamin Northey. Presented by Queensland Symphony Orchestra. QPAC Concert Hall. 9 August, 2025

The Queensland Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Benjamin Northey, delivered an evening that shimmered with emotional power, musical precision, and a spirit of generosity. Including Mary Finsterer’s Stabat Mater Symphony, Nigel Westlake’s Antarctica Suite featuring virtuoso guitarist Slava Grigoryan, and the complete performance of Compassion, Westlake’s collaboration with singer-songwriter Lior, this program was as much a journey of the soul as it was a feast for the ears.

The Witches

Based on the book The Witches by Roald Dahl, adapted by David Wood. Beaumaris Theatre, Vic. August 8 – 23, 2025

The Grand High Witch arrives in England intent on turning all children into mice!

The Witches is based on the dark fantasy book by Roald Dahl, so you know you are in for a crazy ride.

Neighbourhood Watch

By Lally Katz. St. Jude’s Players, Adelaide. 7–18 August 2025

First performed in 2007, Lally Katz’s Neighbourhood Watch has cemented itself as one of the most important and popular Australian plays of this century. It’s moving, it’s heartfelt, and, thanks to the St. Jude’s Players, it’s very much alive and kicking.

Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Hindmarsh. Aug 9, 2025

The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra continue to make orchestral music more accessible with their latest event, Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre where the movie plays on the big screen while the ASO provides the orchestral accompaniment.

The Edge Between

Director: Casey Angus. Guest Choreographers: Annabelle Ford, Courtney Livock, Josephine Magliolo, Elyssa Jeffreys. Company: Peak Talent. Sacred Heart College, 61 Retreat Road, Newtown VIC. 3 August 2025

Peak Talent offers young contemporary dancers and aspiring choreographers the chance to work with professional choreographers and, in some cases, to develop their own pieces. The culmination of the intensive workshop series was a fine night of dance.

M'ap Boulé

Written and performed by Nancy Denis. Directed by Anthea Williams. Composed by Carl St Jacques. Presented by Performing Lines. The Q – Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre. 8 August 2025 and touring nationally

Triple threat Nancy Denis has quite a voice. At its highest, her alto can fill every corner of a hall with a timbre as rich as a meaty cab sav. At its lowest, it reverberates through the seats to set up a vibration between your diaphragm and lungs with an effect like a Gregorian chant. The music, written by Denis as well as late violinist Carl St Jacques, spans R&B, pop, soul and hip hop. Denis sings with a huge hearted passion and breathtaking precision and vocal control.

Tuck Everlasting

By Claudia Shear, Tim Federle, Chris Miller and Nathan Tyson. Darlington Theatre Players. Directed by Natalie David and Tori Brown. Marloo Theatre, Greenmount, WA. Aug 1-16, 2025

Darlington Theatre Players’ gentle production of Tuck Everlasting is the WA Community Theatre premiere of this lovely little show, beautifully acted, directed and presented. At the midweek performance I attended it was sadly under-attended - a shame for a show that touches the heartstrings while being a joy to watch.

Murder on Cue

By Robin Jennifer Miller. Tugun Theatre Company. August 8 – 30, 2025

Take a group of over-the-hill actors, snowed in by a raging blizzard. Add all the classic tropes of a comic murder mystery (isolated setting, seething with suspects, red herrings and secrets galore). What results is a lively, funny show, to keep audiences laughing and guessing until the end.

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