Reviews

The Val Machin Opera Scenes 2025

Griffith University. Queensland Conservatorium, Brisbane. 25-26 September, 2025

The Conservatorium’s popular opera showcase once again highlighted the skill and promise of its student performers, this time with an ambitious pairing: a theatrical re-imagining of Mendelssohn’s Elijah alongside the Act II, First Tableau from Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin. Each work, drawn from very different traditions, offered students the chance to grapple with demanding music and complex staging, and the results were both successful and engaging.

Hansard

By Simon Woods. Directed by Barry Park. Garrick Theatre, Guildford, WA. Sep 25 – Oct 11, 2025

Hansard is set in 1988, at the end of the week in which Margaret Thatcher's government passed Section 28 of the local government act, which prohibited the promotion of homosexuality by local authorities. The story takes place in the home of conservative member of parliament Robin and his more left-wing wife Diana. The title is based on the name given to parliamentary records.

Madagascar – A Musical Adventure JR.

Adapted from the DreamWorks animated film. Book by Kevin Del Aguila. Music and lyrics George Noriega and Joel Someillan. Fantasia Showstoppers. Director: Jake Elston. Richmond School of Arts, NSW. 26 Sept – 4 Oct, 2025

Thirty-two young performers feature in this adaptation of the DreamWorks animated movie Madagascar. Some become animals escaping from a zoo in New York to find “the wild”. Four are penguins setting out for Antarctica! Others begin as zookeepers or visitors at the zoo, and a little later become lemurs and cat-like carnivorous foosas on the island of Madagascar.

16 Lovers Lane

Written by The Go Betweens. Presented by QPAC. Concert Hall. 26 Sep 2025

There is a particular alchemy that happens when music steeped in memory is reanimated on stage: it becomes not only a performance but a living archive of emotion, culture, and place. 16 Lovers Lane at QPAC was exactly that; a warm, unpretentious, and deeply moving celebration of The Go-Betweens’ enduring legacy.

The Drowsy Chaperone

Music and lyrics: Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. Book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar. Western Arts. Director: Matthew Cox. Music Director: Ashton Turner. Choreographer: Angelo Vasilakakos. Stage Manager: Caroline Skinner. Set Design: Nick Runia. Sound Design: Ben Anderson. Lighting Design: Guy Carrison. Costume Design: Shonaid Uccellini. Maribyrnong College Theatre, VIC. 26 September – 4 October 2025

Side by Side by Sondheim

Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Genesian Theatre, Rozelle. Directed by Declan Moore. 26 September – 1 November, 2025

Would it be true to say Stephen Sondheim is one of the most talented, revered and memorable lyricists of our time?  I believe so.  With works such as A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, West Side Story, Assassins, Sweeney Todd, Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods and many more to his credit, it is hard to think of his extraordinary talent as anything less than legendary.

Letters to Lindy

By Alana Valentine. Melville Theatre Company. Directed by Melissa Merchant. The Main Hall, Melville Civic Centre, Booragoon, WA. Sep 12 – 24, 2025

Letters to Lindy is a verbatim theatre piece based on letters to Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, convicted then cleared of the murder of her daughter Azaria, who was taken by a dingo near Uluru, then known as Ayers Rock in 1980.

Lindy had kept all her correspondence, more than 20,000 letters, which are now housed in archive boxes in the National Library

Chicago the Musical

Music by John Kander. Lyrics by Fred Ebb. Book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse. Upstage Theatre Company. September 26 – October 5, 2025

Upstage launched in 2024 with Into the Woods, with a mission to tell stories that matter and present productions with meaning and relevance to the community. They are seeking to create theatre that reflects the world around us all. By using diverse casting and bold creative choices to challenge traditional norms and bring fresh perspectives to the stage.

For You to Know and Me to Find Out

By Liv Tennet. Sydney Fringe Festival. Sydney Dance Company. Neilson Studio. 24 – 27 September, 2025

New Zealand choreographer and performer Liv Tennet has created a touching piece of theatre that uses a combination of dance, sound, narrative and puppetry to describe the challenges of being a new parent, including the effects on relationships, friendships and careers: “Who will work, who will make a living from their art?”

Emma

By Jane Austen, adapted by Michael Bloom. Frankston Theatre Group. September 25 – Oct 5, 2025

Jane Austen’s Emma is arguably the second most popular of Austen’s novels, behind the ubiquitous Pride and Prejudice. It has been presented on stage, television, and film many times, most recently in 2020 with Anya Taylor-Joy in the titular role. It has also inspired fictional companion novels and the movie Clueless, which director Candice Mitrousis says was her favourite movie as a teenager. She watched it countless times, and upon learning that it was based on a Jane Austen novel, it sparked a lifelong interest.

Subscribe to our E-Newsletter, buy our latest print edition or find a Performing Arts book at Book Nook.