Reviews

The Vicar of Dibley

Adapted by Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter from the TV series by Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer. Tea Tree Players. Tea Tree Players Theatre, Surrey Downs, SA. Oct 12 – 22, 2022

Tea Tree Players have backed a winner presenting The Vicar of Dibley. The season was sold out well before the first night!

The play sits nicely in a cosy community theatre, giving the feeling that you are right there in the Parish Hall with Geraldine and her parishioners.

9 To 5 The Musical

Music and lyrics by Dolly Parton, book by Patricia Resnick. Festival Theatre, Adelaide. 8 October to 5 November 2022

This is an unapologetically bold and brash story about three women employed in an office who take revenge – accidentally, at first – on the narcissistic misogynist that is their boss. Based on the 1980 movie of the same name, the supposedly feminist outcomes come too late and too light to have any real meaning, drowned in the dazzle of lights, costume, and the music of Dolly Parton.

Jack Absolute Flies Again

National Theatre Production. In cinemas nationally from October 15, 2022

Jack Absolute Flies Again springs from the pens of Richard Bean and Oliver Chris of One Man, Two Guvnors fame, who have taken Sheridan’s comedy of manners The Rivals as their inspiration and reset it during WWII. Directed by Emily Burns, the play takes place at Malaprop Mansions, temporarily housing a Second World War RAF office and unseen plane field.

Bat Lake

Form Dance Projects. Choreographer: Eliza Cooper. Riverside Theatres. 13 -15 October, 2022

“The rustle of leaves, the bustle of busy creatures … A cloud of bats, flickering at dusk …”.

Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett.

Directed by Tom Velvick. Melbourne Fringe Festival. Runaway Festival Park - Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent. 6 - 30 October 2022.

Bernie Dieter, the salacious, utterly hilarious, and über-award-winning queen of Weimar punk, hosts a sizzling cabaret show with an array of acts that are virtually (and some literally) on fire. The daring and audacious tone is unabashedly set by Dieter whose humour and incredible vocal talent create a night of sheer outrageous fun. The rock band is a performance worth seeing in itself and they provide a fantastic accompaniment to the incredibly irreverent and gravity defying acts included in this show. 

Let The Right One In

By Jack Thorne. Based on the Novel and Film by John Ajvide Lindqvist. Darlinghurst Theatre Company, Eternity Playhouse, Sydney. Directed by Alexander Berlage. 11 October – 20 November, 2022

Let The Right One In: first came the 2004 Swedish vampire novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, then a 2008 Swedish film adaptation by the author, then the 2010 U.S. remake Let Me In, and finally Jack Thorne, UK playwright of no lesser work than Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, did this 2013 stage version of the same strange tale.

Mamma Mia!

Music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. Book by Catherine Johnson. Willoughby Theatre Company. Concourse Theatre, Chatswood. until October 8 to 23, 2022.

Occasionally Stage Whispers gets complaints for not mentioning the sound of a musical in our reviews.

So let me redress any past deficiencies by describing the extraordinary audio experience the Willoughby Theatre Company provided its audience during Mamma Mia!

The mixing of on-stage performers sometimes engaged in fierce choreography, pit singers, spare cast members in their own backstage ‘studio’ and a touch of electronic embellishments was at times as sharp as a highly produced album listened to with headphones.

Mastress of Ceremonies

Written & performed by Heather Valentine. Melbourne Fringe Festival. The Motley Bauhaus, Carlton. 10 - 16 October 2022

The premise (and it’s a good one) is that Nicole and Alex’s wedding is a litany of disasters, from the church ceremony (at which two flower girls threw up - one on the bride) to the reception.  Michelle (Heather Valentine), dressed in a truly awful green bridesmaid’s dress, gamely steps in - in the absence of anyone else - but certainly not Nicole’s first choice - to be ‘Mastress of Ceremonies’. 

Tattletales

Creator/Storyteller - Davey Seagle. Produced by Ponydog Productions. Melbourne Fringe Festival. Bard’s Apothecary – Crossley Street. 7 – 15 October, 2022.

For the ten unique performances of Tattletales, Ponydog Productions have chosen an excellent venue in The Bard’s Apothecary in Crossley Street of the top end of Bourke Street. This great friendly little ‘watering hole’ serves cocktails and has an interesting wine list and a comfortable small performance space down stairs.

A show based on Tarot! Mysterious? Edgy? Risky? Do not let any trepidation about the possibility of being put on the spot hold you back from this is truly engaging, masterfully managed and fun evening.

Casanova: More than just a lover.

Digital Melbourne Fringe until the 23rd of October, 2022.

To be labelled a “Casanova” means you are a notorious seducer and or lover with multiple partners, but the real Casanova was more than just your average libertine.

Writer and performer Loucas Loizou, in his new one man show, offers a unique tale of this real to life character Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798) - a legendary adventurer, philosopher who gained notoriety as a womaniser and gambler, who was born in Venice, and died in Dux, Bohemia (now known as Czech Republic).

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