Reviews

Alice’s Adventures In Operaland

Victorian Opera. Director: Libby Hill. Conductor: Phoebe Briggs. Playhouse Theatre, Arts Centre, Melbourne. May 23, 2015

Victorian Opera was created not so much to replace the Victorian State Opera, but to fill gaps in the operatic canon and educate the public. This has included involving community choirs from the country, performing in schools and a young artists’ program which leads to a Master of Music (Opera Performance) associated with the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

The Waiting Room

By Kylie Trounson. Melbourne Theatre Company. Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre, Melbourne.. 15 May to 27 June 2015

If nothing more The Waiting Room is a lyrical homage by playwright Kylie Trounson to her father, IVF pioneer Alan Trounson.  Our collective social history and Kylie’s personal history, in relation to the development of IVF, is placed under the microscope and framed by the music of the era.  Over all the script is drawn with sincerity and the production full of humanity.

My Love Had a Black Speed Stripe

Based on the novel by Henry Williams. Presented by Fractal Theatre Productions at the Ipswich and Anywhere Festivals 2015. Adapted and Directed by Brenna Lee-Cooney. Brisbane 13-23 May and Frankston 26 – 29 August, 2015.

The theme of this play struck a personal chord with me because coincidentally I recently decided to abandon life on the suburban highway and its environs in preference to the comforts of public transport; and one of the reasons relates to life on the road and the typical so-called Ugly Australian who enjoys venting his spleen with the accelerator pedal and causing chaos in his wake.

 

Ned - A New Australian Musical

Music and Lyrics by Adam Lyon. Book by Anna Lyon. Book and Set Design by Marc McIntyre. Directed by Gary Young. World Premiere. Ulumbarra Theatre Bendigo. May 21 – 30, 2015.

Quite simply, this is the best completely original, entirely Australian musical ever. Read on and I will explain why.

Putting it on at a brand new theatre was ludicrously ambitious. This made the triumph in respect of entertainment, music, staging, drama and performance even sweeter.

Masquerade

By Kate Mulvany, from the book by Kit Williams. State Theatre Company and Griffin Theatre Company in association with Adelaide Festival Centre and Windmill Theatre. Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide. May 20 – 31, 2015.

A contemporary tale of love and loss mixed with a fairy tale of epic proportions, playwright Kate Mulvany’s journey with the book Masquerade began when she was a child and later in life when she had the opportunity to meet the author Kit Williams. A story with an abrupt ending is given new life as Mulvany puts her spin on this magical story.

Babushka: Doll

Created and performed by: Alicia Cush, Bethan Ellsmore and Judy Hainworth. Director: Caroline Dunphy. Produced by Little Black Dress Creatives. Judith Wright Centre. 20-23 May, 2015

It was cabaret night at the Judy this last week with a trio of ladies flaunting their post academic frustrations of varying talents with an evening of anything from opera to pop/rock in a Where-Do-I-Go I-Can-Do-That theatrical bash with a doll theme.

Being a creative collaboration between the artists themselves and the production team this was a personal exposé of women in contemporary society today, touching on elements of feminism, image, career and motherhood (and the mortgage)

The Rivers of China

By Alma de Groen. Theatre Works & Don’t Look Away Company. Theatre Works, Acland Street, St Kilda (VIC). 20-30 May 2015

It begins with a female orgasm via cunnilingus downstage.

All This Living

Written and Performed by Camilla Blunden. Directed by Rochelle Whyte. The Street Theatre in association with Camilla Blunden. 20 – 31 May 2015. World Premiere

“Retired? Retired from what? Life?” All This Living is sharp, defiant, surreal story-telling about how to negotiate old age in a culture where elderly females are stereotyped as burdens to be patronized, whose only importance is as a market for anti-aging products. One of the Canberra arts scene’s most familiar performers, Camilla Blunden explores old age as a new phase of life to be negotiated. Having arrived at this point seemingly suddenly, the character struggles with her sense of self.

The House on the Lake

By Aidan Fennessy. Griffin Theatre Company. SBW Stables Theatre. 15 May - 20 June, 2015

Aidan Fennessy’s The House on the Lake craftily brings to the stage the genre that the film industry seems to be stealing as their own: the thriller. 

The Shoe-Horn Sonata

By John Misto. Ensemble Theatre (NSW). May 22 – June 28, 2015, then The Concourse, Chatswood on July 2.

Ensemble’s reprise of this very special Australian play - and the very special actors who perform it – will be well received by HSC English teachers and students. It has been ‘on the list’ for some years, and seeing it on the stage not only brings Bridie and Sheila to life, but makes the story they tell through John Misto’s carefully researched and evocative script even more poignant for those who study it.

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