Reviews

This deliciously macabre story from the Victorian gutters of London has been savoured for two centuries.  As a kid I once thought it was true.

From penny dreadful to melodramas, to Christopher Bond’s 1970s play adding a back story of the cruel injustice suffered by the demon barber, to Stephen Sondheim’s musical thriller, the truth of this story lies in the grim and inhumane poverty of those times.

Currently touring Australia, Frankie’s Guys, a London based group and a winner of London’s Best Tribute, the world’s number-one celebration of Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons group, is making its Australian premiere. This ensemble of 10 multi-talented performers switches cast members in and out, and whilst different audiences may see different casts, all have impressive theatre credentials internationally, so a ‘Four Seasons’ sound is assured.

It’s not often you see a piece of community theatre in a regional city that compares to the bigger budget, semi-professional shows that Melbourne produces.

Mike Lew’s Teenage Dick is a funny and shocking high adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard III. 16-year-old Richard feels like an outsider at Roseland High because of his cerebral palsy and his general inability to socialize. He wants to hold power over the school so he schemes and enacts a plan to become senior class president, but he falls into a cycle of megalomania as he destroys the people around him.