Reviews

Happy-Go-Wrong

Written and performed by Andi Snelling. At fortyfivedownstairs, Flinders Lane, Melbourne. 25 – 29 June 2025

Andi Snelling’s creative process is to set her imagination loose so that she or it comes up with images, scenes, lines of dialogue or direct address in no particular order.  She films these inspirations just for herself, looks at them and asks, ‘Am I interested in this?  Would an audience be interested in this?

Meteor Shower

By Steve Martin. Mockingbird Theatre Company & Acting Studio. Belconnen Arts Centre, ACT. June 26 - July 5, 2025

Meteor Shower: a Dinner Party of Desire, Deceit and Devotion. 

Not since I saw Nuns with Guns in a sub-basement theatre in Seattle c. 2007 have I watched a more morally loose yet hilarious show that could go anywhere… until last night’s opening night of Steve Martin's Meteor Shower at the Belconnen Arts Centre. 

Coriolanus

By William Shakespeare. Bell Shakespeare. The Neilson Nutshell, Walsh Bay, Sydney from 25 June to 19 July, 2025, then Arts Centre Melbourne from 24 July until 10 August.

With this obscurest of Shakespeare’s dramas, Bell Shakespeare really takes flight in its newish harbourside flexible theatre space at Sydney’s Walsh Bay.

Being Alive : The Music of Stephen Sondheim

Hayes Theatre Co. Directed by Sonya Suares. Musical Direction by Michael Tyack. Choreography by Amy Zhang. June 25 - July 12., 2025

Stephen Sondheim is adored by music theatre performers with a religious fervour and that devotion was plain to see on the stage of the Hayes Theatre. His timeless lyrics and character driven songs resonate deeply.

A smorgasbord of well known and more obscure Sondheim songs were crafted into an engaging concert presentation. It was beautifully sung, orchestrated with a delightful small on-stage ensemble of clarinet, double bass, cello and keyboard, and moulded together with dramatic lighting and choreography.

The Offering

By Omar Musa. National Theatre of Parramatta. Heartland Festival. Riverside Theatre Parramatta, NSW. 25 – 28 June, 2025

The Offering (A Plastic Ocean Oratorio) is the theatrical premiere of an epic new performance work by award-winning Bornean-Australian poet, author, rapper and a visual artist Omar Musa and American cellist Mariel Roberts Musa.

The Offering brings the arts together in a performance that is “deeply powerful and hauntingly poetic” – powerful because of the global significance of its themes, haunting because it is presented in a blend of words, music, rhythms and visual images that is poignantly moving.

Instructions For Correct Assembly

By Thomas Eccleshare. Clock & Spiel Productions. Directed by Hailey McQueen. Flight Path Theatre in Marrickville, Sydney. 25 June to 5 July, 2025

Hari and Max are trying again. Having lost a difficult son, forever swearing and asking for money, they attempt to build a new one from an IKEA-style flat pack. Despite Max’s nervousness and the low-grade standard of the instructions provided, a correct (or near-correct) assembly is achieved and a ‘perfect son’ is made. Despite occasional embarrassing moments, the family is at last complete.

Next To Normal

Book and Lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt. Produced by Black Box Theatre Company. Directed by Lauchlin Hansen. Musical Director: Travis Hennessy. Choreographer: Bernita Moore. Earl Arts Centre, Launceston, Tasmania. June 25-29, 2025.

Full disclosure, I reviewed Newcastle Theatre Company’s “NSW debut” production of this show for Stage Whispers 12 years ago, and while I remember being impressed by the dynamic score and challenging subject matter, my review was fixated on how the venue and stage design let the production down: https://www.stagewhispers.com.au/reviews/next-normal-2

The Lady Vanishes

Adapted by Derek Webb, from the novel The Wheel Spins by Ethel Lina White. Genesian Theatre Rozelle. Director: Emily Saint Smith. 21 June – 26 July, 2025

Unlike Alfred Hitchcock’s 1938 movie adaptation, playwright Derek White goes back to the original novel by Ethel Lina White published in 1936 – and sticks as closely as possible to the story and the characters White created.

The Great Emu War

By Xavier Coy. Goldfields Repertory Club, Kalgoorlie, WA. Directed by Lewis Johnson. Jun 13-21, 2025

As a lover of quirky Australian history, I was keen to purchase a script of Xaver Coy’s The Great Emu War soon after its publication. When I heard that Goldfields Repertory Club had a production planned, I grabbed the opportunity to accompany the ITA’s Finley Adjudicators for a trip to Kalgoorlie.

The Play That Goes Wrong

Co-written by Mischief company members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields. GMG Productions and Stoddart Entertainment Group. Sydney Opera House from 19 June to 3 August 2025, then touring.

Everything went right at the Play That Goes Wrong at the Sydney Opera House, as the well-oiled machine of chaos was perfectly choreographed to squeeze fits of laughter from the audience at regular intervals.

On its tenth anniversary tour of Australia, the fun begins in the foyer, with cast members frantically asking the audience if they knew where a missing dog had gone.

In the theatre, my plus one was amused to see actors tumbling over our seats.

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