Reviews

84 Charing Cross Road

Adapted by James Roose Evans from the book by Helene Hanff. Directed by Alison Lees. Presented by Centenary Theatre Group. Centenary Theatre, 12 July – 3 August, 2025

In an age where letters have been replaced by likes, 84 Charing Cross Road is a wistful, witty reminder of the deep human connections that can form between people who have never met. Centenary Theatre Group’s production is a gentle, intelligent comedy with emotional resonance and a bookish charm that could warm the cockles of any bibliophile’s heart.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

By John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask. Carriageworks, Sydney. July 17 – August, 2025

Broadway musicals don’t usually showcase iconic queer heroes and especially one like Hedwig. This conflicted victim of a botched gender change op back in East Berlin - leaving her with a one angry inch of penis - was developed in a New York punk drag bar in the 1990s.

 

Rusalka

Music by Antonin Dvořák. Libretto by Jaroslav Kvapil. Opera Australia. Conducted by Johannes Fritzsch. Directed by Sarah Giles. Set Design: Charles Davis. Costume Design by Renée Mulder. Lighting by Paul Jackson. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. July 19 – August 11, 2025

This was an utterly enchanting night in the opera with music, design and performance combining for thrilling effect.

The story is most accessible, based in part on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, with the narrative taking place under the sea, and on land in palaces and forests.

It smooths over the unfamiliar feel of the lyrics, sung in Czech, which sound like a mixture of German and Russian

The Old Maid and the Thief, and The Telephone

By Gian Carlo Menotti. Mopoke Theatre Productions. State Opera South Australia Studios, Netley. July 18-20, 2025

When I was growing up there was a company called New Opera that presented smaller, more intimate operas that were not financially viable for larger companies.

These are precisely what Mopoke Theatre Productions stages. Artistic Director Nicholas Cannon founded the company in 2014 to support local new and emerging artists through the production of high-quality, small-scale performances which are accessible to the community.

Mopoke's productions feature local artists, offering progression opportunities for young and developing performers, musicians and directors.

Mamma Mia!

By Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Stig Anderson and Catherine Johnson. Spotlight Theatre Benowa, Gold Coast. July 18 – Aug 16, 2025

ABBA fans who are fortunate enough to see this production will be over the moon!   

This staging is jam-packed with all the favourites and then some. The strong cast is led by Jessica Papst (Donna), Jacy Lewis (Tanya) and Melissa Dorge (Rosie), with Andy MacFarland (am), Jonathon Whitlow (Harry) and Sean Curran (Bill) and junior leads Alannah Eyerich (Sophie) and Jake Cropley (Sky).

Rumbleskin

By Ames May Nunn. Presented by Dirty Pennies Theatre Project, directed by Alonso Pineda. fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. 17–27 July 2025.

Rumbleskin is an original play by Naarm/ Melbourne based writer and theatre-maker, Ames May Nunn. Their writing style in this text is very poetic and evocative. It conjures up the kind of vast and mysterious landscapes that characterise the western genre. The choice to explore queer identity via a genre that normally indulges hyperbolic masculinity is an interesting one. Nunn sees this as part of a queer impetus to reclaim this space as transformative and full of possibilities.

The Mikado or The Town of Titipu

Music by Arthur Sullivan. Libretto by W. S. Gilbert. GSOV. Alexander Theatre, Clayton, 17 – 20 July 2025, then Queenscliff Town Hall, 26 July; Stawell Town Hall, 2 August and Berninneit Theatre, Cowes, 10 August.

The Gilbert and Sullivan Society is celebrating its 90th anniversary. It is an outstanding achievement for the Society to have made Gilbert and Sullivan works available to audiences for nearly a century and to be a pivotal musical theatre company in Victoria.

The Mikado was the ninth of the fourteen collaborations between Gilbert and Sullivan, and one of their most popular works. The operetta opened on 14 March 1885 at the Savoy Theatre, London. So, 2025 is not only is the GSOV 90thanniversary, but it is also The Mikado’s 140th.

Garçon

Writer/Performer: wani toaishara. A part of Darebin Arts Speakeasy program. Director: Gideon Wilonja. Set designer: Jacqueline Tran. Northcote Townhall Arts Centre, 189 High Street, Northcote Vic. 16-20 July 2025

Wani toaishara gave the audience the gift of his memory of events and people he holds close to his sense of self and his heart during an almost hour-long meandering monologue. He was by turn funny, alarming, sad, innocent and wise. His script is still forming and there were some awkward jumps from person to event and back again following his memories. In his opening performance he read much of the script and yet the characters he called into being were strongly drawn and compelling.

Shakespeare in Hollywood

By Ken Ludwig. Adelaide Repertory Theatre. 17-26 July 2025

From a magic wood of Athens to a different magic wood of Holly, Shakespeare’s Oberon and Puck have somehow ended up in 1934, on the set of Max Reinhardt’s plagued film production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Their Elizabethan costumes and clipped English accents ensure they blend well with the extremes of those working within the Warner Brothers studio system at that time. With this Ken Ludwig re-telling of the making of the movie, stars Victor Jory and Mickey Rooney are absent, leaving a desperate director to re-cast Oberon and Puck as themselves.

Child

By Puvan Kumar Hari. The Blue Room and Ascension Arts. Saraswati Mahavidyalaya, Beaufort St, North Perth, WA. Jul 8-19, 2025

Presented by The Blue Room and Ascension Arts, Child is a multi-disciplinary piece of theatre, performed at Saraswati Mahavidyalaya, Beaufort St, North Perth, where lead artist Puvan Kumar Hari was trained and grew up, a fitting choice given the themes of his piece, which include embracing your inner child, and coming of age.

A lovely venue, which is shoe free, and which provided a foyer activation, meant that the audience felt welcomed and at home, although this was undermined somewhat by starting over twenty minutes late, without apology or explanation.

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