Reviews

Meg Washington: The GEM Tour

Playhouse, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Brisbane, 25 October 2025

Meg Washington’s GEM Tour gig at QPAC’s Playhouse got off to a mellow start with a couple of transcendent looping instrumentals by her band’s guitarist. The laid-back atmosphere continued with the first couple of songs. Meg admitted she hadn’t played shows in her home town of Brisbane for quite some time, and seemed a bit tentative at first. However, it didn’t take long for the singer and her outstanding band to get warmed up.

Whitefella Yella Tree

Written by Dylan Van Den Berg. Co-directed by Declan Greene and Amy Sole. Presented by La Boite Theatre in association with Griffin Theatre Company. Roundhouse Theatre, 23 October - 8 November, 2025

Once in a blue moon, a play arrives that’s not afraid to end in heart-breaking tragedy. Whitefella Yella Tree drifts into the stage as tender as a new leaf, it blossoms into something beautiful, and not long after that, the world conspires to cut it down. Presented by La Boite Theatre in association with Griffin Theatre Company, this work is a gorgeously crafted story of young love, Country, and the cataclysm of colonialism that changes everything.

Who No Kno Go Kno

By Kudakwashe. Presented by Malthouse Theatre. Directed by Effie Nkrumah. Beckett Theatre, Malthouse. 113 Sturt Street Southbank, Melbourne. 20-25 October 2025.

In this play, teenager, Yung Sango (Tane Williams Accra), is forced to reckon with past wisdom in order to confront the issues of a troubling future. Uncle Banga (Alpha Kargbo) and Ariko (Masego Pitso) accompany him on this kaleidoscopic journey of discovery.

Romeo et Juliette

By Charles Gounod. Libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. State Opera South Australia. Her Majesty’s Theatre, Grote St, Adelaide Oct 23 to Nov 1st, 2025

State Opera South Australia have outdone themselves with their latest production of Roméo and Juliette by Charles Gounod! The Adelaide season is the first stop for this collaboration with West Australian Opera and the Irish National Opera.

Roméo et Juliette by Charles Gounod was composed in the 19th century and premiered in 1867 in Paris. The opera is a French adaptation of William Shakespeare's iconic tragedy Romeo and Juliet, set to a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré.

Radium Girls

By DW Gregory. Galleon Theatre Group, SA. 24 October- 1 November, 2021

Radium Girls, presented by Galleon Theatre Group, narrates the horrific events which unfolded at the U.S. Radium Factory in Orange, New Jersey in the 1920’s. These factories were established across the United States to produce watches and military dials painted with a radium-based paint to glow in the dark.

Young women, hired because of their dexterity and small hands, worked, not knowing that by licking the brushes repeatedly between their lips, they were condemning themselves to slow deterioration and death, by radium poisoning.

American Song

By Joanna Murray-Smith. SA Premiere. Flying Penguin Productions in association with the Goodwood Theatre and Studios. 23 Oct — 2 Nov 2025

American Song, written in 2016, is a masterclass in acting by Renato Musolino, directing by David Mealor, set design by Kathryn Sproul, and writing by Australian playwright, screenwriter, novelist, librettist, and newspaper columnist, Joanna Murray-Smith AM. It should not be missed.

Control

By Keziah Warner. Presented by flatpack. Explosives Factory, Theatre Works. 23 October – 1 November 2025

Control is a sci-fi play about three visions of the future, via three variations of ‘control’: being controlled, attempting to regain control, and losing control.  In its way, it is reminiscent of Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones’ Black Mirror television series in which the characters adopt and use technology, only to find that they are trapped and the outcomes are not at all what was expected.

Zemzemeh: Rhyme & Reason

Written and performed by Siyavash Doostkhah and Greta Kelly. BMAC Queensland Multicultural Centre. October 24, 2025

In Zemzemeh: Rhyme & Reason, Persian Sufi mysticism met contemporary electronica, sacred poetry met sacred geometry, and the result was not so much a concert as a meticulously crafted, ceremonial act of transcendence. Presented by BEMAC, this work by the duo Zemzemeh (Siyavash Doostkhah and Greta Kelly) offered a rare and potent fusion of ancestral devotion and digital-age innovation, weaving together threads of music, poetry, visual art, and philosophy into a seamless spiritual fabric.

Song from the Uproar: The Lives and Deaths of Isabelle Eberhardt

Music by Missy Mazzoli and libretto by Royce Vavrek. Presented by Lyric Opera of Melbourne. Conducted by Patrick Burns. fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane Melbourne. 17–25 October 2025.

This is a story about an unconventional woman staged by a company renowned for its unconventional approach to opera. Lyric Opera of Melbourne was established in 2003 and its contemporary outlook creates a space for new and emerging artists to reinvent the genre and cast attention on fresh talent and different perspectives. 

Malacañang Made Us

Written by Jordan Shea. Directed by Kenneth Moraleda. Queensland Premier’s Drama Award Winner, Presented as part of MELT Festival. Queensland Theatre Co. Bille Brown Theatre. 18 Oct – 1 Nov 2025

There’s something thrilling about witnessing a world premiere that’s already earned its accolades before opening night. In the case of Malacañang Made Us, winner of the Queensland Premier’s Drama Award 2025, the pre-show buzz was justified. What unfolded on the stage of the Bille Brown Theatre was a work of intelligence, heart, and finely tuned theatrical craft.

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