Reviews

West Gate

By Dennis McIntosh. Presented by Melbourne Theatre Company, directed by Iain Sinclair. Southbank Theatre, The Sumner 140 Southbank Blvd, Southbank, Melbourne. 10 March — 18 April 2026

At 11.50 am on 15 October 1970, the West Gate bridge collapsed while under construction killing 35 workers. Despite being an historically well-documented event this tragedy has often been buried in the Australian and Victorian psyche. 

Flora

The Australian Ballet and Bangarra Dance Theatre, with artists from Orchestra Victoria. Conductor: Jonathan Lo. Choreography: Frances Rings.The Regent Theatre, Melbourne, 12 – 21 March, 2026 then Sydney 7 – 18 April.

Commissioned by David Hallberg and the Australian Ballet and choreographed by Frances Rings, Flora is jaw-dropping. It seems almost pointless to review this wonderful piece because there are only so many ways you can say that something is brilliant.  However, lets dive into the thesaurus and see what we come up with.

What Was That?

Written, Produced and Directed by Alaine Beek. Essence Theatre Productions. Werribee Park Mansion, Melbourne. March 14, 2026 and ongoing performances most weekends.

Step through the doors of history and prepare to be utterly transported. In this riveting 90-minute two-hander, the extraordinary true story of one of Victorian history’s most eminent families, the Chirnsides, bursts thrillingly back to life.

Play On!

By Rick Abbott. Tweed Theatre Company. Tweed Heads Civic Centre Auditorium. 14 - 29 March, 2026

Play On! is a fast-paced farce, a zany play-within-a-play, taking audiences behind the scenes of a beleaguered community theatre. They are trying desperately to put on a new play, despite maddening interference from the novice playwright who keeps revising the script.

Jackson v Jackson

Presented by Gospo Pty Ltd. Fringe at The Peacock at Gluttony. 10 March – 22 March 2026.

The energy inside the Peacock Tent at the Adelaide Fringe was electric as the audience packed in for the sensational Jackson vs Jackson at Gluttony. What followed was nothing short of world-class entertainment! This show was an exhilarating celebration of the music of Michael and Janet Jackson delivered with breathtaking artistry, precision and soul.

18 Eden Avenue – A Musical

Book and Lyrics Roger Gimblett. Music Sally Bodkin-Allen. Genesian Theatre Company, Director Roger Gimblett. 13 – 28 Mar, 2026

Number 18 Eden Avenue is a big, old, historic house. It’s the family home of Sophie who’s a dance teacher, her daughter Poppy who’s nearly 16, and Sophie’s mother Honoria, who’s a little bit eccentric … and confused. There’s a boarder who works at the local post office and raises plants in a greenhouse at the bottom of the garden in his pare time. And a cat that inhabits the ballroom.

There is also a teenager called Simon, who lives next door … and a newly arrived boarder called Gilford, an aspiring actor from the country.

Mass Hysteria

Jens Radda. Adelaide Fringe. Bank SA Theatre at Gluttony, Rymill Park, Adelaide. March 13-15, 2026

Mass Hysteria created by Skank Sinatra and Iva Rosebud (AKA Jens Radda and Lachlan Bartlett) is essential late night Fringe viewing. It so much more than mass hysteria, it is mass talent, mass naughtiness and most of all, mass fun!

It has a bit of everything a Fringe goer could want - glamour, live vocals, dance, drag, audience participation and some nudity thrown in to spice things up!

The evening begins with some cosmic therapy (‘Lay Down Your Burden’) which had us all participating in a hands-on healing session.

Mary Motorhead & Trade

Composed by Emma O’Halloran, libretto by Emma O’Halloran and Mark O'Halloran. Produced by Linda Thompson, presented by The Australian Contemporary Opera Company. Directed by Greta Nash, conducted by Elaine Kelly. The Malthouse Theatre, 113 Sturt St, Southbank, Melbourne. 6-13 March 2026.

Emma O’Halloran’s operatic adaptation of Mark O'Halloran’s two plays sees a very unique context for two confronting stories. Mary Motorhead (Emily Edmonds, mezzo soprano) is a murderer who brutally stabbed her husband in the head with a 12-inch carving knife. In a solitary and confined space which represents a prison, she reflects on the motivation and circumstances of her chilling crime. Trade depicts an encounter between a Young Man (Callum McGing, tenor) who meets his Older Man (Christopher Hillier baritone) client in a seedy hotel. 

Rumors!

By Neil Simon. The Spotlight Theatrical Company. Spotlight Theatre, Basement Theatre. 13 - 28 March, 2026

Did you ever have a day when absolutely everything went wrong? Rumors! makes you realise that things could always get worse – and when they do, the result (from the outside looking in) is utter hilarity. Beneath the laugh-out-loud mayhem, lurks Neil Simon’s sophisticated wit and commentary on marriage, secrets and status. This was Simon’s only farce – and it’s a doozy.  Four quirky couples, a suicidal deputy mayor and a hair-trigger gun all come together at an ill-fated anniversary party, creating absurd havoc.

Desire and Longing

Performed by Xenia Puskarz Thomas and David Belkovski. Opera Queensland Studio Series, Opera Queensland Studio, 13 - 14 March, 2026

At Opera Queensland’s Studio, Desire and Longing offered something increasingly rare in performance: intimacy without compromise. Xenia Puskarz Thomas and David Belkovski created an atmosphere of startling immediacy, drawing the audience into a world where sensuality, memory and yearning were not merely themes but living forces in the room. In the Studio’s warmly lit cabaret setting, with candles flickering on tables and festoons glowing at the rear of the stage, the atmosphere was both elegant and inviting.

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