Reviews

Baby Shower

Written by Amy Hetherington and Kel Balnaves. Performed by Amy Hetherington. Choreographer: Kristy Jayne Love. INPEX Sunset Stage, Festival Park, Darwin. 20 August 2021. Darwin Festival.

On another perfect Darwin night under the stars, the 37 weeks pregnant Ms Hetherington took to the stage, immediately winning our hearts with her megawatt smile and personality, before embracing our mask-wearing, COVID-anxious souls in the theatrical equivalent of a bear hug. And from that moment, we were all hers.

Baby Shower is a little gem of a show that races through its hour-long run time – maybe because, with her midwife standing by in the audience, the hilarity and activity may have become too much for her very soon to be with us baby.

Rovers

By Katherine Lyall-Watson with Roxanne McDonald and Barbara Lowing, Belloo Creative & Critical Stages Touring, presented by Riverside Theatres Digital, August 2021

Rovers, is a part-scripted, part-improvised piece with major contributions by the two performers, directed by Caroline Dunphy, in collaboration with Belloo Creative.This on-demand version was filmed live at the Redland Performing Arts Centre, and is available on the Riverside Theatres Digital platform until Sunday 29 August 2021.

Little Gem

By Elaine Murphy. Irish Theatre Players. Directed by Suzannah Churchman. Townshend Theatre, Irish Club of WA, Subiaco, WA. Aug 19-28, 2021

Little Gem is a monologue play featuring three generations of the same family over the course of a year, Performed by three very strong performers, it was very well received by a sold-out audience at its only matinee performance.

School of Rock the Musical

New Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber. Lyrics: Glenn Slater. Book: Julian Fellowes. Pelican Productions. Thebarton Theatre, SA. August 20-22, 2021

Adelaide’s own award-winning company Pelican Productions is back with another powerhouse musical that will have you grooving in your seat and singing beneath your face mask. Founded by Jen Firth and Kylie Green in 2004, this company is renowned for high-quality entertainment and showcasing young musical theatre stars of the future.

Cosi

By Louis Nowra. Roleystone Theatre. Directed by Stephen Carr. Roleystone Hall, Jarrah Rd, Roleystone WA. August 20-28, 2021

While Roleystone Theatre (the building) is being rebuilt, Roleystone Theatre (the company) are temporarily performing at Roleystone Hall. While this Community Hall is limiting the show choice in many ways (the company needs to bump-out between most performances and cannot use a complex set), there have been some inspired choices of show that are embracing this unusual venue, and Cosi uses this space to its advantage.

Sydney II: Lost and Found

By Jenny Davis. Theatre 180. Directed by Stuart Halusz. ACE Cinemas, Rockingham, WA. Aug 18-22, 2021

Theatre 180’s world premiere of Sydney II: Lost and Found was launched with a gala celebration at ACE Cinema Rockingham, the first venue in a Western Australian tour that will continue until November 21 in cinemas around the state.

Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Book by David Greig. Music by Marc Shaiman. Lyrics by Scott Wittman & Marc Shaiman. With songs from the motion picture by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newley. Townsville Choral Society. Townsville Civic Theatre Boundary Street, Townsville. 18 – 28 August 2021.

THIS family production is perfect for our times. It is bright and colourful. It has some sparkling performances, terrific orchestration, is wonderfully lit and, above all, it is very, very funny.

Wanha! Journey to Arnhem

Directors/Producers: Rosealee Pearson and Andrew Grimes. Musical Directors: Andrew Gurruwiwi and Patrick White. Narrator: Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs. Visuals: Warren Handley and Matt Maclean. Projectionist: Rosealee Pearson. Featured Artists: Yirrmal Marika, Djakapurra Munyarryun, Dhapanbal Yunupingu, Juran Adams and Andrew Gurruwiwi. Andrew Gurruwiwi Band Members: Andrew Gurruwiwi, Patrick White, Andrew Grimes, Dion Gurruwiwi, Gathaburra Mununggurr, Alex Bukulatjpi, Vadim Juste-Constant, Francis Diatschenko and Malngay Kevin Yunupingu. INPEX Sunset Stage, Festival Park, Darwin. 14 August 2021. Darwin Festival.

Sometimes, if we’re lucky, we have the opportunity to experience an event that might be considered life changing. Preconceptions disintegrate. Our senses gradually become overloaded. Our eyes widen, and an impossible smile forms on our mouths. Our minds race in an attempt to catch-up and keep up with all the details of this rapidly evolving new experience.

Hibernation

By Finegan Kruckemeyer. State Theatre Company of South Australia. Dunstan Playhouse. 13 August — 28 August 2021

For those who are followers of The Handmaid’s Tale, or remember the 1971 Omega Man, embraced the recent Quiet Place films, or whose memories stretch back to Shute’s 1957 On The Beach, Hibernation is a dystopian tale that yet again reminds us that there are consequences of choices made, often dire, of human behavior, and sometimes the solutions, expendable as they seem, can be as bad or worse than the problem.

The Hypotheticals

Writers and performers: Jeffrey Jay Fowler and Sarah Reuben. Presented by Brown’s Mart and Darwin Festival in association with The Last Great Hunt. Choreographer: Jessica Devereux. Dramaturg: Chris Isaacs. Sound designers: James Mangohig and Serina Pech. Lighting designer: Tomm Lydiard. Happy Yess, Darwin. Until 19 August 2021.

Performing their 2020 NT Literary Award-winning script The Hypotheticals, Sarah Reuben (‘The Woman’) and Jeffrey Jay Fowler (‘The Man’) positively sparkle as best friends navigating the idea of having a child together. They are hard-working young professionals – she is a Nurse, and he is a Graphic Designer. She is straight and single, and he is gay and single. They share date nights and what turn out to be hilarious power-walking exercise sessions.

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