Reviews

Summer nights have come to Brisbane early with a refreshing and vibrant production of GREASE. If you’ve never seen the original 1971 stage musical (remembered by most as the 1978 film) then you have a treat in store with Millennial Productions’ version showing for a short time in Brisbane. Sure, the storyline about 1959 greasers at Rydell High is a little outdated, but the stage version is much better than the film because there are more songs, and they are more evenly shared — in this case by a superb cast of performers.

Israel Horovitz is a writer who clearly believes in the stabilising force of destiny. He brings together characters who are incongruously placed in some very unusual social circumstances. He overturns a range of notions that would dictate social decorum to prioritise a human instinct to naturally form bonds with those whose shared history and connections cannot be denied. In fact, this is depicted as holistically healing and gratifying.

Advertised as “Think Chinese Top Gun meets 007 with a J-Pop backing track!”, Skyduck is not your usual comedy. In fact, there is little that is ‘usual’ about this production – except for the fact that it is ‘theatre’ in the very broadest sense of the word. It uses a multitude of old and new theatrical devices, from puppets to projections, and plot, described as “a rollicking tale of international espionage”, mixes features of theatre of the absurd with commedia dell’arte and musical theatre.

Once you unwrapped the campery, Oracle is an artful surprise. 

I wasn’t expecting such a power-pumping burlesque of aerial athleticism, kaleidoscopic lighting and dramatic costuming and headdresses adorning such skimpy-clad bodies, all 18 of them dancing and preening to a rush of contemporary hits.