Reviews

Twelfth Night

By William Shakespeare. Melbourne Theatre Company. Directed by Simon Phillips. Sumner Theatre. 5 November 2018 – 5 January 2019

Twelfth Night is an excellent rich, complex and pleasingly staged end-of-year offering from Melbourne Theatre Company.  Boldly directed with vision and flair by Simon Philips, it would seem no expense has been spared to entertain, delight and amuse audiences with this fine production. 

If you are looking for the perfect treat for the Festive Season don’t hesitate to buy tickets.

One of Shakespeare’s comedies, the themes are of love, most particularly romantic love, and mistaken identity.

The Addams Family - The Musical

Music and Lyrics by Andrew Lippa. Book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. Hills Musical Theatre Company. Model Farms High School, Baulkham Hills. Friday 16th November 2018.

The Addams Family is a kooky musical with all its zany characters we’ve grown to know and love through either the 1960’s TV Show starring John Astin or the 1990’s Movies with Raoul Julia as Gomez Addams. The musical is a completely new story, following the plot of now teenage daughter Wednesday, grown up and falling in love/ getting engaged to a plain American boy, Lucas Beineke. Wednesday and Lucas confided in Gomez, but are hesitant to keep it a secret from Morticia as she will only over react and try to cause trouble for the two.

Frankie’s

Concept by Libby Klysz. The Blue Room Theatre, Perth, WA. 13 Nov - 1 Dec, 2018

Frankie’s is a 15 part serial production, with each performance being one night in the lives of staff and regulars at Frankie’s a (fictional) bar in Northbridge. Each performance is completely improvised, including improvised music. The most important element to remember is that your experience WILL vary, with different combinations of performers and of course a different story each evening.

Little Miss Sunshine

Book by James Lapine. Stirling Players. Music and Lyrics by William Finn Directed by Tyler Eldridge, Musical Direction by Tara Oorjitham. Stirling Theatre, Innaloo, WA. Nov 16 - Dec 1, 2018

Stirling Players present (what appears to be) the Australian Premiere of Little Miss Sunshine, in a bright and funny production, that deals with serious themes, but is an uplifting and fun to watch production.

Avenue Q

Music and Lyrics by Robert Lopez & Jeff Mark. Book by Jeff Whitty Based on an original concept by Robert Lopez and Jeff Mark. Directed by John Boyce. Brisbane Arts Theatre Playing Nov 10 – Dec 22, 2018

Avenue Q is a poor, run down area of New York where a cross-section of people have gathered to survive while looking to advance their lives.  A young graduate from Princetown, hence his name, arrives while he searches for his purpose in life and, in the process, meets people, falls in and out of love. This play displays the full range of human emotions in explicit deeds and language, as is the modern norm. Where this play is very different is that all but three of the characters are puppets.

As You Like It

By William Shakespeare. Directed by Megan Dansie. University of Adelaide Theatre Guild. Pfitzner Court (Gate 14, off Kintore Avenue). 17-25 Nov, 2018.

As far as Shakespeare goes, As You Like It  may be relatively lacking in serious themes, but this makes it ideal for anyone just up for a cheerful time in a pleasant location. What makes UATG’s production special – and what should prove especially pleasing to buffs of the Bard - is the evident expertise and care that director Megan Dansie and her terrific cast have brought to it.

Nobody’s Talking To Me

By Tony Marren. Irish Theatre Players. Directed by Siobhán O’Gara. Irish Club of WA, Subiaco, WA. 15-24 November, 2018

The Irish Theatre Players have a reputation for being one of the warmest theatre groups in WA, with wonderful hospitality and the friendliest front of house around. It is perhaps ironic that their latest show features many characters who are quite the opposite - very unfriendly people who refuse to talk to each other.

Broken

By Mary Anne Butler. Lab Kelpie. fortyfivedownstairs. 15 -25 November 2018.

Broken plays with time, coincidence and consequence.  Events play out of chronological sequence enabling juxtapositions of their emotions.  The audience must hold the pieces in mind – until they come together in a moving and satisfying whole. 

An horrific car accident isn’t a plot point: it’s dramatised in all its physicality, terror and pain.  An abortion isn’t a plot point; it too is dramatised, heightened by the graphic language that describes it, in its agony and regret. 

Giselle

Ballet by Jules-Henry Vernoy de Saint-Georges from Theophile Gautier. Teatro Alla Scala Ballet Company. Choreography: Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. Choreograhic restageing: Yvette Chauvire. Music: Adolphe Adam. Queensland Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Coleman. Director: Frederic Olivieri. Lyric Theatre, QPAC, Brisbane. November 14 -18, 2018

With endless curtain calls and multiple bravos, Teatro Alla Scala Ballet Company closed QPAC’s International Series with a ravishing Giselle. Claimed as one of the world’s prestigious ballet companies, Giselle proved beyond doubt they deserve that accolade.

Six Degrees in Melbourne

Melbourne Writers’ Theatre. Directed and Designed by Mazz Ryan and Adele Shelly. Carlton Courthouse. 13 – 25 November 2018

Melbourne Writers’ Theatre always presents a stimulating and rewarding program.  One doesn’t necessarily attend their shows to watch slick theatre but more pertinently for the satisfaction of exploring, and dwelling, on interesting stories.  Most recently their programs have been comprised of monologues. However this year Six Degrees in Melbourne is made up of six ‘two handers.’  They are set in and around Flinders Lane and each one of them is intriguing.

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