Reviews

As co-director Elizabeth Browne points out, Othello is a challenging text which is “commonly studied and rarely performed” due to its sensitive and controversial content. Racism and domestic violence are at the core of this play. MUSC has openly addressed these aspects and depicted them for what they are: abhorrent. This is a very brave production that wishes to confront the ways in which jealousy, deception, and betrayal fuel these perfidious behaviours.

State Opera have made a bold but welcome move in selecting the 1998 Jonathan Dove operatic comedy Flight, a modern-day opera with over 150 performances across the world to date.

Harold Pinter was one of the most influential British dramatists of the past 70 years. The creator of ‘Pinteresque’ comedy of menace, he led the way from small one-act theatre works to writing major films like The Servant and The French Lieutenant’s Woman. It seemed that nothing was beyond Pinter’s capabilities, so the Ensemble’s revival of these two early works – one is from 1957 – reveals indications of the greatness to come. Look out for strange meanings, long pauses and plenty of subtexts.

One of the great things about community theatre is being able to see a little gem of a musical which deserves a revival – done beautifully.

They’re Playing Our Song  at Bankstown fits that bill perfectly. The musical was new to me,  and I laughed many times at the razor-sharp wit of Neil Simon coupled with the delightful music of Marvyn Hamlisch and his former partner Carole Bayer Sager.