Reviews

Gurril Storm Bird

Written by Trevor Fourmile. Direction and Dramaturgy by Nadine McDonald-Dowd. Presented in association with Hymba Yumba Independent School for QPAC’s Out of the Box Festival. Cremorne Theatre, 18 – 21 June, 2025

Stepping into Gurril Storm Bird feels like walking into a dream woven from gum leaves, laughter, and ancient stories that still shimmer with relevance. The moment you cross the threshold into the warmly glowing Cremorne Theatre, it’s clear you’re in for more than just a play—you’re being welcomed into a living, breathing story circle. This world premiere production, adapted from Trevor Fourmile’s award-winning children’s book, is a generous, spirited piece of First Nations storytelling that envelops its audience in both tenderness and truth.

Wolfgang in the Stars

Created and directed by Yaron Lifschitz and the Circa Ensemble for QPAC’s Out of the Box Festival. Concert Hall, 18 – 22 June, 2025

Step aside, gravity! Wolfgang in the Stars is ready for lift off. Blending lashings of Mozart, a sprinkle of space dust, and a whole heap of heart, Circa’s latest production catapults audiences into an intergalactic adventure that’s as whimsical as it is wondrous. Part circus, part concert, part cosmic fever dream, this world premiere blasts off from the Concert Hall stage and soars straight into the stars, bringing joy to every earthling in its path.

Super

By Emilie Collyer. Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre. 11 June – 6 July 2025

Two friends Phoenix (Lucy Ansell) and Nel (Laila Thaker) have superpowers – although not of the Marvel variety: Phoenix can suck the anger out of fraught situations and calm things down.  Nel has preternatural admin powers and can sort out the problems and spreadsheets of struggling fledgeling clubs and associations.  Both are idealists who want to ‘do good’ and change the world.

Red Silk

By Lois Achimovich. Directed by Geoffrey Leeder. Koorliny Arts Centre, Kwinana, WA. Jun 13-21, 2025

Red Silk is a play by Western Australian playwright Lois Achimovich, not seen in Perth (perhaps not seen at all) since its premiere at the Blue Room in 2011. Achimovich was a psychiatrist prior to her retirement, and this play is set in a psychiatrists' office.

Skank Sinatra

Pride Fest at Qtopia Sydney. 14 to 22 June, 2025

This elegant, super convivial drag queen is the poster girl for Qtopia’s inaugural Pride Fest running through June.  Skank Sinatra of course has her own show, singing works of Sinatra and his contemporaries, adjusted to her own lewd lyrics. 

Never Have I Ever

By Deborah Frances-White. Black Swan State Theatre Company of WA. Directed by Kate Champion. Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre Centre of WA. Jun 14-Jul 6, 2025

Never Have I Ever is a new play by British Australian comedian Deborah Frances-White, host of podcasts The Guilty Feminist and Global Pillage. A wry look at modern relationships, feminism, racism and social privilege, it features a small strong cast and is very funny while raising real-world, very contemporary issues.

Proteus

NICA 3rd Year Ensemble. Directors: Sage Bachtler Cushman and Hugo Oliveira. Costume design: Miriam Robinson. Set design: Barrie Michael Baxter. Sound design and composition: Ian Moohead. Lighting: Lisa Mibus. National Institute of Circus Arts, 35 – 59 Green Street, Prahran. 17- 28 June 2025

The student shows presented by the National Institute of Circus Arts are great opportunities to see the developing skills and security in performance of the students.

Mambo

Adelaide Youth Orchestras. Elder Hall, North Tce Adelaide. June 14th, 2025

This is my first Adelaide Youth Orchestras’ concert, and it won’t be my last. The future of orchestral music is safe if it is entrusted to these young, dedicated musicians. It is instrumental heaven!

The Half-Life of Marie Curie

By Lauren Gunderson. Ensemble Theatre, Sydney. Directed by Anthea Williams. 13 June – 12 July, 2025

Of the two women portrayed in this bracing play by American Lauren Gunderson (‘America’s most frequently produced living playwright’ according to Time Out, New York), by far the better known is the two-time Nobel Prize winner Marie Curie. She discovered and named radium and polonium and was the only person to win in physics and chemistry before women were allowed to vote. Along with her intense passion for science, and for sex, she was a passive-depressive, permanently wearing around her neck a vial of radium for comfort. Yikes.

La Clique

Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Space Theatre. 18-22 June 2025

It’s the twentieth anniversary of the famous bathtub, which still sits centre stage of this Olivier Award winning show. Originally created by Australian born David Bates from impromptu after-show performances at Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival, it grew from a sideshow made up of artists who aspired to something more edgy than the slick Cirque, into a globally recognised cabaret variety performance that has entertained thousands of happy (and slightly wet) people all over the world.

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