Reviews

The Book of Mormon

Book, Music and Lyrics by Trey Parker, Robert Lopez and Matt Stone. Jones Theatrical Group. Capitol Theatre Sydney. Opening Night - July 24, 2025

With their elbows pointed sharply up, the crisp young new group of Mormons carved up the stage of the Capitol Theatre making  the musical  feel fresh and just as shocking as we first remembered it.

The tuneful ding-dong sound of the doorbells of the opening song “Hello” is soothing,  as the recruits innocently rehearse for their missionary positions (double entrende intended) with precision and camp sensibility.

The Importance of Being Earnest, a Trivial Comedy for Serious People

By Oscar Wilde. CGTC (Camberwell Grammarians Theatre Company). July 24 - 26

The Importance of Being Earnest is arguably the most well-known of Oscar Wilde’s plays. Comedic in tone, it takes to task the absurdities of the British upper class. The dialogue requires rapid-fire delivery by eccentric characters.

ECHO – Every Cold Hearted Oxygen

Written by Nassim Soleimanpour. Directed by Omar Elerian. Presented by Canberra Theatre Centre. The Playhouse. 25 – 26 July 2025

With his powerfully emotional performance piece ECHO, writer Nassim Soleimanpour presents something of a quandary to the reviewer. There is no program, no explanatory notes, plot precis or tagline. One new actor is chosen every night to perform only once. He or she has been kept deliberately away from discovering anything about the show. This secrecy is important because it means that there is as little as possible artifice in the reactions of both the actor and the viewers. But it does leave the question of how much to say here in this review without ruining the effect.

Emma

Adapted by Michael Bloom from the Jane Austen novel. Bijou Tasmania. Director: Karen Kluss with Zoe Vandervelde. Music: Iestyn Parry. Lighting Design: Garteth Kays. Costumes: Nicole Ottrey.The Playhouse, Hobart. 24 July -2 August 2025

What two letters of the alphabet best express perfection?

Emma by Jane Austen is a well-loved story, notable for the fact that Austen set out to create a flawed heroine yet managed to make her engaging and redeemable. Michael Bloom then aspired to the equally difficult task of compressing this substantial novel into two and a half hours stage traffic.

Accidental Death of an Anarchist

Adaption by Helen Strube and PIP Theatre based on the translation by Ed Emery, of the play by Dario Fo. Directed by Calum Johnston. Produced by and performed at PIP Theatre, July 23 – August 2, 2025

If laughter is a form of protest, Accidental Death of an Anarchist is a full-blown revolution. In PIP Theatre’s locally adapted production of Dario Fo’s classic farce, the audience is invited to witness the unravelling of police corruption not through stern drama, but through manic energy, biting humour, and joyful absurdity. This is political theatre with a punk soul and a distinctly ‘Queensland’ flavour.

Plied and Prejudice

By Matthew Temple. Directed by Ian Good. Downstairs at the Maj, His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth, WA. Aug 23 - Sep 28, 2025

This irreverent, funny and frenetic version of Pride and Prejudice features five actors playing more than twenty-five characters in a 90-minute party of a play that might make your Year 12 English teacher faint. Playing cabaret style Downstairs at the Maj, the audience and one cast member are invited to get sozzled, and audience get involved in a raucous and wild journey back to 1800s Pemberley.

Kill Me Now

Three River Theatre presents a trio of one-act comedies, consisting of “The New Mrs Jones” - Directed by Jesse Apted, “The Actor’s Nightmare” - Directed by Ryan Politis and “Death of the Doorstep Kiss” - Directed by Ashley Eyles. Earl Arts Centre, Launceston, Tasmania. 23-26 July, 2025.

Three River Theatre’s spontaneous decision a few months ago to stage a mini one act play fest was very much a Plan B situation, but once the theme was decided upon (that being Death) it was very much full steam ahead bundling this eclectic collection of plays together in record time. While there was a theme, the content, style and structure of the plays maintained very clear separateness. 

Julius Caesar

By William Shakespeare. Directed by Caitlin Baker. Presented by Chaika Theatre. ACT Hub at Causeway Hall. 23 July – 2 August 2025

In this quite brilliant reinterpretation, Chaika Theatre’s production completely reframes the morality of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, highlighting how Shakespeare’s language and depiction of political motivation transcends his intention. Director Caitlin Baker uses potent modern symbols extremely sparingly, just enough to suggest a different interpretation but not so much as to completely overwhelm. By placing Caesar in Trump’s trademark blue suit and red tie, Baker suggests Caesar is in a position a little like Trump.

Macbeth

By William Shakespeare. Sport for Jove Theatre Co. Caloundra Events Centre, Qld. 22 July 2025

Re-envisioning Shakespeare for a youthful audience is hardly new. There’s 10 Things I Hate About You, a teen riff on The Taming of the Shrew; The Lion King, a Hamlet refresh; and Roman Polanski’s Macbeth, welcomed by newbies to the Bard’s early 17th Century prose. This production, aimed at 21st-Century offspring, is a bold interpretation.

Fewer Emergencies

By Martin Crimp. The Company. Old Fitz Theatre, Woolloomooloo, NSW. Jul 22 – Aug 3, 2025

A clue to Martin Crimp’s post-structuralist, no-action Absurdist play is that he finished Fewer Emergencies the day before the 9/11 attack in 2001. Crimp arguably shows how this huge fissure continued to shatter our world, our communities and our lives.

Staged by The Company at the Old Fitz, the play is really three separate but related playlets. Three nameless characters each tell a confronting story as the other two chip in with questions and suggestions, describing the reality they all watch in the middle distance … yet also seeming to create it.

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