Reviews

Baleen Moondjan

By Stephen Page and Alana Valentine. Queen’s Wharf. Brisbane Festival. 18-21 September 2025

Created and directed by Brisbane-born Stephen Page, Baleen Moondjan premiered in February 2024 at the Adelaide Festival as Stephen’s first major piece since working with Bangarra Dance Theatre as artistic director for more than 30 years. It is a fascinating theatre experience, as the dance and song takes place inside giant whale bones (a fabulous set design by Jacob Nash) to reinforce and celebrate the Indigenous Baleen Whale totems of Page’s mother’s Moondjan heritage from Minjerribah/Stradbroke Island.

Colour and Light: The Art of Sondheim

Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Watch This. Directors: Melanie Hillman and Dean Drieberg. Music Director and Arranger: Dr Trevor Jones. Stage Manager: Ella Thompson. Design: Rob Sowinski. Sound Design: Tomas Strode. Lighting Assistant: Jacques Cooney Adlard. Theatre Works, 14 Acland Street, St Kilda VIC. 18 – 27 September 2025

Any audience of Stephen Sondheim’s work needs to be prepared for carriage to ecstatic heights or uncovering of their emotional wreckage. The performers are challenged with gut clenching technical demands to deliver enormous numbers of words, emotional truths, unusual cadences and harmonies and still somehow manage to breathe. Watch This is a repertory company which focusses on Sondheim’s legacy, and they demonstrated they are well up for making the most of his work and uncovering new insights and delights in a flowing revue.

Draw Two

By Meg McDonald. Theatre Works. Explosives Factory, Inkerman Street, St Kilda. 17 – 23 September 2025

A twenty-something woman, Riley (Georgia McGinness) goes back to the country town she came from – just as her life is coming together...  Her twin sister Mia has died, leaving behind a four-year-old son – and an empty house.  In a supermarket queue, Riley is startled when an old schoolmate, Kieran, mistakes her for Mia... And Riley doesn’t correct him.  Which makes us wonder about Mia...

Disney’s Frozen Jr

Music and Lyrics by Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez. Book By Jennifer Lee. Based on the Disney film written by Jennifer Lee and directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee. Blackbox Theatre Co. Directed by Lachlan Hansen and Temiya Knight. Choreography by Bernita Moore. Princess Theatre, Launceston. Sept 18-21, 2025

The Central Coast, NSW, has a long history of supporting youth theatre. Consequently, the standard is exceptionally high. And about 20 years ago, it could be argued that some of the junior productions were equal to or better than the seniors.

Remember: Sacred and Profane

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. St Peter’s Cathedral, King William Rd, North Adelaide. Sept 18 & 19, 2025

Even the rain could not deter a sold-out audience attending St Peter’s Cathedral to experience Adelaide Symphony Orchestra’s latest concert Remember: Sacred and Profane featuring two legendary composers Richard Strauss and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The Lovers: A Musical

Book, music and lyrics by Laura Murphy, based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Shake & Stir Theatre Co. Playhouse, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC). Brisbane Festival. 19 September to 5 October 2025

After premiering The Lovers with Bell Shakespeare Company at the Sydney Opera House in 2022, Laura Murphy (Zombie! The Musical, The Dismissal: An Extremely Serious Musical Comedy) has teamed up with Brisbane’s Shake & Stir Theatre Co to bring some ‘Love and Pop and Shakespeare’ to Brisbane Festival.

Inter Alia

By Suzie Miller. National Theatre Live / Sharmill Films. Screening in select Australian cinemas from September 25, 2025

What do you do when you are a highly respected Judge in the legal profession and suddenly have to face the moral dilemma of being the mother of an accused rapist?

This theme is brilliantly explored in the latest filmed production National Theatre Live: Inter Alia.

The Paper Escaper

By Gita Bezard. Terrapin Puppet Theatre. The Events Centre, Caloundra, Qld. 17 September 2025, and touring.

The Paper Escaper – written by Gita Bezard (The Last Great Hunt) and directed by Sam Routledge and Davina Wright – invites the audience to immerse themselves in a world where imagination knows no bounds. Expect the unexpected as you become captivated by the magical book illustrator and his transformation from bad guy to ally.

A Place in the Sultan's Kitchen

Presented by Brisbane Festival in connection with QPAC. Written and presented by Joshua Hinton in association with the Merrigong Theatre Company. Cremorne Theatre, QPAC. 16-20 September, 2025

Ushered into the spotlight at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre, this family-affair show inspired writer/musician/performer Joshua Hilton to conceive a concept based on the mixed past traditions, cultures and general influences that have shaped his identity. And what better a way than through food, that universal stimulator of our appetites and imaginations.

The Viewing Room

By Mark Smith. Wanneroo Repertory. Directed by Tim Riessen. The Limelight Theatre, Wanneroo, WA. Sep 11 - 27, 2025

The Viewing Room is a black comedy set in the viewing room of a funeral parlour. When the not-so-dearly deceased begins to talk to his family, things take a strange turn.  Presented by Wanneroo Repertory, and directed by Tim Riessen (who has been very busy, with a One Act Play opening at Roxy Lane this week), 

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