Reviews

The Whale’s Tale

Presented by Born in a Taxi. Hackett Hall, Western Australian Museum, Boola Bardip, WA. Sep 26-Oct 1, 2022

First slated to appear at the Awesome Festival in 2020, The Whale’s Tale, presented by Victorian company Born in a Taxi, finally has made it to WA. Presented in the WA Museum, Boola Bardip’s Hackett Hall (the hall that many moons ago was the WA library), the performance takes place, hauntingly and meaningfully under the museum’s well-loved Blue Whale skeleton.

Tröll

By Ralph McCubbin Howell. Directed by Charlotte Bradley and Hannah Smith. Trick of the Light Theatre. Rehearsal Room 1, State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, Perth WA. Sep 27-29, 2022

This gorgeous little show from Trick of the Light Theatre, New Zealand, played a short season as part of the Awesome Festival. Described as “a low-fi wi-fi fable”, this beautifully told story blends the terrors of trolls from the early days of dial-up internet, with the trolls of Icelandic mythology.

Measure of a Moment

By Charles Mercovich. Directed by Robert Johnson. La Mama Courthouse, Carlton. 28 September – 2 October 2022

‘Marvellous Melbourne’ in the 1890s was not, of course, marvellous for everyone.  Not for wage slaves in times of boom and bust.  Not for Connor (Jordan Chodziesner) a sensitive young man with aspirations to be a poet, but miserably working as a bank clerk with an officious supervisor (Luke Toniolo) looking over his shoulder.  His father (Darren Mort) is a bully, and his mother (Clarissa McPherson) is anxious and restricting.  But when Connor meets Nic (Asher Griffith-Jones), a shop assistant, and they click, things look up… 

Manon

Choreography by Sir Kenneth MacMillan. Queensland Ballet Lyric Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Brisbane. 28 September to 8 October 2022

Once again the Brisbane cultural scene proves that you don’t have to visit the Paris Opera or the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden to experience international-quality dance and musical entertainment.

Creation Creation

Created by Rosemary Myers, Fleur Elise Noble, Roslyn Oades and Johnathon Oxlade. Windmill Theatre. Directed by Rosemary Myers. Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre Centre of WA. Sep 27 - Oct 1, 2022

Awesome Festival CEO and Artistic Director Jenny Simpson introduced the Opening Night of Creation Creation by stating that this very different and exciting show defies description - and in many ways she is right. Bearing this in mind, I will attempt to provide a review of this flagship production of this year’s Awesome Festival.

Dreams of A Lonely Planet

By Estelle Brown and Izzy Leclezio. Flying Bicycle Collective. Directed by Yvan Karlsson. The Blue Room Studio, Perth Cultural Centre, WA. Sep 23 - Oct 1, 2022

Dreams of A Lonely Planet is presented by Flying Bicycle Collective and the Blue Room Theatre as part of the Awesome Arts Festival. First presented as part of Fringe World earlier this year, this incarnation is an expanded and more fully realised production, but continues to be a gentle, warm hug of a theatrical experience that will appeal to imaginative children.

Past the Shallows

By Julian Larnach. ATYP and Archipelago Productions. Ben Winspear – Director. Glenn Richards - Sound Designer. Jason James – Lighting. Keerthi Subramanyam – Set. Nema Adel – AV design. 14 - 24 September 2022 (The Peacock Theatre, Hobart) and 12th October – 9th November (Sydney).

How do you adapt an award-winning Tasmanian novel for the stage, especially when most of that novel takes place on a boat in the dark Southern Ocean?

Instruments of Dance

The Australian Ballet. Arts Centre Melbourne. 23 September – 1st October, 2022.

Instruments of Dance is a mixed bag contemporary program put together for the Australian Ballet. Three choreographers tell different stories through music and dance in this program, The Royal Ballet’s resident choreographer Wayne McGregor, NYC Ballet’s Justin Peck and our own Alice Topp.

Anne of Green Gables

By Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman. Stirling Players. Directed by Fran Gordon. Stirling Theatre, Morris Place, Innaloo, WA. Sep 16 -Oct 1, 2022

Stirling Players youth musical is a lovely adaptation of the original novel by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Well-directed and crafted, this is a sweet treat with appeal to audiences of all ages.

Siegfried in Concert

Melbourne Opera presents part three of Richard Wagner’s Ring Cycle: Siegfried. Directed by Suzanne Chaundy and conducted by Anthony Negus. Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre, 31 Sturt St, Southbank. Sunday 25 September 2022.

The concert production of Siegfried is an absolute treat. This major opera is full of intense drama and explores themes such as hunger for power and world domination. These themes are fully indulged as each character’s lust for power becomes a destructive or fiery force in their lives.

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