Reviews

There are Christmas shows that sprinkle a bit of glitter, and then there is Christmas Actually, which turns the entire theatre into a full-blown festive detonation of music, comedy and nostalgia. Now in its eighth year, this seasonal juggernaut from The Little Red Company once again proves why it has become a staple of the Australian silly season. It is smart, stylish, musically electric and delivered with such unabashed joy that even the iciest Scrooge would melt into a puddle of mulled-wine-scented goodwill.

This is a very sombre opera with ethereal characters, locations and events. In this adaption of the of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, Orfeo (Countertenor, Iestyn Davies) is entranced by Eurydice/Amore (Soprano, Samantha Clarke) who offer him the seemingly impossible opportunity to be reunited with his dead wife. The staging of this production contextualises the events in the asylum where Orfeo appears to be hallucinating. This works to emphasise the story as a very strange psychological journey of the protagonist. 

What. Did. I. Just. Watch? 

It was Launceston’s 35th Annual Pantomime, apparently, but it was unlike any panto I’ve seen. OK, it has been a while, but still, this was something else again. Having seen and enjoyed their Highland Dancing spectacular earlier this year, I can’t say I was not expecting a reasonably high standard of dance and mood, but…given that this one is a panto, I maintained a certain equanimity going in. 

Seriously this show has everything. 

Endangered Productions continues its commitment to presenting lesser known “music and theatrical treasures” in this ‘double act’ of two short operas – both based on the theme of marriage, but vastly different in style and music.

Leonard Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti, written in 1952, is a serious exposé of the cracks in communication and romance in a suburban marriage, albeit with a cheeky scat jazz chorus that sets the scene in middle class cities across America