Reviews

The Grand Duke

By Gilbert and Sullivan. The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of WA. Directed by Paul Treasure. The Dolphin Theatre, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA. Oct 13-22, 2022

The Grand Duke is somewhat of a white elephant in the Gilbert and Sullivan canon, and is rarely performed, even by G&S societies (this may well be only the fourth production ever in WA in 125 years). Despite its convoluted and complex plot, it does have some lovely songs and the fact it is a show about actors, will add some extra fun for many theatre fans.

The Boys

By Gordon Graham. PIP Theatre, Brisbane. 4 to 22 October 2022

Brisbane’s newest theatre company, PIP Theatre, has their raison d’etre embedded in their name: Purpose in Performance. They choose plays with a social conscience and they work with local community groups. In the case of Gordon Graham’s The Boys, it’s charity Micah Projects who run the Brisbane Domestic Violence Service. In his award-winning play, Graham does not glorify violence – and there is very little on the stage.

The Vicar of Dibley

Adapted by Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter from the TV series by Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer. Tea Tree Players. Tea Tree Players Theatre, Surrey Downs, SA. Oct 12 – 22, 2022

Tea Tree Players have backed a winner presenting The Vicar of Dibley. The season was sold out well before the first night!

The play sits nicely in a cosy community theatre, giving the feeling that you are right there in the Parish Hall with Geraldine and her parishioners.

9 To 5 The Musical

Music and lyrics by Dolly Parton, book by Patricia Resnick. Festival Theatre, Adelaide. 8 October to 5 November 2022

This is an unapologetically bold and brash story about three women employed in an office who take revenge – accidentally, at first – on the narcissistic misogynist that is their boss. Based on the 1980 movie of the same name, the supposedly feminist outcomes come too late and too light to have any real meaning, drowned in the dazzle of lights, costume, and the music of Dolly Parton.

Jack Absolute Flies Again

National Theatre Production. In cinemas nationally from October 15, 2022

Jack Absolute Flies Again springs from the pens of Richard Bean and Oliver Chris of One Man, Two Guvnors fame, who have taken Sheridan’s comedy of manners The Rivals as their inspiration and reset it during WWII. Directed by Emily Burns, the play takes place at Malaprop Mansions, temporarily housing a Second World War RAF office and unseen plane field.

Bat Lake

Form Dance Projects. Choreographer: Eliza Cooper. Riverside Theatres. 13 -15 October, 2022

“The rustle of leaves, the bustle of busy creatures … A cloud of bats, flickering at dusk …”.

Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett.

Directed by Tom Velvick. Melbourne Fringe Festival. Runaway Festival Park - Magic Mirrors Spiegeltent. 6 - 30 October 2022.

Bernie Dieter, the salacious, utterly hilarious, and über-award-winning queen of Weimar punk, hosts a sizzling cabaret show with an array of acts that are virtually (and some literally) on fire. The daring and audacious tone is unabashedly set by Dieter whose humour and incredible vocal talent create a night of sheer outrageous fun. The rock band is a performance worth seeing in itself and they provide a fantastic accompaniment to the incredibly irreverent and gravity defying acts included in this show. 

Let The Right One In

By Jack Thorne. Based on the Novel and Film by John Ajvide Lindqvist. Darlinghurst Theatre Company, Eternity Playhouse, Sydney. Directed by Alexander Berlage. 11 October – 20 November, 2022

Let The Right One In: first came the 2004 Swedish vampire novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist, then a 2008 Swedish film adaptation by the author, then the 2010 U.S. remake Let Me In, and finally Jack Thorne, UK playwright of no lesser work than Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, did this 2013 stage version of the same strange tale.

Mamma Mia!

Music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus. Book by Catherine Johnson. Willoughby Theatre Company. Concourse Theatre, Chatswood. until October 8 to 23, 2022.

Occasionally Stage Whispers gets complaints for not mentioning the sound of a musical in our reviews.

So let me redress any past deficiencies by describing the extraordinary audio experience the Willoughby Theatre Company provided its audience during Mamma Mia!

The mixing of on-stage performers sometimes engaged in fierce choreography, pit singers, spare cast members in their own backstage ‘studio’ and a touch of electronic embellishments was at times as sharp as a highly produced album listened to with headphones.

Mastress of Ceremonies

Written & performed by Heather Valentine. Melbourne Fringe Festival. The Motley Bauhaus, Carlton. 10 - 16 October 2022

The premise (and it’s a good one) is that Nicole and Alex’s wedding is a litany of disasters, from the church ceremony (at which two flower girls threw up - one on the bride) to the reception.  Michelle (Heather Valentine), dressed in a truly awful green bridesmaid’s dress, gamely steps in - in the absence of anyone else - but certainly not Nicole’s first choice - to be ‘Mastress of Ceremonies’.