Reviews

Twelfth Night

By William Shakespeare. Fremantle Theatre Company. Directed by Renato Fabretti. Saw Amphitheatre, Kings Park, WA. Jan 10-21, 2023

Fremantle Theatre Company’s second Shakespeare in the Park, Twelfth Night, has reached the beautiful Saw Amphitheatre in Kings Park after short seasons in Margaret River, Bunbury and Albany. A vibrant performance with modern references, some clever twists and an Australian air, this is a fun way to spend a summer’s evening.

ROOM

Created and Directed and Music by James Thierrée. La Compagnie du Hanneton. Sydney Festival at the Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney. 11 – 25 January, 2023

Imagine a room in bits and pieces – the walls, the ceiling and floor, a big desk – and a whole team of people injecting life and passion into bringing these pieces to vibrant, pulsating life. Got it? No, scrap that and start again, and again, and again, and again...

Alice in Wonderland

Adapted and Directed by Penny Farrow. Puppet. Atheneum Theatre, Melbourne. 23 December ’22 – 28 January ’23.

Down the rabbit hole again! A strong cast takes up the challenge of turning a very well-known and monumentally imaginative book into an engaging hour-long show. Any adaption of Alice in Wonderland is up against the film versions with all the resources at their disposal. But this production is a winner.

Tinkerbell and the Dream Fairies

The Australian Shakespeare Company. Athenaeum Theatre, Melbourne. Dec 24, 2022 – Jan 28, 2023

Tinkerbell and the Dream Fairies is playing at the Athenaeum Theatre in Melbourne as part of the summer season produced by The Australian Shakespeare Company. In a magical fusion of fairy worlds, Tinkerbell from Neverland and the four fairies from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, join for a magical adventure to Bubble Land.

Make Some Noise

The Listies. Playhouse, Sydney Opera House. Jan 5 – 20, 2023

Alongside the stunning Sydney Harbour, under the beautiful sails of the Opera House, was the last place I expected to find myself giggling about poop, pee and butt cracks. Stay with me (it is also not usually how one begins a review either) butt (see what I did there) it is important to set the scene. You are going to laugh like a naughty 10-year-old at the same things. The Listies (AKA Richard Higgins and Matthew Kelly) will appeal to everyone, and you have permission to let that giggling kiddo inside free.

Shrek: The Musical

Book & Lyrics: David Lindsay-Abaire. Music: Jeanine Tesori. Holiday Actors. Director: Tyler Hess. Assistant Director: Rebecca Grey. Vocal Director: Brooke Chambers. Choreographer: Laura Vallence. Assistant Choreographer: Holly Allgood. Musical Director: Sophia MacRae. Lighthouse Theatre, Warrnambool, Victoria. January 7-14, 2023.

The original DreamWorks Animation film Shrek burst onto our cinema screens over 21 years ago, before any of the Holiday Actors cast were even born! Loosely based on William Steig’s 1990 picture book, Shrek (meaning ‘terror’ or ‘fright’ in German) tells the story of a gruff green Ogre whose swamp is invaded by a group of homeless fairytale characters.  On his quest to help them return to their rightful homes he is joined by an extremely friendly and somewhat needy talking Donkey.

MOTHERLOD_^E

Created by frenzy theatre (Belle Hansen & Matilda Gibbs, with Amelia Newman). Producer: flick. Theatre Works, St Kilda. 4 - 14 January 2023

Theatre Works kicks off its 2023 season with a highly inventive, fast-paced black comedy satire that takes place within a Windows PC computer and uses The Sims game as its structure and metaphor.  The ‘characters’ on stage are SIMS, created, controlled, explored and experimented with - at first - by three teen girls - whom we see only on a huge video screen; it’s maybe back in 2000 when The Sims game was launched. 

Girls & Boys

By Dennis Kelly. Directed by Mitchell Butel. State Theatre Company South Australia / Sydney Festival at the Everest Theatre, Seymour Centre, Sydney. 5-15 January 2023

It can be fun not knowing anything about a play/production before seeing it. But this is different: no programs available, no information about the author, not even a name on the poster. Come on, it can’t be bad with Justine Clarke in it and coming from a 2022 run with the State Theatre Company South Australia.

Hide the Dog

Nathan Maynard (pakana) and writer Jamie McCaskill (Māori). Directed by Isaac Drandic. Performing Lines TAS/ Sydney Festival. Drama Theatre. Sydney Opera House. 7-8 Jan, 2023.

Hide the Dog is a story about two children, two nations and a lone native dog. It’s a story about the “celebration of adventure, friendship and the power of culture”.

Don Giovanni

Music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Opera Australia. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. January 5 - February 17, 2023

As sumptuous a musical banquet this opera is – and in particular under the brilliant baton of conductor Guillaume Tourniaire – aspects of the narrative bring it to the precipice of being unperformable as originally written.