Reviews

William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (Abridged) is one of the funniest shows of the year. Ostensibly written by 17-year-old William Shakespeare, and lost until its recent discovery under a Leicester car park, this is an hilarious script, brought to fruition by three very talented performers and clever direction.

Kip Williams is making the sort of theatre that embraces all the creative possibilities of  twenty-first century technologies and talent. In this Julius Caesar he brings together video, smart phone technology, split second mixing, inventive sound composition and innovative lighting design – and three highly intelligent and experienced actors – in a production that challenges and inspires. That it does so on a very innovative interpretation of ancient Greek theatre-in-the-round is a wry tribute to the long history of theatre.

Melbourne Theatre Company bursts back from lockdown hiatus with this spectacular, star cast, high energy, visually sumptuous version of one of Shakespeare’s funniest and yet most profound plays.  There are lively songs that bridge contemporary and ‘Elizabethan’ modes from Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall.  The on stage, costumed musicians all play supporting roles with seemingly effortless transitions – and make up a fine recreation of Shakespeare’s strolling players.

La Mama has opened its doors again - there is anticipation and eagerness from audiences and a hunger from artists to shake the lockdown out of their systems and get back into rehearsal and live performance.

One such Sydney-based performer/writer/director Luke Icarus Simon has been making work for over forty years, his new play A House on an Island in The Aegean tackles the issues that arise when one is Greek, Greek -Cypriot, gay, sexually abused and closeted.