By Jonathan Harvey. Directed by Barry Park. Old Mill Theatre, South Perth, WA. March 17-26, 2022
While the show must go on, it becomes an impossibility when some of the cast catch Covid. Old Mill Theatre’s production of Beautiful Thing opened a week late, and without a rehearsal in the interim, due to illness and isolation requirements. This "urban fairytale” is worth the wait, with a solid, well-presented production.
By Will Arbery. Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre, East St Kilda. 15 March to 20 April 2022.
In the yard of a shack in Wyoming, in 2017, a year into the Trump presidency, four friends sit and talk. The shack itself (design by Louise McCarthy) features a pattern to its peeling paint and one curtained window: it’s the Stars and Stripes. When the light beams from within, the Cross is outlined on the door.
By Oscar Wilde. Director Jess Davis. Genesian Theatre, Sydney. 19 March – 7 May, 2022
Oscar Wilde’s witty criticisms of society still give us cause to reflect even while we smile, though the criticism he made of the society of the time in Lady Windermere’s Fan – namely the hurtful effect of gossip – is nothing compared to the scandalmongering perpetuated in social media today, and its wide audience far surpasses the elegant theatregoers of the Victorian era!
By Oscar Wilde. Adapted and directed by Kip Williams. Adelaide Festival. Sydney Theatre Company. Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide. 13-20th March, 2022.
Occasionally, theatre leaves me breathless and awestruck, and this Sydney Theatre Company production, adapted and directed by Kip Williams from one of Oscar Wilde’s best known 1891 works, is one such example. Quite simply, 37 year old Eryn Jean Norvill has been given the role of a lifetime and has delivered the performance of a lifetime.
By Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey. James Terry Collective. Chapel Off Chapel. 18 to 27 March 2022
Enter the home of the Goodman family. What might seem like a happy suburban family setting soon reveals some dark secrets. The show takes us on a compelling journey as we slowly get to know each characters’ deepest hopes and fears. Each character, we learn, is trying to make and maintain connections to each other, loved ones lost and their true selves. Their tragic story unravels incrementally, keeping the audience engaged and bringing them to tears at multiple junctions.
Written and directed by Richard Murphet. Victorian Theatre Company and Theatre Works, St Kilda. 16 – 26 March 2022
You walk into the theatre for this show, and the main set, half lit, waiting, redolent with possibility, immediately reminds you of Edward Hopper’s ‘Night Hawks’. Or it did me. It’s not a copy.
By Charles Ludlam. Castle Hill Players. Pavilion Theatre, Castle Hill. March 18 – April 9, 2022
It was a full moon on Friday 18th of March and it rained at the beginning of Act 2. What better atmospheric conditions for the opening night of Irma Vep at the Pavilion Theatre?
By Carly Sheppard (concept & performer). Directed by Kamarra Bell-Wykes. Presented by Malthouse Theatre, in association with HotHouse Theatre. The Tower, The Malthouse, Melbourne. 16-20 March, 2022.
Chase is a character that is close to Carly Sheppard’s heart and could even be seen as a kind of alter ego; the uninhibited part of ourselves that makes us confront the more troubling aspects of our existence. Chase is an eclectic collection of contemporary social identities ranging from the bogan to the superficial social media influencer. The ease with which Sheppard transitions between these various personas elicits a sense of madness or schizophrenia. The performance is undoubtedly chaotic in a carnivalesque and subversive manner.
By R. Johns. La Mama, at La Mama Courthouse, Carlton. 16 – 27 March 2022
Fire in the Head tells the story of Kate Kelly, sister of Ned. Her story has been overshadowed by his – ignored by ‘history’. The play is a combination of research and imaginative speculation. It is beautifully written and it’s fascinating because it takes us into the unknown life of an historical figure. Kate’s story, as remembered and told by her, is one of police persecutions suffered by her family (to which she attributes Ned’s crimes) and the varied routes and careers she took to escape hardship and poverty – ho
