Reviews

The Realistic Joneses

By Will Eno. Ad Astra, Brisbane. 25 March to 17 April, 2021

Brisbane’s adventurous Ad Astra team does not shy away from tackling difficult works, and once again, they bring a taste of off-Broadway to the city with The Realistic Joneses. Award-winning New York playwright, Will Eno, has been compared to Samuel Beckett for his mutual love of wordplay and “avoidance of traditional narrative” in exploring the human condition.

The Producers

By Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan. Alexandra Theatre. Directed by Stephen Carr. The Regal Theatre, Hay St, Subiaco, WA. April 8-10, 2021

New community theatre group Alexandra Theatre have burst onto the Perth theatre scene with this big, bold and bright production of The Producers, performed at The Regal, a perfect venue for this larger-than-life production. Filling the stage with people, The Producers features a cast of 38, and an orchestra of 19, as well as pit singers, a large production team and a plethora of crew - meaning there would be nary a regular theatre participant in Perth that does not have a close contact in this production.

You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown

Music and Lyrics by Clark Gesner. Book by John Gordon, based on Charles M. Schulz's comic strip Peanuts. Uniting Productions (Gosford, Central Coast NSW). 9th – 17th April 2021.

The phrase “the show must go on” is incredibly apt for Uniting Productions latest offering of You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown. Originally scheduled for April 2020, the company has had run the gauntlet that most theatre companies have faced since the pandemic began, but when the COVID plans were finally settled and signed off, and the new dates booked the company then had to face cancelled rehearsals due to major storms and a last-minute withdrawal of a major lead.

The Midnight Gang

A play by Maryam Master based on the bestselling novel by David Walliams. CDP Kids. Director: Susanna Dowling. Associate Director: Nigel Turner-Carroll. Designer: Isla Shaw. Lighting Designer: Matthew Marshall. Sound Designer: James Brown. Costume Supervisor: Marg Howell. 2021 Australian Tour including Regent Theatre, Melbourne - April 9 – 11, 2021.

Ironically, after a year of COVID lockdown in Melbourne, one of the first theatre productions to hit the boards is set in a hospital and deals with sickness. But in contrast to the past twelve months of mask wearing, this production is a breath of fresh air. The Midnight Gang is perfect for the first-time young theatre goer. From lights up the audience fell silent and remained transfixed, hanging off every word throughout the hour-long performance. This wasn’t due to boredom either.

Dumtectives in Cirque Noir

Dummies Corp. Directed by Jamie Bretman and Clare Bartholomew. Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The Famous Spiegeltent, Arts Centre Melbourne. 6 - 18 April 2021.

Amy Nightingale-Olsen, Thomas McDonald and Leigh Rhodes are a wonderfully frivolous circus trio who bring sheer delight to the stage, along with great support from puppeteer David Splatt. Their show draws on a variety of styles and traditions which are beautifully fused to create a highly visual and hilarious performance. Dumtectives is a spoof of the detective genre and this is exploited to draw out all its comic potential. The three detectives are on a mission to solve a murder mystery only to find themselves at the centre of a criminal underworld. 

Venus In Fur

By David Ives. Starc Productions. Bakehouse Theatre, SA. April 7-17, 2021

First performed in 2010 and written by David Ives, director Tony Knight* and actors Stefani Rossi and Marc Clement are immensely courageous in presenting the multi-award winning, but not widely performed play, Venus In Fur. Also made into a French erotic drama by Roman Polanski in 2013, it is an intricate piece that can be enjoyed on multiple levels: an obvious comedy/drama level; as a titillating risqué night at the theatre; and it can be mined for the fragile layers of shale that the story embraces.

New York Dialects

The Australian Ballet. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. April 6 – 24, 2021.

The Australian Ballet finally returns to the Sydney Opera House with this impressive triple bill calling card from its new artistic director David Hallberg. 

New York Dialects is a homage to two abstract neo-classical ballets from the Russian choreographer turned New Yorker, George Balanchine, and, sandwiched between, with teasing references to Balanchine, the premiere of a startling contemporary work from a frequent collaborator of Hallberg’s, Pam Tanowitz.

Two Short Plays: The Pash & An Evening With The Vegetarian Librarian

By Tracy Crisp and Rita Papillo. Dusty Reds. The Arch, Holden Street Theatres, Adelaide SA. 6-10 April 2021

I first saw Tracy Crisp on stage in 2019 at the premiere of her poignant solo memoir The Forgettery. I was struck then by her image-rich writing and this new venture, An Evening With The Vegetarian Librarian, does not disappoint.  It is also a pleasure to observe Ms Crisp’s increased confidence as a performer.

Dead Skin

By Laneikka Denne. White Box Theatre Company at Kings Cross Theatre, Sydney. Director: Kim Hardwick. 2 - 17 April 2021

Dead Skin is the first post-pandemic production at the King Cross Theatre to be performed to a full house (80 people) and we all nestled behind our masks waiting to see how this play, written by 17-year-old Western Sydney girl Laneikka Denne and winner of the 2019 Flinders University Young Playwrights Award, would go. The truth is it went like a brilliant, multi-coloured sparkler!

Half Time

Book by Chad Beguelin & Bob Martin. Music by Matthew Sklar. Lyrics by Nell Benjamin. Additional Music by Marvin Hamlisch. Based on the motion picture GOTTA DANCE. Nineteen 98 Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co. Directed by Helen Dallimore. Musical Director: Jessica Manning. Choreographer/Asst Director: Madison Lee. April 1 – May 2, 2021

This would have to be the best value live entertainment going around. A sizzling cast and band of 20 on stage up close– for an audience of 111.

The star Nancye Hayes only needed to walk onto the stage to score a rousing ovation, but being the mature professional that she is, was undistracted by the adulation.

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