By Pony Cam at Bondi Pavillion, Theatre. Thursday 11 July to Saturday 13 July, 2024.
Burnout Paradise is a fantastic representation of how silly it feels to try to get everything one wants to get done when there are certain things that take longer to get done than others.
Created by Yaron Lifschitz and Circa. Coliseum Theatre, Rooty Hill. July 4 – 6, 2024
Duckpond is a mesmerising and enchanting theatre production that invites audiences into a whimsical world where the magic of nature comes to life on stage, unfolding in a captivating display of artistry and storytelling.
By Noëlle Janaczewska. The Loading Dock, Qtopia, Sydney. July 20 – 27, 2024
Qtopia, Sydney’s first queer museum opened recently in the old Darlinghurst police station on Taylor Square. During the violence of the first Mardi Gas, protesters were thrown here into the police cells, which you can now wander through reading this and other chapters of queer history. Or hear these stories voiced in a spanking new theatre space where once offenders were unloaded.
The Australian Ballet. Festival Theatre, Adelaide. July 12-18, 2024
The Australian Ballet’s latest production of Jewels is a departure from their usual ‘story ballets’ (e.g., Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty). It strips away any conventional trimmings of ballet and relies wholly on dance alone, and does it brilliantly!
Premiering in 1967 at the Lincoln Centre in New York, George Balanchine’s Jewels is a sparkling, shining and glittering example of classical ballet technique.
By Jada Alberts. Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company. Directed by Maitland Schnaars. Subiaco Arts Centre, WA. Jul 5-20, 2024
It seems appropriate that in NAIDOC Week, when we are celebrating Indigenous achievement, that we should see such a strong production from Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company. Expertly written by Jada Alberts, this strong script is performed with beautifully crafted performance, in a show with strong production values.
By Stephen Mallatratt and Susan Hill. PW Productions, Woodward Productions and Neil Gooding Productions, Directed by Robin Herford. Canberra Theatre, Canberra, July 9 – 14, 2024, then Wollongong, Civic Theatre, Newcastle and Theatre Royal, Sydney.
If a friend suggests you go to a play where the plot is a well-kept secret, it’s probably best if you include a warning that there may be sudden shocks in the ghost story. I suspect that still wouldn’t have prevented my companion from nearly jumping out of her seat at one (wonderfully produced) shock!
By Agatha Christie. Hobart Repertory Theatre Company. Jeremy Pyefinch (Director). Iestyn Parry (piano). Jonathan Pyefinch (set). The Playhouse Hobart. 10-20 July 2024
The Unexpected Guest is a 1958 stage play by Agatha Christie, subsequently reincarnated by others as a novel and radio play.
Young director Jeremy Pyefinch has a personal connection to the script, but this did not prevent him from trying something new with what is a predictably wordy Christie offering.
By Suzie Miller. New Theatre, Newtown, Sydney. Jul 9 – Aug 3, 2024
Suzie Miller rocketed to fame with the success of her plays, Prima Facie, about a lawyer fighting for justice after being sexually assaulted, and RBG, about the progressive US judge Ruth Bader Ginsberg. New Theatre has made a smart choice to stage her earlier work, Sunset Strip, premiered to acclaim by Griffin Independent in 2017 but I think, crazily, it hasn’t been seen since.
Book and Lyrics by Steven Sater and Music by Duncan Sheik. Based on Frank Wedekind's play, “Spring Awakening". Black Box Theatre Co. Directed: Lauchlin Hansen. 11 Frederick St, Launceston (City Baptist Church). July 10-20, 2024. Content Warning: Contains themes of Suicide.
In a serendipitous pair of ‘firsts’, this musical is the inaugural full-scale production from Black Box Theatre and it’s also this reviewer’s first opportunity to see a Launceston production ahead of a planned relocation to the Apple Isle later this year. As asserted in their mission statement: “Black Box Theatre Co.
