Reviews

Legally Blonde The Musical

Music & Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe & Nell Benjamin. Book by Heather Hach. Musical Theatre Students, Griffith University Queensland Conservatorium. Conservatorium Theatre, Brisbane. 1 to 10 August 2024

Obliterate your winter blues with a therapeutic dose of ‘OMG pink’ and Malibu sunshine, courtesy of the astonishing cast and crew of Legally Blonde The Musical! Based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the MGM film, this fun-packed Legally Blonde is a multilayered vehicle for a great message about being yourself and maximising your potential, ditching toxic relationships, the power of working together, and some strictly non-PC jokes side-by-side with a foreshadowing #MeToo message. There’s a fabulous Greek chorus and, not one, but two dogs!

The Government Inspector

By Nikolai Gogol, adapted by David Harrower. Hayman Theatre Company. Directed by Helen Trenos. Hayman Theatre, Curtin University, Bentley, WA. Jul 23-27, 2024

Hayman Theatre Company presented this 1836 Russian classic, in the form of a very modern adaptation by David Harrower. Chosen by director as an acting challenge for Curtin University student actors, the cast have risen to the challenge of this interesting ensemble play.

While the dialogue sets this play in Russia, Setare Mogharebin’s interesting open framed set, and the costumes designed by Adah Hill and Lizzie Martin, while vaguely “historic” do not place us in a clear time frame. Bold lighting choices by Daisy Heath add interest and emotion.

The House Amongst the Willows

By Robert Scott. Esperance Theatre Guild. Directed by Barry Wroth. The Bijou Theatre, Esperance, WA. Jul 19 - Aug 3, 2024

We don’t often have the pleasure of a good thriller on stage, but Esperance residents are being treated to this modern-day thriller. 

Fletcher takes his new fiancée Sadie to meet the parents of his dead wife, but things begin to go terribly wrong.

King Lear

By William Shakespeare. Bell Shakespeare. Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio. 25 July – 11 August 2024

When old King Lear asks his three daughters, ‘Which of you shall we say doth love us most?’ an audible ripple, a gasp or a groan, runs through the theatre.  ‘Oh-oh,’ we think, ‘here we go.’  There is a feeling of dread as well as anticipation.  How will we be shown them this time?  Because most of us know the consequences and now they are set in train.  We know there will be jealousy, lies, murder, torture, death and madness.  Why does King Lear (Robert Menzies) ask that foolish question?  Vanity?  Or is he

Mary Stuart

Adapted by Kate Mulvaney, after Friedrich Schiller. Chaika Theatre. Directed by Luke Rogers. A.C.T. Hub, Kingston. 24 July to 3 August 2024.

 

Alice by Heart

Music by Duncan Sheik. Lyrics by Steven Sater. Book by Steven Sater and Jessie Nelson. MLOC Productions. Shirley Burke Theatre, Parkdale, Vic. 26 July – 3 August, 2024

Originally a Royal National Theatre commission, performed in London in 2012, Alice by Heart has not had a professional run in Australia, but community theatres appear to be picking up this musical, written by the Spring Awakening team.  

Karim

By James Elazzi. National Theatre of Parramatta. Director: Shane Anthony. Riverside Theatres. 25 July – 3 August, 2024

James Elazzi sets this play in a small town that set designer James Browne creates with symbolic telegraph poles and wires, corrugated iron and spindly bush. It looks a bit run down and neglected but seems to wrap around those who live there, keeping them close. On a rise above the railway line, teenagers Karim and Beth watch the trains pass and fantasise about the people they see through the window. It’s just a game, but their fantasies cover thwarted dreams and disillusion.

Set Me On Fire

By Samara Louise. Presented by Silent Sky Collective. Anywhere Festival Brisbane. Backdock Arts. 24 July to 2 August

Backdock Arts is exactly the sort of intimate space, and Set Me On Fire by Samara Louise is just the sort of drama you’d want to be immersed in at the start of a weekend of creativity courtesy of Brisbane’s Anywhere Festival. This one-hour piece, directed by Cale Dennis, is a gentle romance, but packs a powerful emotional punch thanks to the sincerity of its storytelling and the heartfelt charm and warmth of its performers.

Calendar Girls

By Tim Firth. Produced by Red Tree Theatre, Tuggerah, NSW. Directed by Joshua Maxwell. July 19-Aug 10, 2024

For everyone who’s been living under a rock, Calendar Girls is based on the true story of how a bunch of middle-aged women from a typical country women’s institute in rural England - dared to bare all for their 1999 fundraising calendar. The play is based on the hugely successful 2003 film of the same name. 

WATA

A Gathering for Manikay Performers. Improvising Soloists and Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Director Paul Grabowsky. Conductor Benjamin Northey. Concert Hall Sydney Opera House. 24th July, 2024

Wata was developed over many years of collaborative improvisation begun in 2004 when composer Paul Grabowsky – distinguished Australian pianist, conductor, arranger and founder of the Australian Art Orchestra – first travelled to Arnhem Land to explore the possibility of potential musical collaborations. There he met Arnhem Land ceremonial musicians Daniel Ngukurr Boy Wilfred and David Yipininy Wilfred, and learnt of their manikay, “cycles of poetic invocations of time and place.”

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