Reviews

Pride and Prejudice

By Jane Austen, adapted by Janet Fletcher. Adelaide Fringe. Tyndale Theatre. 7-15 March 2025

The classic Jane Austen novel is brought to life ‘in the round’ of the Tyndale Theatre, with gentle performances from all that entertain whilst raising the consequences of quick judgement and questioning the motivation to marry. The story is primarily about Elizabeth Bennet, swift to judge a Mr Darcy, who similarly forms harsh opinions about Miss Bennet and her family – and the narrative explores how they reconcile their pride and prejudice.

Confetti and Chaos

Presented by Interactive Theatre International. Adelaide Fringe Festival 2025. Adelaide Royal Coach, Kent Town. March 7 to 16 2025

Interactive Theatre International have toured The Faulty Towers Dining Experience, their homage to the iconic BBC comedy series Fawlty Towers, around Australia and across the UK for many years now, so it is logical to branch out and devise a new work, Confetti and Chaos.

A Room of One's Own

Adelaide Fringe. Main Theatre at Adelaide College of the Arts. 22 February - 15 March 2025

‘A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction’ says Virginia Woolf, as part of her talk given to two female colleges at the University of Cambridge in 1928. Rebecca Vaughan is Woolf, delivering a TED-talk long before they were a thing, about the challenges facing women in society – particularly creative and intellectual women, who legally still needed a man for many things now independent of gender.

Fire Drill Scenario

Concept and Performer: Geumhyung Jeong. Presented by Asia TOPA, Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall, 521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne. 6-9 March 2025.

Geumhyung Jeong is an extraordinary performer from Seoul, South Korea who often blends a range of performance traditions such as dance, choreography, theatre, puppetry, video, and installation. Jeong is interested in the rapport between the body and surroundings and Fire Drill Scenario explores this at length and in depth in relation to how we move and interact within a space.

Oh My Heart, Oh My Home

Adelaide Fringe. Circulating Library at The Courtyard of Curiosities at the Migration Museum. 4-16 March 2025

Oh My Heart indeed. A great story well-told is always going to get my attention, but this new show from Casey Jay Andrews is utterly captivating. It’s the tale of Freddie and her grandfather, who has lived in an old house for what seems like forever, far away from light pollution, and perfect for observing the once-in-thirty-three-year event of the Leonids, a meteor storm (much bigger than a shower) from the comet Tempel-Tuttle.

Shan Gao Shui Chang

Presented by Weichen Cui, Haocheng Zhang, and Monica Lim, supported by the Adelaide Fringe Fund, and in association with Lewis Major Projects. Adelaide Fringe Festival 2025. Adelaide College of the Arts, Light’s Square, Adelaide. March 6 &7 2025

A literal translation of Shan Gao Shui Chang is “Mountain high, water field”. This immersive production features dance, sound, and visual arts and has an all too short season of two nights. I was lucky enough to catch the opening night.

Awarded the Adelaide Fringe Fund, this work returns after its highly acclaimed Melbourne debut.

Dust

Adelaide Fringe. The Breakout at the Mill. 5-22 March 2025

A father is teaching his son how to box before dinner: growing up as a Yorkshireman in the mid twentieth century, trying to make a life for him and his family. In the present day, the same man fights for breath, where all he wants is to get through this and get home to Dot.

August: Osage County

By Tracy Letts. A Black Swan State Theatre Company co-production with Belvoir Street Theatre, presented as part of Perth Festival. Directed by Eamon Flack. Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre Centre of Western Australia. Feb 27 - Mar 16, 2025

Black Swan State Theatre Company’s August: Osage County is presented as part of Perth Festival. A co-production with Belvoir Street Theatre, this large cast production about a family in crisis is a well-acted well-presented story.

The Robot Dog

By Roshelle Yee Pui Fong & Matthew Ngamurarri Heffernan. Presented by Melbourne Theatre Company in association with Asia TOPA and Arts Centre Melbourne. Directed by Amy Sole. Southbank Theatre, The Lawler, 140 Southbank Blvd, Melbourne. 1- 25 March 2025.

 

End Game

Adelaide Fringe. The Lab at Fool's Paradise. 5-23 March 2025

A cabaret performer, Joanie, arrives at the Afterlife, and is asked what she has learnt? This takes the audience on a journey with Joanie to understand the choices she made and their consequences. Her spirit guide Pam reveals more than Joanie knew about the reaction of another woman, Eva, following a chance meeting after one of Joanie’s shows. Through myriad other characters, we discover there are still opportunities for redemption, with renewed purpose.

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