Reviews

They've done it again! Shake & Stir Theatre Company have delivered the goods with another very successful production - their brand new stage adaptation of Roald Dahl's George’s Marvellous Medicine.

After spending a sizeable chunk of 2015 touring Australia with their version of Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes & Dirty Beasts, the Shake & Stir team are back for another bite of the deliciously devilish Dahl cherry, and another crazy tale from the wacky mind of the world’s number one storyteller.

Deadly 60 is one of the most popular children’s television shows in the world, and the face of the show naturalist UK born Steve Backshall has brought his passion to the stage with a 70 minute presentation of his many adventures across the globe.

Within seconds you are drawn in by his enthusiasm for what he describes as the greatest job in the world. His extensive knowledge about his subject matter is astounding and even though the presentation is aimed at a younger audience, it is fair to say that I too learned something in this productive hour.

Meow Meow is back at the Sydney Festival with another Spiegeltent sell-out cabaret, this one based on Hans Christian Andersen’s Little Mermaid, but only in name. The mermaid theme does however give her fins to flex, and to soar on trapeze and dive to the depths of imagined worlds, and sometimes dark sentiment. She begins, you see, by mourning her love life.

When I told friends and acquaintances that my next assignment for Stage Whispers was covering the Australian Premiere of Ghost: The Musical, the typical reactions I received were guffaws of disbelief from those who regard the movie as a schmaltzy relic of a bygone era and indignant cries of “BUT HOW???” from the film’s diehard fans. This reaction is kind of understandable.