Reviews

Don’t Make Me Play Piano Man

Performed and presented by Steven Kramer. fortyfivedownstairs theatre, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. 30 April – 2 May, 2021.

Steven Kramer consolidates his position as one of the masters of cabaret with this show and displays his formidable talent. His very personal and highly comical banter in between songs punctuates the show beautifully. Kramer infuses his performances with stories and anecdotal accounts that really accentuate the emotions of the pieces he chooses. The strong personal connection to the songs makes them even more moving.

Claudel

By Wendy Beckett. Director: Wendy Beckett. Choreographer: Meryl Tankard. The Playhouse. Sydney Opera House. April 23 – May 9, 2021

Australian playwright Wendy Beckett’s tribute to twentieth century French artist Camille Claudel premiered in French, in Paris, at the Théâtre de l'Athénée Louis Jouvet in 2018 in the midst of the #MeToo movement.

Think about it! An Australian playwright dramatizing the work of a famous female French artist, but one who was terribly ill-used by the society of the time. How did the critics react, I wondered? Here are just a few snippets of what they said:

A piece all powerful in its subtlety …  (Publik Art Review)

This Genuine Moment

By Jacob Parker. La Mama & Rock Bottom Productions. Midsumma 2021. La Mama Courthouse. 28 April – 2 May 2021

Here is a ‘coming out’ drama that is far superior to so many others in its honesty, in the quality of the writing, and in the complexity of the characters.  It’s also blessed here by the subtlety of Hayden Tonazzi’s direction and the performances of Ilai Swindells and Tom Dawson.

Honour

By Joanna Murray-Smith. Ensemble Theatre, Sydney. Director: Kate Champion. 23 April – 5 June, 2021

The Ensemble Theatre revisits this 1995 Melbourne play under the banner of Australian Classic, and I can see why. It has played in London and New York and just about everywhere else. Author Joanna Murray-Smith has given an assured take on comfortable middle class marriage and its essential failure to deliver happiness to all concerned: wife, husband, daughter and interloper.

ANAM and Musica Viva National Tour

Musica Viva presents pianist Konstantin Shamray and the ANAM Orchestra led by Sophie Rowell with violinist Harry Ward. Elisabeth Murdoch Hall, Melbourne Recital Centre. April 27, 2021 followed by National Tour.

The Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) is dedicated to training the most exceptional young musicians from Australia and NZ.

Counterpointe

The Australian Ballet. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. April 17 – May 15, 2021

Kicking off as the new artistic director of the Australian Ballet, David Hallberg follows his recent debut with New York Dialects with another artful triple bill spanning decades in classical ballet. As Counterpointe leaps from Petipa to Balanchine to William Forsythe, the echoes are compelling. 

In Duty Bound

By Ron Elisha. The Theatre on Chester, Epping, NSW. Directed by Carla Moore. April 23-May 22, 2021.

Polish refugees Fania and Simkeh escaped the evils of World War II to settle in Melbourne. They hold steadfastly to their Jewish faith – and the rituals, customs and traditions that have endured despite generations of persecution. Though safe in Australia, they will never forget Hitler’s devastating march through Europe and the massacre of so many they held dear.

Chess the Musical

By Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Tim Rice. Storyboard Entertainment. Regent Theatre, Melbourne, 22 to 24 April, 2021; Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide, 27 to 29 May; Perth Concert Hall, 3 to 5 June; QPAC, Brisbane, 8 to 10 June.

If you’re up for an evening of indulging in 1980’s musical and fashion nostalgia, this is the show for you. The songs, with music by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, and lyrics by Tim Rice, have that unmistakeable ABBA sound and the costumes are authentic without being cheesy.

Berlin

By Joanna Murray-Smith. An MTC NEXTSTAGE Original. Melbourne Theatre Company. Southbank, The Sumner. 17 April – 22 May 2021

Tom, an Australian visitor to Berlin, has chatted up Charlotte, a bartender in a ‘real Berlin’ bar, claiming he has no hotel.  She invites him to sleep on her couch.  Her apartment is comfortably furnished and lived in.  (Design by Christine Smith.)  Charlotte confesses to being an heiress.  There’s a Constable painting on the wall in her loft bedroom, but she says it’s only a reproduction. 

Homophonic!

Produced by Miranda Hill and presented by La Mama, Midsumma 2021. La Mama Courthouse, 349 Drummond, Carlton. April 24 - 25, 2021

This year Homophonic! celebrates its tenth anniversary. This annual appointment has developed into a beautifully refined and innovative celebration of queer classical music. The approach to classic instruments and music is always clever, unexpected and frequently subversive. Classic compositions and instruments are employed in ways that can be described as Avant Garde. The result is often sublime. 

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