Reviews

This fabulous, joyful production is bursting with energy at the Koorliny Arts Centre. A wonderful collection of characters come to life, in a well-directed show with outstanding production values.

This well-known play centres around an adult tap dancing class, led by teacher Mavis (Hannah Harn - a wonderful choice for the role), who nurtures their talents. Koorliny’s incarnation of this show works particularly well because the characters are so expertly created, and the audience become invested in each and every one.

Donizetti’s opera Roberto Devereux is rarely performed, mainly due to the demanding soprano role. This was more than adequately met by local girl made good, Helena Dix, whose international career is on the rise.

A born comedienne, Helena presented a quirky Queen in the first act, with small movements being quite telling. Later she was quite furious when Roberto made it obvious she was no longer his main concern. Her pathos after his death was touching.

There are those who believe musical theatre should be vacuous and undemanding and then there are the rest of us. Yet, Playing the Palace is a flummery that makes significant demands of its audience. It requires an unusual degree of suspension of disbelief, principally, to accept that a play about a theatre is set on a stage partly dressed as a theatre. Ghosts are presaged by the augury of a flickering light and their presence accepted. Every line is a tenuous cue to a song and sometimes the songs just appear like the ghosts.

What can one say about Spamalot, except that it is totally ridiculous, as one would expect from a Monty Python idea. This musical, “lovingly ripped off” from the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail, does great justice to the craziness of the genre, and this production by Bankstown Theatre Company lovingly embraces the whole idea.