Reviews

Jack and Millie

By Alaine Beek. Directed by Nigel Sutton. Presented by Essence Productions. Athenaeum Theatre, 188 Collins St, Melbourne. 30 April to 6 May, 2022.

This is an endearing play which is based on Alaine Beek’s own personal battle with breast cancer. The idea of sharing such a personal, heart-warming story of resilience is a brave one and the story enters some very delicate territory. The text shows how Beek’s approach to dealing with her illness was to take it in her stride and to avoid allowing it to interfere with her life, despite the constant everyday disruptions. Dealing with doctors and concerned friends and family members are elements which are portrayed in a very identifiable manner.

The Heartbreak Choir

By Aidan Fennessy. Melbourne Theatre Company. Southbank Theatre, The Sumner. 25 April – 28 May 2022

In a small country town, on the fringe of the commuter belt, five very different women gather in the musty old CFA hall.  They were members of the local community choir, but they’ve split away to form their own choir.  Why they did that is a central question in the play.  Their leader is rather solemn psychologist and would-be politician Barbara (Maud Davey).  Totty (Louise Siversen), literal minded mover and shaker, is the richest woman in town.  Very pregnant Aseni (Ratidzo Mambo), by illuminating contrast, is from Zimbabwe – a qualified doctor who wor

Putting It Together

Music & Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim. Griffith University Musical Theatre Students. Director: Elise Greig. Musical Director: Heidi Loveland. Choreographer: John Clarke. Burke Street Studio Theatre, Woolloongabba. 28-30 April 2022

Director Elise Greig did not heed Stephen Sondheim’s mantra of ‘Less Is More’ with this production of Putting it Together. The original paper-thin plot of setting it at a cocktail party, also had to carry a secondary plot of the kids rehearsing the show for a Broadway producer. It made for a long afternoon in the theatre. Of course Greig had to make room for a cast of 23, whereas the original only had five performers in it. The show was also used as a salute to Sondheim following his recent death, though I might add that it was way too sycophantic.

Kunstkamer

Choreographers Paul Lightfoot, Sol León, Marco Goecke and Crystal Pite. The Australian Ballet. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. April 29 – May 14, 2022

Kunstkamer is a theatrically enthralling, unprecedented leap by the Australian Ballet into contemporary dance.  Artistic director David Hallberg wooed its four choreographers to work here with his forty AB dancers and stage Kunstkamer for the first time since its premiere at the Nederland Dance Theatre.

Dear Mama, There’s Something Maybe I Should Tell You…

By Lansy Feng. Director Ellen O’Connor. Wit Incorporated. Bluestone Church Art Space 27 30 April; Brunswick Mechanic Institute, Brunswick 13 – 14 May; The Bowery Theatre, St Albans 30 May 2022

Li-Ting (Lansy Feng) has fallen in love – but only online - with a Frenchman, Charles (Anthony Pontonio).  She escapes Taiwan and her fearsome Mama (Sasha Leong) for… Melbourne – of all places.  She and Charles plan to meet up at Flinders Street Station.  But after two hours, Charles doesn’t show and he’s unreachable on any platform.  Li-Ting is desperate.  She plays her ukulele and sings.  Is she a busker or just cheering herself up?  Someone (Michael Chan) steals her ukulele.  Luckily a bunch of Aussies happen by and r

Six the Musical

By Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. Directed by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage. Produced in Australia by Louise Withers, Michael Coppel and Linda Bewick. Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra. April 23 – May 15, 2022.

Right from the start, the queens tell us in Ex-Wives:

I’m done ‘cause all this time

I’ve been just one word in a stupid rhyme.

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical.

By Allan Scott and Stephan Elliott. Free-Rain Theatre Company. Directed by Jarrad West and Steph Roberts. The Q, Queanbeyan. 16 April to 22 May 2022.

Best known for the movie about two drag queens and a transgender woman taking a fantastically redecorated bus to Alice Springs to strut their stuff, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert has undergone major transformations in becom

Hamlet

By William Shakespeare. Presented by Bell Shakespeare. Directed by Peter Evans. Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne. 28 April - 14 May, 2022.

Peter Evans has taken a very novel approach to this great tragedy. He has looked beyond gender and race for a great deal of the casting, including the choice of Harriet Gordon-Anderson as Hamlet. These choices are never justified or explained, and this is part of a much more progressive agenda that exudes in this production. Gordon-Anderson creates an impish yet intensely serious Hamlet who is ruthlessly able to unravel the royal Danish family who inhabit Elsinore castle. Her performance is managed in a deliberate and masterful manner.

A Streetcar Named Desire

By Tennessee Williams. Bakehouse Theatre, SA. April 27 – May 6 2022

‘What you are talking about is brute desire – just – Desire!’ says an incredulous Blanche when her sister Stella explains why she stays with her abusive husband. Yet she could be talking about our need for intimate theatre in Adelaide, lamenting the imminent closure of the wonderful Bakehouse Theatre.

The Merry Wives of Windsor

By William Shakespeare. New Theatre, Sydney. Directed and Set Designed by Victor Kalka. 22 April – 21 May 2022

The setting for this New Theatre production of Shakespeare’s usually unregarded The Merry Wives of Windsor bodes well. Designed by director Victor Kalka, it features a large, very Aussie house with corrugated iron roofing and, yes, a Hills Hoist in the backyard. Perhaps this merry Windsor will be the city of Windsor in country New South Wales, with a house run by relatives of Kath and Kim. 

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