Reviews

The horrors of war are the basis of this poignant tale: two women – one English and one Australian retell their experiences as Japanese Prisoners of War.

Aussie Eve Wheeler and Pom Marie Dixon are being interviewed, 50 years after the cessation of hostilities, for a TV documentary. The interviewer, Barry Gibson, is unseen throughout the proceedings and the scene switches between the TV studio and the ladies’ hotel room.

Premiered by Tasmanian Performs three years ago, these three beautiful, revelatory monologues by Tom Holloway are welcome visitors to Sydney’s space for new Australian playwriting. It’s madness that such hits in one state rarely cross the border to another.

In these vicious times of shrinking budgets, perhaps this one is on the road because it’s only one actor, a cello and a few chairs.

Are You Being Served? belongs to another era. One of the most beloved British TV sitcoms, which ran from 1972 until 1985, it pushed the envelope of the time by trading on risqué visual gags, innuendo laced dialogue, and under-grad humour. Mrs Slocombe’s constant references to her “pussy,” and Mr Humphries “I’m free” became popular catch-phrases of the period.

Daffodils wasinspired by a true love story that began in 1964 in New Zealand.

Told through the music that tracked a meeting, a courtship, a marriage, a family and, unfortunately, a divorce, it has all the pace and pizzazz of modern musical theatre without the usual trappings.

Sometimes funny, sometimes a little bit sad, often loud, but never slow, Daffodils has been selected to feature at the prestigious Traverse Theatre in the upcoming Edinburgh Festival Fringe – an honour that has not been afforded a NZ company since 1999.