Reviews

Rope

By Patrick Hamilton.  Canberra REP, directed by Ed Wightman.  Canberra REP Theatre, 20 May – 5 June 2021

Patrick Hamilton’s 1929 play Rope, about two university students who brazenly celebrate with an evening dinner party in London their success in having murdered a younger student to no end other than that of indulging their vanity in getting away with it, is thought to have its basis in a murder actually committed

The Children

By Lucy Kirkwood. Theatre 180. Directed by Stuart Halusz. Burt Hall, Cathedral Square, St Georges Tce, Perth. May 8-29, 2021

Theatre 180 presents this excellent, engaging play, The Children, playing in repertory with Lauren Gunderson’s I and You, in the intimate setting of Burt Hall - adjacent to St George’s Cathedral. Expertly crafted by both author and director, this is a top-notch production.

Orson’s Shadow

By Austin Pendleton. Glenbrook Community Theatre (NSW). Director: Josh Stojanovic. 14-22 May, 2021

Austin Pendleton is an American actor, director and playwright who has a vast experience in both stage and film across a variety of genres – with a variety of actors, some of them very famous. That sort of experience informs this play, first performed in Chicago in 2000, where he brings together two great stars of stage and screen – Orson Welles and Sir Laurence Olivier – and their egos and vulnerabilities.

Almost, Maine

By John Cariani. Roleystone Theatre. Directed by Kristen Twynam-Perkins. Roleystone Hall, WA. May 14-22, 2021

Almost, Maine, prior to Covid, was one of the most frequently performed plays in the United States. Less often seen outside America, Roleystone Theatre’s production is the Western Australian debut. A gentle warm, little show, the action takes place at 9pm on a cold, slightly surreal winter night, in a mythical “almost” town, called Almost, in Northern Maine.

Ain’t We Got Fun

By Sue Oldknow. Blackwood Players. Blackwood Memorial Hall, SA. May 21 – June 5, 2021

The war is over, Prohibition is in full force, and no-one is quite who they seem in this comedy set in an American Speakeasy of the Roaring Twenties. Blackwood Players have gone all out to present a play loosely inspired by the 1921 song of the same name.

Co-directed by the playwright Sue Oldknow, and Michelle Maclean, it’s a light-hearted song-and-dance story of the onstage and backstage relationships between flappers new and fading, wannabe Hollywood starlets, and gangsters who are more bluff and fluff than substance.

Venus in Fur

By David Ives. Motet Creative Studios, Molendinar. Gold Coast. Director: Nathan Schulz. May 21st - 22nd, 2021. (Part of a South East Qld Tour)

This play is a journey into the world of two people with sadomasochistic desires, conveyed over nearly two hours of strong adult drama spiced with a smattering of humour.

Based on an 1870 story by Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, from his novella Legacy of Cain, the atmosphere is both raunchy and bold!

Anatomy of a Suicide

By Alice Birch. Directed by Catarina Hebbard. New Benner Theatre, Metro Arts, Brisbane. 18 to 29 May, 2021

A forensic analysis of a family with a history of suicide is difficult subject matter. But at a time when mental health is foremost in our minds, Metro Arts has taken up the challenge to deal with difficult subject matter. Anatomy of a Suicide by award-winning British writer, Alice Birch, is a trio of plays in one. It deals boldly with themes of mental illness, the pressures of motherhood, post-natal depression, drug use, sexuality and suburbia by spinning three interweaving stories with three central female characters.

Blue Stockings

By Jessica Swale. Red Phoenix Theatre. Holden Street Theatres, Adelaide. May 20-29, 2021

It seems absurd to think that women needed to fight for their right to an education, but there is no fiction here, only a true story of a woman’s fight for greater learning in the late 1800s. Whilst many may say we have come a long way since then, the truth is, as the world struggles with a pandemic, that women are still battling to have their voices heard.

Every Second

By Vanessa Bates. Produced by Wit Incorporated. Directed by Emma Drysdale. Bluestone Church Arts Space, 8A Hyde Street Footscray. 19 - 29 May, 2021.

Vanessa Bates' play opens up a dialogue on very sensitive issues. She has the ability to address the problems that infertility can cause in relationships with humour, sensitivity and candour. The script is taut and incisive, leaving little room to be trite or clichéd.

Jekyll & Hyde

A Slightly Isolated Dog Production. Centennial Hall, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre. Directed by Leo Gene Peters. 18 – 23 May 2021 and touring

A Slightly Isolated Dog are back at The Q this week with another piece of frenetic brilliance.  The team (Leo Gene Peters, Meg Rollandi, Debbie Fish, Blair Gody and Sam Clavis) take turns at playing Mr Hyde, essentially represented by an evil wig, whose crimes become increasingly flamboyant and ridiculous, coming to a hilarious come-uppance. The casual silliness of it all belies how much skill has gone into building the show. Their physical comedy sequences are beautifully timed involving incredible co-ordination between the team and their sound operator.

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