Reviews

I find I look forward to Red Stitch productions more than to any other company in Melbourne, so I was disappointed to miss out on The Flick in its 2014 season. Fortunately it is back – with its original cast and creative team, and we’re all the better for it.

The intriguing set is the first indication that Galleon Theatre Group’s latest comedy Jake’s Women will be unusual. Dramatic in red and black, dressed impeccably and instantly thought provoking with its single regular doorway and multiple curtained entranceways along the back wall, it ensures one immediately thinks it must have come from a vivid imagination.

That may or may not be the case, but the plot of this lesser-known of Neil Simon’s plays is all about just that; an overactive imagination.

South Australia’s State Theatre Company brings Ray Lawler’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll vividly to life with its fine and untraditional production of the classic 1950’s Australian play.

‘The Doll’ is set in Carlton, Melbourne and is a tender and often raw observation of human relationships and how they inevitably change over the years. It’s a story about love and friendship, sadness and regret and the harsh realities of life, but ultimately it’s a stark affirmation that nothing lasts forever.

This ridiculously funny work, riddled with cliché and infused with strange surrealist unreality and imagery, was enthusiastically received on opening night.