Reviews

The Turn of the Screw

Music by Benjamin Britten. Libretto by Mfanwy Piper. After a story by Henry James Craig Baldwin in association with Hayes Theatre Co. August 16 - September 15, 2024

There’s enough high decibel singing and gothic horror to rattle anyone’s fillings in this two-hour chamber opera that packs a punch and gives the audience a fabulous surround-sound experience.

It is described on stage as a curious story, and indeed the original Henry James tale about a young Governess entering a new home with children that are possessed by spirits is just that.

There are eight scenes in each act, and director Craig Baldwin and set designer Emma Vine ingeniously move the drama through the various episodes by rotating a few platforms.

The Cemetery Club

By Ivan Menchell. Tugun Theatre Company. Directed by Judy Neuman. 15th-31st August, 2024.

Ivan Menchell’s 1990 play about three widows who meet monthly for morning tea before visiting their husbands’ graves is probably not the best choice for any recently widowed woman, but this reviewer is certainly glad she made it to the Saturday matinee of this endearing play.

Hangmen

By Martin McDonagh. New Theatre Newtown. Director: Deborah Mulhall. 13 Aug – 14 Sept, 2024

One of the characters in Hangmen, Peter Mooney (Robert Snars), wants to be seen as “menacing” rather “creepy”. He is. Menacing that is. So are some of the other characters. In fact so is the play! But then it is Martin McDonagh so “menacing” should be expected … as well as very, very black. Hangmen is all of this – and Deborah Mulhall directs to extract every sinister, sadistic moment as well as the “dark, dark humour” that seeps through all McDonagh’s work.

The Odd Couple (Female Version)

Written by Neil Simon. New Farm Nash Theatre, Qld. Directed by Susan O’Toole. August 15 – September 7, 2024.

The original Odd Couple was written by Neil Simon in 1965 and made into a film three years later. Then in 1985, he wrote a female version where the inter – reactors are women who meet on a Friday night to play Trivia Pursuit at Olive’s house. When Florence arrives late after being thrown by her husband, Olive invites her to stay at her house to give her time to settle down and recover. Where Olive is messy, untidy and unconcerned about the state of her apartment, Florence is the very opposite, with an obsession verging on mania for good food and impossible cleanliness.

Milk & Blood

By Benjamin Nichol. Fortyfivedownstairs. 16 August – 1 September 2024

Milk and Blood are two quite separate but thematically linked monologues.  Each has their characters – ‘Mummy’ in Milk, ‘Daddy’ in Blood – alone on stage for sixty to seventy minutes.  No other characters, no props.  Just empty space which, via movement as controlled as dance, and Harrie Hogan’s lighting becomes a home, a street, a garden, a prison…  But as this stripped bare mode incites our imagination, we are also held by developing narrative threads; incidents are not incidental, and

Julia

By Joanna Murray-Smith. Presented by State Theatre Company South Australia in association with the University of Adelaide, Sydney Theatre Company and Canberra Theatre Centre. Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide. 16-31 August 2024

It’s more than a decade since Australia’s first female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, gave a speech that made global headlines. She took the podium during Question Time to respond to a motion proposed by the then leader of the opposition, Tony Abbot, which accused her of sexism and being unfit to lead. Her words that followed – her ‘misogyny’ speech – became instantly famous and globally viral.

Some Like It Marilyn

Lexi Sekuless Productions. The Mill Theatre Company, Canberra. August 7 – 24, 2024

This is not a straightforward biography of Marilyn Monroe’s life, but rather a show based around documents and artefacts related to Marilyn. We see her starry show business moments, her interviews showing her quick wit and easy charm, and how others viewed her. In all, it is a wonderful evening to remember what a star the actress was, and how very human she was as well.

Alice by Heart

Book by Steven Sater and Jessie Nelson. Music by Duncan Sheik. Lyrics by Steven Sater. Townsville Choral Society. Directed by Sandra Neal. Musical Direction Luke Gallagher. Choreography by Jarrah Scarsi. Vocal Director Emily Lafferty. Townsville Civic Theatre C2, 15 – 24 August 2024.

As the name indeed suggests, this is a re-working of Lewis Carroll’s much-loved Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Created almost 160 years ago, Carroll was even then accused of indulging in too many magic mushrooms to create the outlandish series of stories. It is no wonder as it peopled with exaggerated characters in increasingly weird and outrageous situations conversing in language peppered with silly puns, word-play and made-up words, and it might even be said that this version takes this hallucinogenic notion a few steps further.

All Boys

By Xavier Hazard. every other theatre company. Directed by Cezara Critti Schnaars. The Studio, The Blue Room Theatre, Aug 6-24, 2024

Testosterone filled new play All Boys, from every other theatre company, tells of ten boys attending an all-boys Catholic school in Sydney, between 2009 and 2014. Set during the time of the Royal Commission into Institutional Sexual Abuse, it looks at that issue as well as bullying, hyper-masculinity, generational and institutional privilege, and what boys will do when they believe that they are immune from consequences.

King Lear

By William Shakespeare. Presented by University of Adelaide Theatre Guild. Little Theatre, Adelaide. 16-25 August 2024

Shakespeare’s epic tragedy is reset to a post-apocalyptic world that has reverted to medieval power through monarchies, but this production from the University of Adelaide’s Theatre Guild retains the power, language and universal themes of its origins.

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