Reviews

Bangarra Dance Theatre’s latest production lives up to their reputation for creating compelling contemporary dance. The talented athletes making up the cast of 18 indigenous dancers should be applauded for their focus, passion and skill. These amazing artists under the guidance of Artistic Director Stephen Page are presenting enlightening history straight from Bruce Pascoe’s prizewinning book Dark Emu, Black Seeds: agriculture or accident? It’s wonderful to see such a unique work, telling the stories of Australia’s first people.

A couple (Michelle Robertson and Monty Burgess) lounge on a bare platform.  It is up to our imaginations to create the physical world of these people.  They may be married, they may not, but it seems – maybe – that they may have been together too long.  They’re recognisable people – people you might know – people who might be you.  They’re entering middle age, they’ve ‘let themselves go’ a little, and their lives have settled into a familiar if empty routine.  There’s a superficially relaxed, unhur

Since it premiered on Broadway in 2006 winning eight Tony awards,Spring Awakening has gone onto success after success on international stages. Perhaps not as well-known as its second-cousin Rent, (but in my opinion better and more coherent), this rock musical version of Frank Wedekind’s 1891 German play with its themes of adolescent sexuality, teen suicide, peer-pressure, abortion and homosexuality, still resonates with a contemporary immediacy.

The gorgeously decorated treat that is Priscilla Queen of the Desert - the Musical has definitely not been ‘left out in the rain’ like the cake in the lyrics of one of its songs. This is a perfect, unspoiled confection of glitz, glamour, music, moments of poignancy and large servings of feel-good fun. Adelaide’s opening night audience consumed the delicious offering with relish and gave it a well-deserved standing ovation.