By Stephen Dietz. Wyong Drama Group. Red Tree Theatre, Tuggerah. November 1 – 9, 2024
Dracula opened last night at the Red Tree Theatre at Tuggerah and it did not disappoint. Not everybody is a fan of horror but the artistry and professionalism on display meant that I didn’t actually scream out loud as previously suspected. Yes, it’s dark and yes it’s tense but there was actually a child in the audience who was remarkably cheery after the performance and apparently unscathed by the story, the blood, the fangs and the sexy ladies. So do not let any preconceived ideas about this story put you off. The overall presentation and
By Eugene Ionesco, in a new version by Zinnie Harris. Presented by Spinning Plates Co. Directed by Cassandra Fumi. fortyfivedownstairs theatre, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. 31 October – 17 November 2024.
Spinning Plates Co. demonstrate exceptional inventiveness in this quirky and highly stylised production. It maintains all the political spirit of Ionesco’s text while carefully and effectively infusing it with the absurdist and bizarre qualities that characterise his work. The attention to detail in the characterisations, the staging and especially the costuming is truly impressive. The inhabitants of this fictional town are subject to an invasion by rhinoceros, slowly but surely transforming them, one by one, into the beasts.
A play by Alice Spigelman. Moira Blumenthal Productions. Bondi Pavilion Theatre. October 30 until November 17, 2024
Miles Franklin is the flavour of the month – with the Melbourne Theatre Company about to open the musical adaptation of her novel My Brilliant Career and in Sydney the premiere of a new play about her life.
Franklin fans will enjoy this nicely staged production that provides an insight into lesser-known aspects of her life. Without a general knowledge of Franklin, the drama will be less satisfying.
By Richard Bean. Cairns Little Theatre. Directed by Jason Klarwein. November 1st to 9th, 2024.
Derived from an Italian play written in 1746, One Man, Two Guvnors moves the action to 1960s Brighton in the U K. In this version the dialogue and the action are so fast-paced that the audience can be left playing catch-up.
Ingrid Filter performs Chopin. Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House. October 30 – November 2, 2024
Image (above): Ingrid Filter. Photographer: Gary Houlder
They’re dubbed the Romantic Generation of composers. All were born around 1810 and all died early, Robert Schumann, hallucinatory, suicidal and in mental anguish; Frederic Chopin from tuberculous, and Felix Mendelssohn at 38, melancholic and after a series of strokes.
By various, including Lin-Manuel Miranda. The Old Nick Society. Bianca Paine/Ben Paine (Direction). The Hidden Theatre, Hobart. 30th October – 2nd November 2024
A Night at the Movies - a Musical Cabaret offers comfy seats, high quality entertainment AND popcorn.
This cabaret reprises 21 Chump Street, recently presented at the Hobart One Act Play festival, and augments the programme with two other brackets of musical theatre pieces all of which have a connection to the movies.
Concept by Elodie Boal and Trent Sellars. Presented by Mira Ball Productions, Our Yakka, and Salad Bowl Collective. Ron Hurley Theatre, 29 – 31 October 2024
A Night with the Villains is a hilarious, sexy, spooky cabaret show packed full of great singing, lively dancing, and comedic acting. The mood is set from the start with a sign above the entrance in bloody lettering warning you to ‘Enter if you Dare’. The staircases inside the theatre are lined with black candles and cobwebs, and tombstones flank the stage. The show features some of the best of the worst characters from history and fiction, singing beloved musical numbers with a twist. In many cases the lyrics are cleverly re-written or tweaked to suit the character.
By Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. Louise Withers, Michael Coppel and Linda Bewick, by arrangement with Kenny Wax, Wendy and Andy Barnes and George Styles. Theatre Royal, Sydney. Opening Night: 30 October, 2024
It’s easy to see – and hear – why Six, its queens and their Ladies in Waiting have been wowing audiences around the world since its debut at the Edinburgh Festival in 2017! How clever of Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss to turn history around and write about the wives of Henry VIII rather than their errant husband!
By Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe, and Phillip Scott. Jonathan Biggins, Mandy Bishop, Drew Forsythe, Phillip Scott, and David Whitney, directed by Jonathan Biggins and Drew Forsythe, with musical direction by Phillip Scott. Canberra Theatre, 25 October to 2 November 2024, and touring to Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong, Brisbane, and more.
Written by Kevin Summers. Devised by Dennis Coard and Summers. La Mama Courthouse. Oct 26 & 27, 2024
Ex - Prime Minister Billy Hughes at the age of 84 performs as himself in the movie Smithy (Ken G Hall,1946), based on Aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith (1897- 1935). History recalls Hughes rejecting Smith’s application back in 1919 to compete for a ten-thousand-pound prize in the first England to Australia flight. Nevertheless Kingsford- Smith went on to become a national hero and now celebrated forever on the twenty dollar note.
