Reviews

1934. The Great Depression. Duluth, Minesotta, northern regional USA.

A bleak boarding house raises its spirits for one last Thanksgiving, as foreclosure and dispossession loom.

Certainly not escapist fare for the times if that’s what you’re looking for, but for a couple of years now I’ve been attracted to the idea of a musical theatre score drawn from the songs of Bob Dylan, part of the soundtrack of my youth. It made such sense to me, if done right.

360 Allstars hits the Playhouse at the right time to provide perfect for-all-the-family entertainment to break up the school holidays. This is a nifty showcase of what could be considered traditional circus skills that involve the 360 degrees circle of the group's title – juggling, spinning, aerobatics, acro dance, balancing – as well as good old-fashioned buffoonery. At exactly an hour long, it's just the thing to keep easily distracted children and teens enthralled and parents entertained too.

Pulses did not race as the show got underway at the Roslyn Packer Theatre. On a big screen, after a filmed ‘Welcome to Country’, came Margaret Beazley, the Governor of New South Wales, smiling sweetly; then a Liberal gent who spoke for far too long about the ‘incredible excitement of the program’ to loud groans and intensifying mock applause; then a colourful Clover Moore in big close-up; finally Olivia Ansell, director of the Sydney Festival, looking a bit lost. Thank God that’s over.

I almost felt like giving the cast a round of applause as soon as the curtained opened, for the herculean achievement of making it to the stage.

Covid-19 has paused rehearsals and performances in Sydney and performing arts productions with large casts have been particularly vulnerable. Gaps in the audience were noticeable and the odd cough made me a little nervous.

But by and large for the vaccinated in the theatre, which was three quarters full, there was great appreciation that the show had gone on.