Reviews

Calls to 1194

Written and performed by Sandra Thibodeaux. Soundscape by Panos Couros. Video imagery by Naina Sen. Darwin Entertainment Centre Rehearsal Room, Darwin. 29 and 30 October. 2021 Darwin Fringe Festival.

Occasionally, we have the opportunity to experience theatre that transports us into something like an ethereal flight through time and place. Sandra Thibodeaux’s epic poem is one such masterpiece, performed with a rare and restless authenticity and an equally brittle honesty and self-awareness. We were, from the first words, utterly enthralled and completely on her side in the life and death battle against her failing heart and her equally failing faith in the ‘gowns’ – the doctors and attendant ‘scrubs’ – who might save her life.

Mamma Mia!

Music and lyrics by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, book by Catherine Johnson, original conceived by Judy Craymer. Serasi Entertainment. Directed by Chris Dodson. The Regal Theatre, Subiaco, WA. Nov 3-13, 2021

New company Serasi Entertainment has burst on to the Perth theatre scene, with a high quality, beautifully polished production of Mamma Mia! at the Regal Theatre.

Attracting a top-notch cast, with a well-respected production team, Serasi has at the top of its core values “Generosity of Spirit”, (as well as aiming to be excellence driven, customer focused and future orientated) and this warmth shows in this open-hearted, feel-good production. The show is also expertly crafted and performed, with very high production values.

The Private Secretary

By Charles Hawtrey. Blackwood Players. Blackwood Memorial Hall. November 5 – 20, 2021

Adelaide is blessed with several vibrant theatre companies on its margins including Blackwood Players, with most having a strong mandate to entertain their local communities. Each company presents the type of theatre and plays that their audiences both demand and love, and in doing so, provide a niche community resource.

High Fidelity

Lyrics by Amanda Green, music by Tom Kitt, book by David Lindsay-Abaire, based on the novel by Nick Hornby and the Touchstone Pictures Film. Presented by Hills Musical Company. Stirling Community Theatre, SA. Nov 5-20, 2021

Top Five Reasons to see this show:

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Book by David Greg, music by Marc Shaiman, lyrics by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman, based on the novel by Roald Dahl. Directed by Jack O’Brien. Crown Theatre, Perth WA. Nov 2-27, 2021

Touring shows return to Perth with a bang with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, now playing at the Crown Theatre - a lovely celebration of a show which is certain to delight audiences, judging from the gasps of surprise and joy on Opening Night.

Very, very slick, this production, has oodles of stage magic, even before we enter the wonderful world of Willy Wonka’s factory. There is expert use of projections by Jeff Sugg, and a set full of surprises by Mark Thompson and clever lighting from Japhy Weideman. Basil Twist’s use of puppetry is next level.

Mamma Mia!

Music & Lyrics: Benny Andersson & Björn Ulvaeus. Additional Music & Lyrics: Stig Anderson. Book: Catherine Johnson. Queensland Musical Theatre. Director: Sherryl-Lee Secomb. Musical Director: Julie Whiting. Choreographer: Bec Swain. Twelfth Night Theatre, Bowen Hills, Qld. 5-14 November 2021

Mamma Mia! is the ultimate feel-good musical, and after a year of Covid restrictions it feels good to finally get back to a jam-packed theatre of patrons whistling, cheering, and singing-along to this favorite soundtrack.

Blithe Spirit

By Noël Coward. Directed by Georgia Comerford. PAANDA - Performing Arts Society of Notre Dame. Prindiville Hall, University of Notre Dame Australia, Fremantle WA. Nov 2-13, 2021

Noël Coward’s 80-year-old classic - Blithe Spirit - seems an unusual choice for student actors in their teens and twenties, and their young audience, but PAANDA - Performing Arts Society of Notre Dame is finding an audience for this show, with its well-attended season of this show.

Away

Written by Michael Gow. Directed by Daniel Evans. Presented by La Boite Theatre. Roundhouse Theatre, Brisbane. 25 October – 5 November, 2021

La Boite Theatre is saying farewell to its 2021 season in style with the beloved Australian classic Away by Michael Gow. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone in our theatre community who doesn’t know and love this play. For the few uninitiated, it’s the story of three families whose summer holidays don’t go according to plan. It sounds simple, but of course there’s so much more to unravel in the subtext of this tragicomedy.

Sweet Charity

Book by Neil Simon. Music by Cy Coleman. Lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Directed by Jess Purdy, with Dennett Hudson as musical director and Callum Mansfield choreographer. Presented by BAMT at Hayward Street Studios (Brisbane). October 27 – November 14, 2021.

First performed on Broadway in 1966, then made into a movie in 1969, Sweet Charity, is now presented by students or recent graduates of BAMT and they give it plenty of vim and vigour.

Meet the Wallers

Documentary. Distributed by Antidote Films. Brisbane Film Festival, 2021

We all agree that art is an important part of our lives. But how far would you go in devoting your life to art when it means not paying all the bills while your family need school lunches? That's the crisis at the heart of Meet the Wallers, a documentary by Brisbane-based director, Jim Stevens.

Subscribe to our E-Newsletter, buy our latest print edition or find a Performing Arts book at Book Nook.