Reviews

Watching a rather solemn rehearsal of The Threepenny Opera in the United States, in the 1950s, Bertolt Brecht voiced a loud objection: ‘Das ist nicht spass!’  (This is no fun!’)  However serious, or indeed didactic, the show, it still better to be fun.  That is, sharp, funny and entertaining – plus ravishing the audience with insights about their world.

Malpractical Jokes is a classic cabaret, brought to life by consummate performer Izaak Lim, who delights his audience with his medical themed cabaret built around excellent storytelling and Izaak’s beautiful voice.

This production is best summed up by the last line of the first act – a complete farce. Several members of the audience near me were unable to control their mirth, eliciting a horse-like laughter at regular intervals.

Not being a scholar of the French playwright it was difficult for me to ascertain exactly which extra bits of narrative Andrew Upton stitched on to the play, written more than a century ago. Whatever it was, the combination of the script, direction, design and performance made it a night of sublime silliness – a perfect date night.

Over seventy years ago Rodgers and Hammerstein broke the mold when they created Carousel with its wife-beating street-tough anti-hero, and it’s this dark spousal-abuse story thread that still gives the musical its contemporary currency. Their score, one of the finest in the classic musical theatre canon, registered time and time again in Ruth Gabriel’s production which wisely cast voices who could do justice to the songs.