Reviews

Derek Deane’s The Lady of the Camellias, performed by Shanghai Ballet at QPAC’s Lyric Theatre, was an unforgettable portrayal of love, sacrifice, and redemption, told through breathtaking dance and exquisite artistry. Based on Alexandre Dumas fils’ celebrated novel, this production seamlessly wove the elegance of classical ballet with the raw emotion of its timeless story.

To begin The Glass Menagerie Tennessee Williams writes within Tom’s opening lines: “The play is memory.  Being a memory play, it is dimly lighted, it is sentimental, it is not realistic...”  acknowledging the play as a work of art rather than a rigidly true account.  Tom introduces his sister and mother and the anticipated “gentleman caller” (directed in an appealing, choreographic fashion) while poetically opining his own fate and the state of the world.

Aidan Fennessy was dying of cancer when he wrote this excellent Australian play. Caught in Melbourne’s complex response to COVID, he never saw it produced by the MTC in 2022 when planned. But now it has arrived in Sydney as the Christmas production at the Ensemble and the local audience showed its lusty approval with lengthy and thunderous applause. 

While singing in a choir, said Fennessy, ‘each character can hold their differences and be together at the same time.’ And his play goes on to prove that dictum in spades.

It’s the show that puts the ho into ho ho ho, and it’s back for another very naughty season. Now in its eighth year of production, A Very Naughty Christmas is a big, bright, and brazen celebration of the holidays just for the grown-ups. This Christmas themed cabaret has sex appeal with a burlesque sense of humour, raunchy remixes of familiar festive tunes, comedic skits and banter, and some hilarious audience interaction.