Reviews

There are significant advantages in producing concert versions of a major opera. The savings in production costs is enormous and it is possible to make such performances more feasible and accessible. There are more than just pragmatic considerations as the singing and the music become the entire focal point. This concentrates attention on the performers and the musicians in a rather different and unique way. 

This well-loved musical, produced by Murray Music and Drama Club, has been performing to capacity crowds in Pinjarra. Losing their middle week of three to Covid complications, they bounced back (albeit one leading role down) to mount a successful final week.

Featuring a cast of 35, including some fabulous children, the show featured some gorgeous costumes - co-ordinated by Tammy Peckover. Well-constructed set pieces from Trevor Delaporte and Andy Peckover and colourful lighting from Terry Peckover help the show to look good.

A family drama, set (mostly) in the Robinson family home on the bushy outskirts of Melbourne, just before, during and after the bushfires of 2009. (The year could equally well be 2019.) The fires bring tragedy, but they are also the catalyst in the aching conflict between brothers: Matthew (Martin Blum, in a powerful brooding performance) thirty-five, and Tom (Kurt Pimblett, disturbingly mercurial) eighteen. 

The ‘young bodies’ in this notable one-act play by Miranda Michalowski belong to sisters June and Anna. June, 19, is trying madly (and hopelessly) to join her university swimming team, while Anna, 21, spends her time dancing and flirting with useless men. This is the moment when their mother, Dawn, says it’s time for them both to leave home because she wants her new boyfriend to move in.