Reviews

When asked to direct a season of The Merry Widow some years ago, I studied various unsatisfactory translations before opting for The Merry Widow of Bluegum Creek, set in the Australian embassy in Paris. It was very funny.

Opera Australia opted for a new translation prepared for Western Australian Opera by Justin Fleming, and it was also very funny. The Pontevedrians all had Australian accents and much of the humour had an Aussie feel, without any mention of kangaroos. It went down well with the opening night audience.

You’re in the grip of a compelling piece of Queensland theatre from the moment the bars start rattling under your feet, behind the curtain at your shoulder, and somewhere else - distant but determined.

Bogga, a new piece of theatre from Rob Pensalfini and historian Chris Dawson, is both drama and documentary.

It works because it doesn’t judge. It takes a series of indepth oral histories from prisoners and officers and with a cast of five turns their recollections into the story of Boggo Road Gaol in Dutton Park.

Cole Porter’s Anything Goes is a classic musical comedy of the “they just don’t make ‘em like that anymore” variety. In an era of celebrity worship drawn from every walk of life, this old-fashioned musical feels as contemporary as the day it was written. Under Director Michael Skelton’s eye, three love stories play out to their final, delightful moments.

Audrey ll, the blood thirsty, flesh eating plant stars in this staging of the popular cult musical Little Shop of Horrors. The plant’s continual growth throughout the show has pizzazz, making the cast work hard to keep up with its outrageous antics (Audrey ll was created by the North Queensland Opera and Music Theatre and took a year to conceive and construct by Chris Ahern and Damien Jackson).