Reviews

Best known for the movie about two drag queens and a transgender woman taking a fantastically redecorated bus to Alice Springs to strut their stuff, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert has undergone major transformations in becom

‘What you are talking about is brute desire – just – Desire!’ says an incredulous Blanche when her sister Stella explains why she stays with her abusive husband. Yet she could be talking about our need for intimate theatre in Adelaide, lamenting the imminent closure of the wonderful Bakehouse Theatre.

This performance is an original folk opera based on the real-life events of the ancestors of writer and performer Richard Frankland. The story of the colonial policies that dispossessed and discriminated against First Nations people is confronting. The songs, some of which are based on letters written to soldier husbands, reveal how the contribution of Indigenous people to Australian society has largely been ignored. The songs acknowledge their important role in the protection and development of Australian society and the narratives are often poignant and heartbreaking.

Cherish is a play centred around two gay couples who, in their efforts to achieve a comfortable ideal, only succeed in creating a mass of complications. Set in an unnamed location, the characters’ long-standing relationships are tested by love, loyalty and self-interest.

The two females are Jess and Maeve, who in turn have each had a child by Tom. However, Tom, who is in a long-running relationship with the older William, would like a child of his own, with Jess willing to be the surrogate mother. Surrogate motherhood, however, can have its own challenges.