Reviews

Topology’s We Will Rise tour marks the launch of the Brisbane-based, Aria-nominated classical music quintet’s 16th album – a greatest hits collection that showcases the quintet’s two decades of original material. The performance features a back catalogue plus new pieces pick ‘n’ mix of compositions by John Babbage (saxophone), Robert Davidson (bass), and Bernard Hoey (viola), highlighting the talents of other principal artists, Christa Powell (violin) and Therese Milanovic (piano).

If I were giving out stars then I’d have to say this would be a three out of five and that’s generous. When I reviewed the original cast recording in 2018 I found it ‘proficient, but unfortunately tediously twee,’ and I’m afraid viewing it live doesn’t make me want to change that opinion. Kenneth Graham’s 1908 book about the bucolic river life of Ratty, Badger and Mole, has been loved for generations, but for this adaptation Julian Fellowes lacks his Downton Abbey mojo, with not one quotable line in the entire show.

More than two hundred years after its publication, the story of Frankenstein still has much to offer theatre audiences, particularly in macabre 2020. In May, we streamed London’s National Theatre Live Frankenstein and found ourselves captivated by Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller as they alternated the roles of Victor Frankenstein and his creature.

A View From the Park, a co-production between Maverick Theatre Productions and Old Mill Theatre, is a collection of six short plays, written and directed by local author Noel O’Neill. All two handers, set on a park bench, there is a lovely variety to the stories, and they are being well received by Covid capacity audiences.

The set consists of a rather attractive park bench, with hints of the park and the time of day being provided by subtle lighting design by John Woolrych.