Reviews

Picnic at Hanging Rock

By Tom Wright (from the book by Joan Lindsay). Exit Left. Lily Ward (Direction). Suzen Parnell (Costume and Design). Exit Left Team and David Szoka (Lighting). The Playhouse Theatre, Hobart. 26-29 September 2024

Hobart has a perfectly wonderful theatre carved into a quarry.  Such a venue must have been the obvious choice for a play set in the shadow of a monolith. The Peacock Theatre was not used but instead the cavernous recess of the undressed stage of the The Playhouse is used to evoke those things that are just out of sight.

A Cheery Soul

By Patrick White. Presented by: Holden Street Theatres Inc. (SA). The Studio. Sept 24 - Oct 12 2024

Once again, Holden Street Theatres Inc. is presenting cutting edge theatre that few other companies would attempt. This is largely due the passion of director, Peter Goers and the indefatigable, brilliantly versatile Martha Lott, this time as the emotional bulldozer Miss Docker in Patrick White’s A Cheery Soul. They have put together an ensemble that the playwright has judiciously given juicy bits of dialogue, sometimes as pithy cameos, and at other times as sustained message bearers.

Queen Bette

Devised by Peter Mountford and Jeanette Cronin. Produced by G.bod Theatre. Directed by Peter Mountford. PIP Theatre. 24 September – 5 October 2024.

Queen Bette is a compelling one-woman show that delves into the extraordinary life and career of Hollywood legend Bette Davis. It explores her influences, setbacks and challenges and includes iconic dialogue from her illustrious career.

sitting, screaming

By Madelaine Nunn. New Ghosts Theatre Company at Old Fitz Theatre, Sydney. Directed by Lucy Clements. 22 September – 5 October, 2024

As part of the 2024 New Works Festival staged by Sydney’s Old Fitz Theatre, comes this excellent one-act play about the abuse of a teenage girl, written by Madelaine Nunn, convincing and powerfully played by Clare Hughes. 

The Boy and the Ball

By Stephen Noonan. Directed by Dave Brown. The Midair Room, State Theatre Centre of WA, Northbridge, WA. Sep 24-27, 2024

The Boy and the Ball is a gentle, wordless theatre piece, presented by Stephen Noonan in partnership with The Paper Boats as part of Perth’s Awesome Festival for Bright Young Things. Playing in the Middar Room, also known Rehearsal Room Two, this curtained space, is perfect for this intimate little piece of theatre. Aimed at 3- and 4-year-olds. It caters perfectly for this age group.

The Puzzle

By David Williamson. State Theatre Company of South Australia. The Playhouse, Festival Centre, Adelaide. 24 Sept to Oct 12, 2024

The State Theatre Company of South Australia have a winner on their hands with the world premiere of David Williamson’s The Puzzle!

Cruising has long been the go-to for the over fifties. As well as these sightseeing cruises, ‘lifestyle’ or swinger cruises have become popular with the younger set.

An Ambivalent Woman of 37

Starring Emma Sandall, with Yanghee Kim. Music by Elena Kats-Chernin. Sydney Fringe Festival. Flight Path Theatre. September 10 – 14, 2024

An award-winning ballet dancer, Emma here presents an excellent stage persona in this self-devised and performed autobiographical, multi-media, musical show – inspired and liberally quoting from Sheila Heti’s famous book: Motherhood.

Tilt

By Various Authors. Final Year WAAPA Performance Making Students. Various Directors. The Blue Room Theatre, Perth Cultural Centre, WA. Sep 11-21, 2024

Tilt is an annual showcase of short works from Final Year Performance Making Students completing a Bachelor of Performing Arts at WAAPA. Consisting of two different programs over two weeks, this review is of the second program, a very varied night of entertainment.

Golden Blood

By Merlynn Tong. Sydney Theatre Company. Wharf 1 Theatre. September 13 – October 13, 2024

Merlynn Tong’s play opens a fascinating window on the underbelly of Singapore’s glossy high capitalism with cultural traditions buried by the social imperative to get rich.

Tong and Charles Wu play estranged siblings standing in an apartment cleared out after the suicide of their mother.  With their father long dead, the innocent 14-year-old Girl and the Boy, 21 and proudly in a criminal drug gang, face being orphans and, worse in Singapore, being poor.

In a Nutshell: The Poetry of Violence

Inspired by William Shakespeare. Bell Shakespeare. Directed by Peter Evans. The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre. 13 – 14 September 2024

I have a confession: in spite of 15 years of reviewing, I still find Shakespeare’s language difficult. The vocabulary and metaphor is so dense that I get lost, and I try to plough through Spark Notes in advance. That way I hopefully don’t get caught out by, say, why Cleopatra and Antony were so anxious about a family of swans. The swans are metaphorical ships. I’m sure you all know this. I did not. In fact, I got through high school being able to quote Hamlet’s famous soliloquy without ever realising he was referencing suicide.

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