Reviews

Boots & All: A folk-inspired journey around the world

Ensemble Q. Concert Hall, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Brisbane. 4 August 2024

To encourage the toe-tapping that usually goes along with folk music, Ensemble Q called their latest gig Boots & All, and attired themselves in lumberjack shirts, village green frocks, lederhosen, and stomping boots! And it was a pleasure to see musicians at the top of their game, taking obvious delight in presenting some old and new works to spotlight the folk tradition that has imbued many a composition – classical and modern.

The Woman in Black

By Stephen Mallatratt and Susan Hill. PW Productions, Woodward Productions and Neil Gooding Productions. Theatre Royal, Sydney. July 3 - Aug 18, 2024

The Woman in Black, adapted from Susan Hill’s novel, is a theatrical experience that has gripped audiences worldwide, and it’s easy to see why. The current staging at Theatre Royal Sydney, directed by Robin Herford (Associate Director, Antony Eden), featuring John Waters and Daniel MacPherson, is no exception to this spellbinding tradition. 

The Importance of Being Earnest

Created and performed by Bloomshed, James Jackson, Tom Molyneux and Elizabeth Brennan. Lighting Designer – John Collopy. Set Designer – Nathan Burmeister. Costume Designer – Samantha Hastings. Stage & Production Manager - Jacinta Anderson. Sound Designer – Justin Gardam. Fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. 1 – 11 August 2024

The Importance of Being Earnest’s original opening in 1895 was well received. Unfortunately, it was caught up with Oscar Wilde’s arrest and imprisonment for homosexuality and soon closed.  But the play’s farcical inventiveness and wordy joy has stood as a theatrical beacon and has been performed almost continually since then. This version introduces some background material in extra dialogue and embraces a much more overtly sexual tone with cucumbers and bread rolls delivering rousing performances.

The Sunshine Club

Written and directed by Wesley Enoch AM. Original Music by John Rodgers. Presented by HIT Productions. The Q - Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre, 1 – 2 August 2024, and touring

In the 25 years since Wesley Enoch’s joyful musical gem The Sunshine Club first enchanted audiences, it has rarely been seen in theatres outside Brisbane or Sydney. Now musical lovers around Australia will have the opportunity to see what the fuss is about. HIT Productions is touring a talent-rich team of triple threats under the direction of Wesley Enoch, who wrote the book and lyrics and who directed the Queensland Theatre Company and Sydney Theatre Company productions.

The State

By Marli Jupiter & Rhiannon Bryan. The Blue Room Theatre in association with Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. Theatre Works Explosives Factory. 31 July – 10 August 2024

The State presents – in a wildly hilarious, allegorical form - a dystopian state of things uncannily much too much like our current reality.  This black-as-black comedy and its icy, sharp-edged satire cuts close to the bone.  We quickly recognise what underlies the comedy and we might wince as we laugh at its inescapable accuracy.

And just so we do not miss a word of the mad-as-hell, heightened, nasty, funny text, it is projected in surtitles – in perfect sync with the spoken words on stage.

Julia

By Joanna Murray-Smith. Sydney Theatre Company, directed by Sarah Goodes. The Playhouse, Canberra. 31 July – 11 August 2024, and touring.

Following Julia Gillard’s meteoric rise to Deputy Prime Minister, her challenge for Kevin Rudd’s position as leader of the Government surprised a nation that, though we had heard rumblings of discontent about Mr Rudd’s behaviour beyond the media spotlight, hadn’t yet caught up with the backstory.  Her success in that challenge reflected the Labor Party’s maturation in recognising the ability of this woman with mannered self-restraint as well as intelligence to invite engagement, public and private, through her ability to consider alternative viewpoints car

Così fan tutte

By Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Opera Australia. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. August 1 – 17, 2024

Mozart’s risqué tale of two soldiers who place bets that their fiancées are forever faithful is, in this revived production, aptly set in Naples. The weather is hot and steamy, the Mediterranean laps beyond the balcony and locals speak endlessly of love. Promiscuity here in louche Naples seems an easier option than in Vienna where Così fan tutte premiered in 1790.

Di and Viv and Rose

By Amelia Bullmore. Blue Sky Theatre Productions. Marion Cultural Centre, Marion SA. Aug 2-11, 2024

According to happiness.com, a true friend – “prioritises spending time together, accepts you for who you are, offers you unwavering support, encourages you to be your best self, is honest and trustworthy and can always bring you some cheer and positivity.”

All of these qualities are explored in length in Blue Skies Theatre’s production of Di and Viv and Rose by Amelia Bullmore, a hit play from the West End of London. Bullmore is not only a playwright, but also an actress (Coronation Street and Scott & Bailey among others).

SHOUT! The Legend of The Wild One

Book by John-Michael Howson, David Mitchell and Melvyn Morrow. Presented by Gosford Musical Society. Laycock Street Community Theatre. August 2nd – 17th, 2024

Shout! is one of a handful of Australian musicals that local societies dare to stage. Despite being one of the most loved Australian home-grown musicals, it’s a shame it’s only seen every 15 years or so, as it’s a piece of theatre about one of Australia’s most iconic early rockers, giving audiences a snapshot of earlier days of the Australian entertainment industry.

Co-directors Leigh Collins and Ash Moody have pulled together a strong team of Gosford Musical Society’s longest-serving collaborators to bring this latest version on stage.

Zorba’s Last Dance

By Tom Petisinis. La Mama Courthouse. July 31 – August 11, 2024

Zorba The Greek is a great classic novel written by Nikos Kazantzakis, first published in 1946. Set on the island of Crete, it tells the story of Alexis Zorba, a wild feisty man who is there to open a lignite mine. He meets a bookish young man and teaches him to break free and embrace life.

A dead man awaits his death rites to the other world, a one-woman chorus (Donna Dimovski-Kantarovski) conducts a ceremonial ritual to take him to his final resting place.

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