By Christopher Hampton. Adelaide Festival. Dunstan Playhouse. Feb 19 – 14 Mar, 2021
Written by British playwright Christopher Hampton, and directed by Neil Armfield, A German Life reminds us both how shocking, and ordinary, war and its privations become, seen through the eyes of those who are aggrieved, and those who see themselves as ordinary citizens, doing whatever it takes to survive.
Book by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan. Music and Lyrics by Mel Brooks. Hayes Theatre Co. Directed by Alexander Berlage. Feb 18 – Mar 27, 2021
Life must be getting back to normal when you are allowed to squeeze into the 111 seat Hayes Theatre, which is back open for the first time in eleven months, albeit at 75% capacity.
The venue sprang back with a delicious quantity of concentrated talent in front of a small but privileged audience.
By Puccini. Opera Australia. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. Feb 22 – Mar 13, 2021
John Bell’s revived production of Tosca resets Puccini’s popular masterpiece from the Napoleonic era to 1943 when the Nazi’s took over Rome.
The celebrated Shakespearean actor/director brings a great theatrical detailing to this period production which, married to Puccini’s driving, melodramatic narrative, produces all the emotional excitement of a 1940’s Hollywood blockbuster.
Book: Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice. MUSIC: Bob Gaudio. Lyrics: Bob Crewe. Spotlight Theatre, Benowa, Gold Coast. Co-Directors: Cilla Scott and Brad Kendrick. February 19 – March 20, 2021.
Jersey Boys is a feast of fabulous music, well-presented, which is the hallmark of Spotlight’s numerous productions.
It’s the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons’ rise to the pinnacle of popular music as told through the eyes of the various members of the group and their entourage - who tell it warts and all - with much coarse language thrown in for good measure!
Presented by starheART theatre. Adelaide Fringe Festival 2021. Nexus Arts. Feb 19 – 25 2021
A dinner party with dysfunctional friends is a well-worn theme and starheART Theatre’s original play Together packs in a lot of issues amongst the characters’ considerable flaws. Whilst everyone is a friend of the host, Brian (Thomas Tessema), not everyone knows each other at the outset.
Debussy – Preludes, de Murcia, Medarra - The Spanish Baroque, Nicolas – Secrets, Ravel – Piano Concerto in G Major M.83, Rodrigo – Concieto de Aranjuez. Southern Cross Soloists. Concert Hall, QPAC. 21 Feb 2021
The sound of castanets, flamenco dancing, and bull fights were frequently conjured up in this classical chamber concert headed by guitar soloist Slava Grigoyan. Cancelled in 2020 because of Covid restrictions, this Southern Cross Soloists concert has been a long time coming, but it was worth the wait.
Adelaide Fringe Festival 2021 The Lark, Gluttony. Feb 19 – 28 2021
Bella Green takes us through her journey from working at a fast-food joint to being an apprentice in a sex dungeon, without self-deprecation or self-pity – indeed, with genuine pride and refreshing confidence. Her stories smash through any stigma or discomfort that we, the audience, might be feeling. There’s none from Bella: she revels in the provocative, but it’s not all done for laughs. Bella quit her most degrading job because of her moral compass: not as a sex worker, but in a call centre for a bank.
Performed and devised by Clare Bartholomew & Daniel Tobias. Directed and devised by Peter Houghton. fortyfivedownstairs theatre, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. 10 – 21 February 2021
Jim (Daniel Tobias) and Barb (Clare Bartholomew) are both familiar yet surprising characters. These personas are an innovative invention of the director and the performers and they draw on a variety of comedic strategies to bring them to life. Jim and Barb undoubtedly belong to the Commedia dell’Arte tradition where the characters are mostly driven by their bodily needs and their primary emotional desires. Food and love are often the motivations for their actions providing enormous comic circumstances usually played out physically.
