Reviews

Chopin’s Last Tour

By Phil Aughey. Adelaide Fringe Festival 2021. The Garage International. Feb 19-24 2021

Phil Aughey is Chopin, recounting episodes and playing music from his life whilst stuck in a foggy Scotland in 1848.

Aughey’s performance as an actor and pianist is of someone who has done this show a lot; he’s at his best when remembering the saddest times: then he has us captivated and listening to every word. Even the occasional missed note or imperfect timing on the piano feels like a composer who has had enough.

Dirt

By Angus Cameron. Adelaide Fringe 2021. Presented by Patrick Livesey. The Arch, Holden Street Theatres. Friday 16 February to Sunday 21 March, 2021

Occasionally, 60 minutes can change your life, and for me, Patrick Livesey’s production of Dirt is an example of how fine theatre can showcase and educate about human rights issues in a subtle, compelling way.

Fag/Stag

By Jeffrey Jay Fowler and Chris Isaacs. Lambert House Enterprises and Mardi Gras Festival. Director Les Solomon, El Rocco Theatre, Potts Point. Feb 17 – Mar 7, 2021.

Les Solomon has directed yet another stunning piece of theatre to revive the pandemic ravaged Sydney theatre scene. He has followed up his tight, character-strong production of The Shape of Things with a delightfully intimate production of this multi-award-winning play by Jeffrey Jay Fowler and Chris Isaacs.  

27 Club

Adelaide Fringe Festival 2021. Gluttony. February 19-28, 2021

Most of us are familiar with the 27 Club, a prestigious but tragic group of musicians and artists who lost their lives at the tender age of 27.

A cross-section of Australian talent graced the stage at ‘Moa’, the newest venue in Gluttony, to pay tribute and 'breathe new life' into some well-known artists. Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Amy Winehouse, Kurt Cobain, and blues legend Robert Johnson were channeled into an hour of high-voltage entertainment.

Michael Griffiths: Greatest Hits

Adelaide Fringe Festival 2021. The Chamber at THE QUEENS, Adelaide. Feb 19 – 21, 2021

Even the sauna-like atmosphere of The Chamber at The Queen’s Theatre did not deter the opening night audience for Michael Griffiths: Greatest Hits.

Lost Lives

By Spencer Scholz. Adelaide Fringe 2021. Safari Street Creative. Holden Street Theatres. Feb 19 – 27, 2021

Lost Lives is a new 70 minute play, written by Adelaide author Spencer Scholz. It has the germ of a very clever episode of Silent Witness, and I half hoped that my favourite characters would pop up and take advantage of a fabulous, enlightening forensic opportunity that the murder of lovely Jane Kelly presented.

The Bull, The Moon & the Coronet of Stars

By Van Badham. Presented by The Hive Collective and Metro Arts, Brisbane. Feb 17 to 27.

What happens when a woman unleashes her unbridled sexuality on a seemingly sympatico target – who turns out to be a dud choice? Wrong-footed romance leaves you feeling like Ariadne of Greek myth fame, abandoned on the beach at Naxos by Theseus – but with a glimmer of hope that Dionysus – the Greek God of wine and ecstasy –  will come along for a final rescue. In The Bull, the Moon & the Coronet of Stars, Van Badham takes this myth and weaves a magical, mystical tale of lust, love and destiny.

Summer Shorts

By Shirley Toohey, Yvette Wall and Bob Charteris. Directed by Michelle Sharp, Siobhán O’Gara and Bob Charteris. Melville Theatre, Stock Rd, Palmyra, WA. Feb 18-20, 2021

Melville Theatre's Summer Shorts opened to a shortened season, after being delayed Perth’s Covid shutdown. With reduced audience numbers, this sold out before it opened, but this show could easily have earned its capacity houses - a varied and entertaining night out. All three shows are by Western Australian authors.

Beautiful Thing

By Jonathan Hardy. New Theatre. Director: Mark G Nagle. Feb 2 – Mar 6, 2021

Beautiful Thing was a West End hit for playwright Jonathan Hardy in 1993. It is a gentle play about emerging gay love. Though set in the UK, its characters and their relationships are poignantly universal. Hardy injects their story with hope and humour that director Mark G Nagle describes as “touching and funny”.

Wolf Lullaby

By Hillary Bell. ECHO Theatre. Directed by Jordan Best. The Q – Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre. 18 – 27 February, 2021

There’s something unthinkable about the idea of a child who kills. Childhood innocence is so incongruent with the concept of a murderer that we immediately reach for explanations involving intrinsic evil, parental blame or gross abuse.

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