Reviews

Wankernomics - Just Touching Base

Adelaide Fringe. The Peacock at Gluttony. 11-23 March 2025

A large screen announces the ‘All-Hands’ meeting and our two presenters take the stage. James Schloeffel and Charles Firth thank everyone for coming, then attempt some fake small talk whilst others dial-in to the ‘Teams call’ or turn up late. Schloeffel and Firth must be used to latecomers, because they seamlessly blend their corporate patter with those unapologetically strolling in and looking for a seat ten minutes after the show started.

Trent Dalton’s Love Stories

The presentation of Trent Dalton's Love Stories has been made possible by the Adelaide Festival Contemporary. Adapted for the stage by Tim McGarry, with additional writing and story by Trent Dalton and Fiona Franzmann. Directed by Sam Strong. Adelaide Festival 2025. Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre, Adelaide. March 13 – 16, 2025

Trent Dalton’s Love Stories was originally commissioned and produced by the Brisbane Festival and QPAC for the Brisbane Festival of 2024. It is a unique adaption of a novel to a play in that it also features immersive camera work, back projection and dance. This conception adapted from the book by Tim McGarry, allows to audience to get up close and personal with the production.

Lost Property

Adelaide Fringe. The Iris at Mercury Cinema. 13-15 March 2025

Alice is on the morning tram, observing her fellow passengers, colouring in their backgrounds – who they are, what they do. As she tells us about everyone else, it’s clear that there’s something that’s not being said. Eventually, performer Amelia Dunn admits it: she’s lost something. Her libido. It’s gone. She feels nothing down there.

Dido and Aeneas

Composed by Henry Purcell. Libretto by Nahume Tate. Opera Australia / Circa. Directed and Stage Design by Yaron Lifschitz. Conducted by Erin Helyard. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. March 13 – 29, 2025.

The Brisbane based Circa contemporary circus company has been touring the world for over 20 years and this collaboration, originally staged at QPAC, marks its first foray into a fully staged baroque opera. 

Dido and Aeneas was one of the hits of 18th century English composer Henry Purcell. The Director Yaron Lifschitz has transformed the work into a 70-minute adaptation that lends itself more to the tradition of ballet than opera.

Lyceum Highway and Metropolis Monologues.

Presented by Melbourne Writers’ Theatre. The Stables @ Meat Market, 2 Wreckyn St, North Melbourne. 12 - 18 March 2025.

Lyceum Highway by KV Adams, directed by Brooke Fairley and Metropolis Monologues Showcase #1‘Til Death Do Us Part by Louise Hopewell, Snakes and Ladders by Donna de Palma, Off the Grid by Maree Collie, The Most Alive Part of Me by Peter Farrar, The Night Market by Gary Helmore.

No Love Songs

Songs by Kyle Falconer. Book by Laura Wilde and Johnny McNight. Produced by Rodney Rigby and Neil Crocker. Foundry Theatre, Sydney. Opening Night: March 12, 2025

Gripping and intense No Love Songs is a piece of theatre which gives a powerful insight into the joyous highs and desperate lows of a new relationship.

The music comprising tender ballads and rock anthems is vibrant, with the story real and raw.

I went into the show a little blind about its trajectory and when it dived into the subject of post-natal depression, I was left feeling like I was standing on a cliff, because my plus one had gone through a similar experience.

Complete Works: Table Top Shakespeare – Othello / Henry IV Part 2 / The Merchant of Venice / A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Presented by Forced Entertainment for the Adelaide Festival. Space Theatre, Adelaide. 8-16 March 2025

The presentation of every Shakespeare play continues with a mixture of tragedy, history and comedy, with a little controversy thrown in. The format remains the same - the only living performer being the narrator, whilst all characters are played by bottles of olive oil, cans of fizzy drink, or a pocket torch. The language is plain English, not Shakespearean, which makes the stories accessible, even if at the cost of the comfort and complexity of the Bard’s rhythm and style.

Love

By Patricia Cornelius. New Ghosts Theatre Company. Old Fitz Theatre, Sydney. March 11 – 21, 2025

On mattresses in squats three young people struggle and scheme to get their next fix – their illusions of love soon proving just part of the game.

Patricia Cornelius’ double award-winning play from 20 years ago returns as part of the Old Fitz’ Late Night program, with her profile of damaged, already cynical victims at the bottom of the heap whose back stories, beyond the grimy present, Cornelius doesn’t even both to flesh out. 

Tales from Asteroid b-612: An Original Magic Show

Presented by: Clement Kwok, Aby Thomas & Em Chandler. Adelaide Fringe Festival 2025. Adelaide Magic Theatre at The Lost Dice, Adelaide. March 11 to 15 2025

I grew up with magic. My uncle was one of Adelaide’s finest magicians and while he wouldn’t explain all his secrets, he told me a few, and what to look for. So, I was keen to see what Tales from Asteroid b-612: An Original Magic Show was all about.

Upstairs at The Lost Dice is a little room called the ‘Adelaide Magic Theatre’. Its intimate, so all the better to see magic up close and personal.

Dennis and The Dazzling Dentistry Facility

By Connor Gale. The Butterfly Club, Melbourne. Mar 11 – 15, 2025

A visit to the dentist is often a  painful experience and usually very  costly. Dennis and The Dazzling  Dentistry Facility,  written and  directed by Connor Gale, is a  clever  satirical play inspired by the  Willie Wonka and The Chocolate Factory films . Set in Melbourne, it mocks the recent privatisation of the dental industry and shines light on the widening  financial gap between  the rich and poor.

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