Reviews

Suddenly songs such as “Sherry”, “Big Girls Don’t Cry”, Walk Like A Man” and many others have a different depth to them after watching this very good production of Jersey Boys. This is the complex story of one of the best known and successful bands of the 1960s from their rise from obscurity to fame and fortune and of falls from those heights. After many name changes and failures, things changed when teenager Frankie Castelluccio joined the group and was trained by one of the band.

Michael Tippett’s A Child of Our Time reminds us that even out of times of tragedy can come hope. This oratorio was Tippett's artistic and emotional reaction to the events that led to the 'Kristallnacht' pogrom of November 1938.

Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy brings a multitude of laughs in Matthew Hobbs’ well-directed Villanova Players production. This oft revived, ever-topical play touches on themes that never go out of fashion - insider trading, honor, corruption and a money-mad society. Add in blackmail, affairs of the heart, and a good dose of Wildean wit and this Edwardian romp is as up-to-date as yesterday.

Cosi is an Australian classic, taught as part of the Australian high school English curriculum for many years. Written by Louis Nowra, it premiered in 1992 at Belvoir St Theatre. Set in a mental institution in 1971 during the volatile period of the Vietnam War, it has the potential to be dated and perhaps enter into the realm of stereotype in portraying patients with mental illness. Megan Dansie’s direction has put this under a blacklight, both physically during scene changes, and metaphorically.