Reviews

You probably remember Dave O’Neil from the ABC show Spicks and Specks, Melbourne prime-time commercial radio gigs and stand-up comedy. Brad Oakes is best known for stand up on Hey Hey, It’s Saturday. Both have been entertaining audiences since the 1990s. The two have paired up to present a night of good-natured stand up.

It is a magical first impression walking into the theatre, greeted by a set with gnarled trees, a giant moon and the soft sounds of the outback. The staff are all waving and smiling at children handing out booster seats, the smell of popcorn is in the air and families capture memories for the gram or to send to the gran with giant possum cut outs.

Little Women is one of the most perfectly constructed musicals based on a famous book. The musical’s construct is such that it manages to squeeze the key incidents from the book into a two hour musical, with enough songs to cover and explain events in a way that is precise and at times quite blindingly theatrical.

The book of the musical encapsulates a wonderful sense of community and family. With so many young characters it has achieved a degree of cult status in the school and youth theatre markets.

Accomplished community theatre director Michelle Swann made her Williamstown Little Theatre directorial debut these last weeks with the heavily accoladed Tom Stoppard play of bourgeois adultery, The Real Thing.

The play seems to be revived every 10-15 years for a new generation of theatre goers testing whether its acid bath of love and marriage marinated in old pop songs still resonates with audiences.