Reviews

Faulty Towers the Dining Experience

Adelaide Fringe Festival 2024. Interactive Theatre International. Botanical Room at The Terrace Hotel, Adelaide. Feb 16 to Mar 10, 2024

A friend of mine recently asked me – “Do you need to have watched the original series Fawlty Towers before you see Faulty Towers the Dining Experience?” The answer is a resounding no. It is just good, old fashioned crazy fun played to the hilt!

The production is based on some of the 12 iconic episodes made in the 1970s and features the central characters of Basil Faulty, his wife Sybil and their Spanish waiter, Manuel.

Helios

Adelaide Fringe – The Yurt at The Courtyard of Curiosities at the Migration Museum. Presented by Wright & Grainger with Tom Oliver Productions and Joanne Hartstone. 16 February – 17 March 2024

Wright & Grainger are worldwide multi-award-winning storytellers for their previous shows Eurydice, Orpheus, and The Gods, The Gods, The Gods (the latter two have limited performances elsewhere in the Fringe this year). I’m a huge fan myself – despite it being a repeat season, Orpheus was still my pick of the Fringe in 2023: even my mum loved it (though for her, The Gods X 3 won out). Does their new show Helios live up to our high expectations?

Lilac Time

Music by Franz Schubert, arranged by Heinrich Berte & G.H. Clutsam. Presented by Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Victoria. Directed by Robert Ray, musical direction by Geoffrey Urquhart. The Knowe, Clarkmont Road, Sassafras, Victoria. Saturdays and Sundays, 17 February - 3 March 2024.

Lilac Time is a charming and delightful operetta that is faithfully brought to life in this unique production. The story centres around Schubert (Edward Harcourt), his dedication to music and his infatuation with Lili Veit (Bridgette Kelsey). As a struggling composer he is surrounded by supportive friends and although his love for Lili is ultimately unrequited, the story maintains an upbeat and positive outlook.

In Small Doses

Adelaide Fringe – The roundabout at Fool’s Paradise. Presented by Maroussia Vladi. 16 February – 3 March 2024

A mother visits her daughter to help her recover from an injury – but her large suitcase and an admission that she’s left her interstate partner suggests it’s for longer than a weekend.

Tomatoes Tried To Kill Me But Banjos Saved My Life

Adelaide Fringe – The Garage International @ Scots. Presented by Quivering Dendrites. 16 February – 3 March 2024

Keith Alessi walks onto the stage with his instrument and quips all the old jokes about banjo players, to get them out of the way. He darkens only to mention the movie with the men in the canoe, then delivers such positivity about how his life turned to bring him to where he is today.

The Whisper

By Brodie Murray. Fortyfivedownstairs, Flinders Lane. 15 – 25 February 2024

An indigenous family, Nan (Melodie Reynolds-Diarra), elder grandson Jack (Balla Neba) and younger grandson Riley (the playwright Brodie Murray) travel mostly by night, evading the police and making their way south, fleeing South Australia and heading for the (relative) safety of Swan Hill in Victoria.  It’s around 1946-47 and the police are not just taking children away, they’re bullying, harassing and arresting Aboriginal people. 

Sex, Love and Youth – a Shakespearean Soiree

Adelaide Fringe – The Ballroom at Ayers House (also at Diverse-City, West Village). Presented by Jonathan J Mill. 16-20 February 2024

A small band of travelling players pick and choose from Shakespeare’s words, opting for fun over tragedy. Two women and three men take on all roles as they navigate a good portion of Romeo & Juliet and two of Shakespeare’s comedies to hammer home the expression of love through poetry, comedy, and sex.

Matador / intimo

Adelaide Fringe Festival 2024. Gluttony and Bass Fam Creative. The Octagon at Gluttony, Rymill Park, Adelaide. Feb 16 to March 17, 2024

Matador / intimo is burlesque with balls, or should I say bulls!

After a somewhat tardy start we are immediately immersed in a world drenched with blood-red light and couples lurking ominously in the shadows.

The show itself is a melange of burlesque, aerial work, flamenco, point work, cross gender, and salsa, all wrapped in costumes that would fit equally in the bull ring or a BDSM dungeon.

RIVER

Perth Festival. Performed by the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Perth Concert Hall. 16 February 2024

Music evokes powerful images and emotions in our imagination, so when film-maker, Jennifer Peedom and musical director/composer Richard Tognetti collaborate on creative decisions, expect to be emotionally moved.

RIVER is a documentary featuring much more than just aerial shots of flowing water.

It explores the very essence of how rivers are formed and how humans gather what they need but frequently interfere, leaving waste when they try to tame and shape the flow.

England & Son

Adelaide Fringe – The Studio, Holden Street Theatres. Presented by Holden Street Theatres’ Edinburgh Fringe Award ’23 in association with HOME Manchester and Tin Cat Entertainment. 16 February to 17 March 2024

An eight-year-old boy loves working with his dad, taking down old buildings – that’s the gentle trundling start of this turbulent story of one man’s life, and the people and politics that shaped him.

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