Reviews

BEASTLY is a truly wonderful ‘free’ event and is perhaps unlike anything else in the current terrific OzAsia Festival. It is an interactive installation art project as well as offering pieces of performance art. I am a big fan of installation art works, especially if they are interactive. It is in these cases that one becomes an active member of the audience rather than passive. From experience, there is always an initial sense of confusion that invariably leads to a form of experiential clarity and insight.

Nice Work If You Can Get It is a much-reworked version of George and Ira Gershwin’s 1920’s musical Oh, Kay! Every convention of a twenties musical comedy is pulled into service, from showgirls popping up out of a bath, to mistaken identities, disguises, and as many hoary old jokes as Joe DiPietro could cram into his script.

As I have reported in previous reviews, this remarkable company of teenagers create every aspect of their production.

Their latest offering is The Toymakers; set in a shanty town during the great depression in New York City. While one immediately thinks of Annie: that is where the similarity ends. The first act was a little slow while the scene and plot were established, but once that was out of the way, the show settled down to and intriguing piece of theatre.

What the company lacked in expensive trappings they more than made up for in enthusiasm and energy.

Nobody Owns the Moon is a World Premiere production by Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, based on the book of the same name by Tohby Riddle. A poignant and moving new work, it is perhaps the last new work to feature the talents of co-creator Noriko Nishimoto, who died earlier this year.

Darker in theme, subject matter and design than most pieces for young people, Nobody Owns the Moon touches on themes of loneliness, homelessness and greed, but is ultimately joyful and hopeful.