Reviews

The characters of Fiddler on the Roof remind the world of the effects of oppression in one of the most effective ways possible – through theatre and music. Though set in the mythical, 19th century town of Anatevka, the effects of change and discrimination faced by that small community are not too far away from the changing and troubled places in the world today.

Hamlet (the opera) is one of the jewels of the Adelaide Festival of Arts. It is a juggernaut, featuring an orchestra of 70, a cast of approximately 60 and a set that is monumental.

The Festival Theatre was packed to the rafters on the first night of this long-awaited opera and anticipation was at a peak. The audience was not disappointed.

The real heroes of this opera are Shakespeare, Brett Dean (musical score) and Matthew Jocelyn (libretto).

Knowing that this is a show enacted by youth performers, the title might lead you to expect a well-mannered examination/dramatization of teenage loneliness and/or online bullying. What we get instead is a pretty fierce and frightening depiction of human relations that, when faced with the sudden breakdown of society as we know it, descend into the kind of tribalism that signals a very bleak future indeed.

When writer David Finnigan speaks about his play Kill Climate Deniers he calls it “stupid, over-the-top, flashy, ridiculous, fun — and angry, because I am angry.” That’s a long list, but one that looks good after its dynamic premiere at the Stables Theatre. Winner of the $10,000 Griffin Playwrights Award for 2017, the play shows off its class effortlessly.