Reviews

Four Flat Whites in Italy

By Roger Hall. Director Tui Clark. Genesian Theatre. 14 Oct – 4 Nov, 2023

The ‘four flat whites’ in the title are two retired couples, recently acquainted, who are, inadvertently, travelling through Italy together. Written by prolific New Zealand playwright Roger Hall, the journey begins with a game of bridge in New Zealand and ends in a balmy night in Tuscany. What happens in between – disagreements, compromises, lost credit cards, finances and fun – is cleverly manipulated by Hall and the very identifiable characters he has created.

Joyride

Created and performed by Anna Lamb and Daniel Newell (DANDROGNY). Melbourne Fringe. The Car Park, Festival Hub, Trades Hall, Cnr Lygon and Victoria Sts, Carlton. 11 -22 October, 2023

Joyride is a series of vignettes set in a desolate car park complete with graffiti around a classic beamer (BMW). The focus on the car as both vehicle and place of relationship creates opportunity for the introduction of movement, circus and slapstick elements.

There is synchronised seat dancing to a classic driving mix, chases around the car, a breakout dance, a crash, a beer shower and clean for the car and a very modest stagehand who provides everything from Maccas meals to rain.

A New Brain

By William Finn and James Lapine. Davine Productions. Star Theatre, Adelaide. 13 – 21 October 2023

Davine Productions’ A New Brain by William Finn and James Lapine is a sheer delight from beginning to end. Once again, director David Gaucci has successfully led an ensemble of actors, musicians, designers, and more, to create a work that is detailed, nuanced, and thoroughly engaging. To create such unity is no small task at the best of times, and to achieve this kind of harmony with such a challenging piece such as A New Brain is a terrific achievement.

Academy of St Martin in the Fields

Concert Hall, QPAC. 12 October 2023

The Concert Hall and Queensland Performing Arts Centre welcomed the musicians from Britain’s Academy of St Martin in the Fields for two special performances, led by multi-award winning violinist and musical director of the Academy, Joshua Bell.

Mythos: Ragnarök

Written and directed by Ed Gamester. Melbourne Fringe. Phil McIntyre Live. The Bunker Testing Ground, Queen Victoria Market, Queen Street, Carlton. 3-29 October, 2023

If you are missing the footy and yearning for a good heartfelt chant and being caught up in the emotional ups and downs of a close game, this is for you. As a bonus, this group of professional wrestlers take Norse myths and bring the gods, or at least people who want to be gods, to life and show how their ambitions, loves, strengths and weaknesses drive them to their various downfalls.

Of The Land On Which We Meet

Devised by Harley Mann, Isabelle Champagne-Chittick, Manelaya kaydos-Nitis, Margot Mansfield, Emily Loe, Johnathon Brown. Directed by Harley Mann. Presented by Na Djinang Circus. Melbourne Fringe Festival. Meat Market - Cobblestone Pavilion, 3 Blackwood St, North Melbourne, 12 - 15 October 2023.

This performance is an awe-inspiring and deeply moving experience. Isabelle Champagne-Chittick, Manelaya Kaydos-Nitis, Johnathon Brown weave together acrobatics, contemporary dance, and aerial performance to consider the meaning of walking on country. This is explored not only from an Indigenous cultural perspective but also from other Australian multicultural heritage. This means the show also asks broader questions about connection to country and culture.

Loot

By Joe Orton. New Theatre, Sydney. Directed by Johann Walraven. 10 October – 4 November 2023

On an excellent pink/purple rendition of the Catholic front room of a 1960’s London home, by David Marshall-Martin, amazing events occur. Mrs McLeavy (Alison Davies) has died. She lies in an open coffin and, because it’s the New Theatre and there’s no curtain opening to reveal the scene, for 15 minutes prior to the first words, and then for at least 40 minutes afterwards, she is shown lying in state, spot lit, centre stage. Brilliantly, she does not move a muscle.

Ink

By James Graham. Australian Premiere. University of Adelaide Theatre Guild. Little Theatre, Adelaide. 12 – 22 October 2023

‘Find people like you: the spurned, the spited, the overlooked,’ says a young Rupert Murdoch to his new editor, Larry Lamb. He includes himself in that group, and it’s a central theme and Murdoch’s opportunity in this Australian premiere of Ink, the award-winning West End and Broadway play detailing the rise of The Sun newspaper in the UK at the end of the 1960s.

The Disappearance

Adapted by Les Solomon from an original story by Kin Platt. Chippen Street Theatre, NSW. October 10 - 22, 2023.

The stage was set with sheets suspended from the ceiling, an allegory for the notion of hanging someone out to dry. In this case the person being treated unfairly or exposed to the elements is Roger Baxter, a 15-year-old boy who suffers from a speech impediment and emotional issues. 

The production had a reading at the New Theatre and has been transferred to an elegant and ambitious production on the wide stage of the Chippen Street Theatre.

Class of 2023 Acting and Musical Theatre Showcase

Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University graduating students. Cremorne Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Brisbane. 6 & 7 October 2023

More than just a showcase, this year’s presentation by the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University Class of 2023 Acting and Musical Theatre students was a full show, with musical interludes in the dramatic pieces and dramatic interludes in the musical numbers.

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