Reviews

Putting It Together

Music & Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim. Griffith University Musical Theatre Students. Director: Elise Greig. Musical Director: Heidi Loveland. Choreographer: John Clarke. Burke Street Studio Theatre, Woolloongabba. 28-30 April 2022

Director Elise Greig did not heed Stephen Sondheim’s mantra of ‘Less Is More’ with this production of Putting it Together. The original paper-thin plot of setting it at a cocktail party, also had to carry a secondary plot of the kids rehearsing the show for a Broadway producer. It made for a long afternoon in the theatre. Of course Greig had to make room for a cast of 23, whereas the original only had five performers in it. The show was also used as a salute to Sondheim following his recent death, though I might add that it was way too sycophantic.

Kunstkamer

Choreographers Paul Lightfoot, Sol León, Marco Goecke and Crystal Pite. The Australian Ballet. Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House. April 29 – May 14, 2022

Kunstkamer is a theatrically enthralling, unprecedented leap by the Australian Ballet into contemporary dance.  Artistic director David Hallberg wooed its four choreographers to work here with his forty AB dancers and stage Kunstkamer for the first time since its premiere at the Nederland Dance Theatre.

Dear Mama, There’s Something Maybe I Should Tell You…

By Lansy Feng. Director Ellen O’Connor. Wit Incorporated. Bluestone Church Art Space 27 30 April; Brunswick Mechanic Institute, Brunswick 13 – 14 May; The Bowery Theatre, St Albans 30 May 2022

Li-Ting (Lansy Feng) has fallen in love – but only online - with a Frenchman, Charles (Anthony Pontonio).  She escapes Taiwan and her fearsome Mama (Sasha Leong) for… Melbourne – of all places.  She and Charles plan to meet up at Flinders Street Station.  But after two hours, Charles doesn’t show and he’s unreachable on any platform.  Li-Ting is desperate.  She plays her ukulele and sings.  Is she a busker or just cheering herself up?  Someone (Michael Chan) steals her ukulele.  Luckily a bunch of Aussies happen by and r

Six the Musical

By Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. Directed by Lucy Moss and Jamie Armitage. Produced in Australia by Louise Withers, Michael Coppel and Linda Bewick. Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra. April 23 – May 15, 2022.

Right from the start, the queens tell us in Ex-Wives:

I’m done ‘cause all this time

I’ve been just one word in a stupid rhyme.

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert: The Musical.

By Allan Scott and Stephan Elliott. Free-Rain Theatre Company. Directed by Jarrad West and Steph Roberts. The Q, Queanbeyan. 16 April to 22 May 2022.

Best known for the movie about two drag queens and a transgender woman taking a fantastically redecorated bus to Alice Springs to strut their stuff, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert has undergone major transformations in becom

Hamlet

By William Shakespeare. Presented by Bell Shakespeare. Directed by Peter Evans. Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne. 28 April - 14 May, 2022.

Peter Evans has taken a very novel approach to this great tragedy. He has looked beyond gender and race for a great deal of the casting, including the choice of Harriet Gordon-Anderson as Hamlet. These choices are never justified or explained, and this is part of a much more progressive agenda that exudes in this production. Gordon-Anderson creates an impish yet intensely serious Hamlet who is ruthlessly able to unravel the royal Danish family who inhabit Elsinore castle. Her performance is managed in a deliberate and masterful manner.

A Streetcar Named Desire

By Tennessee Williams. Bakehouse Theatre, SA. April 27 – May 6 2022

‘What you are talking about is brute desire – just – Desire!’ says an incredulous Blanche when her sister Stella explains why she stays with her abusive husband. Yet she could be talking about our need for intimate theatre in Adelaide, lamenting the imminent closure of the wonderful Bakehouse Theatre.

The Merry Wives of Windsor

By William Shakespeare. New Theatre, Sydney. Directed and Set Designed by Victor Kalka. 22 April – 21 May 2022

The setting for this New Theatre production of Shakespeare’s usually unregarded The Merry Wives of Windsor bodes well. Designed by director Victor Kalka, it features a large, very Aussie house with corrugated iron roofing and, yes, a Hills Hoist in the backyard. Perhaps this merry Windsor will be the city of Windsor in country New South Wales, with a house run by relatives of Kath and Kim. 

No More Sugar No More Tea

Written and Directed by Richard Frankland. Music by Biddy Connor and Richard Frankland. Produced by Biddy Connor and Matt Delbridge. Presented by Darebin Arts Speakeasy. Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre, 189 High St, Northcote, Vic. 26-30 April 2022.

This performance is an original folk opera based on the real-life events of the ancestors of writer and performer Richard Frankland. The story of the colonial policies that dispossessed and discriminated against First Nations people is confronting. The songs, some of which are based on letters written to soldier husbands, reveal how the contribution of Indigenous people to Australian society has largely been ignored. The songs acknowledge their important role in the protection and development of Australian society and the narratives are often poignant and heartbreaking.

Tarantara! Tarantara!

By Ian Taylor. Songs by Gilbert and Sullivan. Gilbert & Sullivan Society of SA Inc. Arts Theatre, Adelaide. April 27th- 30th, 2022

For those of us who love the toe-tapping canon of Gilbert & Sullivan, (G&S) Tarantara! Tarantara! is the perfect box of mixed favourite chocolates. Performed by the G & S Society, the book is by Ian Taylor, with songs by Gilbert and Sullivan. Telling the story of Gilbert and Sullivan - their disputes, their triumphs and their failures, with the bonus of G&S works threaded through the story – the show is a treat for lovers of their work.

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