Reviews

It’s nearly 30 years since we watched Australia’s own ballroom dancing champions on the telly as they conquered the world. Thousands of Aussie girls (my own two included) were inspired to take up ballroom dancing as a result. There never has, and probably never will be, a dance couple quite so skilled, original and innovative as Jason and Peta. Like Torvill and Dean in ice dance, they epitomise excellence.

“It was good but I don’t know what it was about,” concluded the theatre enthusiast beside me. He’d never seen Measure for Measure, let alone in Russian.

It’s a rigorous, bracing production from Moscow’s Pushkin Theatre, with director Declan Donnellan and designer Nick Ormerod from Britain’s famed Cheek by Jowl – a star offering of the Sydney Festival.  But, yes, you need to know the play.

The Sydney Festival kicks off premiering this rousing local chamber opera from composer Mary Finsterer and librettist Tom Wright.  Through a dozen episodic scenes, we glimpse key moments in the life and genius of the Italian astronomer, mathematician, doctor and general Renaissance polymath, Gerolamo Cardano.  

In a speaking role, Mitchell Butel captures his abrasive capacity to speak on all matters – and the  interconnectedness of all systems – but Cardano has less luck connecting with his own domestic life.  

This quintessential Sydney story – adapted entirely by New Zealand born creatives – wrapped the audience in a familiar and cosy blanket of recognition. The production has been previously staged in Brisbane and Melbourne where references to Sydney suburbs did not elicit the giggles of recognition achieved in their hometown.

At the heart of the story is a young girl, aged 17 who wants, not to find the man of her dreams, but advance her education. In the 1950’s completing the Leaving Certificate (HSC) was the exception rather than the rule.