Reviews

Impermanence

Presented by the Sydney Dance Company and Australian String Quartet. Adelaide Festival 2021. Festival Theatre. Mar 10 – 11, 2021

Sometimes out of disaster something astonishing arises. So it is with Impermanence.

The Deep North

By Matt Hawkins with music by James Bannah Jr. South Australian Playwrights Theatre. Adelaide Fringe. The Lab @ Light Square. 10 - 21 March, 2021

‘Where are you going? / Where do you come from’ is the opening ensemble number of The Deep North – a new African-Australian musical currently playing at The Lab @ Light Square as part of this year’s Adelaide Fringe Festival. This opening number encapsulates what this wonderful ‘coming-of-age-musical’ is all about. Originally from Uganda, Jasmine Mutesa (Pontsha Nthupi) is a young girl living with her Uncle Ebby (Stephen Tongun) and brother Ben (Tumela Nthupi) in Port Augusta.

The Cherry Orchard

Adapted by Adriane Daff and Katherine Tonkin after Anton Chekhov. Black Swan / Perth Festival. Directed by Clare Watson. The Sunset Heritage Precinct, Dalkeith, WA. Feb 20- Mar 20, 2021

For every theatre student who has ever suffered through studying Anton Chekhov’s comic masterpiece The Cherry Orchard, finding it tedious and very unfunny, comes salvation in this local adaptation by Adriane Daff and Katherine Tonkin. Black Swan’s production for Perth Festival is set in South West WA, during the late 1980s, and this fresh and interesting adaptation finds the humour in its examination of humanity in the midst of a terrible situation.

Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen

Adelaide Festival 2021. Adelaide Town Hall. Mar 9, 2021

Since seeing his performance as Oberon in A Midsummer’s Night Dream in the Adelaide Festival, I have been looking forward to hearing Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen in concert.

Grief Lightning: A Satire in 78 Slides

Written and performed by Mary Angley, presented by Paper Mouth Theatre & Wickedly Good Productions. Adelaide Fringe 2021 at various venues (including Live at Home and Pre-recorded at Home). Feb 23 – Mar 21, 2021

Every now and again, a show tumbles out of Adelaide Fringe as the start of something much, much bigger. This is one of those shows.

Based on theories that the plot of the 1978 film Grease is really a coma fantasy, Mary Angley plays the role of a lecturer delivering her evidence to a room full of students in this sublime comic theatre. She commands the stage from the moment she pokes her head around a door.

The End is High-Concept

Presented by Cackling Jackal. Adelaide Fringe 2021. Ngunyawayiti Theatre at Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute. Mar 10 – 21, 2021

The setting is a spaceship, the crew and passengers are a disparate collection of lightly sketched characters, and the computer (with more than a nod to Red Dwarf’s Holly) undergoes a personality change following an update. Comedy is delivered through sketches, distinct narratives told as asides from the main story, with video projection helping to set the scene and give us alternative perspectives. Neither the humour nor visuals are particularly successful.

The Producers

Music & Lyrics: Mel Brooks. Book: Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan. Altitude Theatre production. Director/Choreographer: Joseph Simons. Musical Director: Jacqui Devereux. Brisbane Powerhouse. 4-13 March, 2021

A great cast, whose professionalism shines through every bead and spangle, brings this flashy version of Mel Brooks’ politically incorrect valentine to Broadway of the fifties gloriously to life. With expert direction by director and choreographer Joseph Simons, this whacky paean to the Third Reich bursts with flamboyant performances.

Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show

By Yaron Lifschitz (based on the TV series by Richard Starzak and Nick Park). Presented by Circa and Aardman. Lyric Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Brisbane. 6 to 21 March 2021

Much-loved star of Aardman’s animated stable of talent, Shaun the Sheep has had his first world premiere, starring in a new live stage show at the Lyric Theatre, QPAC in Brisbane. Shaun the Sheep’s Circus Show features a clever mix of live action acrobatics and on-screen animation that is sure to please the whole family. Even those who have not seen the TV cartoon or feature films will not feel left out – as the giant on-stage screens are used to introduce the characters and the setting at Mossy Bottom Farm. And then it’s over to Brisbane’s Circa!

Seussical

Music: Stephen Flaherty, Lyrics: Lynn Ahrens. Camden Musical Society inaugural production. Director: Melissa Musgrave, Musical Director: Sally Quinnell, Choreographer: Joy Pennock. Camden Civic Centre. March 5 – 20, 2021.

There’s something special about an opening night that’s not only an opening night but also the opening night of a society’s first-time production. And so it was with Camden Musical Society’s opening night of Seussical. Something of a formal affair, with society president Craig Davidson zhuzhed-up in bow tie and giving a short speech prior to performance, in front of a full audience that included many local councillors.

What Makes a Musical, A Musical

By Joshua Haines, Lachlan Obst, Cassie Skinner and Lorna Mackie. Grey Lantern. Directed by Lorna Mackie. The Studio, Subiaco Arts Centre, WA. March 4-6, 2021

Grey Lantern’s What Makes a Musical, A Musical, was originally scheduled for a Fringe World season, which unfortunately was in the week that we were in Lockdown. Fortunately for Perth’s musical theatre fans, Grey Lantern mounted a short independent season of this impressive World Premiere musical.

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