Reviews

Louis Nowra’s 1985 classic The Golden Age sprang from a decade when our playwrights  wrote not domestic snapshots but big picture, big cast, thematically ambitious epics.

Nowra’s ironically titled play follows the discovery after nearly a century of a lost tribe of convicts in the wilds of Tasmania, but also trips through the collapse of civilisations from ancient Greece to Nazi Germany.  This is no less than the clash of culture and nature, of classes, of settler and indigenous histories, and what’s forging our national identity.  

Recommended for awards from the Edinburgh Fringe, the Perth Fringe and the Adelaide Fringe, this clever production from Bunk Puppets is entertaining and intriguing. Puppeteer Tim Sneddon is a versatile performer who initially captures the interest of the audience with a range of strange vocal sound effects, then totally captivates them with a delightful ‘cast’ of shadow puppets that he creates on stage from various pieces of clothing and household detritus.

This new music hall opera targeting the kids has already been acclaimed at the Perth and Melbourne festivals and awarded four Helpmanns. 

Based on John Marsden’s book, illustrated by Shaun Tan, The Rabbits is about their colonising arrival and the pain and displacement they cause the native marsupials.  It’s a witty, sometimes heavy-handed, often moving primer on Aboriginal experience and environmental destruction, adapted by director John Sheedy to a libretto by Larry Katz. 

O.M.G.! Ballina Players Youth Theatre production of Legally Blonde Jnr is a like a breath of fresh air. The Players invest a lot of time in their Youth Theatre with annual performances in the January School Holidays which are staged by the young group with guidance from some adult members.

Legally Blonde Jnris a prime example of how this combination is a success. The production team of directors: Mike and Jaime, musical director Jordan Stotter and Jaime’s choreography presented a tight, very entertaining show.