Reviews

Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show

Written and Directed by Jean Paul Gaultier. Presented by Brisbane Festival, Tourism and Events Queensland, Brisbane Economic Development Agency, South Bank Corporation in Association with Ts3, RGM Productions, and Avex Entertainment. Southbank Piazza, 30 August – 15 September 2024.

Fashionistas, freaks, and freaky fashionistas are devouring a delightfully French sweet treat courtesy of Jean Paul Gaultier's Fashion Freak Show. It’s the jewel in the crown of this year's Brisbane Festival, staged in the massive South Bank Piazza venue.  

English

By Sanaz Toossi. Melbourne Theatre Company, directed by Tasnim Hossain. The Playhouse, Canberra, 5–7 September 2024.

Sanaz Toossi’s play takes place in Iran in a classroom for four students of English as a foreign language, the different sessions amusingly signalled by changes in the room’s wall clock.

Ruddigore or The Witch’s Curse

Music by Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO. Libretto by Sir William Schwenck Gilbert. Gilbert and Sullivan Opera Victoria. Director/Set Designer: Ron Picock OAM. Musical Director/Conductor: Trevor Henley. Choreographer: Denique Adlam. Alexander Theatre, Ian Potter Centre for the Arts, Clayton, 6-8 September, 2024 and Corinella, 14 September 2024

A small Cornish fishing village. A bad baronet under a curse. Professional bridesmaids with no weddings. Nasty ghostly ancestors. A village beauty. A mad woman. A dauntless sailor – let’s call him Dick.

Edward Scissorhands

Matthew Bourne’s dance production based on the Tim Burton movie and featuring the music of Danny Elfman and Terry Davies. Filmed live in March 2024 at the Wales Millenium Centre, Cardiff. Sharmill Films. Screening in select Australian cinemas from September 27, 2024.

I have always thought that the 1990 film Edward Scissorhands is the pinnacle of Johnny Depp’s acting career, the ‘Frankenstein’ boy with scissors instead of hands who only wants to fit into society. It’s a unique combination of comedy, tragedy and horror.

British choreographer Matthew Bourne, famous for his 1995 all male version of Swan Lake has taken this classic film and turned it into a ballet while still retaining the look and feel of the original but placing it in the 50s instead of the 80s.

Iphigenia in Splott - Redux

By Gary Owen. Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre, East St Kilda. 3 September – 22 September 2024

Red Stitch Actors’ Theatre first presented Gary Owen’s Iphigenia in Splott in June-July 2021 to great acclaim: audiences were overwhelmed, and there were three much deserved Green Room Awards: Performance, Direction and Design.  In 2024, Red Stitch brings back this funny, visceral, confronting monologue with the same team: Jessica Clarke as ‘Effie’, director Gary Abrahams, and designers Jacob Battista & Sophie Woodward.  Here is Stage Whispers 2021 review (redux) with a few tweaks and amendments…

Puccini Double Bill

Presented by Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University as part of the Brisbane Festival. Music by Giacomo Puccini. Libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. Conservatorium Theatre. 3-7 September 2024

Puccini's two contrasting one-act operas are an excellent choice for students of classical voice not only because of their vocal requirements but also their intriguing theatricality and diversity of character. After recently viewing a production of the university's musical theatre department and now the talents of the opera school, I am equally impressed by the standard of presentation, though in this instance these works are a worthy example of two diverse and demanding scores that require far more intense and expert vocal training.

The Vicar of Dibley

By Ian Gower and Paul Carpenter, adapted from the TV series by Richard Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer-Archer. Harbour Theatre. Directed by Jarrod Buttery. Hamilton Hill, Memorial Hall, WA. Aug 30 - Sep 8, 2024

Harbour Theatre are the most recent victims of the roof collapsing trend blighting Perth theatres. Currently unable to use their regular home, Camelot, in Mosman Park, they were looking for a popular, bums-on-seats show to attract an audience to their temporary venue, Hamilton Hill’s Memorial Hall, and they have found a great choice in this stage adaptation of The Vicar of Dibley.

Roleystone Theatre One Act Season

By Aydee Bull, Anton Chekhov and Steven Herrick and Andre Victor. Directed by Aydee Bull, Paul Treasure and Andre Victor. Roleystone Theatre, WA. Aug 30-31, 2024

Roleystone Theatre delivered three very different one act plays as part of a very short one act season. With two locally written shows, one of which was a musical and a Russian classic, it was certainly a diverse selection.

LIMBO – The Return

Presented by Brisbane Festival and Strut & Fret. Conceived and directed by Scott Maidment. Original music by Sxip Shirey. The West End Electric, 29 August – 21 September 2024.

It’s dangerous and death defying, it's flirtatious and sexy, it's spiritual and it's visceral. It has been ten years in the making, and it's toured and received a dictionary’s worth of positive hyperbole from audiences and critics across 17 countries. LIMBO is so cool even Madonna has seen it – twice! When you’re a critic heading into a show like this, you wonder if it will live up to all of the hype. Spoiler alert: oh yes, you’d better believe it will.

West Side Story

Music: Leonard Bernstein. Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim. Book: Arthur Laurents. MLOC Productions Inc. & Casey Philharmonic Orchestra. Bunjil Place, Narre Warren. August 29 – September 31, 2021.

Photographer: Perren Bonsall

From the first notes to the final breath, West Side Story is one of the most memorable musicals and greatest love stories of all time. Arthur Laurents' book remains as powerful, poignant, and timely as ever. The score by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim is widely regarded as one of the best written. The world's greatest love story takes to the streets in this landmark Broadway musical that is one of the theatre's finest accomplishments.

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