Reviews

Opening night of Cock was refreshingly ready for an audience.  There was no evidence of a lack of time spent in the rehearsal room in this superbly directed (Beng Oh) 2009 work by British playwright Mike Bartlett. 

Cock is about relationships, sexual identity, romantic relationships, and performed identity.  At its heart is the suggestion that the act of sex can be isolated from gender and feelings of love, and, an individual’s behaviour can be controlled by social expectations and the coercion of others.

With a style like a movie thriller, Peter Evans’ Antony and Cleopatra is fast-paced, witty and exciting, and its tight, lean edit makes it fresh and comprehensible to a modern relatively lay audience. Every production of Shakespeare needs to decide to whom to pitch, and here, Evans seems to have aimed at a broader, more youthful group. Purists hanging out to hear each line of the sacred text for the richness of meaning and poetry probably consider it butchery, but I like the way each scene drives forward.

Let’s Get Practical! Live is more than just your average comedy show - it is an hilarious, cutting edge and satirical poke-in–the-eye probe into the world of TV hosts, live variety and quiz shows, performed by a talented, eclectic, ensemble cast.

The Very Good Looking Initiative presents its second season after winning Melbourne Fringe Best Emerging Performance ensemble and rightly so; this is a real show-stopper of a show and l mean what l say.

With his comedy After Dinner acclaimed Australian playwright Andrew Bovell takes us on a step back, to a time before social media and mobile phones, when if you were looking for love you had to drag yourself out of the house to the local pub or nightclub.

Designer Jonathon Oxlade has done a fine job in capturing the pub dining room of the 80s for this State Theatre of South Australia production; from the apricot tablecloths to the single fake carnation placed in the centre of each table, from the wood panelling on the walls to the insipid pale green carpet.