Reviews

Double Beat

Form Dance Projects. Director: Sara Black. Riverside Theatres. May 5-7, 2022

Hearing the heartbeat of her son for the first time led choreographer Sara Black to what became Double Beat, a movement piece based around the different rhythms of beating hearts as they react to the pressures affecting the people whose bodies they charge.

Composer Alyx Dennison recorded the varying heart beats from nine people, combined them with the sounds of birds and wild life, and compiled them into a sound track that reflects the multitude of emotions and reactions that affect the human psyche and are mirrored physically in the changing rhythms of the heart.

#NOEXEMPTIONS

By Angela Buckingham. Directed by Susie Dee. La Mama Courthouse. 27 April – 8 May 2022

In a dim-lit bare space suggested only by outlines of green neon, a haggard woman, Maria (Helen Hopkins) stares out a window, scanning the street below.

La Traviata

By Giuseppe Verdi. Opera Australia at State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St Kilda Road, Melbourne. 4–28 May 2022.

This is a stunning production that exudes confidence, charm and elegance. Stacey Alleaume is outstanding as Violetta. The power of her voice conveys enormous depth of emotion and gives a sincere level of substance to what can seem like a superficial romantic story.  Alleaume is able to portray Violetta’s fiery yet extremely compassionate nature and this makes her character and her actions very comprehensible. Ho-Yoon Chung as Alfredo takes some time to warm up to his role and at times his voice is overpowered by the intensity of the other performers.

Hotel Sorrento

By Hannie Rayson. Canberra REP. Directed by Alexandra Pelvin. REP Theatre, Acton. 28 April to 14 May 2022.

A new production’s opening night is always abuzz with the climax of weeks and months of preparations with — usually — completion of a first “real” performance; if the audience loves the show, it’s icing on a cake that tastes good regardless.

Alexandra Pelvin’s directorial debut, with assistance by Antonia Kitzel, came with icing by the spoonful.

Unqualified 2: Still Unqualified

By Genevieve Hegney and Catherine Moore. Ensemble Theatre, Sydney. Directed by Janine Watson. 29 April – 4 June 2022

Way back in COVID-free 2018, two actors reshaped their six-part TV series (that wasn’t going anywhere) into a dynamic play, Unqualified, about two women who start a temp agency with no extra employees. Bingo! Genevieve Hegney and Catherine Moore had a hit on their hands, along with the Ensemble’s Artistic Director Mark Kilmurry, who was first to spot the terrific twosome’s theatrical worth. Now, four years later, they’re Still Unqualified and raring to go.

A Hundred Words for Snow

By Tatty Hennessy. Directed by Gavin Roach. Theatre Works Explosive Factory, 67 Inkerman Street, St Kilda. 2 – 7 May 2022

Her Dad was a Geography teacher, but Rory (Eddie Pattison) thinks of him as an explorer – an Arctic explorer.  For Rory, that’s what he was, really.  They played explorers in the nearby woods.  Her bedtime stories were the lives – and deaths – of the famous Arctic explorers.  But now Dad is gone, killed in a car accident.  Rory is utterly bereft.  In her Dad’s study, filled with posters, maps and books about the Arctic, she finds her Dad’s notebooks and discovers that he had planned, in great, precise detail, to go to the Nor

Twelfth Night

By William Shakespeare. Directed by Dr Michael McCall. Hayman Theatre, Curtin University, Bentley, WA. April 26-30, 2022

William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night came to life at Curtin University in this vibrant production directed by Michael McCall. Well presented, it explored the non-binary nature of human affection, swinging from high comedy to tragedy with energy and verve.

Presented on a simple but effective multi-level set by Sam Bar-Ari and Analisa Cicchini, a thoughtful lighting design from Hayley Smith adds to our emotion. Costumes are modern with a retro twist, well designed and sourced by Kiri Siva, Olivia Fellows and Samantha Dewar.

The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny

Music Kurt Weill. Book & lyrics by Bertolt Brecht, Elizabeth Hauptmann & Kurt Weill. Conductor Peter Tregear. Directed by Suzanne Chaundy. IOpera and Melbourne Opera. Atheneum Theatre, Collins Street. 1, 3 & 5 May 2022

A spirited and full-throated production of Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht’s last collaboration – before the Nazis intervened – an opera that is a dark, cynical, and mocking satire of American capitalism and/or the Weimar Republic.  The principal singers have great presence and things are enlivened by Christopher Hocking’s animations and news montages projected, along with narration and pointed epigrams, on a giant cyclorama.  Mahagonny was first produced in 1930, but it could be just as much about now.

An American in Paris

Music and lyrics by George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin. Book by Craig Lucas. GWB Entertainment and The Australian Ballet. Theatre Royal, Sydney. April 29 – July 3, 2022.

Classic MGM musical An American in Paris pirouettes seamlessly from screen to stage, directed and choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon.

Demobbed American GI and artist Jerry Mulligan (Robert Fairchild), in Paris, newly liberated from the Nazis, falls instantly in love with petite French dancer Lise Dassin (Leanne Cope).

Petrushka - Game, Set and Match

Choreographed by Scott Elstermann. Studio Underground, State Theatre Centre of WA, Perth, WA. April 28 - May 1, 2022

Petrushka - Game, Set and Match is a highly theatrical blend of Ballet, Contemporary Dance and Tennis. Choreographed by Scott Elstermann, it is a reimagining of the ballet Petrushka by Sergei Diaghilev. Beautifully danced and staged with a great sense of fun, this was easy to watch and compelling dance theatre.

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