Reviews

Fish

By the rollercoaster theatre ensemble, dramaturge Sarah Sutherland; directed by Maude Davey. Rollercoaster Theatre Company. Melba Spiegeltent, 35 Johnston Street, Collingwood VIC. 31 August – 2 September 2017

Fish – as in ‘something’s fishy about this’ – is a kind of cabaret-comedy show about fear.  A series of sketches, songs and dances have been devised by the cast: Andrew Tresidder, Cameron Stanley, David Baker, Erin Pocervina, Michael Buxton, Shea McDonough and Ryan New.  Carolyn Bock and Grace Lowry are support performers and dance captains.  And Jane Bayly helps with the songs.

Love and Information 

By Caryl Churchill. WAAPA. Directed by Andrew Lewis. The Roundhouse Theatre, ECU, Bradford St, Mt Lawley, WA. August 25-31, 2017

WAAPA’s Third Year Acting performed Caryl Churchill’s Love and Information - a fast paced ensemble piece - as their final full scale production.

Love and Information is presented in seven sections, with each section divided into seven scenes. Scenes are given no particular context, characters rarely have names, and there is only one continuing story. Each scene lasts between a few seconds and around five minutes.

Puttin’ On The Ritz

Mellen Events. Concert Hall, QPAC. 30 August 2017

The Brits have an obsession with the BBC TVs Strictly Come Dancing bordering on the fanatical. Apart from becoming an institution that’s revered as much as the Royal Family, it’s also in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s most successful TV show of its kind. Puttin’ On the Ritz, a song-and-dance stage spin-off of the series, has been touring the UK for years and began its first Australian tour yesterday at QPAC’s Concert Hall. If you like sequins, spangles and loads of bling then this show’s for you.

Switzerland

By Joanna Murray-Smith. Black Swan State Theatre Company. Directed by Lawrie Cullen-Tait. Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre Centre of WA, Perth WA. Aug 19 - Sep 3, 2017

The curtain rises on a bunker-like room, set on an unnerving sideways rake. We meet our two characters, real-life persona, writer Patricia Highsmith and a representative from her New York publisher, an eager young man called Edward Ridgeway. At first it appears that this is a room from which there is no escape, but in this show, things are rarely as they appear.

Where the Streets Had a Name

By Eva Di Cesare, based on the book by Randa Abdel-Fattah. Monkey Baa Theatre Company. Lennox Theatre, Riverside Theatres Parramatta. Aug 30 – Sep 1, 2017

“When your home is occupied and you have no right of return, you hold on to what you can: the key to the front door; the title deeds to your land; a jar of soil”.

In this sentence from her program notes, Eva Di Cesare defines the essence of Randa Abdel-Fattah’s novel – just as her perceptive adaptation and deft direction capture the novel’s messages of the personal/political effects of occupation, violence and injustice.

 

La Vida Breve and Gianni Schicchi

By Manuel de Falla and Giocomo Puccini respectively. Directed by Nicholas Cannon and Douglas McNicol respectively. State Opera SA and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Conductor and Chorus Master - Brian Castles-Onion AM. August 30 & 31, 2017

La Vida Breveand Gianni Schicchi were presented as a double bill in a concert performance. The first, by Manuel de Falla, has the passion and tragedy of love when it is mixed with class conflict. The second has the wit and comedy of classic Commedia dell’Arte heightened by a Puccini soundtrack. La Vida Breve was a mixed experience whereas Gianni Schicchi was a thoroughly engaging and wonderful romp.

Thirty Nine

Fresh Theatre for Social Change. Realm - Eastland, Ringwood (Vic). 30th Aug - 2nd Sept, 2017

Fresh Theatre for Social Change is an insightful and socially relevant theatre company, located in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne. Their work engenders discussion on prevalent topics that surround us each day. Executive Director Sharyn Mullens Taylor explains their philosophical stance by 'using the medium of theatre we encourage the strong, give support to the timid, remind the indifferent and warn the oppressor.'

Macbeth

By William Shakespeare. State Theatre Company of SA. Dunstan Playhouse. August 25- September 16, 2017

Setting Shakespeare in present times is no longer seen as a groundbreaking initiative, but Geordie Brookman’s thoroughly modern production of Macbeth for State Theatre Company SA breaks new ground nevertheless, though for a very different reason than its contemporary setting.

Chicago

Music by John Kander. Lyrics by Fred Ebb. Book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse. WAAPA. Directed by Crispin Taylor. Geoff Gibbs Theatre, ECU, Bradford St, Mt Lawley, WA. Aug 26 – Sep 2, 2017

WAAPA’s graduating Musical Theatre students presented their final full length production – a beautifully polished version of Kander and Ebb’s Chicago – a show that Musical Director David King describes as “ideal for a performing arts school”.

Disney Beauty and the Beast

Music by Alan Menken. Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. Book by Linda Woolverton. APAN. Directed by Olivia Collier. The Regal Theatre, Subiaco, WA. Aug 25 - Sep 3, 2017

APAN’s Beauty and the Beast is a lavish production with a huge cast, big sets and a lot of buzz.

The cast is a mix of professional performers, current APAN students, graduates and students from a variety of performing arts studios across the state.

In the title roles on Opening Night were Breiarne Walker (who shares the role with Madeleine Shaw) and Sam Rabbone. Breiarne is a fresh and sweet Belle, with a lovely singing voice, while Sam is an imposing Beast, with a depth of feeling. 

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