Reviews

Jack and the Beanstalk

Bonnie Lythgoe Productions. State Theatre, Sydney. July 12 – 21, 2019

Bonnie Lythgoe Productions warms up the winter school holidays with yet another fairy tale pantomime, this year with the added ‘oomph’ of 3D projections of a virtual giant and the creepy creatures of his lair. This all-singing, all-dancing – and all-groaning jokes – production sticks to the plot a little more than did Sleeping Beauty last year.

A Chorus of Disapproval

By Alan Ayckbourn. Darlington Theatre Players. Directed by Luke Miller. Marloo Theatre, Greenmount, @Q. July 5-27, 2019.

Darlington Theatre Players’ backstage comedy, A Chorus of Disapproval, is garnering firm approval from its audiences. Alan Ayckbourn’s play is centred around the adventures of recently widowed Guy Jones, as he joins Pendon Light Operatic Society (PLOS), in the lead-up to their production of John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera.

The Double Bass

Playwright: Patrick Suskind. Translator: Michael Hoffmann. Director: Lisa Harper Campbell. Cranking Hog Productions. Bakehouse Theatre, Adelaide. 9-20 July, 2019.

Solo performances, at their best, carry with them a uniquely thrilling charge, akin to watching a high-wire artist attempting to stay balanced without a net. In the case of this show, Eddie Morrison demonstrates a remarkable ability to keep us interested in the thoughts of one character in one location for 75 minutes.

An Evening With Sherlock Holmes

By Jules Tasca. Wanneroo Repertory. Directed by Shelley McGinn. The Limelight Theatre, Wanneroo WA. July 4-13, 2019

Wanneroo Repertory’s An Evening With Sherlock Holmes is a drama in three acts, each act a separate and complete story featuring Arthur Conan Doyle’s most famous characters.

Featuring in all three stories are Mark Fitzpatrick, who is upright and convincing in the title role, Phil Bedworth who is an excellent Dr Watson, with a beautiful manner, and Christine Smith, who is lovely as Mrs Hudson.

Revolutions Per Minute (RPM)

Australian Youth Dance Festival Gala, presented by Ausdance Victoria and Youth Dance Australia. Meat Market, 5 Blackwood Street, North Melbourne. 10 & 11 July, 2019.

The gala event across two evenings is a culmination of a project that brought together Australian and international youth dance organisations for five days of collaborative workshops. Interacting with leading educators and professionals the participants, aged 15-25, contributed to creating the twelve dance sequences for this impressive show. The project included dancers from all around Australia, and from various international locations: UK, Scotland, Denmark Finland and Singapore.

Annie Get Your Gun

Music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Original book by Dorothy Fields and Herbert Fields, revised by Peter Stone. Diamond Valley Singers. July 5 – 13, 2019

Annie Get Your Gun is packed full of hit songs, and demands a sense of ensemble, great stylistic verve, and sure musicality from its cast and creatives.

DVS's production of the show managed to deliver on these key elements, particularly in the casting of the principal roles of Annie Oakley (a fiery Sophia Bubner) and Frank Butler (a charming Wade Robinson).  

Love is a Drag

Tim Draxl. Sydney Cabaret Festival. Seymour Centre, Sydney. July 10-12, 2019

“My Man”, “The Man I Love”, “Bewitched”, “Mad About The Boy” …. all love songs that are generally sung by women but actually written by men. And they are among the numbers that make up the 1962 album Love is a Drag, a recording of male-to-male love songs that became a cult hit in the gay community. 

Bondi Feast

Festival of Theatre, Comedy, Cabaret and Circus. Bondi Pavilion. July 9 – 20, 2019

There are lots of good reasons to head to Bondi Beach this winter. Although the famous lifeguards are mainly off duty, behind them, in the soon to be spruced up Bondi Pavilion, is a smorgasbord of entertainment on offer – including many award winning acts from fringe and comedy festivals interstate.

The Gospel According to Paul

By Jonathan Biggins. Cremorne Theatre, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Brisbane. 9 to 13 July 2019

Written and performed by Jonathan Biggins, The Gospel According to Paul is a tour de force script brought to life in a performance of inspired wit but also political admiration. While Biggins gives a brilliant impersonation, he doesn’t set out to look or sound exactly like Paul Keating; but he does conquer Keating’s key attributes: the arrogance, the ego, and the political nous.

Solaris

By David Greig, adapted from Stanislaw Lem’s novel. Malthouse Theatre. Merlyn Theatre. June 28 – July 21 2019.

Solaris is another remarkable feat of staging from Director, and Malthouse’s Artistic Director, Matthew Lutton.  On an immaculate white set (Hyemi Shin) with walls that magically open and close to furnish cold impassive environments on a space station, three living scientists try to understand the strange, lurking, human-like, presences that have beset their environment.  These disturbances are attributed to extraterrestrial interactions from the planet Solaris and unnervingly they have been, mysteriously, growing in efficacy.  

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