Reviews

Calamity Jane

Adapted by Ronald Hanmer and Phil Park. From the stage play by Charles K. Freeman. After Warner Bros. Film written by James O’Hanlon. Lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. Music by Sammy Fain. One Eyed Man Productions in association with Neglected Musicals & Hayes Theatre Co. Canberra Theatre, 15 – 19 August, 2018 and Belvoir Street Theatre, 23 – 30 September.

Weaving elements of cabaret in with the classic musical, One Eyed Man’s Calamity Jane is a very different take to the 1953 film. It’s earthier, raunchier and more intimate. Seating a small number of the audience on the stage gives a sense of inclusion as well as providing ample victims for audience participation. Far and away the best thing about the show is the marvellous performance as Calamity Jane by Virginia Gay.

Fallen

By Seanna van Helten. Directed by Penny Harpham. She Said Theatre. Fortyfivedownstairs, Flinders Lane, Melbourne. 15 – 26 August 2018

The premise of Fallen – as in ‘a fallen woman’ – is the suppression of women’s stories.  Playwright Seanna van Helten sets her play in a real place, Urania Cottage, where suppression of women’s stories was explicit, stated policy.  Urania Cottage – a ‘home of refuge and reform’, to quote the program notes from writer and director - was set up and overseen by Charles Dickens in the 1840s, to offer ‘young, destitute, underclass women the chance… to begin life afresh…’  But there were two co

Overture

Director & Choreographer. Jo Lloyd. Arts House – North Melbourne Town Hall. August 14 – 19 2018.

Overture is an enjoyable and resonant work of contemporary dance.  The choreography is unique and intriguing – entrancing and absorbing - though difficult to describe. 

Broadway On Screen

Queensland Pops Orchestra. Conductor: Patrick Pickett. Guest Soprano: Mirusia. Queensland Conservatorium Performing Arts Ensemble. Concert Hall, QPAC. 11 August 2018

On the morning of this concert when told his leading lady, Lucy Durack, was suffering from a throat infection and couldn’t sing, the ever-resourceful conductor Patrick Pickett found a replacement. And what a replacement she was, Brisbane born Aria winner and international star of Andre Rieu’s concerts since 2007, Mirusia.

In Your Blood

Tracks Dance Company. Concept and Artistic Directors: Tim Newth and David McMicken. Cultural advisors: Putu Desak Wati Stretton and Chandrika Munasinghe. Assistant Director: Kelly Beneforti. Choreography: Putu Desak Wati Stretton, Chandrika Munasinghe, Kelly Beneforti, David McMicken, Venaska Cheliah, Bryn Wackett and Madeleine Brown. Design: Tim Newth. Music: James Mangohig. Lighting Designer: Chris Kluge. Performers: Chandrika Munasinghe, Eranda Munasinghe, Putu Desak Warti, Max Stretton, Ashifa Putri Noor, Kelly Beneforti, Noor Rahmawati and Suryani Sumendra, Hong Doan, Inoka Nanayakkara, Nimeshi Fernando, Nishadya Kapuduwa, Savindie Gunawardhana, Shehana Munasinghe, Venaska Cheliah, Anthony Burridge, Ary Brown, Bryn Wackett, Darryl Butler, Ellen Hankin, Jenelle Saunders, Louise Truan, Robyn Higgins, Thevi Cheliah, Alicia Smith, Anokai Susi, Cassandra Wallace, Clarice Campos, Grace Halliwell, Jess Green, Jessica Rabelo Amaral, Kristy Renfrey, Kylie Innes, Madeleine Brown, Perrine Orlandini, Saranya Rajkumar, Ciella Williams and Will Crawford. Darwin Festival 2018. Holtze Lawn, George Brown Darwin Botanic Gardens. 13–19 August, 2018.

Last year while I was visiting Darwin, I was invited along to the Tracks Dance Company’s 2017 Darwin Festival show, Man Made. A dear friend’s grandson was one of the performers, and it would not have been advisable to say, ‘No thanks, I am not particularly interested’ to either this extraordinarily talented young performer, or his divine and devoted Nan.

RUR 2020

Adapted from R.U.R. by Karel Capek; written by Rohan Byrne. Produced by PlayReactive, and hosted live in the lab at BioFab3D at St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne as part of National Science Week 2018. August 9 – 19 2018, with post-show forums on Thursday 9 & 16.

It is National Science Week and to celebrate, a collaborative fusion of arts and science BioFab3D and Play Reactive, have created and developed RUR 2020. It is an innovative and fascinating dystopian tale written by Rohan Byrne, adapted from Karel Capek’s science fiction play RUR (1920).

Dial M for Murder

By Frederick Knoff. 1812 Theatre, Ferntree Gully. July 26 – August 18, 2018

Dial M for Murder, written by Frederick Knoff and bought to mainstream populace by Alfred Hitchcock, is a tale of a spiteful and vindictive husband seeking revenge on his cheating wife.

One Night, One Day

By Martin Lindsay. Blak Yak Theatre. Directed by Melissa Merchant. Shenton Park Community Centre, WA. 9-18 Aug, 2018

Single strangers Rachel and Greg wake up together unable to recall the night before. They gradually realise that the evening before had far bigger consequences than they could imagine. This “little bit naughty” comedy, presented by Blak Yak Theatre, is playing to enthusiastic full houses at the Shenton Park Community.

Love Letters to F**kbois

Written, devised and directed by Melina Wightman and Lia Stark. Metro Arts Theatre, 9 – 18 August 2018

Two women in crumpled wedding dresses, a pile of brutally honest letters and a pitch perfect pianist. These ingredients form the perfect recipe for an evening of absolute hilarity, tinged with the sharp pangs of heartache that is Love Letters to F**kbois. This highly engaging and interactive show speaks to the shared loneliness that runs rampant in modern society. It highlights the dichotomy of this world of constant, easy, connectivity against the inability for people to commit to any long-term romantic connection. Is Tinder to blame? Are we too spoiled for choice?

Biladurang

Concept, choreography and performance by Joel Bray. Music composition by Kate Carr. Darwin Festival 2018. H Hotel Darwin. Friday 10–Sunday 12 August, 2018.

Having recently broken up with his long-term partner, Joel Bray had also just left the country he had called home for nearly a decade – Israel. A frenetic schedule of performances and creative residencies had resulted in Mr Bray finding himself in a different hotel room every week. And so he began to write. What began as scraps of scribbled words penned in hotel rooms, on trains and in cafés began to reveal themselves as ‘a love letter for home’.

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