Reviews

Onyx Productions was established by director, producer, and percussion extraordinaire, Gene Peterson in 2011. Nurturing talent through workshops, this company has wowed audiences the world over and we are lucky to have them back at the Adelaide Fringe.

There are a lot of versions of the Cinderella tale out there. La Cenerentola happens to be one of my favourites. Rossini’s opera is a delightful blend of wit, warmth, and the power of kindness. It’s not as saccharin as some Cinderella stories, forgoing fairies and magical pumpkins, and instead delivering a tale packed with cunning disguises, quick thinking, and tomfoolery.

Tales of daring and adventure, with no shortage of excitement, are the order of the day for Bennett Cooper Sullivan. Moustachioed, mounted (on a camel, a mortuary slab, a friend), and making sense of strange goings on from Egypt to Edinburgh, via London’s East End.

When first produced in 1968, The Boys in the Band was ‘controversial’ to say the least; it’s a play in which, for the first time, all (well, with one maybe) nine characters are openly gay – or as it was said in 1968, ‘homo-sexual’ (pronounced with distinct loathing and distaste).  So, is this still punchy, funny, bitter play dated?  No, it’s not – and even if it were, this production is spirited, lively, funny, searing, insightful, and just about perfectly cast.