Reviews

The image of the slick and successful television personality of Charlie Pickering makes it difficult to imagine him back on the stage in a stand up routine. This is an opportunity to see a raw version of the now polished persona we have become accustomed to. Pickering is astonishing in his ability to expose the daring that is required to perform in this context.

Savages is about four blokes on a cruise trying unsuccessfully to leave behind the baggage of their disappointed lives and loves.  

Written by a woman, Patricia Cornelius, directed by a Brit, Tim Roseman, it’s a portrait finally of Australian misogyny – of four men, manic and fearful, defensive and two-faced to each other, but driven by their camaraderie and desperate escapism towards a violent assertion of their sexual needs.  Such men crossed the path of Dianne Brimble who was killed on that P&O cruise back in 2002.

Picnic at Hanging Rock is an interesting, modern interpretation of the Joan Lindsay novel, presented on a stark stage This co-production of Black Swan State Theatre Company, with Malthouse Theatre, uses five actors, all of whom play multiple roles.

For a century they were called “Speciality” or “Spesh” acts. They appeared not just in circuses and side-shows but also on stage in Vaudeville/Variety shows. They were the mainstay of breaking up the more traditional or high profile acts - after all, who can compete with a Pop Star or dancing elephants? Then, in the late 20th century, Cirque du Soleil changed the game and made the “Spesh Act” into an Art Form, and everybody else followed.