Reviews

Young Marx

By Richard Bean & Clive Coleman. National Theatre Live from Theatre Bridge, London. Nova Cinemas, Carlton VIC (& other participating venues). 17-28 March 2018.

Rory Kinnear plays the eponymous Marx brilliantly – albeit as a comic character.  His Marx is self-absorbed, self-serving, selfish and shifty – a man who loves mankind in the abstract, but is quite prepared unthinkingly to ignore and exploit the people who love and support him.  At the same time, he is preoccupied, constantly applying his forensic and analytical skills to the 19th century industrialised world’s political economy – and making some very prescient predictions about the future of Capitalism, predictions which have turned out to be al

Marble

By Marina Carr. Darlington Theatre Players. Directed by Rodney van Groningen. Marloo Theatre, Greenmount, WA. Feb 23 - March 10, 2018

First time director Rodney van Groningen has assembled a stellar cast for the West Australian premiere of Marina Carr’s relationship drama, Marble, produced by Darlington Theatre Players.

Art has a vivid dream about making love to his best friend’s wife, on the same night that she has the exact same dream about Art. Marble is an intense drama about two couples, that at times can be quite bleak.

Edges

By Benj Pasek & Justin Paul. Adelaide Fringe. Irregular Productions. The Parks Theatre, Angle Park. 7 March - 11 March, 2018.

Looking for a genuinely pleasurable, easy-going time in the theatre, but one that doesn’t skimp on emotional substance or musical quality, and which serves as a showcase for professional-level performers? Of course you are! Which is why Edges is such a cinch to recommend.

Technically this is a song cycle, but the deft staging and superb ensemble acting bring it very close to being a piece of sung-through musical theatre. Whatever label you want to place on this brilliant production of Edges, it’s a winner every which way.

Don't Dress For Dinner

By Marc Camoletti. Mousetrap Theatre Redcliffe (Qld). Directed by Keith Wilson. February 23 - March 11, 2018

The setting is Bernard and Jacqueline’s country home, a converted French farmhouse northwest of Paris, in the 1980’s. While Jacqueline is to be away for the weekend, Bernard arranges for his Parisian mistress to call, for his friend Robert to be there too as an alibi and finally a cook to prepare the gourmet meals. What could go wrong? Everything.

Iconic, A Brief History of Drag

Adelaide Fringe Festival 2018. Parasol at Guttony. March 6-17, 2018.

Life is anything but a drag in Iconic, A Brief History of Drag. Velma Celli, aka Ian Stoughair, takes us on a wild sixty-minute ride about becoming a drag diva.

From life in music theatre as a West End chorus boy to the drag icon ‘she’ has become, the audience (and I) are right behind her and our reaction builds to a crescendo at the end of the night.

We Will Rock You

By Queen and Ben Elton. Gosford Musical Society. Laycock Street Theatre. March 3 - 17, 2018.

This is an electrifying production that delights and surprises members of the audience. I overheard this comment at interval in the men’s room: “Gee, I didn’t expect it to be this good!”

The throbbing heart of the performance is the kick ass band. They perform at the top of the stage with lights teasing us with their presence. The musical director Nathan Barraclough, who looks and plays like a rock star, gets his own moment under the spotlight. 

The Far Side of the Moon

Adelaide Festival /Ex Machina. Her Majesty's Theatre. March 2nd - 7th, 2018

Ex Machina formed in 1994 under the direction of Robert LePage. This Canadian born writer and director wanted to form a company that incorporated the creativity of actors, technicians and designers alike.

The Confessions of Jeremy Perfect

By Sandy Fairthorne. Directed by Judy Ellis. La Mama Courthouse Theatre Carlton. Feb 28 - March 11, 2018

Most couples, at some point, grapple with the emotionally charged territory of having a baby. It is as universally familiar as it is challenging to any couple whether it is from hormones that race through your body, or disappointment. And it is an area fraught with emotionally charged responses as people grapple with outcomes.

The 39 Steps

Adapted by Patrick Barlow from the movie by Alfred Hitchcock. Queensland Theatre. Directed by Jon Halpin. Cremorne Theatre, QPAC, Brisbane. February 24-March 28, 2018

The program sounds exhausting - four actors playing 139 roles in an Alfred Hitchcock suspense thriller with a twist.

What is exhausted in this devilishly clever two hour production is every ounce of imaginative stagecraft, every accent known and exaggerated, and every seat in QPAC’s Cremorne Theatre.

Queensland Theatre’s The 39 Steps is sold out, which is frustrating because the moment it finishes, there’s a great urge to get another ticket and see it again.

It is a farce, a murder mystery, a comedy, a romance and riotously good fun.

Shrek The Musical

Based on The Dreamworks Animation Motion picture and book by William Steig. Book and lyrics by David Lindsay-Abaire, Music by Jeanine Tesorei. Directed by Suzanne Murphy. Brisbane Arts Theatre Playing February 24 - March 31, 2018

Of all the creatures of myth, legend and even fairy tales, the ogre stands out as the one to be most feared. Shrek is such an ogre. However, as we follow this part of his life we learn about many traits relevant to ourselves – acceptance, trust, love and belief. Thus, Shrek, with the help of good friend Donkey gains so much as he seeks to rescue the princess from the dragon for Lord Farquaad to marry. Of course, he also finds love.

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