Reviews

Pictures at an Exhibition

Written by Mussorgsky. Arrangement by Ravel. Conducted by Benjamin Northey. Presented by Queensland Symphony Orchestra. QPAC Concert Hall. 30 April – 1 May, 2021

One of the most powerful things about music is its ability to strike hard at your emotional core. It is a language without words, that inexplicably elicits feelings and sparks visualisations and memories. Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s performance of Pictures at an Exhibition could move even the hardest of hearts and most stoic of countenances.

An Unspeakable Triumph of Supreme Brilliance

By Don Zolidas. Darlington Theatre Players. Directed by Chris McRae. Marloo Theatre, Greenmount, WA. May 1-15, 2020

Director Chris McRae directed the Australian premiere of An Unspeakable Triumph of Supreme Brilliance for Holy Cross College Ellenbrook in 2016. He returns to the director’s chair to bring this show to life for Darlington Theatre Players, the 37th production of this show, world-wide.

Fun Home

Music by Jeanine Tesori. Book and Lyrics by Lisa Kron. Based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel. Sydney Theatre Company and Melbourne Theatre Company. Directed by Dean Bryant. Associate Director: Clemence Williams. Music Director: Carmel Dean. Roslyn Packer Theatre. Apr 27 – May 29, 2021

It’s not often that the Australian premiere of a production is bigger than Broadway, but in the case of Fun Home that is exactly the case.

The chamber musical, which won the Tony for Best Musical in 2015, was originally produced in Broadway’s second smallest theatre – a 700-seater where there is a small open stage surrounded by the audience.

Having been fortunate enough to see the original in New York, I can report that Australian audiences will enjoy a much grander production of this musical.

Electric Loneliness

Presented by Night Creatures. fortyfivedownstairs theatre, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. 29 April – 1 May 2021.

Performers Alexandra Aldrich and Joachim Coghlan, along with accompanist Owen James, create a unique and stunning show. The meticulous approach to character and ambience is striking and always delightful. Despite the quirky and dark content of the show the performance maintains a lightness and humour that exhibits an incredible command of tone and register.

Good with Maps

By Noelle Janaczewska. Director: Kate Gaul. Riverside Theatre Parramatta. 30April-1May, 2021

Kate Gaul has an amazing ability to see the possibilities of a space – and a script. Give her some exquisite words from an exceptional writer (Noelle Janaczewska), an actor (Jane Phegan) who understands them and connects with their cadences and phrasing, a composer (Nate Edmondson) who is receptive to their rhythms and emotion – and together they can transform the space … and transport you.

Rabbit Hole

By David Linsday-Abaire. Joh Hartog Productions. Bakehouse Theatre, Adelaide. April 28 to May 8, 2021

‘Child loss is a loss like no other. The loss of a child is a grief that lasts forever.’ (Angela Miller – grief counselling blogger). A potent statement and the theme of Rabbit Hole, presented by Joh Hartog Productions.

Rabbit Hole by David Linsday-Abaire is a 2007 Pulitzer prize winning play (first presented in 2006) and was famously made into a film of the same name in 2010 starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart.

Matador

Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne. April 29 – May 2, 2021

After a sell-out 2019 tour, Matador has returned to Melbourne. The lush red surrounds of Her Majesty's Theatre (with a small built-out catwalk at the front of the stage, surrounded by cafe chairs, cabaret-style) were perfect to showcase Matador's fusion of dance and circus, with overtones of burlesque, and hints of old-world movie glamour in some of the pas de deux routines. 

Escher’s Hands

By Dawson Nichols. Galleon Theatre Group, Domain Theatre, Oaklands Park. April 29 – May 8, 2021

M.C. Escher, the Dutch artist who explored concepts of alternate realities, impossible objects and infinity in his works, provided the inspiration for Dawson Nichols’ Escher’s Hands.  Named for Escher’s well-known artwork ‘Drawing Hands’, which depicts two hands drawing each other, Escher’s Hands explores ideas of control, of cause and effect and of freewill.

Don’t Make Me Play Piano Man

Performed and presented by Steven Kramer. fortyfivedownstairs theatre, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. 30 April – 2 May, 2021.

Steven Kramer consolidates his position as one of the masters of cabaret with this show and displays his formidable talent. His very personal and highly comical banter in between songs punctuates the show beautifully. Kramer infuses his performances with stories and anecdotal accounts that really accentuate the emotions of the pieces he chooses. The strong personal connection to the songs makes them even more moving.

Claudel

By Wendy Beckett. Director: Wendy Beckett. Choreographer: Meryl Tankard. The Playhouse. Sydney Opera House. April 23 – May 9, 2021

Australian playwright Wendy Beckett’s tribute to twentieth century French artist Camille Claudel premiered in French, in Paris, at the Théâtre de l'Athénée Louis Jouvet in 2018 in the midst of the #MeToo movement.

Think about it! An Australian playwright dramatizing the work of a famous female French artist, but one who was terribly ill-used by the society of the time. How did the critics react, I wondered? Here are just a few snippets of what they said:

A piece all powerful in its subtlety …  (Publik Art Review)

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