Reviews

Swan Lake

United Ukranian Ballet. Melbourne Convention Centre, Oct 20 to 23, 2022, then touring.

The story of the formation of the United Ukrainian Ballet is one of sadness and tremendous grit. The company is only 6 months old. Many of the dancers escaped the war in Ukraine and have been living in The Hague as refugees.  The female dancers came first.

A Practical Guide to Self Defence

By Hung-Yen Yang. National Theatre of Parramatta. Director Dom Mercer. Riverside Theatre. 20 – 29 October, 2022, then Illawarra Performing Arts Centre from November 9 - 12.

A Practical Guide to Self Defence is another piece of theatre that realises National Theatre of Parramatta’s aim to produce work that “reflects the diversity of Australia today through contemporary and bold performances”. The play does all of that. It’s autobiographical and reflects the experience of many kids growing up in Australia’s multicultural society. It’s very contemporary, and it’s certainly bold. How often do you see martial arts in Sydney theatres? It’s also very funny!

How Long Is A Piece Of String

Performers and Co-creators: Keir Aitken, Poppy Alice, Louie Dalzell, Shan Dante, Erin Perrey. Melbourne Fringe. Theatre Works. 18-22 October, 2022

Attending this play is an opportunity to engage in an expressive, innovative meditation on life. It is an episodic collection of theatre games and character explorations held together with string and a guitar.

The playful mood is set with the four actors engaging in childhood games using string. This segues into a lecture on String Theory and diverges from there. Space, time and distance and their relationships are foregrounded.

There is a strong movement element which adds perspective to the mime and word-based episodes.

How To Be a Person When the World Is Ending

By Myfanwy Hocking. Melbourne Fringe Festival. Flick Flick City Production. Theatre Works, St Kilda. 18 - 22 October 2022

Four Gen Z housemates (Miela Anich, Henry Kelly, Myfanwy Hocking and Sebastian Li) stare at their phones, play Dungeons and Dragons, bicker, and watch TV.  They’re just hanging out till the Apocalypse happens - any time now.  An alienated married couple (Meg Dunn and Sebastian Li) talk past each other.  Pierrot the clown (Lachie Gough) keeps coming to work and trying but realises he’s just not very talented or funny. 

JESSA Spring Concert

St David’s Cathedral, Hobart, Tasmania, Jane Edwards – Director. Michael Power – Accompanist. October 21st, 2022

JESSA (Jane-Edwards-Soprano-Soprano-Alto) is a new treble choir filling the niche in the Hobart choral scene encompassing classical repertoire, accessible new work and delightful reinterpretations of well-known standards.

A Love Affair

By Jerry Mayer. Galleon Theatre Group at Marion Cultural Centre, SA. 20-27 October 2022

An older married couple are cleaning out their attic in the early 1990s, reminiscing about their younger selves through the objects they find lying in boxes. They’re moving because he’s out of a job and their invested nest egg has been embezzled by their trusted financiers. He was a comedy writer, then producer; she is the organiser and the woman who has looked after the money he has earned.

Homeward Bound

By Isaac Diamond. Directed by Elise Wilson. The Blue Room Theatre, Perth Cultural Centre, WA. Oct 4-22, 2022

A beautiful and gentle play about an astronaut stranded at the end of the universe, the World Premiere of Homeward Bound, is sensitively acted and directed, and leaves its audience with a sense of hope.

Terror

By Ferdinand von Schirach. Presented by Red Phoenix Theatre and Holden Street Theatres. Holden Street Theatres. 20 - 29 October, 2022

For anyone who struggled with the terrifying choices needed in Sophie’s Choice, this play, Terror, ranks with the impossibility of there being one right answer to a moral dilemma. Imagine the following scenario.

Janet’s Vagrant Love

Written & performed by Elaine Crombie. Melbourne Fringe Festival. Trades Hall, Common Room. 18 - 23 October 2022

Elaine Crombie has problems with her guitar.  She thought it was tuned, but it’s not.  Her excellent accompanist, Amaru Derwent, gives her an ‘E’.  She tunes the guitar, but it won’t stay tuned.  She invites us to the ceremonial burning of said guitar.  She’s come on stage, laid back, very relaxed, almost as if we just happened to drop in so we’ll have a bit of a yarn, sing a few songs and that.   

The Caretaker

By Harold Pinter. Ensemble Theatre, Sydney. Directed by Iain Sinclair. 14 October – 19 November, 2022

Written in the 1950s, premiered as the 1960s just got started, Pinter’s The Caretaker is a brilliant example of New Theatre writing. His first big hit, the play is a wild portrait of three men who are all, in different ways, damaged misfits. 

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