Reviews

Radium Girls

By D. W. Gregory. Directed by Ellis R. Kinnear. Old Mill Theatre, South Perth, WA, October 14 – 30, 2022

Old Mill Theatre’s Radium Girls is a historical drama with an amazing storyline that packs a punch. It is presented with a strong ensemble cast at Old Mill Theatre.

The moving, true story of watch dial painter Grace Fryer and her colleagues from the U.S. Radium Plant, who fought for compensation after being poisoned by radium at work, is very well acted - including an impressive performance from Abbey Mc Caughan In the central role - convincingly playing a woman suffering a physical demise, but still determined to fight for her rights.

Beige Bitch

Performer – Emily Carr. Director – Jackson McGovern. Melbourne Fringe Festival. The Motley Bauhaus. 17 – 23 October - 6.30

Beige Bitch elicits many, many laughs from the audience.  Emily Carr has a delightful stage presence and sweeps her audience along on a fun rocky journey for a solid 60 minutes of wacky lively anecdotes, lived experiences and story.  It’s an aspiring actor’s story really – recognisable and very real and far from mediocre.

Heather

By Thomas Eccleshare. Gavin Roach Producer. Melbourne Fringe Festival. Meat Market Stables, North Melbourne. 17 - 22 October 2022

Spoiler alert: this review contains spoilers.  But since the play is a speculative, provocative play of ideas - described by the playwright as a ‘thought experiment’ - and not a play of character or emotions, that doesn’t matter too much.

Disco Pigs

By Enda Walsh. Melbourne Fringe Festival. Meat Market Stables. 17 - 22 October 2022

Disco Pigs begins with a SNAP out of black and there they are: Pig (Jonathan Shilling) and Runt (Antoinette Davis) either side of the stage.  They were born on the same day.  They describe their births in graphic and exuberant detail.  Just born, the babies Darren and Sinéad see each other.  They connect.  They live next door to each other.  As little kids playing with farm animals, they give each other their own special names: Pig and Runt.  They are inseparable.  As they grow together it’s all about television, drinking and fig

The Whisper

By Brodie Murray. Melbourne Fringe. Fringe Hub: Trades Hall – The Studio, Carlton. Oct 15 – 23, 2022

The show l attended was a performed stage read in honour and memory of the recent passing of Elder Uncle Jack Charles (1943-2022).

Naomi

Written & performed by Patrick Livesy. Melbourne Fringe Festival. Trades Hall, Solidarity Room. 16 - 23 October 2022

Patrick Livesy’s portrait of his mother Naomi is a mosaic of voices and characters given life via writing and performance.  They create the eight characters, moving about, standing still, sitting, speaking in each of the voices.  What we experience, so movingly, is a series of monologues from different characters in Naomi’s life.  Some talk at length, some are brief, some are loving, some a bit affronted, some uncomprehending, some defensive, some funny, and some achingly sad. 

End Of

Written and performed by Ash Flanders. Griffin Theatre. SBW Stables Theatre. Oct 15 – Nov 5, 2022

Ash Flanders began theatrical life in a Melbourne carpark producing fabulously funny queer satires with Declan Greene, now AD of Sydney’s Griffin Theatre. Sisters Grimm, as they were called, is a hard act to follow.

Here the agile Flanders is in pants playing a (perhaps) theatricalised version of himself as he remembers the death of his mother and other relatives.  We first see him though in his day job transcribing police interviews – he argues it’s a good, real-life way for desperate artists to meet new characters and find new storylines.

Shadows of Love: A triptych

Presented by The Curators’ Theatre Company. Fringe Brisbane, Christ Church, Milton. 13 October to 6 November 2022

Another of Brisbane’s thriving indie theatre scene, The Curators’ Theatre Company is an ensemble dedicated to presenting diverse works that experiment with theatrical form and style. For Fringe Brisbane, they have put together an intriguing mix of short plays about what happens when love goes very wrong, and three different takes on the cliche of the ‘femme fatale’. A collection of three short pieces opens with chanteuse, Chelsea Burton, setting the scene firmly in the romantic post-war era. Up first is the 70-minute play Mrs Thally F.

Ingress

Conceived, Directed and Performed: Bridie Hooper. NICA. Lighting: Jason Glenwright. Costume: Gail Sorronda. 11th-15th October, 2022

Bridie Hooper uses her exceptional circus and dance skills to explore the darkest of questions concerning the role of death in life. The audience is presented episodically with notions of restraint, freedom, projection, relationship, ecstasy and death for consideration.

All’s Nell That Ends Nell

By Nell Campbell. Brisbane Powerhouse. 15 October 2022

Nell Campbell (better known as Little Nell) – cool Aussie rock, theatre, film and cabaret royalty – has led a fabulous, fearless life, and her one-woman ‘confessional’ is utterly compelling and wonderfully entertaining. In a fantastic sequined dress, Nell takes centre stage, accompanied by a vin blanc and a wealth of photo evidence, and begins at the beginning, telling us all about her fascinating parents and siblings. And then to her brilliant career.

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