Reviews

1984

Adapted & Directed by Robert Icke & Duncan Macmillan. Based on the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell. Sydney Theatre Company in association with State Theatre Company South Australia and by arrangement with GWB Entertainment and Ambassador Theatre Group presents the Headlong, Nottingham Playhouse and Almeida Theatre production. Roslyn Packer Theatre, Walsh Bay. June 28 – July 22, 2017

This new, celebrated British adaptation of George Orwell’s prophetic novel is here impeccably recreated by an Australian cast.  The co-adaptors/directors Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan have forged an artful, compelling telling of Orwell’s authoritarian world of doublethink, where histories are erased and words stripped of meaning.

Justine Clarke’s Look! Look! It’s a Gobbledygook

Sydney Opera House Playhouse. Saturday 1 July – Tuesday 11 July 2017

Justine Clarke is one of Australia’s best loved children’s entertainers and I’m sorry to admit that I have never gotten around to taking my children (aged 7 and 4) to see one of her shows. So we were very excited to kick off the school holidays with Justine’s new show Look! Look! It’s a Gobbledygook.

Eve

Written by Margi Brown Ash. Directed by Leah Mercer. Presented by Force of Circumstance and Nest Ensemble in partnership with Brisbane Powerhouse. Visy Theatre, 28 June – 16 July, 2017

It’s a brave performer who decides to do a live double-feature but that’s exactly what Margi Brown Ash has done. Eve is playing at the Powerhouse’s Visy Theatre on a double bill with He Dreamed a Train. In a chat leading up to the shows, Margi likened it to people who choose to participate in a triathlon. How she had any energy in the tank after putting her heart and soul into He Dreamed a Train only an hour earlier, I can’t conceive. Yet there she was, leaping about the stage with the energy of a three-year-old on a sugar bender.

He Dreamed a Train

Written by Margi Brown Ash and Travis Ash and co-devised with Benjamin Knapton. Directed by Benjamin Knapton. Presented by Force of Circumstance and Nest Ensemble in partnership with Brisbane Powerhouse. Visy Theatre, 28 June – 16 July, 2017

The Visy Theatre is the perfect space to experience the intimately powerful performance of He Dreamed a Train. The raked seating that kisses the stage’s edge along with Margi Brown Ash’s pre-show introduction encourages you to feel you belong, that you’re at home in the lived-in lounge room set.

Cloudstreet

By Nick Enright and Justin Monjo, based on the Tim Winton novel. Directed by Brendan Ellis. Old Mill Theatre, South Perth, WA. 22 Jun - Jul 1, 2017

The quintessentially Western Australian Cloudstreet, by Nick Enright and Justin Monjo, based on the Tim Winton novel, played to full houses at the Old Mill Theatre, situated just across the river from much of the action of the play.

Simply set, using projections (Daniel Toomath) and props, it was thoughtfully lit by lighting designer John Woolrych to create intimacy and broader spaces as well as ‘magical’ moments. Sarah Christiner provided a subtle but effective sound design.

 

In the Dome Room (at 2 o’clock)

By Rob George and Dale Ringland. State Opera of South Australia & Prospect Productions Pty Ltd. The Madrigal Room, Netley. June 30th and July 1st, 2017

The State Opera of SA (in association with Prospect Productions Pty Ltd) has ventured into the world of musical theatre with their production of In the Dome Room (at 2 o’clock).

This musical play tells the story of the creation of the famous English musical comedy Chu Chin Chow, which opened at His Majesty’s Theatre, London, in August 1916, and ran for a record-breaking five years.

Woolf Works

Ballet by Wayne McGregor. Music: Max Richter. Conductor: Koen Kessels. Royal Ballet. Lyric Theatre, QPAC. 29 June – 2 July 2017

QPAC’s 2017 International Series sees the return of London’s famed Royal Ballet performing two of their signature modern ballets for the first time outside of the Royal Opera House.

Cyrano de Bergerac

By Edmond Rostand, adapted by Damien Ryan. Sport for Jove. Directed by Damien Ryan. The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre. June 28 - July 1, 2017, and Wollongong, September 13 − 16, 2017

Two classic English translations of Rostand’s (1897) play in the original French (set in around 1640) are well-known to theatre buffs; Damien Ryan’s adaptation, presumably of one of them, sets the bulk of the play, in France, just before World War I.  Ryan’s adaptation maintains the incredibly clever word play that its hero’s nearly constant rhyming couplets do nothing to compromise, but introduces here and there a sly comic reference to historical events relevant to its more modern setting.

 

Blue: The Songs of Joni Mitchell

Queenie van de Zandt. Melbourne Cabaret Festival 2017. Chapel off Chapel. 27 June to 1 July, 2017.

As you enter the Chapel Loft, you’re shrouded in the smell of burning candles, the stage dressed in woven rugs, a self-portrait of Joni.

Piece by piece a picture of her life is painted. Voice overs of Joni’s mother, lovers, friends. Beloved songs performed by Queenie van de Zandt and her three-piece band including pianist and the show’s musical director, Vicky Jacobs. Van de Zandt’s voice pierces your heart.

Dolly Diamond’s The Lady is a Tramp

Melbourne Cabaret Festival. Chapel off Chapel. 27 June to 1 July 2017

I couldn’t go to the Melbourne Cabaret Festival 2017 without catching Artistic Director, Dolly Diamond’s show, The Lady is a Tramp, a fun-filled romp of adult humour, daring costumes and girl-power songs.

In true cabaret style, each performance is unique. While Diamond did shows of the same title in Perth and Adelaide, she explained, the Melbourne season is different again. I imagine, every night is different! Diamond is truly a master of improvisation, spitting out sassy comments quicker than a popcorn machine.

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