Reviews

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.

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.

Ignis is the intriguing new show by the ensemble team at Anthropocene Play Company, directed by Bronwen Coleman and written/adapted by Daniel Nellor.

Based on Arthur Schnitzler’s provocative play La Ronde (Round Dance) written in 1897, banned at the time for indecency and for its provocative sexual themes, Nellor has successfully re-written an original dramatic text, set around the southern NSW bushfires in 2019/20, utilising the landscape to explore anxieties, sexual tensions, betrayals, and political cover ups.

Isabella Perversi tells her tale at breakneck speed - as if she (or her character) is in a constant state of incredulous amazement.  ‘This can’t be happening… I can’t believe… ‘  She’s forever the fish out of water, uncertain, struggling to keep up.