Reviews

The play begins with a request from the Translator (Yuchen Wang): ‘Concentrate.’  Good advice since Golden Shield is a complex and demanding but also a very rewarding play.  Its ending is not ‘feel good’, but it is clear: something morally complex has been dramatised for us and it may be grim, but it is satisfying. 

Agatha Crispie is a spoof on the work of the doyenne of English murder mystery writing, Agatha Christie, and a timely production with Agatha Christie Week fast approaching in the UK next month.

Following Christie’s style and success, Cenarth Fox has captured the “feel” of the murder mystery format. 

The standout performances came from Brenda Warren (Pimms – the maid) and Dave Fraser (Hercule Grey-Cells [Poirot]) with Gillian Crow (in the title role), Jim Fury, Kate Paraskevos, Marie Dickson, Jon Turley and Christine Ray.

Remember hearing ‘The way we were’ or ‘We’ve only just begun’ for the very first time? Recapturing the magic of those original encounters would take a very special kind of performer. But you will believe it’s possible if you see Kate Ceberano perform her collection of songs, TRYST, with a mere piano (played by legendary Paul Grabowsky) between her and a bare, unforgiving stage and a room full of expectant music fans.

Tick, Tick…Boom! is being presented by Koorliny Arts Centre in its smaller, intimate theatre space. Presented cabaret style, with a thrust stage that juts into the audience space, this venue is a great choice for this three-hander.

Originally written as a rock monologue for Jonathan Larson, this auto-biographical musical tells the story of his disappointment with turning thirty, having yet to achieve success as a composer of musicals - and of the workshop premiere of his well-received but unsuccessful dystopian musical Superbia.