Reviews

Wanderings

Written by Margi Brown Ash, Zac Callaghan and Leah Mercer. Directed by Leah Mercer. Presented by The Nest Ensemble. Queensland Theatre's DOOR 3 Program. Diane Cilento Studio, 29 Nov – 14 Dec 2024

Wanderings is an incredible new play written by Margi Brown Ash, Zac Callaghan and Leah Mercer. It’s one of those works one feels privileged to have experienced. The script is deeply moving, brilliantly clever, and superbly funny. It deals with transitions of two different kinds. One is a transition of gender, and the other a transition of age and lifestyle.

The two-hander lovingly shares the story of Stella (Margi Brown Ash), a woman in her 70s who is living with dementia, and her transgender son Kidd (Zac Callaghan).

The Peter Allen Show

Presented by Simon Chamberlain and the Toucan Club Cabaret & Live Arts Festival. Pip Theatre, 28 - 30 November, 2024

The Peter Allen Show at Pip Theatre’s Toucan Club Cabaret & Live Arts Festival is a dazzling celebration of one of Australia’s most beloved entertainers. Performed by Brisbane locals Simon Chamberlain, Maureen Bowra, and Rebel Bliss, the show features a cabaret style mix of Allen’s iconic hits and lesser-known gems, interspersed with engaging banter – some scripted and some off the cuff.

F Christmas

Co-created by Susie Dee, and Fat Fruit (Bec Matthews & Sarah Ward). Directed by Susie Dee. Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse, 113 Sturt Street, Southbank Melbourne. 27 November - 15 December 2024.

F Christmas is not for the faint hearted or for those who have a serious attachment to traditional Christmas festivities. The X rated language and full-frontal nudity that feature heavily in the show are far from its most controversial elements. Irreverence for the cheesiest traditions related to Christmas come under direct attack. The performance is a queer and eclectic collection of singing, dancing, circus acts and cabaret that turn Christmas completely on its head.

Mother Goose on the Loose

Written and directed by Taneal Thompson. Marloo Theatre, Greenmount, WA. Nov 22 - Dec 7, 2024

It’s mid Panto Season and if you have an urge to boo villains and bellow “They’re behind you!”, you would be well advised to take a trip into the hills to see the premiere season of Mother Goose on the Loose. This locally written pantomime feels part of the best British tradition, without any stray references to Tesco or the Electric Company to leave you wrinkling your brows.

Oh My God I’m Blak!

La Mama Courthouse. Nov 27 – Dec 8, 2024

Oh My God I’m Blak! is directed by Maryanne Sam and co-devised with Patricia Cornelius and Irine Vela. An enchanting story reflects on vivid family memories set against the struggles of cultural identity. In a one-woman show Miela Anich portrays Mary, who yearns to head back to  her roots after her nomadic and traumatic childhood.

A Christmas Carol

A version by Jack Thorne. Director: Matthew Warchus. Composer and Arranger: Christopher Nightingale. Sound: Simon Baker. Set and Costume: Rob Howell. Lighting: Hugh Vanstone. Movement: Lizzi Gee. Comedy Theatre, 240 Exhibition St., Melbourne. 29 November – 29 December, 2024

Musicians playing well-loved carols, cast members throwing mandarins and delivering fruit mince tarts to the audience against the backdrop of what seems like a million lights sets the tone for an involving, magical and moving show.

Edging

Collaborators APHIDS’ Lara Thomas & Artists Sammaneh Pourshafighi and Eden Falk. APHIDS. Arts House, North Melbourne. 27 November – 1 December 2024

Edging is about borders.  Borders have edges - conscious and unconscious.  ‘Natural’ and artificial.  Acceptable and unacceptable.  Borders between races, between nations, between people who have rights and people who do not have rights.  (‘We will decide…’ as our Prime Minister said.)  There are borders we impose and borders we enforce.    

Vasily Petrenko Conducts The Rite Of Spring

2024 Sydney Symphony Orchestra Concert Season. Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House. Nov 27, 2024

Image: Vasily Petrenko. Photographer: Mark McNulty

Nobody really knows why the famous premiere of Stravinsky’s ballet The Rite of Spring caused such a riot at Ballet Russes in Paris in 1913.  One scholar says Stravinsky spent his long life telling lies about it.

Club Briefs: The Works

Briefs Factory International. The Famous Spiegeltent, Carriageworks, 245 Wilson Street, Eveleigh. November 27 to December 15, 2024

These queer boys from Brisbane have been in and out of Briefs for 16 years. Naturally they’ve come often to Sydney, sporting their saucy mix of drag cabaret and circus erotics at Mardi Gras and frequently in Parramatta for Sydney Festival.

Zaffé

Created by Stephanie Ghajar & Collaborators. Arts House, North Melbourne. 26 – 30 November 2024

Zaffé is an exuberant, inclusive celebration, a defiant party, bringing people together in the face of loss, destruction and separation from homelands.  It’s the work (over three years, according to director Stephanie Ghajar’s program notes) of ‘young artists from the Middle East diaspora’ – from Lebanon, Syria and Egypt - responsible for design, music and performance.  (Apologies: the program lists many names, each with impressive credits) but does not tell us who does what.)   

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