Reviews

Are You Being Served?

Written by Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft. Ballina Players. By arrangement with ORiGiNTM Theatrical. On behalf of Samuel French. A Concord Theatricals Company. Director: Fran Legge. March 15 – 24, 2024.

If you like a little (or should that be a little more than a little?) innuendo, the occasional double entendre, or if you simply want to laugh at one-liners that you know (yes, you know) you shouldn’t be laughing at, then Are You Being Served? at Ballina Players is the place to be.

Theatre of Magic

Performed and Devised by Christopher Wayne, Josh Norbido, and Kerry Domann. Map Room, Treasury Hotel. Two Shows Each Saturday Evening from March 2024

Venturing into Brisbane's Theatre of Magic feels akin to stepping through a portal into another world. It’s reminiscent of a bygone era, with the venue’s décor, performers’ garb, and pre-show tunes all designed to set the mood of old-school opulence. 

The Producers

By Mel Brooks, Thomas Meehan and Glen Kelly. Primadonna Productions. Directed by Carole Dhu. Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, WA. Mar 22 - 24, 2024

Primadonna Productions’ The Producers was a clean, slick, and well-performed production that deserved a longer run. Playing to big audiences at the 800 seat Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, this was a production with strong production values that felt worthy of this beautiful venue.

Looking fabulous with excellent costumes from Carole Dhu and cast, simple but effective sets - predominantly using drops and projections and strong lighting choices, served the show well.

Hillsong Boy

Created by Scott Parker and Felicity Nicol. The Flying Nun by Brand X, 34-40 Burton Street, Darlinghurst. March 22 & 23, 2024

This is the story of Scott Parker who spent 20 years in Hillsong reaching the heights of Christian celebrity as a star singer. Welcome to the alluring world of megachurches, which make such great dramatic backdrops with their evangelical bigotries and financial secrets, their effusive theatre and enveloping community – and especially in Scott’s telling, since he’s also queer.  

Baskerville - A Sherlock Holmes Mystery

By Ken Ludwig. Adelaide Repertory Theatre Company. Arts Theatre. 21-24 March; 4-6 April, 2024

If you are going to see Baskerville- A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, prepare yourself for something extraordinarily different!

Ruthless

Book & Lyrics Joel Paley. Music Marvin Laird. A Stagebugs Production. Alex Theatre, St Kilda. 1 -24 March 2024

Everybody is ruthless in Ruthless, but some are more ruthless than others.  Naturally the most ruthless wins.  This musical is about How to Succeed in (Show) Business by scheming, by making your own opportunities, eliminating rivals, and, yes, having some talent. 

West Side Story

Book by Arthur Laurents. Music by Leonard Bernstein. Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Opera Australia. Handa on Sydney Harbour. Mar 22 - April 21, 2024

It’s as if every other performance of West Side Story you’ve seen was in black and white, whilst this one was in full technicolour.

Such was the intensity of the brilliance of so many aspects of this production that it felt fresh and more detailed than any I have watched before.

Sydney turned on a balmy sunset for the opening night performance of the annual Handa on Sydney Harbour, a revival of West Side Story, first staged five years ago.

Strangers on a Train

Adapted by Craig Warner from the novel by Patricia Highsmith. Genesian Theatre Company, Sydney. March 16 – April 20, 2024.

Strangers on a Train is the thrilling adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s novel, by Craig Warner. Highsmith is well known for her sinister plots and entangled webs, and this is no different. Two strangers (yes on a train) become entangled in a murderous pact which comes to life on stage. From the very opening scene - a glimpse of a solitary traveller, the soundscape of a train - I felt a chill and the sudden appearance of the ever lurking antagonist that made me jump. This one thrills as much as it intrigues. 

Farewell Lady Autumn

By Melka Stansah. Produced and directed by Wolf Heidecker. La Mama HQ, 205 Faraday Street, Carlton, Melbourne. 20 – 28 March 2024.

Qiu Jin (Isabelle Wang) is an extraordinary historical figure who resisted sexist and misogynistic cultural practices in China. She fought for women’s freedom in an era when foot-binding was still common. The amazing story of her intelligence and determination is certainly well worth depicting and retelling.

Hot White Kiss

By James WF Roberts. One Act Play Festival at The Butterfly Club. March 18 – 23, 2024

As a theatre-maker myself, I was interested in checking out The Butterfly Club’s One Act Play festival, and when I saw that poet James WF Roberts was staging his first theatre show Hot White Kiss, I was keen. As a poet myself, I hadn’t seen James read for some years. But what I did remember from his poetry was that it was dark, sexually charged, politically incorrect, messy and raw – my kind of poetry.

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