Reviews

The Picture of Dorian Gray

By Oscar Wilde. Adapted and directed by Kip Williams. Adelaide Festival. Sydney Theatre Company. Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide. 13-20th March, 2022.

Occasionally, theatre leaves me breathless and awestruck, and this Sydney Theatre Company production, adapted and directed by Kip Williams from one of Oscar Wilde’s best known 1891 works, is one such example. Quite simply, 37 year old Eryn Jean Norvill has been given the role of a lifetime and has delivered the performance of a lifetime.

Next to Normal

By Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey. James Terry Collective. Chapel Off Chapel. 18 to 27 March 2022

Enter the home of the Goodman family. What might seem like a happy suburban family setting soon reveals some dark secrets. The show takes us on a compelling journey as we slowly get to know each characters’ deepest hopes and fears. Each character, we learn, is trying to make and maintain connections to each other, loved ones lost and their true selves. Their tragic story unravels incrementally, keeping the audience engaged and bringing them to tears at multiple junctions.

The Darkening Sky

Written and directed by Richard Murphet. Victorian Theatre Company and Theatre Works, St Kilda. 16 – 26 March 2022

You walk into the theatre for this show, and the main set, half lit, waiting, redolent with possibility, immediately reminds you of Edward Hopper’s ‘Night Hawks’.  Or it did me.  It’s not a copy.

The Mystery of Irma Vep - A Penny Dreadful

By Charles Ludlam. Castle Hill Players. Pavilion Theatre, Castle Hill. March 18 – April 9, 2022

It was a full moon on Friday 18th of March and it rained at the beginning of Act 2.  What better atmospheric conditions for the opening night of Irma Vep at the Pavilion Theatre?

Chase

By Carly Sheppard (concept & performer). Directed by Kamarra Bell-Wykes. Presented by Malthouse Theatre, in association with HotHouse Theatre. The Tower, The Malthouse, Melbourne. 16-20 March, 2022.

Chase is a character that is close to Carly Sheppard’s heart and could even be seen as a kind of alter ego; the uninhibited part of ourselves that makes us confront the more troubling aspects of our existence. Chase is an eclectic collection of contemporary social identities ranging from the bogan to the superficial social media influencer. The ease with which Sheppard transitions between these various personas elicits a sense of madness or schizophrenia. The performance is undoubtedly chaotic in a carnivalesque and subversive manner.

We Will Rock You

Music and lyrics by Queen, story and script by Ben Elton, by arrangement with David Spicer Productions. Empire Theatre Toowoomba. 18 to 26 March 2022

Fire in the Head

By R. Johns. La Mama, at La Mama Courthouse, Carlton. 16 – 27 March 2022

Fire in the Head tells the story of Kate Kelly, sister of Ned.  Her story has been overshadowed by his – ignored by ‘history’.  The play is a combination of research and imaginative speculation.  It is beautifully written and it’s fascinating because it takes us into the unknown life of an historical figure.  Kate’s story, as remembered and told by her, is one of police persecutions suffered by her family (to which she attributes Ned’s crimes) and the varied routes and careers she took to escape hardship and poverty – ho

North by Northwest

Adapted by Carolyn Burns, from the Alfred Hitchcock film. Directed by Simon Phillips. Sydney Lyric Theatre. March 16 – April 3, 2022.

A movie can do drunken car rides and a crop duster zooming over a lone figure on an empty road then crashing into a truck, no problem! But to do it on the stage? Sounds a bit far-fetched doesn’t it? Anyone who remembers Cary Grant racing across America dodging villains in the movie North by Northwest would probably say “No way! In your dreams!”

Yentl

By Gary Abrahams, Galit Klas & Elise Hearst, based on the original Yiddish short story by Isaac Bashevis Singer, Yentl the Yeshiva Boy. Developed by Evelyn Krape, Gary Abrahams and Galit Klas. Kadimah Yiddish Theatre. Arts Centre Melbourne, Fairfax Studio. 12 – 26 March 2022

A marvellous, funny, moving, and very theatrical version of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s story.  For many people, Yentl is a story made famous by Barbra Streisand’s 1983 movie – which, by the way, Bashevis Singer hated.  That movie’s simpler feminist message, its pretence of the reconciliation of opposites, and the heroine’s escape to the holy land (i.e., America) was Streisand’s Hollywood version for her time.  

Calendar Girls

Written by Tim Firth. The Spotlight Theatre, Gold Coast. Directed by Helen Maden. 11th March -2nd April, 2022.

There is a good reason why Spotlight is largely considered the premier community theatre on the Gold Coast. It’s their total commitment to the connection between audience and production, and the quality of what they do.

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