Reviews

Mr Burns: a post-electric play

By Anne Washburn with Score by Michael Friedman. Griffith University Performing Arts. Directed by Daniel Evans. Burke Street Studio Theatre, Brisbane. 10–13 November 2021

Mr Burns is a curious, decade-old play that has just seen a quiet revival in Chicago. When its creators, US playwright Anne Washburn and lyricist/musician Michael Friedman, wrote it in 2012, I don't suppose either of them thought that it would have a strange resonance nearly 10 years later: a post-apocalyptic setting that focuses on how the theatre survives? Yes, we've all been thinking along those lines as we binge-watch boxed set after boxed set. So, what if there was a nuclear meltdown with few survivors and no electricity?

Grease

Book, Music & Lyrics: Jim Jacobs & Warren Casey. Additional Songs: Barry Gibb, John Farrar, Louis St. Louis, Scott Simon. Griffith University Performing Arts Students. Director: Alister Smith. Musical Director: Heidi Loveland. Choreography: Dan Venz. Lyric Theatre, QPAC. 10-13 November 2021

History was made last night when the Griffith University Musical Theatre students unleashed a velocity of energy in their production of Grease at QPAC. Many Griffith alumni have appeared in major musical theatre productions across the county, and in New York and the West End, but this is the first time one of their productions has graced the stage of the Lyric the biggest and most iconic of QPAC theatres.

Three Winters Green

By Campion Decent. Lambert House Enterprises. Directed by Les Solomon and Campion Decent. Fringe HQ Newtown. November 10-20, 2021

It is an opportune time for a revival of this historically significant play by Campion Decent. First staged in the 1990s, Three Winters Green pays homage to the deadly and lasting effects of the AIDS pandemic. It is thus a very timely reminder that COVID is not the only pandemic that has stalked and devastated the world in recent times.

Shakespeare in the Park - The Taming of the Shrew

By William Shakespeare. Roleystone Theatre. Directed by Paul Treasure. Araluen Botanic Gardens, Roleystone, WA. Nov 6-14, 2021

The Taming of the Shrew is the second annual Shakespeare in the Park, performed by Roleystone Theatre in the beautiful surrounds of Araluen Botanic Park’s amphitheatre. Playing on two consecutive weekends, the show plays at 4pm, avoiding the heat of the day, but allowing the use of natural light.

Once again under the direction of Paul Treasure, this time we enjoy The Taming of the Shrew, set beautifully in the late 1950s (a nice twist for a play written in the 1590s),

The Wharf Revue: Can of Worms.

Wharf Revue, directed by Jonathan Biggins and Drew Forsythe. Musical direction by Phillip Scott. Canberra Theatre from 9–20 November 2021, and touring NSW, VIC, TAS, and NT.

Dismayed reactions were common when the Sydney Theatre Company advertised its final Wharf Revue last year — but the change was in fact merely structural, not fatal.  It’s back!

Austen Con 2021

Presented by 24carrotproductions. Abbotsford Convent Industrial School & North Magdalen Laundry, 6 November 2021.

This event is a celebration and exploration of the Jane Austen universe. Workshops, presentations and performances on aspects such as Regency dancing, letter writing, sewing, music and fashion all helped to bring this world to life. The enthusiasm for this event reveals a real appetite to lose oneself in the whimsical and romantic nature of Austen’s wit and social commentary. 

The SpongeBob Musical

Based on the series by Stephen Hillenburg. Book by Kyle Jarrow. Art in Motion Theatre Company. Directed by Terence Smith. City of Gosnells, Don Russell Performing Arts Centre, Thornlie, WA. Nov 5-13, 2021

Art in Motion Theatre Company’s The SpongeBob Musical is a big, colourful celebration of all things SpongeBob and the world of Bikini Bottom, with a large, hard-working cast and orchestra, that is presented with lots of pizzazz.

Celtic Spectacular

Queensland Pops Orchestra. Conductor: Patrick Pickett. Soloists: Sarah Calderwood, Greg Moore, Kevin Higgins. Brisbane Boys College Pipe Band: Principal: Bruce Grice. Watkins Academy of Dance - Principals: Tyler Watkins, Samuel Barnes. OzScott Australia Highland Dancers. Vocal Manoeuvres Academy. Concert Hall, QPAC. 6 November 2021

After being postponed for a month because of Covid, Celtic Spectacular was back in all its glory in a capacity concert at the Concert Hall. With 200 performers on stage – a fifty-piece orchestra, a 25-piece Pipe Band, a 93-voice choir, Scots and Irish dancers, and vocal and instrumental stars, it was as rousing and as noisy as the Edinburgh Tattoo.

Spider’s Web

By Agatha Christie. New Farm Nash Theatre, Brisbane. Directed by Sharon White. November 5 to 27, 2021.

Everyone, at some time in life, has become trapped in a spider’s web and the more you try to get it off you, the more entangled you become.  That is the case with this murder mystery in every way – you have solved it, you haven’t and thus you are absorbed in the plot and action full time. This play, which premiered in London’s West End in 1954, Agatha Christie’s her second most successful play after The Mousetrap. It is easy to see why. This production is basically set around that time in England on a set suitable for the period.

Wonder

Devised by WAAPA 3rd Year Performance Making students. Directed by Michael Barlow. Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, Fremantle, WA. Nov 6, 2021

The final performance from the 2021 Performance Making Graduates was part of the 40th birthday celebrations for Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. It ran for just two performances on the day of Spare Parts Puppet Theatre’s Puppets in the Park Celebration.

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