Reviews

Dalin Oliver: 90 Day Comedian

Written & performed by Dalin Oliver. Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Askal, 167 Exhibition St. 11 – 20 April 2025

Dalin Oliver is from South Africa and South Africa – its differences from other places – is what his show is about.  He’s ebullient, amiably aggressive and teasing.  First step: suss out who’s in the audience.  Any South Africans?  Yes?  People Oliver can bounce off for specifics, place names, cultural and language differences – plus get the in-jokes.  (I’m not too sure what Oliver would do if there were no South Africans in the audience – but he’s quick on his feet, he’d think of something.)

Horses

By Elf Lyons. Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2025. Malthouse Theatre.

Elf Lyons new show Horses has been broken in across numerous festival seasons and yet the show leaves me feeling restless.

Dr Strangelove

Based on the motion picture, Dr Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb directed by Staley Kubrick. Terry Southern and Peter George. Based on the book ‘Red Alert’ by Peter George. Executive Producer for The Stanley Kubrick Estate: Jonathan Cameron. National Theatre Live. Distributed by Sharmill Films. In Select Australian Cinemas April 24, 2025

Dr. Strangelove is a 1964 political satire black comedy film co-written, produced, and directed by Stanley Kubrick, famous for 2001 A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, and Eyes Wide Shut among many others.

Well known for his perfectionist directing technique, Kubrick’s vision of Dr Strangelove was no exception. The film was initially going to be a drama until Kubrick decided that a satire would drive the message home with more force.

Mary Coustas: This Is Personal – You Gotta Find the Funny

Written & performed by Mary Coustas. Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The Capitol. 10 – 13 April 2025

This isn’t just ‘personal’, it’s deeply personal.  Mary Coustas tells us the story of her life – and it’s a serious, moving, funny beautifully written story that you don’t expect to find in a comedy festival.  Through her amazing talent for mimicry (we all remember Effie and her cracked vocabulary), and the pointed, economic narration, Coustas brings her Greek immigrant family – and her place in it - to life. 

Stuart Little

By E.B. White adapted by Joseph Robinette. Director: Heather Heron. Hobart Repertory Theatre Co. The Playhouse. 9-19 April 2025

Full disclosure: I made some of the props for this show. I did not attend any of the rehearsals, but I did read the Stuart Little script.

And I had reservations about it. Every element of this Stuart Little production has been given thorough attention, but the script lets it down. Heron has added a musical pantomime to resolve the unsatisfactory ending, but two hours is too long for the audience to whom it is pitched.

Ridiculous Human Being

Written, Directed, and Performed by Stuart Foreman. Big Fork Theatre. 13 April 2025

Big Fork Theatre feels like the ideal setting for a show like Ridiculous Human Being. Known for its nurturing approach to improvisation, sketch, and stand-up, the venue strikes that perfect balance between professional and relaxed—exactly the kind of space where comedy can breathe and connection with the audience can flourish.

Popera: Sex, Death & Politics

Written by Uma Dobia & Bronny Lane. Performed by Uma Dobia with Isobel Cameron backup singer & keyboard. Little Train Creative. Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The Motley Bauhaus. 12 – 20 April 2025

Uma Dobia and director and co-writer Bronny Lane were pals at the Sydney Conservatorium where they fooled around singing pop songs in operatic style.  Popera: Sex.

The Sugar Syndrome

By Lucy Prebble. BackDock Arts, Brisbane. 9 to 13 April 2025

London-based writer, Lucy Prebble, wrote The Sugar Syndrome when she was only 20-something in 2003. She has since forged a career delving further into the themes of power and self-control – for the stage, (Enron) and screen (Secret Diary of a Call Girl, Succession). And while this play, where characters meet in chatrooms is set in the dial-up modem age, it is worth revisiting for its universal theme about longing for connection. It also provides the chance for some outstanding performances by a small cast playing four complex characters.

Big Girls Don’t Cry

By Darala Williams. Belvoir. Upstairs Theatre, Belvoir St Theatre. 5–27 April, 2025

Drawing on stories told by her old relatives, this first play by actor Darala Williams is about three Aboriginal girls in Sydney’s Redfern chasing happiness and asserting their right to love, joy and freedom.  It’s the days of the 1965 Freedom Rides, the 1967 Referendum, the war in Vietnam and a new wave of Indigenous and community organisation.

Cirque Alice

Creative Directors: Ash Jacks McCready and Kirsty Painter. Produced by Tim Lawson and Simon Painter. Executive Producer: Sam Klingner for SK Entertainment. QPAC Concert Hall. 11-22 April, 2025

An 'in-building' circus has arrived in Brisbane town, this time centred around Lewis Carroll's famous opus 'Alice in Wonderland' and set in a minimalist environment on an individual platform placed on the concert hall stage, even surrounded by some of the audience. It's a unique idea incorporating the famous fairytale characters in such a setting, a somewhat intimate theatrical experience being mostly viewed from afar by the auditorium audience. 

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