Reviews

The Hero Leaves One Tooth

By Erica J. Brennan. Ratcatch Theatre, in association with Bakehouse Theatre Company, at KXT On Broadway. Directed by Cam Turnbull. 14-29 July, 2023

‘It’s really hard to be a good guy these days.’ So says one of the male friends in this new play from Ratcatch Theatre. And who could blame him? If having two fingers completely chewed off is part of the deal then I think I’ll give being ‘a good guy’ a pass.

Girl Shut Your Mouth

By Gita Bezard. Presented by Deadset Theatre. The Mill, Adelaide. 19-23 July, 2023

Four young women are talking in a teenage bedroom, walking the tightrope between schoolgirl and womanhood – trying to be grown-up packing a suitcase, but clinging to a childhood toy that won’t get left behind. Each asserts themselves, takes a joke as an insult – it’s a great study in adolescent conversation, until Katie almost screams at the others ‘So then where is your bullet?’

Shakespeare in Love

Based on the screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard. Adapted for the stage by Lee Hall. Presented by the Shepherd’s Purse Theatre Company. Flutterbies Café and Gardens -Tyalgum NSW. Jul 13 – 15, 2023

Before even beginning to review this extraordinary pro-am production of this brilliant hit play, based on the movie of the same name, one must get one’s head around the country town in which it is performed - Tyalgum. A tiny town buried deep in the hinterland of the Tweed Valley, dominated by the mighty peak of Mount Warning, there is something unique that is happening and has been happening in this town in the last few years.

Forgetting Tim Minchin

By Jules Orcullo. Belvoir St Theatre. Directed by Amy Sole. 12-29 July, 2023.

Jules Orcullo’s musical play Forgetting Tim Minchin is a moving, hilarious, and heartbreaking story of failure and hope. Catchy, creative songs combined with fun movement and punchy dialogue make Forgetting Tim Minchin an absolute delight to watch—just be sure to bring some tissues along.

Les Misérables

Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg. Lyrics: Herbert Kretzmer. Original French text by Alain Boublil & Jean Marc Natel. Directed by Adam Salathiel. Koorliny Arts Centre, Kwinana, WA. July 7-15, 2023

Les Misérables is indubitably Laughing Horse Productions’ most successful show to date, with the entire season in the good sized Koorliny Art Centre completely sold out. Well-presented and nicely performed, it was clear that the audience was not disappointed. It is difficult to argue with standing ovations and rousing applause, and this production was a great way to celebrate the company's 10th anniversary.

Animal Farm

Original Script: Elizabeth Brennan and James Jackson. Company: Bloomshed. Darebin Arts Speakeasy, 189 High Street, Northcote. 12-23 July, 2023

Bloomshed fearlessly explores George Orwell’s Animal Farm with delightful energy, focus and excellent characterisation and then carries the Farm into the realms of Royal Commissions and political attempts to apply and avoid accountability.

Off the Record

By Chris Aronsten. New Theatre, Newtown. Director: Jess Davis. 11 July – 5 August, 2023

“Political and business leaders all over the world seem emboldened more than ever to lie and act corruptly because there is so little accountability.” Chris Aronsten, playwright.

Far Away

By Caryl Churchill. Patalog Theatre. Fortyfivedownstairs. 12 – 30 July 2023.

It is no use to see and listen to Far Away, trying to make ‘sense’ of it by twisting it into something ‘real’ or naturalistic.  That’s not Caryl Churchill’s way and never has been.  The text, spoken by the actors as if for them what they say is perfectly natural and ‘real’, is allusive, suggestive, metaphorical and, most of all, disturbing.  It may be disturbing much later too, after we have left the theatre, as the words and what happens on stage continue to resonate.

Away

By Michael Gow. Theatre Works, St Kilda. July 8 – 22, 2023

Michael Gow’s AWAY, penned in 1986, is set during the Vietnam War, at the end of the 1967school year. Australia was an evolving society, ushering in a new era with a rise in migration and plenty of employment, while redefinition of class and wealth became de rigueur in older Australians. Director Stephen Mitchell Wright has offered an ambitious oneiric and farcical interpretation of Gow’s tragedy/comedy.

Miss Peony

By Michelle Law. Belvoir Street Theatre, July 1 - 29, 2023; then touring to Arts Centre Melbourne, Aug 2 – 20; Canberra Theatre Centre, Aug 23 – 26; Wollongong, Aug 30 – Sep 2 and Geelong Arts Centre, Sep 6 – 9.

Glitzy, quirky, funny and searingly honest, Miss Peony is a fascinating glimpse into a world most Australians would not be familiar with, but immigrants from all nations can relate to. That is, when someone slips in between the worlds of the old country and the new country.

Lily (played originally by the playwright Michelle Law but at my performance by Stephanie Jack) is an assimilated Asian Australian who is confronted by the deathbed wish of her grandmother to follow a family tradition. 

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