Reviews

The Wizard of Aus

By Bella Alexander, Noemi Finaldi and Charlie Macgregor. UWA Pantomime Society. Directed by Elizabeth Hamilton and Isaac Whiteside. The Dolphin Theatre, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, WA. May 19-21, 2022

The Wizard of Aus is an original pantomime presented by UWA’s Pantomime Society. Playing for a very short season at the Dolphin Theatre, it is very loosely based on the L. Frank Baum story and is aimed at an adult audience.

Like most productions at the moment there have been some cast changes, with one performer hospitalised very shortly before opening and another, actor and writer Bella Alexander, succumbing to Covid at the last minute - her roles nicely covered by other cast members. 

Cloudstreet

By Tim Winton. Adapted by Nick Enright and Justin Monjo. Glenbrook Theatre Company. Glenbrook Cinema. 20-28 May, 2022

Set in Perth between 1944 and 1964, Tim Winton’s novel is the saga of the Pickles and the Lambs, two families who share a large house in one of the poorer areas of the city. The Pickles inherited the house, which is haunted by the ghosts of badly treated aboriginal girls whose spirits have been trapped there until “love and new life” comes back to the house.

Become the One

By Adam Fawcett. Lab Kelpie. Director Lyall Brooks. Riverside Theatre, Parramatta. 19-21 May, 2022

Tom is an AFL legend. Fit, muscular, toned, he embodies masculinity. He comes from Brighton, a wealthy background. Noah is a cleaner, sent by the agency for Tom’s approval. He is hesitant, shy, tentative, certainly a bit doubtful about taking this job. They are opposites it seems, so why does it feel so tense?

City of Gold

By Meyne Wyatt. Sydney Theatre Company and Black Swan Theatre. Directed by Shari Sebbens. Wharf Theatre. May 7 - June 11, 2022.

Meyne Wyatt’s electrifying performance of a monologue from this play on the ABC’s Q and A program means that most people attending wait in anticipation for the To Be Or Not To Be moment  or, if it were an opera, the grand aria.

This level of recognition is an extremely rare achievement for an Australian play and in the revival performance it packs just as much punch.

The View From Up Here

By Fiona Spitzkowsky. Theatre Works. Director: Julian Dibley-Hall. 18th - 28th May 2022

Exploring of the intersection of the impacts of climate change and family relationships, this play is set in the aftermath of a devastating bushfire which has obliterated a family farm. The family of mother (Emily Tomlins) and two daughters (Brigid Gallacher and Chanella Macri) gather on the site of the house amid the destruction. One of the daughters has brought a friend (John Marc Desengano) as ‘moral support’ and he acts to add fresh insights to the family members’ understanding of each other.

Driftwood the Musical

By Jane Bodie, based on the book by Eva de Jong-Duldig . Music by Anthony Barnhill, Lyrics by Barnhill, Bodie, Tanya de Jong – plus music of Franz Lehar, Johannes Brahms, Max Janowski. Umbrella Productions. Chapel off Chapel, Prahran. 18 – 28 May 2022.

Driftwood is a passion project for Tanya de Jong, the granddaughter of two extraordinary Jewish refugees, Slawa and Karl Duldig.

Violet

Music by Jeanine Tesori. Book & Lyrics by Brian Crawley. Lane Cove Theatre Company. The Performance Space @ St Aidan’s - 1 Christina Street, Longueville May 14 – 28, 2022

Lane Cove Theatre Company’s production of Violet is a musical not to be missed. It is complicated, sweet and topical all at once.

Heroes and Revolutionaries

Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s Music on Sundays concert series. Concert Hall, Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), Brisbane. May 15, 2022

While protestors descended on the Coalition’s federal election campaign launch at one end of South Brisbane’s Grey Street on Sunday, heroes and revolutionaries from across time were rising up on the other end thanks to the return of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra’s Music on Sundays program.

Delayed by the Brisbane floods, the beloved afternoon music series kicked off its 2022 program with music of fire, passion, and sublimity beyond anything the 100-strong voices down the street could replicate.

The Return

By John Harvey. Directed by Jason Tamiru & Matthew Lutton. Presented by Malthouse Theatre and RISING. Merlyn Theatre, The Malthouse, 113 Sturt St, Southbank. 13 May – 4 June 2022

The Return is a beautifully conceptualised play. It takes on a very difficult and disturbing topic in a hard-hitting manner whilst also being extremely delicate and sensitive in its delivery. The issue of returning Indigenous remains to Country is one of the horrific repercussions of a heartless colonial culture that is, unfortunately, part of Australia's shameful history. The play makes the unequivocal and fundamental statement that these remains continue, to this day, to be treated as commercial artefacts.

Girl from the North Country

Written & directed by Conor McPherson. Music & Lyrics by Bob Dylan. Arrangements & Orchestration Simon Hale. Runaway Entertainment, gwb entertainment, Damien Hewitt, Trafalgar Theatre Productions. Comedy Theatre, Melbourne. May – June 2022

1934.  Duluth, Minnesota, in the depths of The Great Depression.  Young would-be lovers, Kate (Elizabeth Hay) and Gene (James Smith) break up: she’s leaving town.  They argue, regret things they said, get angry, and Gene lies.  Playwright Conor McPherson writes this direction in the text of his musical play:

She turns away.  GENE watches her.  As the music starts and they sing, they could dance and even kiss.  We see what their souls are doing despite everything that’s just been said.

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