Reviews

The Turquoise Elephant

By Stephen Carleton. Griffin Theatre Company. SBW Stables Theatre. Oct 14 – Nov 26, 2016.

The absurdism of Stephen Carleton’s new play about climate change, his florid characters and mad arguments, so obviously springs from his exasperation at the mindlessness of how this is debated in the real world. Or what’s left of it.

In a future Sydney, as the mercury reaches 48 degrees and with Harbour waters rising, we meet the privileged inhabitants of a triple-glazed mansion.  

Our Turn!

Directors: Paul Sabey, Megan Shorey, Kate Wilson, Michael Futcher. Musical Director: Heidi Loveland. Griffith University Musical Theatre. Burke Street Studio, Wooloongabba, Brisbane. 18-22 Oct/Melbourne 3-5 Nov/Sydney 7-8 Nov 2016.

The 3rd year Musical Theatre Showcase for 2016 was an exciting program of young talent displaying their musical and acting chops. At just over an hour long and with 30 graduates performing, it was a tight non-stop mix of material from mainly on and off Broadway. Each student chose their own party-piece and had a minute and a half in which to showcase the essence of their talent.

Voces

Direction and Choreography by Sara Baras. Music composed by Keko Baldomero. Hamer Hall. Melbourne Festival. 21st-23rd October, 2016

Today is your last chance to see the Queen of Flamenco dancers, Sara Baras.

The Secret Garden

Music: Lucy Simon. Book & Lyrics: Marsha Norman. Based on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Bankstown Theatre Company. Bankstown Arts Centre. October 21 – 30, 2016

Over the last few years Bankstown has featured in the national news for all the wrong reasons. It is therefore pleasing to report that good things do happen at Bankstown, and have been for many years.

I refer to the offerings of Bankstown Theatre Company, which has been functioning  under several names for about 80 years. The current offering is the Lucy Simon/ Marsha Norman musical piece The Secret Garden, a rarely performed work in the community theatre repertoire.

The Memory of Water

By Shelagh Stephenson. New Farm Nash Theatre Inc. Director: Sharon White. Merthyr Road Uniting Church. 8-29 Oct 2016

Sibling rivalry, familial guilt and black humour permeate the script of Shelagh Stephenson’s 1996 The Memory of Water as three sisters, who share little in common, reunite in the family home on the eve of their mother Vi’s, funeral. Childhood memories, remembered differently by each, come flooding back as they rummage through their mother’s belongings in her bedroom and come to terms with her death of Alzheimer’s disease.

War and Peace

Concept & direction Gob Squad. Devised by Niels Bormann, Katja Bürkle, Johanna Freiberg, Sean Patten, Damien Rebgetz, Tatiana Saphir, Sharon Smith, Berit Stumpf, Sarah Thom, Laura Tonke, Bastian Trost & Simon Will. Melbourne Festival, Malthouse Theatre, the Merlyn. 18 – 30 October 2016.

The cast – Sharon Smith, Tatiana Saphir, Sean Patten and Bastian Trost (or, on another evening, you might see Simon Will) – are charming, good-humoured, amusing, attractive, even endearing.

Sunshine

Written by Tom Holloway. Directed by Kirsten Von Bibra. Red Stitch. Oct 11th – Nov 5th, 2016

Red Stitch and playwright Tom Holloway have enjoyed a long symbiotic relationship, each playing a part in the growth of the other, so it’s fitting that Holloway’s new play should have its world premiere with the company that has played such a large role in the development of the work.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood

By Rupert Holmes. Spotlight Theatre, Benowa, Gold Coast. Director: Andrew Cockcroft-Penman. October 21st – November 12th, 2016

This “Solve It Yourself” Musical is a piece that requires an “all star” cast and Andrew Cockcroft-Penman, Musical Director Shari Ward and Choreographers Jamie Watt, Clay English and Ebony Rose have assembled one of the best.

Secret Bridesmaid’s Business

By Elizabeth Coleman. Liverpool Performing Arts Ensemble. Directed by Johnathon Brown. Casula Powerhouse. 19 – 22 October, 2016.

It says something about how good a show is when you don’t feel like you’re watching actors on stage but instead watching real life. Such was the high calibre of LPAE’s Secret Bridesmaid’s Business.

A bride, her mum, and her bridesmaids are in a hotel room the night before the big day. Not everything goes to plan. What happens over the course of the night is at turns funny, sad, and heartfelt - but mostly funny, and even the groom pops in.

887

Written, designed, directed & performed by Robert Lepage. English translation Louisa Blair. Dramaturg Peder Bjurman. Ex Machina company. Melbourne Festival. Arts Centre Melbourne, Playhouse. 19 – 22 October 2016.

Robert Lepage is alone on stage for two hours – two hours that are never less than engrossing and absorbing – and also sometimes very funny and sometimes very angry and at other times very, very sad.  Although he talks us through his childhood memories and beyond, his show is, really, ‘about’ memory – that is, how our memories are shaped, formed and remain via context internal and external. 

Subscribe to our E-Newsletter, buy our latest print edition or find a Performing Arts book at Book Nook.