Reviews

Life Without Me

By Daniel Keene. Cairns Little Theatre. The Rondo Theatre. Feb 26 – Mar 6, 2021

Live theatre is back at The Rondo with Cairns Little Theatre’s production of Life Without Me by Daniel Keene. This is a strange, absurd, but fascinating play, set in a rundown, two star hotel in an unnamed city.  The characters that arrive at the hotel all seem to have problems, problems that the hotel only seems to exacerbate.

Running the establishment is Nigel, superbly played by Wayne Hogan. You are not sure if Nigel is a blithering idiot, a serial killer or just lonely.  

Runt

By Patricia Cornelius. Presented and co-created by Dee & Cornelius & Wilks. Directed by Susie Dee. fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. 24 February – 7 March 2021.

This is an impeccable production with a clear and cohesive approach across a variety of elements in the play. Runt has a lyrical and poetic style that is also infused with confronting everyday language. This makes the text hard-hitting and compelling. The play is a combination of musing, laments, hard truths and uncomfortable accounts of what it is like to eke out an existence from the margins of society.

We’re Probably Really Really Happy Right Now

By Ellen Grimshaw. Theatre Works, St Kilda. Feb 24 – Mar 6, 2021

We’re Probably Really Really Happy Right Now, a quirky new upbeat theatrical performance written by VCA Master of Writing for Performance graduate Ellen Grimshaw, and directed by Sarah Vickery, opens the 2021 Theatre Works season.

The Boy Who Talked to Dogs

From the book by Martin McKenna, and adapted by Amy Conroy. Slingsby and State Theatre Company SA. Adelaide Festival. Thomas Edmonds Opera Studio. Feb 25 – Mar 14, 2021

‘What’s wrong with you?’ screams almost everyone in Marty’s life, but there’s little wrong with this wonderful piece of theatre from South Australia’s Slingsby and State Theatre Company.

I Made an Adult

Conceived and performed by Tracy Crisp. Adelaide Fringe Festival 2021, Main Stage at Bakehouse, Feb 22 – Mar 6, 2021

It is midnight. Well doesn’t every Mum only have that time available to make a cake? Not just any cake, however; this is the final Women’s Weekly Birthday Cake, lovingly made by Tracy Crisp for her youngest son’s 18th birthday. As she stirs, she turns the pages of her memories back to the start of her journey as a mother. The fourth in a quartet of plays, this 50 minute gem is a warm, loving and beautifully drawn story.

Theatre of Bondage

Adelaide Fringe Festival 2021. The Shed Rehearsal Theatre, Rear Warehouse, Cumberland Park. Feb 25 – 27, 2021

Theatre of Bondage is a journey into the art of shibari. ‘Shibari is a contemporary form of rope bondage that originated in Japan.

Unsung

Amelia Ryan and Libby O’Donovan. Adelaide Fringe Festival. The Queens. Feb 25 - Mar 7, 2021

Amelia Ryan and Libby O’Donovan are a powerhouse combination, oozing energy and an abundance of talent, as they effortlessly command the stage with their undeniable chemistry taking the audience on a journey through a musical landscape stretching as far back as the 1960s.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

By Tennessee Williams. Canberra Repertory, directed by Anne Somes. Canberra Rep Theatre, 18 February – 6 March 2021.

 

Reuben Kaye

Adelaide Fringe Festival 2021. Wonderland Spiegeltent Festival Hub. Feb 19 - Mar 21, 2021.

Reuben Kaye is a celebration of everything that is LGBTQ+ (or ‘queer’ in simpler language).

A German Life

By Christopher Hampton. Adelaide Festival. Dunstan Playhouse. Feb 19 – 14 Mar, 2021

Written by British playwright Christopher Hampton, and directed by Neil Armfield, A German Life reminds us both how shocking, and ordinary, war and its privations become, seen through the eyes of those who are aggrieved, and those who see themselves as ordinary citizens, doing whatever it takes to survive.

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