Reviews

Human Activity

By Katie Pollock. bAKEHOUSE Theatre Co and Nautanki Theatre. Director Suzanne Millar. KXT On Broadway and Riverside Theatre. 15 Sept – 8 Oct, 2023

Twenty-five gold birdcages hang above a city square bathed in blue pre-dawn light. Like the cages, the space is empty but for a figure shrouded in blankets. As morning light filters in, flowers set against a wall can be seen, and early morning birdsong sounds. But there are no birds.

It’s an eerie beginning to Katie Pollock’s play. But Sydney in the first few weeks of June 2014 was strange, different. The siege at the Lindt Café in Martin Place had left the city on edge, nervy, suspicious.

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Written by Stephan Elliott and Allan Scott. Gilbert & Sullivan Society of SA. Arts Theatre, Angus St Adelaide. Sept 21 – 30, 2023

The Gilbert & Sullivan Society of SA pulls out all stops for their final production for 2023, Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and it is certainly a plethora of feathers, sequins, and frocks!

Bananaland

By Kate Miller-Heidke and Keir Nuttall. Presented by Brisbane Festival and QPAC. Playhouse Theatre, Brisbane. 16th September - 1st October, 2023

In wild, wacky and colourful mode, popular song writer and performer Kate Miller-Heidke and writer Keir Nuttall's venture into the world of musical comedy wowed the Brisbane audience on opening night with their original foray into an exploration of the juxtaposition between punk rock music and kiddie entertainment. Based on their own experiences as touring musicians and parents, this high-camp caper had the audience giggling with glee at its satirical dig at life on the road leading to the bright lights of television while simultaneously exploring the psyche behind its characters.

Celebrity

Written and directed by Suzie J. Jarmain. Directed by Emma Gough. La Mama HQ, 205 Faraday Street, Carlton. 20 September – 1 October, 2023.

Suzie J. Jarmain explores the concept of celebrity through a variety of stage and presentation techniques. The performance combines and blends a variety of styles and elements including lecture, acting, satire, monologue and poetry reading. This gives the production a very unconventional structure and Jarmain’s captivating presence delivers her musings and contemplations on the exponential growth of this phenomenon with charm and intrigue. 

Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill

By Lanie Robertson. Belvoir Street Theatre. September 14 to October 15, 2023

This remarkable incarnation of Billie Holiday by Zahra Newman lifts beyond that familiar, now surely perverse trope of female singers headed for tragedy. Think Janis Joplin, Judy Garland, Whitney Houston, Amy Whitehouse, and so many stars falling off the stage from drugs, booze or other demons. 

Jurrungu Ngan-Ga (Straight Talk)

By Marrugeku. Black Swan. Directed by Rachael Swain. Heath Ledger Theatre, State Theatre Centre, Perth, WA. Sep 15-23, 2023

Black Swan’s latest work, a co-production with Marrugeku, is a striking and emotive piece of dance-theatre. Set inside “the prison of the Australian mind” it is the story of government sanctioned abuse of Aboriginal and refugee people in Australian prisons and immigration centres.

Provocative and powerful, it is designed by Visual Artist Abdul-Rahman Abdullah with a striking, imposing, and institutional set. Damien Cooper makes strong choices with the lighting design – which is both visually impressive and highly emotive. 

MLM Is For Murder (Or, Your Side Hustle Is Killing Us)

By John Bavoso. Directed by Rodney Stickells-Palmer. Garrick Theatre, Meadow St, Guildford, WA. Sep 14-30, 2023

MLM Is for Murder (Or Your Side Hustle Is Killing Us) has one of the longest titles of 2023, but had one of the shorter preparation periods. A replacement for a season that couldn’t be cast, director Rodney Stickells-Palmer offered this relatively new play as a substitute show. 

The Enchanted Pig a Musical tale

Music by Jonathan Dove. Libretto by Alasdair Middleton. WAAPA Classical Voice Students. Directed by Emma Matthews. Richard Gill Auditorium, WAAPA, Edith Cowan University, Mount Lawley, WA. Sep 8-14, 2023

The Enchanted Pig is performed by WAAPA Classical Voice Students and accompanied by Musical Director Tommaso Pollio, in WAAPA’s concert venue, the Richard Gill Auditorium. While officially a “semi-staged” production, this is a show that is full of life, with some clever staging, and is well acted, performed with commitment and beautifully sung.

Beethoven 7 & Bruch’s Violin Concerto

Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House. September 15 & 16, 2023.

Max Bruch’s first major orchestral work was surely the start of a glittering career in 1868. 

Europe’s most famous violinists flocked to play his Violin Concerto, and still do, but almost all his further works were ignored.  All the rights to his celebrated concerto he’d sold for a pittance, and at the age of just 30 Bruch’s long career was on the way down.

Guy Noble's Great Tunes

Queensland Symphony Orchestra. QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane. 17th September, 2023

Maestro and ever-popular conductor and host Guy Noble was in full flood for this performance, despite his flu, conducting his own choice of works as a final gesture to this farewell concert. After eighteen years at the helm of the Music on Sundays concerts, it was indeed a memorable occasion for all concerned, orchestra and audience alike, and befitting that he had the opportunity to bring to life a selection of his 'desert-island-discs' together with his family of musicians, the QSO.