Month: November 2013

Powerhouse Youth Theatre (PYT) presents THE VIOLENCE PROJECT at Fairfield School of Arts, Harris Street, Fairfield. THE VIOLENCE PROJECT is a short verbatim project (45 minutes) researched and prepared by this young company: “Forty nine different voices from dozens of different countries, many in languages other than English, have come together for this project. These are stories from young people from Western Sydney, their response to violence, how they perceive it and live with it, and how their experiences are unique.” This work does not depict violent acts but is reflective in attempting to explain the reasons for it. It…

pantsguys, Geraldine Timmins and ATYP Under The Wharf present SWEET NOTHINGS by David Harrower, after Arthur Schnitzler at ATYP Studio 1, Pier 4 Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay. SWEET NOTHINGS is an adaptation by David Harrower (2010) of the Viennese writer, Arthur Schnitzler’s play, LIEBELIE (!895). Arthur Schnitzler first came to my attention with the National Theatre’s production of his long, sexually sophisticated play, DAS WEITE LAND (1911) translated/adapted by Tom Stoppard, in 1979, as UNDISCOVERED COUNTRY, at the National Theatre in London. REIGEN (1897) I have known as LA RONDE (have seen many times) – a ten scene set of…

ALL MY SONS by Arthur Miller is the opening production at Sydney’s newest theatre building: the Eternity Theatre (located on the corner of Burton St and Palmer St, Darlinghurst). This renovation of an old church building has respected the historic origins of the site and constructed what seems, from the experience of this first production, a theatre that works for all (the irony of another church building becoming a theatre building, I, personally cherish, and remember, respectfully, the artists of times past, for the persecution that they suffered at the hands of the churches, not too long ago). The stage…

Don’t Look Away presents ROOTED by Alex Buzo in the Parade Studio, in the Parade Theatres, Kensington. Alex Buzo was an Australian artist in the vanguard of the Australian cultural ‘revolution’ of the late sixties. His play NORM AND AHMED (1968), directed by Jim Sharman for the Old Tote Theatre Company, became a sensational event, as it explored racism in the Australian context. The subsequent court cases of ‘obscenity’ around this play became a test case in the battles about censorship in this volatile youth inspired time (Whitlam’s government elected in this growing fervour, it seems), propelled Mr Buzo into…

Arts Projects Australia presents the Kneehigh production of Noel Coward’s BRIEF ENCOUNTER at The Concourse Theatres in Chatswood. This production by the UK based company, Kneehigh, BRIEF ENCOUNTER, began in 2008, and in form, if not cast, as toured internationally, and finally, here, as part of an extensive tour around Australia. Adapted and Directed by Emma Rice (joint Artistic Director, with Mike Shepherd, of Kneehigh). The sources of this work are from Noel Coward’s play STILL LIFE (a one act play, which is part of the TONIGHT AT 8.30, (1936), a collection of ten plays, that Coward wrote for himself…

Cathay Playhouse presents PALACE OF DESIRE (adapted from a television series) in the Everest Theatre, the Seymour Centre, Sydney. The Cathay Playhouse completes ten continuous years of production with this adaption of PALACE OF DESIRE for the theatre from a Chinese television series (Dramaturgy by Gordon GUO Zi-Qing). The work is a large historic epic played and created, supported by a passionate and disciplined volunteer group of amateur artists. Like the other work that I have seen in past years: DE-LING and EMPRESS DOWAGER (2010) and the famous, THUNDERSTORM (2012) by Cao Yu, the look of the production is quite…