Year: 2014

Squabbologic Independent Music Theatre in association with Hayes Theatre Company proudly present THE DROWSY CHAPERONE. Music and Lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. Book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar at the Hayes Theatre, Darlinghurst. THE DROWSY CHAPERONE, at the Hayes Theatre is another on-target HIT, following on from the sell-out SWEET CHARITY, seen last month. THE DROWSY CHAPERONE is, also, another on-target HIT from the Squabbologic Independent Music Theatre, following on from their production, late last year, of CARRIE: The Musical. THE DROWSY CHAPERONE is a sure-fire night of delicious ‘fluff’, impeccably presented with a joie de vivre…

Epicentre Theatre and Emu Productions present DIMBOOLA by Jack Hibberd at the King Street Theatre, Newtown. I have never seen DIMBOOLA. I was keen, at last, to see the play, and the company were very persistent in inviting me. So….. I have, of course read DIMBOOLA, and know of it. Written by Jack Hibberd in 1969, it premiered at the famous La Mama Theatre in Melbourne – a ‘hot-bed’, then, for nurturing the new Australian play. Originally directed by Graeme Blundell, who went on to fame in the seventies starring in a trilogy of filmed sex-comedies : ALVIN PURPLE (1973);…

  Photo by Brett Boardman Sydney Theatre Company and Qantas present NOISES OFF by Michael Frayn, in the Drama Theatre, at the Sydney Opera House. NOISES OFF is an entirely delectable farce by Michael Frayn performed with hectic, high spirited impetuous ardour, and impeccable skills, by a deliciously drilled, hilarious team of actors/farceurs, under the assured guidance of Jonathan Biggins. Laughter can be, could be, the tonic de jour, you are seeking, to distract you, even momentarily, from the ‘farce’ of our present Australian political governings, parliaments, and the awful weighing-up of truly tense international political developments. If you need,…

  Photo by Brett Monaghan James Waites, known to me as Jim, left us on the 12th February, 2014. He swam out to sea at Coogee Beach. Jim had been struggling with ill health for some years. Jim was an Arts Journalist, famous, to me, for his Theatre criticism. We had met way back in the early 1980’s when I asked him, on behalf of John Clark and Elizabeth Butcher, to teach a class for young writers at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), using Ibsen’s HEDDA GABLER as a model. He did. We then crossed paths in many…

  photograph by Gez Xavier Mansfield UNLIKELY Productions presents STOP KISS by Diana Son at atyp Wharf 4, Hickson Rd. Walsh Bay. STOP KISS (1998), written by Diana Son is set in New York. The play is principally Callie’s story (Olivia Stambouliah) and we watch her negotiate her identity, and, ultimately, her commitment to her humanity. She is a New Yorker working as a News Traffic Reporter for a television company. She has a boyfriend, George (Aaron Tsindos). Sara (Gabrielle Scawthorn), has recently moved to New York from St Louis, after a seven year relationship, her one and only, with…

  Photo by by Ellis Parrinder Belvoir presents, ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID’S CITY by Michael Gow, in the Upstairs Theatre, at the Belvoir St Theatre, Surry Hills. ONCE IN ROYAL DAVID’S CITY by Michael Gow is having its world premiere at the Belvoir St Theatre. Upstairs, not Downstairs, for this new work. It is, indeed, a welcome experience to have a new Australian play without any of the obvious trappings, or artistic reputation, of past writers wreathing its conception and promise, on stage, at Belvoir (the usual ‘game’ is coming back, it seems, from what one has read, with the Simon…