Year: 2016

  Belvoir presents JASPER JONES. Based on the novel by Craig Silvey. Adapted by Kate Mulvaney. In the Upstairs Theatre, Belvoir St, Surry Hills. 6 Jan – 7 Feb., 2016. JASPER JONES, was written by Craig Silvey, with a young adult readership in mind in 2009, and has garnered many prizes and become a popular book – even a studied school text. I was never a fan of the book, finding it a fairly ordinarily researched novel – it is set in a country town, Corrigan, in Western Australia during the period of the Vietnam war, the summer of 1965.…

Photo by Lisa Tomasetti Sydney Theatre Company presents THE GOLDEN AGE, by Louis Nowra, at the Wharf 1 Thearte, Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay.  19 Jan – 20 Feb. THE GOLDEN AGE, by Louis Nowra was published in 1985. The first production was given at the Playbox Theatre in Melbourne, Directed by Rex Cramphorn. I first saw the play in a NIDA production by Neil Armfield with Richard Roxburgh, as Francis – it was a truly memorable production. I have had, always, a ‘romance’ about the early work of Louis Nowra. In the late 1970’s a group of artists, including myself, had…

Photo by Robert Catto Stone Soup and Griffin Independent present, THOMAS MURRAY AND THE UPSIDE DOWN RIVER, by Reg Cribb, at the SBW Stables Theatre, Kings Cross. 13 – 30 January, 2016. THOMAS MURRAY AND THE UPSIDE DOWN RIVER is a new play by Reg Cribb. Mr Cribb has created plays and screen works at a highly consistent rate. Last year, being at the creative centre of the award winning Australian film, LAST CAB TO DARWIN, based on his 2003 play. This new play seems to me the most ambitious project to date: a kind of poetic metaphor telling the…

2015 was a fairly testy and testing time in the theatre for me. Not much happened to arrest my attention until late in the year. It had been fairly dire. Belvoir with very few exceptions, awful. The Sydney Theatre Company (STC) very hit and miss – lots of miss. The Griffin mostly ordinary and the Darlinghurst Theatre Company, too, all ‘over the shop’ as they say. I took some conscious solace by attending some Music stuff just to get an injection of above average standard. Oh, well. (Hey Guys,This is numbered for convenience not for preferential listing.Puleeese!) Best New Australian…

Sydney Theatre Company presents ARMS AND THE MAN, by George Bernard Shaw in the Drama Theatre at the Sydney Opera House, 13 September – 31st October, 2015. This is a catch-up diary entry for ARMS AND THE MAN. It was seen in September/October for goodness sake! I am always keen to see the work of G.B. Shaw on stage. I do count his work as some of my favourite: HEARTBREAK HOUSE, SAINT JOAN, MAN AND SUPERMAN, MAJOR BARBARA, PYGMALION, MISALLIANCE even THE DEVIL’S DISCIPLE, THE DOCTOR’S DILEMMA, CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA, are want to see’s. Maybe even YOU NEVER CAN TELL…