Year: 2016

Photo by Clare Hawley The Ensemble theatre presents, RELATIVELY SPEAKING, by Alan Ayckbourn, at the Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli, 18 November – 14 January, 2017. RELATIVELY SPEAKING, by Alan Ayckbourn, was his first big commercial hit, in1967. It had a cast that included Michael Hordern, Celia Johnson and introduced Richard Briers to the London West End. The play, originally called MEETING MY FATHER, came out of the ‘revolutionary’ era of the English Swinging Sixties with all its entertainment taboo explorations into drugs, sex and rock ‘n roll, – think of films such as TOM JONES (1963), THE KNACK, AND HOW TO…

Photo by Chris Lundie New Theatre presents SUMMER RAIN. Book and Lyrics, by Nick Enright. Music and arrangements, by Terence Clarke. At the New Theatre, King St, Newtown, 15 November – 17 December. SUMMER RAIN, is an Australian musical, Book and Lyrics by Nick Enright, Music by Terence Clarke, which was commissioned by the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 1983, under the auspices of John Clark. It was written as a graduating play for the Third Year class and was Directed by Gale Edwards (at the start of her fabulous career in this genre. Who knew she would…

Photo by Brett Boardman Belvoir presents, THE FAITH HEALER, by Brian Friel, in the Belvoir Upstairs Theatre, Belvoir St, Surry Hills, 26 October – 27 November. The lights faded to black. The play, THE FAITH HEALER, was finished. The stage lighting came back up and it was a kind of surprise, shock, wonder, when on the furniture-empty raised platform, surrounded by a panorama of painted tumultuous clouds, only three actors stood there to take the curtain call. Colin Friels, Alison Whyte and Pip Miller. They looked so few on that, what appeared to be now, very spare space. For in…

  Sydney Theatre Company and Colonial First State Global Asset Management present SPEED – THE – PLOW, by David Mamet, in The Roslyn Packer Theatre, Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay, 8 November – 17 December. SPEED – THE – PLOW, by David Mamet was written in 1988 and starred Madonna in its first outing. Act One: It concerns two lowly-runged ‘goers’ in the Hollywood hierarchy trying to get further up the ladder with the power to ‘green light’ the production of films. Charlie Fox (Lachy Hulme) brings to his ambitious friend/ally, the corporation favoured Bobby Gould (Damon Herriman), a deal for…

A DOOR AjAR 11 November – 19 November 2016 Blue Mountains from Theatre Trailers on Vimeo. Fairmont Resort and Weatherboard Theatre present, A DOOR AjAR, by Dale Turner, in the Auditorium of The Fairmont Resort, Leura. 11 Nov – 19 Nov. In 2013, I saw a production of a new Australian play, THE WESTLANDS, by Dale Turner, at The Parramatta Riverside Theatres and was wonderfully ‘bowled over’ (read my blog). It was a play about the Western areas of Sydney and its peoples. Written in a form reminiscent of Dylan Thomas’ UNDER MILKWOOD: a verse play. It was presented by…

Photograph by Robert Catto Dino Dimitriades and Red Line Productions present, THE SHADOW BOX, by Michael Cristofer, at the Old Fitz Theatre, Cathedral St, Wooloomooloo, 15 Nov – 10 Dec. THE SHADOW BOX, by Michael Cristofer, is concerned with three persons in the terminal stage of a cancer illness, and the strains (collateral damage) it has on the families coping with that reality. This production has a beautiful visual aesthetic created by Designer, Isabel Hudson, who simplifies the more naturalistic demands of the original concept, and is assisted by a haze lighting Design by Martin Kinnane that manages a consistent elegance…