Performing Arts Reviews:
2008–2022

Riverside Productions present PARRAMATTA GIRLS by Alana Valentine in the Lennox Theatre at the Riverside Theatres, Parramatta. PARRAMATTA GIRLS is an Australian play written in 2007 by Alana Valentine, and first performed at the the Belvoir Theatre, directed by Wesley Enoch. The play concerns eight inmates returning to an Institution for a reunion after some forty years. That the Institution was the now infamous Girls Training Centre (GTS) at Parramatta, and that the play was a sensation of revelation in 2007 that was timely and important and necessary (check out my observations of an Australian cultural favourite, DIMBOOLA), despite the…

  Photo by Brett Boardman Griffin Theatre Company and Perth Theatre Company present EIGHT GIGABYTES OF HARDCORE PORNOGRAPHY by Declan Greene at the SBW Stables Theatre, Kings Cross, Sydney. EIGHT GIGABYTES OF HARDCORE PORNOGRAPHY is a new Australian play by Declan Greene. Mr Greene is a theatre maker from Melbourne and we have met his work before, through the productions of Sisters Grimm, and his co-artist Ash Flanders (he, who we will see, independently, as well, as the Belvoir’s Hedda Gabler, in the months to come): LITTLE MERCY we saw at the STC, and SUMMERTIME IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN, which…

  Photo by Tessa Tran ATYP Selects Season presents HIS MOTHER’S VOICE by Justin Fleming in a world premiere production produced by John Harrison, and presented by bAKEHOUSE Theatre Company, at atyp at the Wharf 4, Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay. A new Australian play having its world premiere down at the Wharf Theatre is being presented by an Independent Company, bAKEHOUSE, in association with the ATYP Selects Season (previously known as Under the Wharf): HIS MOTHER’S VOICE, by veteran Australian playwright, Justin Fleming. The pleasure of seeing a company of 12 actors on stage, almost continually, was a bonus, but that…

Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) present HAYDN and ITALIAN CELLO in the Concert Hall at the Sydney Opera House. The Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO) led by Richard Tognetti with Giovanni Sollima, as the guest cellist and composer, presented a generous concert of music. The concert began with Ancient Airs and dances: Suite No.3 by Ottorino Respighi (1932). The four short works that make up this Suite are based on works from the 16th and 17th century, but re-interpreted, through Respighi, “a child of the Romantic age” and, so, although none of the melodies are altered and all the harmonies are authentic,…

Sydney Theatre Company presents PERPLEX by Marius Von Mayenburg. Translated by Maja Zade in the Wharf 1 Theatre, Hickson Rd. Walsh Bay. PERPLEX  Written by Marius Von Mayenburg, Translated by Maja Zade, Directed by Sarah Giles, is one of the brightest, challenging, intriguing, hilarious contemporary texts that we have had on a Sydney stage for some time. Mr Von Mayenburg is a writer, director and dramaturge. He has been a close collaborator with Thomas Ostermier at the Baracke at Deutsches Theatre in Berlin and, from 1999, at Schaubhne am Lehniner Platz, Berlin. His plays have been translated into over 30…

Powerhouse Youth Theatre (PYT) in association with ATYP presents IN THIS FAIRFIELD – Romeo and Juliet in the West, at the atyp Wharf Theatre, Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay. IN THIS FAIRFIELD – Romeo and Juliet in the West, directed by David Williams and Kate Worsley, is a guest showing in association with ATYP as part of what is called a Cameo season at the atyp Wharf Theatre. This work has already had its Premiere out at the home base in Harris Street, Fairfield, earlier in the month. Begun as a creative development in 2013, the Directors have worked with high…