Performing Arts Reviews:
2008–2022

This is a Co-Op production. This play has one actor who plays the HYPNOTIST (John Leary) and has rehearsed it for several weeks with the Director (Tanya Goldberg) “This actor wears Walkman/iPod headphones connected to a wireless receiver–this enables the HYPNOTIST to speak to and instruct a second actor through a microphone without the audience hearing.” In performance there is a second actor who plays FATHER. “The actor playing FATHER can be either male or female and of any adult age. This actor is completely unrehearsed in their role and walk on stage at the beginning with no knowledge of…

  This is a Co-Op production. The play was first presented at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2001 and then subsequently at The Bush Theatre. This production began it’s Australian life at this year’s Adelaide Fringe in March, 2002. The program notes suggest that the play was inspired by the Jon-Benet Ramsay and Jamie Bulger cases. But Peter Morris himself is never that specific in the play itself or in the original program notes. This is a conceit of the Production or Director. He began, he says, with notes of “monologues about tabloidization of youth”. Now he says he doesn’t…

I am a fan of Max Lyandvert’s interests. Fully enthused by his work on the puzzling but intriguing Richard Foreman’s works MY HEAD WAS A SLEDGEHAMMER and NOW THAT COMMUNISM IS DEAD MY LIFE FEELS EMPTY and his sound work on so much of my theatre going in Sydney. Dan Spielman I know as an actor with indelible memories of some of his luminous story telling skills in Barrie Kosky’s recent production of THE LOST ECHO adapted mostly from Ovid’s METAMORPHOSES. It seems that these two artists met and have mutually inspired each other and developed a project that attempts…

Theatre of Image Artistic Director Kim Carpenter, is responsible for both the Direction and the Design of this adaptation of the Oscar Wilde Fairy story. The Design is meticulously thought through and beautifully executed. There are images here that should stay delightfully in the memory for some time to come: The Little Swallows wooing of the Reed is but one of many. The Puppet Makers (Tina Matthews and Garth Frost), Mask Maker (Paul Fraser), Costume Maker (Lucia Franze) along with the clever Set construction and painting (Pier Productions) are masterful in their ability to lead the imagination to a place…

On the coldest night in Sydney this winter, so far, with rain sprinkling around me, after almost two weeks of every night out at some theatre event, I had an uninspiring dinner grabbed between work and the theatre and then walked to the SBW Stables Theatre, bought my ticket and then climbed the stairs into that relatively uncomfortable space. I had recently written a series of reviews which were never entirely happy about what I had experienced. Mostly, lately, had begun to be irritated about Directors (both young and mature) conceptualising a production of a play and relatively obliterating the…

    Looks like people are most eagerly anticipating SCORCHED, upstairs at the Belvoir St Theatre. So here are some details… Written by Wajdi Mouawad, translated by Linda Gaboriau Director: Neil Armfield Cast: Paula Arundell, Carl Dewhurst, Adam Hatz, Gillian Jones, Brian Lipson, Ashley Lyons, Lucia Mastrantone, Zindzi Okenyo, Hazem Shammas, George Spartels and Yael Stone Season runs 19 July – 7 September. Bookings online or call 02 9699 3444. This month, have your say about which play you think Bell Shakespeare should produce next. Vote now! –> Pearl (Moderator)