Performing Arts Reviews:
2008–2022

Photo by Brett Boardman Belvoir presents, AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE, by Melissa Reeves, after Henrik Ibsen, in the Upstairs Theatre, Belvoir St, Surry Hills. 7th October – 4th November. Melbourne writer, Melissa Reeves has adapted Henrik Ibsen’s 1882 play, AN ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE. It has been transposed and adapted to contemporary Australian times: 2018. It is a very faithful set of adjustments and is essentially true to Ibsen’s content and spirit – both his politics and his humour. The original play concerns two siblings, one a Doctor and the other a Politician – he is the mayor of the…

Photo by Brett Boardman Griffin Theatre Company presents, THE FEATHER IN THE WEB, by Nick Coyle, in the SBW Stables Theatre, Kings Cross. 5th October – 17 November. THE FEATHER IN THE WEB, is a new play by Nick Coyle. Back in 2009 we saw Mr Coyle’s HAMMERHEAD [IS DEAD] and one could see the promise of a writer with a decided black-comic surreal state of mind. In Hammerhead, the hero of that play, we saw in 90 minutes his life flash past him after been hit in the head with a hammer by his sister before dying. A series of episodes…

Photo by David Hooley Brave New World presents, LIE WITH ME, by Liz Hobart, at The Old 505 Theatre, 5 Eliza St, Newtown. 2 – 13 October. LIE WITH ME, is a new Australian work by Liz Hobart. This is a new iteration of this project that has been in development over a period of almost 2 years. It examines the circumstances of a ‘serial’ killer. It focuses in on the parents of the young man – Sebastian – and the devastating effects that it has on them. Questions of responsibility in the manners and hazards of bringing up a child…

Photo by Robert Catto   Darlinghurst Theatre Company presents, MAGGIE STONE, by Caleb Lewis, at The Eternity Playhouse, Burton St, Darlinghurst. 29th September – 21st October. MAGGIE STONE is an Australian play by Caleb Lewis. It was written eight years ago. This is its first outing in Sydney. Maggie Stone (Eliza Logan), a let-herself-go, middle-aged lower rung corporate slave – small loans officer – struggles to maintain an equilibrium of pleasantness around the ‘service’ she is meant to dole out. Coming from a past that sat in the fringes of criminality her tolerance for everyday courtesy is severely impaired, for,…

Sydney Theatre Company and Adshell present, an Australian Adaptation by Francis Greenslade and Sarah Giles, of ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF AN ANARCHIST by Dario Fo, in the Drama Theatre, at the Sydney Opera House. September 10 – October 27. ACCIDENTAL DEATH OF AN ANARCHIST, is a play written by Italian Writer, Actor, Dario Fo, in 1970, in response to the death of Giuseppe Pinelli, following his arrest under suspicion of being responsible, as a terrorist, for a bomb explosion at a busy bank in Piazza Fontana, at the centre of Milan, in which sixteen people were killed and around ninety were…

Photo by Asparay Photographics New Ghosts Theatre Company in association with bAKEHOUSE Theatre co-present, YEN, by Anna Jordan, in the Kings Cross Theatre (KXT), at the Kings Cross Hotel. 27th September – 13 October. YEN, is an English play by Anna Jordan. It won the Bruntwood Prize in 2013. YEN, is a bleak and yet compassionate sociological exposition of two boys, 14 year old Bobbie (Jeremi Campese) suffering from severe ADHD and his 16 year old brother, Hench (Ryan Hodson), stunted in his emotional maturity, living with Taliban, their dog, in a squalid flat in a local Council Estate, having…