Performing Arts Reviews:
2008–2022

Photo by Vanessa Wright Red Lines Productions present, A GIRL WITH SUN IN HER EYES, by Joshua Rollins, at The Old Fitz Theatre, Cathedral St, Wooloomooloo, OCT 27 – NOV 14. A GIRL WITH SUN IN HER EYES by American playwright, Josh Rollins is a late-night show at the Old Fitz. This is another Chicago corrupt cop plot on the Old Fitz stage, with the usual Old Fitz macho testosterone emphasis that has become a decidedly boring habit, and signature of the work in this space, with very few exceptions, over the past year, since Red Line Productions, in a flurry…

  Performance Space presents, TANGI WAI – The Cry of Water, by Victoria Hunt, Bay 20, Carriageworks 28 Oct – 1 Nov 2015. TANGI WAI – The Cry of Water, is the latest work by Victoria Hunt. COPPER PROMISES, a work presented in 2012, was a great landmark in my theatre going experiences. I saw its final iteration after a ten year gestation development. This new work in its first incarnation, too, has great power and impresses deeply. Ms Hunt is of part-Maori inheritance and she is investigating the deep mythological origins of the creation stories of her worlds, through…

The Sydney Theatre Company (STC) recently presented a play by Andrew Upton called THE PRESENT, which was an adaptation of an unwieldy text by Anton Chekhov known, mostly, under the title of PLATONOV (1881). It was never published, even read, until well after the death of its author (It was published posthumously in 1923). So, what PLATONOV, can be about, as we have, historically seen, can be very different, depending on the inclination of the Writer/Director. Anton Chekhov’s first published and produced play was IVANOV, in November, 1887. In 1884 Chekhov had graduated from Moscow University as a Doctor, the same…

Taikoz present THE BEAUTY OF EIGHT, in the York Theatre, Seymour Centre, Chippendale, Sydney. 23 -24 October, 2015. It has been a while since I have attended a performance given by TAIKOZ, a group of Australian artists dedicated to the Japanese tradition of drumming, practising ‘Kumi-daiko’: a performance characterised by an ensemble playing on different drums and other percussive instruments. TAIKOZ was founded in 1997 by Ian Cleworth and Riley Lee. THE BEAUTY OF EIGHT is a new work of three parts: Eternal Silence; Our Horizon and The White Bird, featuring a guest artist, Chieko Kojima, a member of the…

DEAD CENTRE / SEA WALL, two plays, one each by Tom Holloway and Simon Stephens, a Co-production presented by Red Line Productions and Red Stitch Productions, at the Old Fitz Theatre, Cathedral St, Wooloomooloo, 20 Oct – 14 Nov. DEAD CENTRE by Tom Holloway, and SEA WALL, by Simon Stephens, two monologues, are presented as a Co-Production from the Red Stitch Actors Theatre, Melbourne, and Red Line Productions, at the Old Fitz Theatre. SEA WALL was written by contemporary British playwright, Simon Stephens (ON THE SHORE OF THE WIDE WORLD, PUNK ROCK), in 2008. A monologue from a Man, a…

Powerhouse Youth Theatre (PYT) in association with the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP), present TEAM AUSTRALIA: STORIES FROM FAIRFIELD, at the ATYP Theatre, Wharf 4, Hickson Rd, Miller’s Point. 21 -24 October, 2015. TEAM AUSTRALIA: STORIES FROM FAIRFIELD is the Powerhouse Youth Theatre (PYT) Ensemble showcase for 2015. It seems that this core group of six performers: Luke Cignarella, Monica Kumar, Mahdi Mohammadi, David Robertts, Barbara Schefer, and Amanda Sullo, young artists from South West Sydney, have met for two hours each Monday, over the past year or so, to research and train with professional arts practitioners. Says Karen…