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Lethal Indifference

Photo by Prudence Upton Sydney Theatre Company presents, LETHAL INDIFFERENCE, by Anna Barnes, in the Wharf 1 Theatre, at the Sydney Theatre Company, Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay. 22 February – 10 March. LETHAL INDIFFERENCE is a new Australian play/monologue by Anna Barnes. This work has been nurtured by the Development Wing of the Sydney Theatre Company (STC), the Rough Draft Program, since 2016. In a secure (but grey) bedroom in an apartment above ground we meet our protagonist (the Woman), played intriguingly by Emily Barclay, who embarks on telling us the story of a woman, Deema, who is the victim of…

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The Government Inspector

    Photo by Pia Johnson Belvoir and Malthouse Theatre present THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR by Simon Stone with Emily Barclay, devised with the cast. Featuring a short musical by Stefan Gregory. Inspired by Nikolai Gogol. At the Upstairs Belvoir Theatre, Surry Hills. An actor, Robert Menzies, in costume, beckons the stage management to dim the auditorium lights and focus the stage lights on him. Mr Menzies with an apologetic speech, referencing the copyright dilemmas that the Belvoir Theatre Company has had in its recent past, (most notably, around Arthur Miller’s DEATH OF A SALESMAN) and now again for this production ‘spot’,…

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Strange Interlude

  Belvoir presents STRANGE INTERLUDE by Simon Stone after Eugene O’Neill at the Upstairs Belvoir St Theatre. This STRANGE INTERLUDE is a new Australian play by Simon Stone after the Eugene O’Neill original, written in 1927, presented on Broadway in 1928 by the Theatre Guild at the John Golden Theatre. This play was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1928. In preparing for the performance of this new play I read the original by Eugene O’Neill. I had read it was once before, many years ago, but barely remembered it, except for the impression that the leading role, that…

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The Seagull

VICTORY by Howard Barker was the last time that Judy Davis was on stage in Sydney. It was to see her that I bought my tickets to attend THE SEAGULL at Belvoir. To be able to watch Ms Davis on stage again, is too thrilling an opportunity to miss. A lot of other people have felt the same. The season was sold out – all but standing room – for weeks before the opening. Some of my friends bought their tickets despite the fact that it was another Chekhov play, the recent Sydney Theatre Company production of UNCLE VANYA having…

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That Face

  Company B Belvoir presents THAT FACE by Polly Stenham at Belvoir St Theatre. One of the major centres for contemporary writing, “ a new writing powerhouse”, in the UK is the Royal Court. In all of its manifestations, it has been, for a very long time. My memory of my History of Theatre lectures, as a student, take me back to G.B. Shaw and Harley Granville Barker dreams of a National Theatre and this building. Certainly the John Osborne LOOK BACK IN ANGER ‘bomb’ resonated from there (1957) and changed what was, then, newly acceptable on our stages. From…

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