Category: Lee Lewis

    Bell Shakespeare presents TWELFTH NIGHT by William Shakespeare in the Playhouse at the Sydney Opera House. TWELFTH NIGHT is the last of Shakespeare’s comedies and it precedes the appearance of HAMLET. In an essay by Stanley Wells on John Barton’s production of TWELFTH NIGHT – my first remembered experience of this play, a magical one at the old Theatre Royal, in tandem with Trevor Nunn’s THE WINTER’S TALE starring Judi Dench as Viola and Hermione/Perdita- (Manchester University press,1976): “HAMLET is one of the most controversial of Shakespeare’s plays. It has been endlessly discussed, and poses major interpretative problems.…

  Sydney Theatre Company and Allens Arthur Robinson present HONOUR by Joanna Murray-Smith at the Drama theatre at the Sydney Opera House. Honour is the name of the principal character in this play by Joanna Murray-Smith. From the program notes: “Honour or Honor is the evaluation of a person’s trustworthiness and social status based on that individual’s espousals and actions…” Honour (Wendy Hughes) has been married to George (William Zappa) for 32 years. “Gus (George) has been the authoritative voice for a generation of TRIBUNE readers for almost twenty years…” in an award winning column – and when the play…

  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…

From the moderator: “There has been a recent explosion in the blogosphere in response to Company B’s 2010 season launch and the lack of women represented as writers and directors… Joanna Erskine – Dear Company B… Sydney Arts Journo – Where are the women? 7-on Playwrights – What is going on here? Laura Scrivano – Female Writers and Directors As a response, here is an excerpt from Kevin’s review of UNDER ICE which was posted a week before the event…”Just a note. This is the second work by Kellie Mackereth I have seen this year. Both have been highly satisfying.…

  Photo: The Call – Josh McConville   A GRIFFIN THEATRE COMPANY Sydney Premiere: THE CALL by Patricia Cornelius at the SBW Stables Theatre, Sydney. THE CALL by Patricia Cornelius, first produced by the Melbourne Workers Theatre and FULL TILT at the Fairfax Studio, Victorian Arts Centre, Melbourne in late 2007, concerns principally the story of four young people, uninspired by their education who are “disgorged” into a series of jobs in their local community, that are available and maybe, for some, soul destroying: in a battery hen farm (chicken pluckers); an mdf board factory; a meat rendering plant. In…

  Small Things Productions in association with B Sharp presents LADYBIRD by Vassily Sigarev at the Downstairs Theatre. Vassily Sigarev a contemporary Russian writer has had three of his plays presented in Sydney: PLASTICINE (2000); BLACK MILK (2002) and now LADYBIRD (2004). Each of these plays deal with the desolation of parts of the Russian society in the era of Putin’s government. The lower depths of the very recent past time. Some commentators have, in an attempt to define Mr Sigarev’s niche, suggested him as the contemporary Gorky or Dostoyevsky. This may be somewhat premature. Certainly in the “world“ of…