Category: Michelle Doake

Photo by Phil Erbacher Ensemble Theatre presents, LUNA GALE, by Rebecca Gilman, at the Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli. 7 September – 13 October. LUNA GALE, is an American play, by Rebecca Gilman, written in 2014. Luna Gale has been taken into custody for her own safety. She is the baby daughter of Karlie (Lucy Heffernan) and Peter (Jacob Warner). They are, unfortunately, crystal-methamphetamine addicts, and have been dangerously neglectful of the care of their child. Karlie’s mother, Cindy (Michelle Doake), a born again Christian, is given temporary care custody but seeks adoption status which Karlie fiercely argues against. It escalates into…

Griffin Theatre Company presents, DIVING FOR PEARLS, by Katherine Thomson, in the SBW Stables Theatre Kings, Cross. 8 September – 28 October. DIVING FOR PEARLS, is an Australian play by Katherine Thomson, first performed in 1991 – a play, then, some 26 years old. However, this production, Directed by, Darren Yap, gives this play an energy and clarity that makes it resonate and feel as if it were written today, in 2017. This is a state-of-the-nation play delivered with confidence by all concerned. A good play – vivid, individual characters in wonderfully observed scenes, with dialogue that crackles and caresses…

Photo by Katy Green Loughrey Ensemble Theatre presents, ABSENT FRIENDS, by Alan Ayckbourn, at the Ensemble Theatre, Kirribilli. Dec 4 – Jan 24. An evening with Alan Ayckbourn is one that one can look forward too, generally, with anticipatory pleasure, and the Ensemble Theatre has taken a very sensible shine to presenting his challenging and comic work for us at least once a year – last year, NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH – this season, it is ABSENT FRIENDS. ABSENT FRIENDS written in 1974, is one of those comedies of his that shares the laser-like observational skill of Anton Chekhov, whilst wielding the doctorly scalpel…

Bell Shakespeare present THE WINTER’S TALE by William Shakespeare in the Playhouse at the Sydney Opera House. Shall I simply write the bare and naked facts of my experience in the theatre: it was good, it was bad; I liked it, I hated it, or, should I try to give an analysis of why I felt that way? THE WINTER’S TALE by William Shakespeare was written in the reign of James I, the Jacobean era. With PERICLES (1607-8), CYMBELINE (1609-10) , THE WINTER’S TALE (1610-11) and THE TEMPEST (1611) we enter the period of Shakespeare’s Tragicomic Romances … from PERICLES…

  Sydney Theatre Company presents THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISSOCIA by Anthony Neilson at the Wharf 1. THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF DISSOCIA by Anthony Neilson is a play about Lisa. In the first half Lisa experiences a journey in her world of mental illness, of “Dissocia”, (Dissociation). In the second half of the play we see Lisa in a hospital ward being chemically treated for her “mental illness”. This is a terrific play. Mr Neilson through the action of the first half has us experience the world that Lisa knows with her illness. The world in her mind. He has…

Based on a true life murder / court case this is what the writer calls a “sing-a story”. It is not a Dance show. It is Drama. The book and Lyrics follow a conventional linear journey with just the usual curiosity of a terrible serial killer murder, hunt and trial to keep us attentive. The text is sometimes baldly dangerous in its lack of insight or poetry. (The song lyrics are also sometimes so poorly projected that one is no wiser at the end of the song as one was when it began).The music is good but there are echoes…