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Venus in Fur

Photo by Helen White Darlinghurst Theatre Co present, VENUS IN FUR, by David Ives, at the Eternity Playhouse, Darlinghurst. (29 May – 5 July). VENUS IN FUR, by American, David Ives, was written in 2011. It is, according to the Wickipedia source, “this play-within-a-play is an adaptation of the 1870 novel VENUS IN FURS by the Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch and happens to be the novel that inspired the term Masochism.” In a flash of lightning (Lighting Design, by Sian James-Holland) and crash of thunder (Composition and Sound Design, by Jessica James-Moody), a young actress, Vanda (Anna Houston), stumbles…

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Henry V

Bell Shakespeare presents, HENRY V, in the Playhouse, at the Sydney Opera House, 21 Oct – 14 Nov, 2014. Some children and their teachers are trapped in a classroom/bunker in London during the German Blitzreig of World War Two. The teachers provide the children the text of HENRY V, by William Shakespeare, to read and rehearse in an improvised manner, to distract them from the surrounding chaos. With a concussive Sound Design (Composer and Sound Design, Steve Francis), and Lighting Design (Sian James-Holland), an atmosphere of alarm outside the room brings a reality of war to the environment. Anne Gardiner…

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The Crucible

From THE CRUCIBLE: But you must understand, Sir, that a man is either with this court or he must be counted against it, there be no road between. This is a sharp time, a precise time – we live no longer in the dusky afternoon when evil mixed itself with good and befuddled the world. Now, by God’s grace, the shining sun is up, and them that fear not the light will surely praise it. I hope that you be one of those. Act Three. Danforth Sitting in the old wooden ‘barn’, one of the heritage buildings, situated on the…

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Monkey. Journey to the West

Photo by Steven Siewert Riverside Theatres presents Kim Carpenter’s Theatre of Image, MONKEY. JOURNEY TO THE WEST, written by Donna Abela, and Composed by Peter Kennard, at the Riverside Theatres, Parramatta, 2 -11 October. Kim Carpenter’s Theatre of Image is presenting his new work, a version of the 16th Century, three-volume, 1500-page novel, MONKEY. JOURNEY TO THE WEST. The original is attributed to Wu Cheng’en (Ming Dynasty). Arthur Waley, in 1942, published a popular abridged translation in English. It has since been translated again, and seen in many, many stage versions – opera, included, and for film and television. My…

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Fireface

Stories Like These and atyp Under The Wharf present FIREFACE by Marius Von Mayenburg, translated by Maja Zade at the atyp Wharf Theatre, Wharf 4, Hickson Rd. FIREFACE was the first play of Marius Von Mayenburg for the Schaubuhne am Lehniner Platz, Berlin and it was awarded the Kleist Prize for young dramatists in 1997. Several years ago the Sydney Theatre Company (STC) presented a production by Benedict Andrews. Mr Von Mayenburg has gone on to a very prolific career. The play is a stringent look at the core social structure of any society: that of the family. Vitally, in…

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The Ham Funeral

  New Theatre presents THE HAM FUNERAL by Patrick White at the New Theatre, Newtown. THE HAM FUNERAL by Patrick White was written in 1947. The first of the published plays (1965). The play has had a very dramatic life of its own, in terms of its performance obstacles in the 1960’s, when it was, infamously, refused performance in 1962 by the governors of the Adelaide Festival. Last year, in 2012, Adam Cook, featured it, 60 years later, as part of his last season as Artistic Director of the State Theatre Company of South Australian Theatre (STCSA) and one of…

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