Category: Sydney Theatre Company

At Wharf 2 The SYDNEY THEATRE COMPANY EDUCATION present ROMEO AND JULIET. The text has been edited to play even less than “the two hours traffic” the Chorus tells us about in the original. It has been edited for 8 actors and maybe too slimly to do justice to Shakespeare. He has however weathered centuries of this abuse, so not to blame or worry too much. On a red dirt floor with a ubiquitous, deteriorating ute and a middle height wooden tower (it was presumably, once a water tower- I’m guessing that design detail,- and not just a convenient acting…

      The Sydney Theatre Company presents the STC ACTORS COMPANY in THE SERPENT’S TEETH, two plays by Daniel Keene CITIZENS & SOLDIERS at The Drama Theatre at the Sydney Opera House on 24th April 2008.I mention this date so precisely because something rare was happening, for the first time in a long time in the theatre in Sydney I felt that the relevancy of the plays were immediate and concerned my life vitally. The Sydney Morning Herald’s Headline for the day was ‘The going just got tougher. ”It concerned “families on modest incomes” needing to be shielded from…

Tim Supple’s A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM was in Sydney as part of its international tour. It was physically robust, sexy, and funny with hints of darkness. Spoken in seven languages the play was superbly told without the assistance of surtitles. In fact it was supremely funnier and more engaging than THE SYDNEY THEATRE ACTING COMPANY’S portentous/pretentious moribund production by Edward Dick last year. The sheer delight of the performers in performing accompanied by a live orchestration was refreshing and memorable.

This is a wonderful piece of writing and Robyn Nevin was wonderfully vulnerable in this one person piece. I saw this early in the run (twice) and felt that I had never seen Ms Nevin so delicate and fragile with her usual strengths of cool intelligence and insight. Sensitively supported by Cate Blanchett with a provocative Set Design by Alice Babidge beautifully lit by Nick Schlieper and an abrasive but mostly apt Sound Design. Stimulating.

First up in March was a Sydney Theatre Company offer from its New or Experimental Theatre wing WHARF2LOUD. They have invited the De Quincey Co to present: ’embrace: GUILT FRAME’. Usually this company is seen at The Performance Space in Sydney, a space known for its experimental nature. Tess De Quincey and Peter Snow presented a 45 minute experience of “art” within the frame work of a gilt picture frame. This is one of a series of explorations using structural elements drawn from The Natyasastra – an ancient Indian treatise on artistic practice, in which the performers negotiate a series…

In February in Sydney the local scene reasserts itself after a Festival Season-the third Sydney Festival led by Fergus Linehan-this year lots of Circus, Dance, Contemporary Music and little challenge. So it was a pleasure to anticipate THE VERTICAL HOUR by David Hare. A Hare/Shavian challenge of Ideas and Character. The Sydney Theatre Company (now led by Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton) begins its 2008 Season with this. This play of ideas gives moderate pleasure – its arguments have been well covered in many other mediums (the play is 18 months old!!) so it is not full of confrontation or…