Category: Verity Hampson

  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…

  Bareboards Productions in association with B Sharp presents the Australian Premiere of: BLISS, written by Olivier Choiniere and translated by Caryl Churchill, at the Downstairs Belvoir. BLISS written by a Quebecois, Olivier Choiniere, and translated by Caryl Churchill in 2008, is set in a supermarket (an accurately depressingly realistic design by Justin Nardella – other play works by this writer have been site specific [Mr Choiniere’s own company: L’Activite] and the Designer and Director (Shannon Murphy) seem to have taken their design inspiration from that fact – it is truly, wonderfully accurate!!!) and concerns mostly the fantasy of one…

  MAKEbeLIVE Productions, Tamarama Rock Surfers and FBi radio present CuBBYHOuSE, Devised and Performed by Holly Austin and Adriano Cappelletta. At the Old Fitzroy. This is a joyous and really beautiful, silly night of escapism in the theatre. It ought to resonate in the hearts and lungs of a lot of you out there, especially if you are a regular theatre goer. The contemporary material and even the re-addressing of some of the Classics we have seen this year (or any theatrical season) keep us truly alert to the depressing state of world events and personal journeys of some of…

  Arts Radar and Griffin Independent present REFERENCES TO SALVADOR DALI MAKE ME HOT by Jose Rivera. At the SBW Stables Theatre. I had a very exciting and translating experience with this play and production. I can thoroughly recommend it. Jose Rivera born in Puerto Rico in 1955 now lives in Los Angeles. This play reflects the cultures that he has grown in. “Rivera insists that all aspects of life are magical if looked at from the right perspective.” Following on from Blanche DuBois’s cry in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE: “I don’t want realism, I want magic” this play appears,…

Photo: Laura Brent – Dealing With Clair mt productions and Griffin Independent present DEALING WITH CLAIR by Martin Crimp. DEALING WITH CLAIR is a very early Martin Crimp (1988) and it is interesting to see alongside the STC production of the more recent Crimp play THE CITY (2008). Whether it be the “auteur” tendencies of Benedict Andrews or nor, or, if it is just the development of the writer’s styles (and aesthetic interests) over time, I found Cristabel Sved’s Direction of DEALING WITH CLAIR very engrossing and clear in the service of the playwright. This work set out to solve…

Photo – Alice Parkinson and Conrad Coleby – Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk ARTS RADAR in association with B Sharp present the world premiere of LADY MACBETH OF MTSENSK by Robert Couch, adapted from the novella by Nickolai Leskov in the Downstairs Theatre. Robert Couch and Joseph Couch have taken the 1864 novella by Nikolai Leskov and have adapted and staged it for a 2009 audience. This is a famous story made more famous by the Shostakovitch Opera which we have seen in Sydney this year from the Australian Opera. This version is fairly truthful to the structure of the major…