Category: Drama
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Consent (Seymour Centre) ★★★1/2
Written by Nina Raine. Outhouse Theatre Co. Seymour Centre. 1 – 24 June, 2023. The ever excellent Outhouse Theatre brings Nina Raine’s 2017 UK hit play Consent to the Seymour Centre. A big drama that blends the professional and the personal for a group of British lawyers who prosecute and defend sexual assault cases. These…
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Do Not Go Gentle (Sydney Theatre Company) ★★★★1/2
Written by Patricia Cornelius. Sydney Theatre Company. Roslyn Packer Theatre. 23 May – 17 Jun, 2023. Do Not Go Gentle sees five explorers push through ice and snow to be the first to reach the South Pole. Do Not Go Gentle sees five people in the winter of their lives face dementia in various ways.…
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Happy Days (Melbourne Theatre Company) ★★★★1/2
Written by Samuel Beckett. Melbourne Theatre Company. 1 May – 10 June, 2023. There seems to be a natural melding of elements in Melbourne Theatre Company’s production of Samuel Beckett’s 1961 classic, Happy Days. As if somewhere between Judith Lucy’s life as a comedian and Beckett’s existential outlook the show has landed in a sweet-spot…
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Girl Band (Riverside Theatres, Parramatta) ★★★★
Written by Katy Warner. Riverside Theatres, Parramatta. 18 – 27 May, 2023. Playwright Katy Warner is taking aim at performative “girl power”, literally, in her new play Girl Band, going behind the scenes of the birth of a 90s pop group. For all the bubble-gum music and outfits, this tale gets realistically dark. Music industry…
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Suddenly Last Summer (Ensemble Theatre) ★★★★
Written by Tennessee Williams. Ensemble Theatre. 18 May – 10 Jun, 2023. Tennessee Williams’ hypnotic play, Suddenly Last Summer heats up the autumnal nights at Ensemble Theatre with a stunning new production from director Shaun Rennie and a stellar lead performance by Andrea Demetriades. Compact, precise and haunting; to quote a very different show, “I’ve…
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At What Cost? (Belvoir) ★★★★★
Written by Nathan Maynard. Belvoir St Theatre. 4 – 21 May, 2023. While many people spent the night watching the Coronation of King Charles III, Australia’s new Head of State, a smaller group were sitting in the Belvoir St Theatre watching a play rooted in the intergenerational damage of British colonialism. At What Cost? Nathan…
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Julia (Sydney Theatre Company) ★★★★★
Written by Joanna Murray-Smith. World Premiere. Sydney Theatre Company. Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House. 31 Mar – 20 May, 2023 Friends, Aussies, Countrymen, lend me your ears. We have come to the Drama Theatre of the Sydney Opera House today, not to examine the life and legacy of former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard, but…
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Fences (Sydney Theatre Company) ★★★★1/2
Written by August Wilson. Australian Premiere. Sydney Theatre Company. Wharf Theatre. 25 Mar – 6 May, 2023. Sydney Theatre Company has struck a vein of precious gems with its presentation of overlooked African-American classics. First a dynamic production of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in Sun, and now August Wilson’s tale of generational struggle, Fences. Troy…
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Cherry Smoke (KXT Broadway) ★★★1/2
Written by James McManus. KXT Broadway. Mar 24 – Apr 8, 2023. Four excellent performances and slick, smart design work combine to bring James McManus’ Cherry Smoke to life and give the new KXT Broadway a proper launch. It’s just unfortunate the play itself doesn’t live up to all the good work done to bring…
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Collapsible ★★★★
Written by Margaret Perry. Old Fitzroy Theatre. Mar 9 – Apr 1, 2023. Read my review over on The Queer Review.
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