Category: Theatre
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Happy Meal ★★★★
Written by Tabby Lamb. Sydney Festival. Eternity Playhouse. 17-24 January 2023 Tabby Lamb’s Edinburgh Fringe hit, Happy Meal, is bringing showers of joy to Sydney Festival (before heading to the Perth Festival in Feb). This sweet trans-romantic two-hander is a bright, bubbly piece of confection that blends the sour with the sweet to really hit…
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Boxing Day BBQ ★★★★1/2
Written by Sam O’Sullivan. World Premiere. Ensemble Theatre. Dec 5, 2022 – Jan 15, 2023 All shows should be this good. Boxing Day BBQ may look like a light, festive comedy from the outside, but once you pop the hood you’ll find a tight family drama that is finely tooled and smarter than it needs…
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2 Weeks & 10 Shows in LA & NYC
I managed to squeeze nine (well, technically 10) shows into a recent holiday to the United States. A week in Los Angeles (yes, I went to L.A. and watched theatre), and a week in New York provided a lot of chances to see shows and friends. But mainly shows… 2:22: A Ghost Story ★★★1/2 The…
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A Christmas Carol ★★★1/2
Based on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Adapted by Hilary Bell. World Premiere Ensemble Theatre Nov 25 – Dec 29, 2022. Christmas has come to Ensemble Theatre and a classic is being revisited with an air of freshness I wasn’t expecting. Australian legend John Bell leads a troupe of performers in retelling Charles Dickens’…
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RBG: Of Many, One. ★★★★
Written by Suzie Miller. World Premiere. Sydney Theatre Company. Oct 29 – Dec 17, 2022. There is a calculation to Suzie Miller’s new play, RBG: Of Many, One, now playing at Sydney Theatre Company. The calculation of a very intelligent woman (far more intelligent than I) looking ahead to the next step. This exploration of…
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The Lovers ★★★★
Based on A Midsummer’s Night Dream by William Shakespeare. Writer, composer Laura Murphy. Bell Shakespeare company Oct 23 – Nov 20, 2022. Have you ever seen a show that is a hair’s-breathe close to being just perfect? The Lovers by Bell Shakespeare is so close to being a bona-fide five star slam-dunk I can taste…
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Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella ★★★
Music & lyrics by Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II. Book by Douglas Carter Beane. Sydney Lyric till Jan 22, 2023 Oh, can we just not?! Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing particularly bad about Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella, it’s just utterly, resolutely average. And it clearly cost a lot of money to make something…
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The Italians ★★★★
Written by Danny Ball. Belvoir St Theatre Downstairs. Oct 23 – Nov 6, 2022. Read my review of The Italians at The Queer Review.
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Australian Theatre Live
The streaming theatre scene is still pretty young, and the vast majority of productions appear on our stages to never be seen again. Now Australian Theatre Live has launched a streaming service, giving everyone access to their library of 18 shows (and growing) that includes some Australian classics – it’s only the beginning and it’s…
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The Caretaker ★★★★1/2
Written by Harold Pinter. Ensemble Theatre. 14 Oct – 19 Nov, 2022. There’s something about watching actors who are so intensely “in the moment”… It’s mesmerising. Actors who, even when they aren’t speaking, are so invested, embodying their role so completely, they are watchable at all times. And in The Caretaker at Ensemble Theatre you…