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Bark of Millions (Sydney Opera House) ★★★★★
Full review up on The Queer Review.
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A Little Night Music (Hayes Theatre) ★★★★
There’s something thrilling about a chamber production of a Sondheim musical. Restricting the space and staging focuses everything on the music and performances. And with a score that can be as tricky as this, the performances need to be sharp.
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Blaque Showgirls (Griffin) ★★★
Blaque Showgirls is both a daft comedy and a commentary on the status of indigenous Australian lives. Terrible and terrific at the same time, it has the energy of a Christmas panto fueled with bags of cocaine – to be honest, I loved and hated it in equal measure.
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Venus & Adonis (Seymour Centre) ★★★1/2
Damien Ryan’s Venus & Adonis feels like a companion piece to Jessica Swale’s Nell Gwynn, both reframe Shakespeare with a female protagonist, lashings for humour and cutting commentary on the battle of the sexes.
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Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill (Belvoir) ★★★★1/2
Zahra Newman steps into the role that won Audra McDonald her 6th Tony Award and an Emmy nomination. These are big shoes to fill, and she is more than up to the task.
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The Visitors (Sydney Theatre Co.) ★★★★
Six clan leaders, and one younger proxy, gather to observe the boats approaching their land and discuss how best to deal with the situation. Should they present a show of force to scare them away, or treat them like visitors and offer hospitality?
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The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Hayes Theatre) ★★★★★
Perfect. No Notes.
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Summer of Harold (Ensemble Theatre) ★★★1/2
Written by Hilary Bell. World Premiere. Ensemble Theatre. 8 Sep – 14 Oct, 2023. Hilary Bell’s triptych of short plays focuses on the way memory interacts with our present-day lives. From heart-warming stories of youth, to tales of past snubs and regrets. Summer of Harold, Enfant Terrible and Lookout are beautiful vignettes of life, showcasing…
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Beauty & the Beast (Capitol Theatre) ★★★
Book by Linda Woolverton. Music by Alan Menken. Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice. Capitol Theatre, Sydney. Jun 14 – Dec 24, 2023. Beauty & the Beast alternates between, well, being beautiful and being beastly. At times it’s full of wonder and at times it just plods its way through the story. But one…
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Interview: Playwright Simon Stephens on ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ (2018)
Back in 2018 I visited Simon Stephens’ home in London to talk about The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time.
