Theatre Archive

A group of blokes in dark suits sit around discussing art. They look ordinary enough. You might overhear them talking in a café. To varying degrees they have some knowledge, although it becomes clear they don’t like cubism, surrealism – all modern …

Playwright Melissa Reeves has taken the protagonist first imagined by Henrik Ibsen in his An Enemy of the People and turned his Dr Stockman into a her and placed her into the 21st century in a small town in Australia, in which …

Fast, funny, refreshing and poignant – Feather in the Web is all this and more. It’s also unpredictable, original and downright entertaining, and its cast of four are uniformly and individually fabulous. A black comedy that is both weird and wonderful, what …

The Merchant of Venice With standout performances in the key roles of Portia and Shylock, as well as those of Bassiano, Lorenzo and Jessica, this is a memorable Merchant of Venice and – as has proved normal with the three plays I …

In a world of ‘fake news’, rotating prime ministers and scandals of all kinds, Dario Fo’s 1969 comedy about corruption is as relevant as ever. Here, in the able hands of director Sarah Giles, it is presented as pure farce and is …

Life wasn’t meant to be easy, and there’s certainly a lot of unease in this tale. Two 19-year-olds, incapable of looking after themselves, have a baby. The authorities step in, led by a veteran social worker, and declare neglect (always a potentially …

If Stephen Karam didn’t have Tolstoy’s famous phrase “each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way” in his head when he was writing The Humans, then he missed a trick. Because this family of humans is exceedingly unhappy, each one of …

Oh, what a night! A rags to riches story, amazing singers and dancers, slick choreography, enthusiasm and a huge cache of hit songs that will have you singing all the way home. What’s not to like? Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie …

In short: Fabulous! I have never enjoyed a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream more. It’s joyful from start to finish and the venue is a treat in itself. Now, for some more information. It is not often that a Shakespeare play …

Standing Ovations for an Outstanding Performance One man show extraordinaire, and founding member of the Ensemble Theatre, Reg Livermore, introduces us to the charismatic theatre jack-of-all trade’s actor Arthur Kwick (with a KW) whose career has been unremarkable despite a surprisingly notable …