Reviews Archive

On the eve of a blisteringly hot summer’s day, Musica Viva Australia’s A Winter’s Journey is nothing short of transformative.  Its program, Winterreise, one of the world’s most notoriously challenging song cycles, both for the interpreter to perform and the audience to …

This is such a clever, provocative and enjoyable play to watch on so many levels. Written by British playwright Sam Holcroft in 2023, its production here is especially timely as one of its key themes in censorship in art. It is a …

Simon Burke is just fabulous as the beleaguered and maligned elocution teacher in this Steven J Spears play, which premiered 50 years ago, and charts the downfall of a man persecuted simply because he is gay. And therefore deemed to be a …

Sheridan Harbridge is just superb in this stunningly good homage to Australian rock icon and Divinyls frontwoman Chrissy Amphlett. Described as a ‘rock odyssey’ of music, storytelling and unapologetic attitude that blends biography and concert anecdotes, the show is all that and …

  David Williamson’s latest play takes a swipe at elites and wannabes. Katie Norrie (Mandy Bishop) doesn’t want a taste of the high life, she wants a seat at the table – or more accurately on the board of an important art …

  Billed as entertainment for all ages, this one is directed primarily to younger kids, but the acrobatic, juggling and aerial expertise feats on offer should impress older siblings as well as adults. Hosted by a suitably mad contortionist Mad Hatter (Tamara …

This is a good, old-fashioned murder mystery, delivered with panache – and one that keeps us guessing until the final scene. Director Mark Kilmurry drives the plot along with precision, and his cast of five cannot be faulted. Frederick Knott’s Dial M …

What a wonderful production of Edward Albee’s searingly black comedy! George and Martha, middle-aged, married and famously unhappy, first burst onto the stage in 1962 and ultimately the play was a huge success – even though, according to the program notes, ‘it …

Billed as ‘a rollicking queer Western’, Charlie Josephine’s Cowbois , which debuted in the UK in 2023, could also be described as a gay rights party – with guns. And cowboys. Whatever it is, with its gunsmokin’, all singin’ and dancin’ cast …

Old men behaving badly. Old men with power, who rule kingdoms or countries, behaving badly? Yep. Should parents be wary of giving too much dosh and agency to their offspring? Probably. Not much has changed since Shakespeare’s King Lear first entertained audiences …