Reviews Archive

Canadian playwright Adam Bock’s Before the Meeting is an astute and – perhaps inevitably – a rather sad examination of the after-effects of addiction. At its heart are remorse and compassion. Every day in a room a church basement, Gail (Jane Phegan) …

Part pure comedy, part satire and always entertaining, Genevieve Hegney and Catherine Moore are back, as unqualified as they were before but still striving to work the system, as well as work around it. Those who saw the first Unqualified, which premiered …

Super glitzy, full of colour and movement, fabulous music and mesmerising dance scenes, An American in Paris is spectacular. Inspired by Gershwin’s 1928 orchestral score and the 1951 multi-award-winning movie of the same name, Brit Christopher Wheeldon’s choreography is precise and clever. …

Light Shining in Buckinghamshire is a two-hour history lesson. It will appeal to those minutely interested in the events of England’s Civil War, from the years 1642 to 1649. The ensemble cast deliver their lines perfectly, and with passion. The first part …

Inclusivity. That’s what I kept coming back to, watching Alana Valentine’s new play Wayside Bride, the first of two works in Belvoir’s foray into rep. One is this new Australian play, the other is from Caryl Churchill and examines the aftermath of …

Opening Night is cleverly constructed: a play within a play, with the rehearsals and real-life scenes with the actors interwoven; and with leading lady Myrtle Gordon (Leeanna Walsman), a star of the stage for years, flitting in out of her realities and …

It’s hard to believe that this musical premiered in 2009, following the hugely successful 1980 film, yet has so many points to make that are still (sadly) relevant today. But although its underlying message is sober, everything else about 9 TO 5 …

Even before a word was spoken, the set and soundscape of At What Cost? promised something special. Birdsong and animal life swirl around; under a black, star-studded sky, on ground that can only be Aboriginal land, lie tree stumps and branches bleached …

New York film composer Arky Levin’s dilemma is this: Respect his wife Lydia’s dying wishes to not visit her in her final days, or be with her at her death. An excellent moral dilemma as posited in Heather Rose’s novel of The …

Watching Girl from the North Country, these thoughts were recurring: the singing is wonderful; the choreography is brilliant and hard to look away from; Dylan’s lyrics are timeless, able to adapt to Depression-era Minnesota as easily as Covid-ridden Sydney. And all the decades …