Sydney Theatre, October 9 THERE was a time when I thought Agatha Christie the last word in reading entertainment. I devoured her books hungrily, and decided that The Murder of Roger Ackroyd was about the cleverest thing written. I still think it’s pretty nifty actually, and it was rather influential in the crime genre, a…
Category: Theatre
Super Discount
Back to Back Theatre, Wharf 1, Sydney Theatre Company, October 1 WHEN the members of Back to Back argue about who has the right to play certain characters, they enter one of the continuing and often fraught discussions in theatre. Blackface has long been consigned to the dustbin of history but are there enough roles…
Miss Julie
Belvoir, Sydney, August 29 WHEN Simon Stone is attracted to a text, anything can happen. In this he is reminiscent of Barrie Kosky, whose ferocious intelligence and unswerving commitment to a highly personal vision has given us some of the country’s most memorable and challenging theatre and opera. It’s impossible to leave a Kosky production…
The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe, Seminar
The Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe, Belvoir Downstairs, August 27. Seminar, Ensemble Theatre, August 27 matinee. THE Baulkham Hills African Ladies Troupe has just got underway in front of a packed, albeit small, house. “If we keep this up they might move us upstairs,” quips one of the performers. Right on ladies! The performers have…
Jerusalem, Storm Boy
Jerusalem, New Theatre, Sydney, August 22. Storm Boy, Sydney Theatre Company and Barking Gecko Theatre Company, Wharf 1, Sydney. August 22 matinee. JERUSALEM’S Rooster Byron is a raucous, irredeemable rebuke to polite society. He offends in every possible way. Squatting on council land in a wood on the fringes of an English town, Rooster is…
An indie theatre mini-festival
Delectable Shelter, The Reginald, Seymour Centre, August 13. Fireface, ATYP Under the Wharf, Sydney, August 14. Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, The Factory Floor, Marrickville, August 15 I HAD the interesting – and unique – experience this week of having an invitation to the theatre withdrawn. I was to have reviewed, for The Australian, visiting US…
Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
Sydney Theatre, August 10 Have you not done tormenting me with your accursed time! It’s abominable! When! When! One day, is that not enough for you, one day he went dumb, one day I went blind, one day we’ll go deaf, one day we were born, one day we shall die, the same day, the…
Horrible Histories; Random Musical
Horrible Histories: Awful Egyptians; Random Musical, Sydney Opera House, July 4. CHILDREN’S theatre is usually expected to have some educational value. Horrible Histories: Awful Egyptians certainly had that for me. Before yesterday I had never heard of Horrible Histories! I was a complete and utter novice among the eager group of initiates crowding out the…
King Kong, Robot Vs Art
King Kong, Regent Theatre, Melbourne, June 19; Robot Vs Art, Bondi Pavilion, Sydney, June 20 WHAT’S wrong with this picture? It’s late in Act II of King Kong and Queenie van de Zandt, as Cassandra, is singing the show’s most stirring number, Rise. As she sings, a chorus swelling behind her – and van de…
Angels in America, The Maids, Phedre, Othello
Angels in America, Belvoir, June 5 and 6; The Maids, Sydney Theatre Company, June 8; Phedre, Bell Shakespeare, June 12; Othello, Sport for Jove, June 14. THEATRE, from companies big and small, has been particularly rich in the first half of the year in Sydney. There were exceptional new works, old ones given a jolt…
deborah jones: FollowSpot 