Belvoir St Theatre, February 27 WHEN theatre practitioners talk about putting Australian voices on stage they tend to be talking about Australian plays and Australian content – what else would they mean? Well, at Sydney’s Belvoir theatre, artistic director Ralph Myers and resident director Simon Stone take it a step further by preferring to use…
La Cucina dell’Arte, Perth Festival
Circus Ronaldo, Russell Square, Northbridge, Perth, February 10 SO there we all were, crammed tightly together in a small tent, perched on narrow, bum-numbing benches, laughing as if there were no tomorrow. It was instantaneous, delirious transport, the kind that sweeps away every thought except one: I’m here and I’m happy; there is no other…
The Truth 25 Times a Second, Perth Festival
Ballet National de Marseille, Heath Ledger Theatre, Perth, February 9 WITH inspiration from Italo Calvino – his 1957 novel The Baron in the Trees – and set design by Chinese artist and activist Ai Weiwei, The Truth 25 Times a Second comes bearing impeccable intellectual credentials. To what purpose is harder to discern. The not…
Dorothee Gilbert, Ludmila Pagliero, Myriam Ould-Braham: three Giselles
Paris Opera Ballet, Capitol Theatre, Sydney: January 29, February 4, February 5 IT’S always something of an occasion when a dancer takes on a big role for the first time, particularly in one of the small handful of works in which ballerinas cement their reputation. I remember being thrilled to discover that Alina Cojocaru, then…
Giselle, Paris Opera Ballet
Capitol Theatre, Sydney, January 29 GISELLE may be seen as a ballet of two contrasting halves, the world of the living giving way to the realm of the spirit. It is usually played in that manner, with Giselle’s death at the end of Act I the bridge from reality to the fantastical world of the…
School Dance, The Blind Date Project, The Peony Pavilion, The Secret River, Sydney Festival
School Dance, Sydney Theatre Company presents the Windmill Theatre production in association with the Sydney Festival. Also Merrigong Theatre Company, Wollongong, February 7-9; Melbourne Arts Centre, April 10-20; Brisbane Powerhouse, July 31-August 3 The Blind Date Project, Ride on Theatre, Sydney Festival The Peony Pavilion, Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre, Sydney Festival The Secret River, Sydney…
Rian, Sydney Festival
Rian Fabulous Beast, Theatre Royal, January 17 IN Rian things start hotting up – a relative term – when the men take off their jackets and the women discard their little white socks and flat shoes, the company’s version of getting into ecstatic, Dionysiac mode. The modesty is thoroughly disarming. The eight dancers and five…
A Masked Ball, Semele Walk, Sydney Festival
A Masked Ball, Opera Australia in association with the Sydney Festival, January 16 Semele Walk, KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen, Germany, Sydney Festival, January 12 WHEREVER or whenever you want to set it, Verdi’s A Masked Ball – Un ballo in maschera – takes place in a world of privilege where the haves live it large and those…
Urban, Sydney Festival
Circolombia, Riverside Theatre, Parramatta, January 15 URBAN is the antithesis of the super-slick circus and acrobatic shows that seem to be everywhere these days. Its structure is loose, its energy is rough and raucous, its soundtrack from the streets, not everything comes off as planned and if your Spanish isn’t up to the mark…
Symphony, It’s Dark Outside, Sydney Festival
Symphony, Legs on the Wall, CarriageWorks, January 13 It’s Dark Outside, Perth Theatre Company, CarriageWorks, January 13 WHAT do 30 large cardboard boxes have to do with Beethoven’s sublime 7th symphony? Unfortunately, as it turns out, very little. The intriguing starting point for Symphony is Stefan Gregory’s arrangement of Beethoven for one electric guitar. From…
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