Archive for the ‘Reviews & Responses’ Category
The first play in the 2009 B-Sharp season has arrived and it’s as gut wrenching and difficult to watch as many plays have been in this space in recent times. Written by Russian Playwright Vassily Sigarev, Translation by Sasha Dugdale and “Localised” by Ian Meadows and the company, Ladybird is a brave step into a desperate and hungry world.
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Night Journeys is a new Greek Australian play by Bill Kokkaris about place, past, memory and the attempts to reconcile all three. Set in a bungalow in Marrickville the play unfolds as it struggles to answer the question “what is the value of a house?” is it the market value? The stainless steel appliances? The location? Or the history it holds?
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Miss Reardon Drinks a Little… whilst set in domestic dysfunction, is a play which according to director Nicholas Papademetriou, addresses the broader issues of “how the world is getting faster, madder and harder.” And if you are looking for a play exploring ideas pertaining to: advancing technology, changing social modes, spirituality, sibling rivalry, co-dependency, paternal abandonment, the education system, vegetarianism (and all its attendant politics), insanity, sexual indiscretions with a student, anal retention and workplace nepotism…. Well…here it is… Miss Reardon has it all… look no further…
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Wharf2Loud is hosting a double dose of plays from the bizarre and beguiling mind of Melbourne based playwright Lally Katz. Known for her absurdist and refreshingly self-referential explorations into unique and disturbing parallel universes, Waikiki Hip does not disappoint.
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Just before I begin this review, I’d like to take this opportunity to offer a moment of space, a bit of time in which we are able to reflect what has brought me to this moment in which I am pecking out a review on the Fondue Set’s latest morsel, “No Success Like Failure”.
The Waifs have come along way from their Western Australian roots. And 17 years since the brave act of buying a campervan and deciding to head out playing music on the road, the Waifs are “still cruzin”. Out to support their latest album “”Sun Dirt Water”, the Waifs are impressive, independent and endlessly interesting.
A short play season is an easy way for an audience to experience a variety of theatrical styles in one night and Short and Sweet certainly offers variety. A variety of subjects, themes, styles (to varying degrees of aptitude in their execution) and the practitioners involved are from various backgrounds, with a varied expectation of why they are participating and what they hope to get out of it. For some it is the delight of striving for a prize, for some the allure of a being able to practise. For some it’s a hobby which challenges them beyond the patterns of their everyday lives… and for some it’s a networking opportunity.
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Short and Sweet Festival always attracts attention. The sheer quantity of people involved is impressive. A multitude of people, writers, directors, actors and crew dedicate their precious time, talents and resources: begging, borrowing and stealing in order to present their best possible works: to vie for the audience’s attention… to make someone proud… to convey a message… to try to attract an agent… to prove someone wrong… to win a prize.. to pursue art.. whatever their motivation is, one thing is certain: many people are involved.. and many will attend as supportive friends, families or colleagues.
Brian Friel, Ireland’s “greatest living playwright” is being celebrated during the 2009 Sydney Festival through a presentation of three works: Faith Healer, Afterplay and The Yalta Game. In association with the Gate Theatre of Dublin (who previously presented the Beckett Festival 2007), this production is a rare opportunity to view contemporary Irish theatre by and with Irish theatre practitioners at the helm.
It’s a pretty impressive acheivement: over 11 million copies of “Tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom, exist world wide and it is currently the best-selling memoir of all time. So, not surprising that many of you may have read it: or have seen the book promoted on TV, (book-clubbed by Oprah)? Or perhaps the film starring Jack Lemmon and Hank Azaria (produced by Oprah)? And now, the stage production written by Mitch Albom and Jeffrey Hatcher, makes its Australian Premiere at the Ensemble Theatre.