‘Kids and adults alike will be taken on a journey’ promises Cathy Petocz, the star of Pea. This inventive interpretation of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale The Princess and the Pea is premiering at the Street Theatre, Canberra this month. I had a chat to Petocz to find out all about the show, from…
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There is a scene in the headline act of the Fremantle Street Arts Festival, a show by French company Bilbobasso, where the leading lady dances for the leading man, trying to convince him to come back to her. She dances with what look like the bones of two enormous metal fans, a series of lit…
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The Sex Pistols meet William Shakespeare. It isn’t often that these two British cultural icons are grouped together. Yet Bell Shakespeare’s new production of Henry 4 does just this, and much more, to present a punk-inspired interpretation of the classic play. The production debuted a few weeks ago in Canberra, and will soon open…
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Opera is one of those things you either love or hate. For most members of Gen-y, the latter view prevails; we have all heard the jokes of ‘fat lady singing’ and the likes. Yet, if there was ever an opera to challenge the view of the genre as out-dated and inaccessible, Opera Australia’s production of Salome…
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A collection of seven short plays connected by the theme of water. This was the premise of the aptly-titled ReAction Theatre production At the Water’s Edge, which recently showed at St Kilda’s Palais Theatre. Composed of works penned by Australian and international playwrights, the show featured an eclectic mix of plays, some of which making…
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Tense, humorous, salacious and surreal. These words all ran through my head after seeing the Rabble’s Orlando at the Malthouse Theatre last week. Presented in association with the Melbourne Festival and Helium Productions, this adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s classic novel Orlando: A Biography (1928) is a visceral contemporary piece of theatre that expresses the unsettled…
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Set in Margaret Thatcher’s England, Top Girls portrays a world in which women are oppressed by the capitalist social system in which they live. It is a play so entrenched in its era that the actors’ costumes are topped off with shoulder pads. The play made waves when it was first produced at the Royal…
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Boon-esque – 50 Shades of Cabaret Reinventing the romance novel with a dash of burlesque and barbershop Boon-esque – 50 Shades of Cabaret, part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival is a burlesque and barbershop performance that aims to take the juiciest bits from Mills & Boon romance novels, while referencing 50 Shades of Grey, to…
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We chatted with Hannah Courtney, the choreographer of The Tempest – Steampunked! (Part of the Sydney Fringe Festival). She tells us about the inspiration behind the choreography for this Jules Verne-esque world and fills us in on all things steampunk and Shakespeare. Hey Hannah, can you tell us a bit about how you got into…
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The gender imbalance in Australian theatre has been a talking point over the past few years. In South Australia this imbalance, which sees men greatly outnumber women as playwrights, directors and artistic directors, was evident in the State Theatre Company of South Australia’s 2011 season, with all eight plays authored by men. It is not…
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Belvoir presents Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller Directed by Simon Stone Directed by Simon Stone (Belvior’s resident director), Arthur Miller’s 1949 play is set in Australia, with Americanisms such as “gee” and “oh boy” exclaimed with Australian accents. Although this can appear strange at moments, you soon ignore this and instead focus on…
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In a joint production, Windmill Theatre and the State Theatre Company of South Australia have undertaken an ambitious task: creating not only a new musical, but one that is also suitable for children. Pinocchio, written by Julianne O’Brien and based on the original children’s tale by Carlo Collodi, is a colourful production, full of energy,…
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Describe your work in 3 words: I write things. What are your current projects? I’m an Associate Playwright in Residence at Griffin Theatre. I am plugging the hell out of my short film Bat Eyes to send it (and me) to Venice. I am putting on a short play called Pigeon as part of Bondi…
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I do understand that the goal of most Adelaide Fringe theatre productions (or indeed, any and all arts productions) is not to appeal to me, personally. And yet, as I watched Just Like The Movies at the cosy Paper String Plastic, I wondered if maybe this one had been tailored specifically for me, such was…
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