The Roof Is Caving In review

There's nothing quite like the excitement of moving into your own home and the freedom of doing what you want when you want. But there's always a dark cloud looming over you as you are at the beck and call of real estate agents and trying to foster a mutual relationship of respect between these strangers you have chosen to live with. In The Roof is Caving In, two university students move into their first share house and face the internal and external struggle of constantly compromising to hold on to the serenity and exhilaration of being in their first home away from home.

Written by Matilda Gibbs with Belle Hansen and Jack Burmeister, The Roof is Caving In is a highly entertaining absurdist look at the challenges in renting such as rent prices, housemate dramas and the vulnerable position renters are regularly in. The narrative moves at a rapid pace but still takes the time to highlight these issues while building towards its inevitable climax.

The Librar(IAN) review

If anyone was going to become a librarian, it would be Ian. I mean, his name is in the word librarian after all. Written and performed by Lochie Laffin Vines, The Librar(IAN) is a sweet, light-hearted look at Vines' own experience of working in a library without being saccharine.

Vines does a wonderful job in conveying the importance that libraries play in the community, one of the rare places where money is not needed to enjoy your time there. From the close-knit family that is formed within staff to the regular visitors who are sometimes there just for a chat and a sense of belonging instead of looking to grab a book and leave. Vines is an engaging storyteller who brings the world of libraries to life through his affection for his characters, who are no doubt drawn from his five years as a librarian.

He review

He commences with a man crawling out of the ocean and onto a beach. He looks frayed and exhausted. He has returned to a small town in El Salvador, a place he swore he's never set foot in again. Written by Rodrigo Calderón, He is a heartbreaking love story of a man growing up in a community run by toxic masculinity and homophobia.

Calderón gives a captivating performance as a man grappling with the trauma he has experienced. While the story veers into some serious melodrama and improbable twists, Calderón is able to keep the work grounded and allow for genuine emotions to be released and expressed. Calderón also brings great physicality to the role and transfers the man's emotional turmoil into a striking physical representation.

Hold Me Closer Tony Danza review

It's been over 50 years since Elton John asked Who's The Boss? sitcom star Tony Danza to hold him closer. Or did he? We have Friends to thank for this confusion. Queensland-based dance company The Farm have taken this malapropism and turned it into an immersive dance-theatre show with Hold Me Closer Tony Danza, where two dancers seek out connection and understanding in a world that is overflowing with information, and misinformation.

This work is intelligently presented yet retains an element of fun and silliness. A large gold circular sheet of thick plastic rests in the middle of the room, and running across the centre of it is a wrinkled gold wall with artists Kate Harman and Oli Mathieson standing on either side of it. The audience is also split, where they can see one performer and only hear the other behind the wall.

Peacemongers review

Bigotry. Discrimination. Exclusion. They can all go in the bin. We don't need them in society. In 2020, artist collective The People (headed by Morgan Rose and Katrina Cornwell) began to write about this. Along the way, a collaboration was formed with artists Sonya Suares, Samuel Gaskin, Kate Hood, İbrahim Halaçoğlu and Zachary Pidd, and gradually their approach changed from looking at what they don't like about society, to what they do like, and what a new world order should resemble, with a focus on inclusion. Which brings us to Peacemongers, an interactive, experimental, live art, musical theatre stage show that comes with dinner. Quite a mouthful!

Having seen this diverse group of performers (except for Halaçoğlu) in other projects, I was excited to see what the evening had in store for us. Hood unfortunately was unable to be part of the season due to interstate work, but she is cleverly kept as an integral member of the production through pre-recorded segments that blend in perfectly with the live performances. The group shares the challenges they have faced over the last four years, with references to covid and lockdown times and the numerous funding rejections they receive. They recall Peacemongers' evolution, including several working titles that reflected the nature of the project and the difficulties of creating a work that seeks to embrace everyone and provide a safe space for all.

RBG: Of Many, One review

There isn't much new to say about Ruth Bader Ginsburg. She was the second ever woman - and first Jewish woman - to serve as a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, where she spent her time as an advocate for women's right and gender equality. In RBG: Of Many, One, playwright Suzie Miller traces Ginsburg's life from her Brooklyn-based childhood in the 30s through to her death in 2020, at the age of 87.

Miller covers many of the milestones in Ginsburg's life, whether they be personal or professional, negative or positive. Telling the life of a person whom most people know can result in a paint-by-numbers structure as we move towards their death but in this play, Miller has Ginsburg constantly moving from the past to the present and swapping emotions and storytelling devices without notice. It builds tension and surprise, where even though we know what happens to Ginsburg, we don't know how it is going to unfold and how it will be presented in this instance.

Things I Know To Be True review

Living in the suburbs of Adelaide, the Price family appear to be leading a pretty charmed life. Home owners, good careers, marriage and children and going on holidays. But beneath all this deemed success lies frustrations and fears that gradually reach the surface and threaten the foundation of everything this family holds tight in Andrew Bovell's Things I Know To Be True.

Written in 2016, Bovell's script remains a powerful punch to the gut in its exploration of how love can heal and hurt us, and the generational changes of what the Australian dream is. Bovell takes the time to establish the relationships between the parents and their four children, which each child given hefty scenes of confession, either through monologues or conversations with their parents. Kitan Petkovski allows these varying degrees of strained relationships to develop through his astute direction and guiding authentic and sincere performances that tackle some challenging topics.