Stuck review | La Mama Theatre

Two women work in a supermarket deli: Old One and Young One. Young One is energetic, sprightly and optimistic, convinced the job is only temporary until she saves enough money to pursue the life and career she really wants. Old One, meanwhile, is cynical and worn down by years of routine, approaching both the work and the world with a much harder edge. Their contrasting perspectives sparks immediate friction, as Stuck explores how their personalities clash, challenge, and influence one another over time.

Megan Twycross raises questions about ageism, motherhood and the obstacles many women face in breaking free from cycles that quietly tighten around them, becoming increasingly difficult to escape. Twycross finds a strong fusion of absurdist humour and emotional truth, using comedy to highlight the frustration, exhaustion and even resentment and anger that sit beneath the characters’ daily grind.

Waitress review | Her Majesty's Theatre

Based on the 2007 film of the same name, the musical Waitress follows Jenna, a small-town waitress and talented pie maker trapped in an unhappy marriage as she searches for a way to reclaim her independence. Set in a working diner, the story blends humour and heartbreak as Jenna forms unexpected connections that begin to shift her perspective on love, freedom and self-worth.

The plot is nothing groundbreaking, however it does get into problems with how writer Jessie Nelson handles its more sensitive themes. The domestic violence between Jenna and her husband Earl is uncomfortably light, and an affair with an obstetrician should be seen as immoral rather than romantic. Threads are introduced but never fully developed, most notably the pie competition, which builds expectation but doesn’t lead to any meaningful consequence. As a result, the narrative momentum can be uneven, even when the surface of the show is engaging.

The Glass Menagerie review | Melbourne Theatre Company

Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie follows the Wingfield family living in a cramped St Louis apartment as Amanda struggles to secure a future for her two adult children, Tom and Laura, while each of them quietly wrestles with duty, escape and personal limitation. A memory play told through Tom’s narration, it moves between present action and recollection as past and emotion blur. In this Melbourne Theatre Company production, director Mark Wilson delivers a reimagined staging with choices that significantly reshape its familiar tone and structure.



Wilson attempts to introduce new perspectives into the production, however his two boldest decisions are less successful than envisioned. The first act, which Wilson refers to as The Wingfields of America in reference to an earlier version of the story, is played as a comedy-drama, with the second act shifting into overt tragedy.



Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett review | Meat Market

It's been just over a year since Bernie Deiter captivated Melbourne audiences with Club Kabarett, and while several acts are the same, it is still bursting with energy, dazzling with skill and reaffirming exactly why it struck a chord the first time around. Through circus, cabaret and live music, it becomes a rousing invitation to let go of restraint and jump into joy, resistance and collective release.



The contortionism from Soliana Erse is once again, jaw dropping to watch. It's one thing to (literally) bend over backwards and turn your head around but the speed and the smoothness at which she does this is mesmerising. Similarly, Jacqueline Furey’s fire act is, quite simply, hot, hot, hot. Flames lick her body and then some, and you can feel the heat and know this isn’t smoke and mirrors, it’s edge-of-your-seat realness.



Spoons review | Damian Callinan | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | Arts Centre Melbourne

One-man show Spoons wraps humour, grief and stubborn independence into the story of an ageing widower who refuses to be neatly packed away. Following 84-year-old Stan as he navigates life after loss, the piece balances wit with a sobering look at what it means to grow older, be managed, and ultimately be remembered. It’s playful in places, unexpectedly moving in others, and anchored by a character who is endearing and confronting in his refusal to let go of the life he’s built.



Damian Callinan does a lovely job as Stan, with Emilie Collyer’s direction giving the portrayal restraint and clarity that lets Stan breathe. There’s a gentle physicality to the performance, and his casual delivery of lines suggests a man content to spend his remaining days appreciating the present, even with the emptiness that lingers since the death of his wife. Also written by Callinan, the dialogue is distinctly Australian, peppered with local references and a dry, familiar sense of humour.



Cabin Pressure review | Sunny Youngsmith | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | The Motley Wherehaus

If only all on-boarding processes were as enjoyably hectic as Sunny Youngsmith’s Cabin Pressure. In a suitably small black box theatre space, Youngsmith transforms the room into an aeroplane, the seating arranged with a central aisle for every audience member to walk down, flanked by rows pressed against the walls. It’s an effective bit of staging that immediately sets the tone of the show that is supported by a score of low hums of engine noises and in-flight movements. From the premium economy seat covers to the single lush business class throne, the details create an environment that is playful and a little unhinged.

For the most part, Youngsmith takes on the role of our lone flight attendant, abandoned by the rest of the crew who have all called in sick. Slightly frazzled and under the pump, they ask a 'passenger' to help with the pre-departure safety demonstration. Audience participation is handled with real care, with eye masks handed out as props for the long flight but also as a gentle opt-out signal for anyone not keen to be involved. It’s a smart, low-pressure system, though the atmosphere Youngsmith establishes so quickly is so relaxed and disarming that I don't see any masks on heads.

Anything But The Dyson and Other Excellent Monologues review | Katrina Mathers | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | Trainscendence

The first thing you notice about Katrina Mathers’ set is how 'Fifty Shades of Pink' the dressing room inspired design is, every surface drenched in it, right down to her outfit, with only her purple shoes daring to break rank. They do not stay on for long, though, as Mathers launches into a series of monologues on menopause and the other particular delights middle age throws your way.



Anything But The Dyson and Other Excellent Monologues is Mathers’ first show in 23 years, but you would not know it. She is completely at ease on stage, slipping seamlessly into character and impressions of doctors and newsreaders, with a confidence that suggests she has never been away.