Dark Erotica Quartet / Footfalls review | Fortyfivedownstairs

Two different plays share the stage in a double bill that explores passion and vulnerability. James Hazelden's Dark Erotica Quartet offers three short, loosely linked vignettes about sex and intimacy, while Samuel Beckett’s Footfalls follows an elderly woman speaking to her unseen mother, a meditation on memory and presence. Both pieces are carefully contained, but each invites the audience into varying kinds of human experience.


Each story in Dark Erotica Quartet stands alone, yet they converse with one another, forming a small universe of desire and openness. Under Blake Barnard’s perceptive direction, Hazelden’s script leans into sensual imagery and frank dialogue that is sexual without being crude. The comedy lands, but never at the expense of the characters, whose sexual natures are treated with authenticity and seriousness. When one reflects on the time a partner’s tears fell on his erect penis, it is delivered not as a joke, but with blunt, candid honesty.

Whitefella Yella Tree review | The University of Melbourne

Dylan Van Den Berg's Whitefella Yella Tree follows Ty, of the River Mob, and Neddy, of the Mountain Mob, who meet under a lemon tree and, over time, grow from cheeky teenage messengers into young men in love as their world changes beneath the shadow of colonisation. With direction from Declan Greene and Amy Sole, the narrative weaves together Blak queerness, the pain of dispossession, and the weight of the past with a sharp, poetic edge.
 
Joseph Althouse and Danny Howard are terrific as Ty and Neddy. Althouse shines as the more anxious Ty, always glancing to Neddy for reassurance. He depicts Ty’s sensitivity beautifully, letting emotional shifts play out with a quiet honesty. Howard, on the other hand, plays Neddy with a rush of excitement and bravado, the kind of kid who believes nothing bad could ever touch him, while hinting at the loyalty and warmth that make him such a compelling counterpart to Ty. As the story moves on and the years roll by, we watch them shift from boys into men shaped by very different paths. Through it all, the two share a surprising softness and affection, and Greene and Sole guide them into moments that feel intimate and earned.

The Haunting of Spook Mansion (by ghosts) review | Chapel Off Chapel

The Haunting of Spook Mansion (by ghosts) opens with a cheeky premise, a sceptical professor, a believer, and a cash reward big enough to convince anyone to spend a night in a purportedly cursed mansion. It promises chills, chuckles and a full tour of every haunted house trope you can think of, and for a while it delivers exactly that. But as the story progresses, the humour sometimes trips over its own hair-raising ambitions.
 
The play opens at a reading for A Bullshittery of Ghosts, the latest book by Professor Adrian Chambers, the Head of a University Paranormal Disproval Department. There he meets Beth, a fan of Chambers' and the supernatural who challenges him to stay overnight in Spook Mansion and pocket five hundred thousand dollars for his trouble. Adrian barely pauses to breathe before accepting, and the slumber party kicks off.

bystander review | Brunswick Mechanics Institute

In a world that is more divided than ever, bystander by Melbourne Playback Theatre Company is a reminder of what happens when we stop scrolling, sit together and listen. Blending community storytelling with improvised theatre, audience members are warmly invited to offer their own experiences - raw, funny, uncomfortable or heartfelt - and watch them transformed into spontaneous performance.

The evening begins with our host Ian David asking what the word bystander means to us. We sit with it and reflect. From the ensuing discussion, the five performers (Josiah Lulham, Paolo Bartolomei, Danny Diesendorf, Diana Nguyen, and Phoebe Mason) present a series of short, stand-alone dramatisations inspired by their responses. And while the show certainly has its humorous moments, this improv isn’t primarily about laughs - it’s about sharing and building connection and unity.