RENT review

It's been almost 30 years since RENT had its world premiere. A critical success at the time, she show was also marred with its own tragedy when its creator Jonathan Larson died the night before opening night from an aortic dissection. It leaves a bittersweet taste as we watch a group of misfit friends in New York City's East Village in 1991, dealing with homelessness, addiction, sexuality, poverty and death.

Martha Berhnane as Mimi has a vivacious energy on stage and traverses the emotional journey of the drug addicted HIV positive exotic dancer with complete commitment. Nick Afoa gives an understated but highly effective performance as a gay, philosophy student with HIV particularly with the devastation that impacts him in the second act. Calista Nelmes and Thndo have an incredible chemistry on stage as lesbian couple Maureen and Joanne with some entertaining but hefty sparring that puts their relationship to the test.

The Inheritance review | Midsumma Festival | fortyfivedownstairs

We don't often get epic seven-hour plays being performed, especially when the idea of sitting in a theatre for that long and watching a story unfold not only seems foreign but also incredibly difficult. I too am guilty of this as I often catch myself questioning whether I really want to see a play over two hours. But exceptions there are, and in this case it is Matthew López's The Inheritance. First staged in 2018, the narrative focuses on a group of gay men spread across three generations as they try to find their place in the world while understanding the world that has opened up for them due to the fights and struggles of those from their past. Under the direction of Kitan Petkovksi, this Melbourne production of The Inheritance vividly brings these characters and stories to life in a deeply emotional and affecting evening that needs to be experienced by all.

Kitan Petkovski on bringing the most important American play of this century to Australia | Midsumma Festival interview

Said to be "the most important American play of this century", Matthew López's The Inheritance is making its way to Melbourne for Midsumma Festival. Directed by Kitan Petkovski, this seven hour play (told in two parts) brings together three generations of gay men living in New York City decades after the height of the AIDS epidemic while exploring what it means to honour the past and those who came before us.

Petkovski has been aware of the play and its prominence but it wasn't until he was approached by Cameron Lukey, Artistic Director at fortyfivedownstairs, that this production started to gain traction. "Earlier last year, Cameron asked if I had heard about The Inheritance and if I'd be interested in reading the script. I had known about the play, mostly that it has won the Olivier and Tony awards 2019-2020, and that it was a work inspired by E. M. Forster's Howards End but that was about it," Petkovski tells me. "I read both parts over a weekend and remember feeling a sense of catharsis that I don't usually experience after reading most plays. I guess it's because it's a story connected to my queer community, and it reminded me of the history that has been lost and was never passed down from previous generations, and how upsetting that still is. It is up to our generation of LGBTQI+ communities to ensure that our history and stories in the making are not erased."

Angels In America review | fortyfivedownstairs

If you're going to stage the critically acclaimed Pulitzer Prize winning work, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, you'd better hope that your vision will do the play justice. Fortunately, this stunning production presented by Cameron Lukey and directed by Gary Abrahams will leave audiences completely absorbed in this breathtaking seven hour epic show.

Written by American playwright Tony Kushner, Angels in America is set in two parts, entitled Millenium Approaches and Perestroika. The story isn't the most straightforward to describe, taking place in a world somewhere between reality, dreams and hallucinations and includes interaction between humans, angels and ghosts, but it's near impossible to not become invested in this examination of AIDS and homosexuality in America during the 1980s as we predominantly follow the relationship between two gay men in New York, Louis Ironson and Prior Walter, and the various people who intersect their lives.

Angels in America has such complexity in its structure with quick emotion-charged scene (and world) changes, and with actors often playing numerous characters, but Abrahams pulls it off fabulously. He has achieved absolute perfection in his casting of such a formidable group of actors, leading to some of the strongest performances I have seen all year.

Blood on the Dance Floor review

At the age of 24, Jacob Boehme, a descendant of the Narangga and Kaurna nations of South Australia, was diagnosed with HIV in 1998. As a Blak, gay and poz person, a sense of community and belonging can be difficult to attain. Through his own journey to find his identity, as an individual and a collective, Boehme, along with ILBIJERRI Theatre Company, devised the dance performance piece, Blood on the Dance Floor. 

The overall focus with this show is Boehme's anxiety in letting potential partners know of his HIV status, and while his bloodline with his father and ancestors has the power to unite and bond, this same blood has the potential to divide and alienate him from being loved. One of the most powerful moments of Blood on the Dance Floor occurs with Boehme standing on stage staring into the audience as audio recordings are played of mens' various responses to his HIV status. It is confronting and hearbreaking.