Malevo review

A South American dance troupe that reached the semi-finals of America’s Got Talent can now add Australia to the list of countries they have performed in. Created by director, choreographer and dancer Matías Jaime, the 11 men of Malevo show exceptional skills in moving their bodies, specifically through malambo, an Argentinian style of dance that includes zapeteo, a signature footwork combining elements of tap dancing and flamenco.

The group stomp and tap their feet in heeled boots in perfect unison with their energy starting at 100. While this is impressive on its own, throughout the concert, the dancers strap themselves with drums, whips and boleadoras which add a further level of difficulty, skill and thrill. Not only do their legs, hands and bodies move at such fast-pace speeds you can barely glimpse them, but they do it in rhythm and in sync with each other that comes across as effortless. It would not be easy to undertake this choreography where they are often physically close together with whips being cracked and boleadoras getting spun in the air.

The Inheritance review (Midsumma Festival)

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)

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."

What Was That? review

It's not often a production gets to celebrate its 1000th show, but What Was That? did just that on Saturday 12 August. This immersive ghost tour through Werribee Park Mansion gives audience an overview of the home's history and the family that built it in the 1870s, the Chirnsides.



With permission granted by the production team to start the show five minutes late to watch the Matilda's win over France in the penalty shoot out in their World Cup match, the mood in the audience was in very high spirits and completely up for the thrills and delights our hosts had planned for us.



We are met at the entrance by the personable head maid Maggie (Alaine Beek) and the crabby butler Mr Duncan (Ross Daniels). As "we are all friends of the Chirnsides" we are led through the various rooms of this lush mansion.

Paradise Lost review

Based on English poet John Milton's epic 1667 poem "Paradise Lost", local independent theatre company The Bloomshed presents its interpretation of the temptation of Adam and Eve by fallen angel Lucifer and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden with its trademark contemporary satirical style.

This is the third iteration of Paradise Lost by the company, and each one has been unique in scale and delivery. The first in 2019 was an in-development season at The Butterfly Club, with minimal set design and a highly frenetic pace. One year later, we were blessed with a remarkable radio play adaptation and in 2022, The Bloomshed have come back to the stage in a momentous way. With the years spent working on Paradise Lost the cast and creatives have finessed the foundations of the narrative they want to share while continuously challenging themselves to take this production to the next level.

Scandal! A Reflection on Essendon’s Doping Saga: The Musical? - Melbourne International Comedy Festival preview

For a country that prides itself on sport, particularly football, the doping scandal that plagued the AFL in 2013 was a devastating blow to the nation. After being investigated by the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and the World Anti-Doping Agency over the legality of its supplements program during the 2012 AFL season, the Essendon Football Club was fined $2 million, banned from the 2013 finals series, and suspended its senior coach and general manager. They're the perfect ingredients to create a musical comedy out of right? Well Kit Richards seems to think so with her new Melbourne International Comedy Festival show, Scandal! A Reflection on Essendon’s Doping Saga: The Musical? 

After being nominated for the Golden Gibbo and Green Room Awards in 2019 for Wool! The Musical, Richards is looking forward to tackling this scandal, and while it might be very different to the wool industry, the two are more closely linked than you'd think.

"I recently bought an Essendon guernsey that was made out of Merino wool and the tag on it said ‘Australian Rules Football and the wool industry are knitted together geographically, socially and financially’ so I guess it was fate!" she tells me. "Seriously though, the history of wool was a topic that had plenty of comedic potential but I always like to grow and develop as a writer so I thought it would be interesting to tackle something I don’t find funny. In that way, that was a natural progression but to outsiders, it’s probably a bit of a leap."

The Great Australian Play review | Theatre Works

Winner of the Patrick White Playwrights' Award, Kim Ho brings the great Australian play, aptly titled The Great Australian Play, to Theatre Works. This new satire begins with the Great Depression as Harold Bell Lasseter sets off on an expedition to find riches and salvation. We then fast forward 90 years to 2020 where Ho has persuaded Theatre Works that he can create the next great Aussie play around Lasseter's legend. He creates five characters to retrace the footsteps of the original journey, and it is here where things begin to escalate to horrific proportions.

There is enthusiasm in Ho's writing and he has clearly put in plenty of time and effort in creating this play, especially evident with the endless industry, pop culture and literary references. This results in instances of humorous scenes and laughter from the audience, but unfortunately it never goes beyond that. The frustration continues to increase during the two hour performance as we patiently wait for a satisfying narrative or a theme to form so we can justify its duration.

The Will To Be - Melbourne Fringe Festival review

It’s 1962 and a university lecturer in Melbourne has been fired from his position due to having an affair with a student. A male student. As he packs his belongings, he ponders what the next chapter of his life will entail. Should he stay silent and continue living with his adoring wife or does he take a brave step forward and explore his feelings for Henry at a time when homosexuality is still illegal in Australia.

As William deals with the immediate repercussions of his relationship being uncovered, The Will To Be flashbacks to his life with Lola and his encounters with Henry. Mark Salvestro puts in an admirable performance as the educator, with his quivering voice, nervous disposition and hints of a longing to be himself. The way he describes his sexual encounter with Henry is suitably erotically awkward and very much in line with the character that is presented to us.

Let Men Tremble review

Inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter, experimental theatre company The Danger Ensemble's Let Men Tremble is a passionate exploration of just how much men have controlled, and continue to control, the minds, bodies and souls of women, and how women have had enough.

The cast of ten work extremely well together in keeping their energy up with some very difficult text and their impressive ability to slip in and out of characters. Alexandra Hines, Eidann Glover and Jane Cameron show masterful nuance in their roles, convincingly finding the comedy, the horror, and the something in between with the characters they portray. Danny Carroll and Leo Thompson display great physicality and expression with brilliant restraint throughout the production.

A Room of One's Own review | fortyfivedownstairs

In her essay, Women and Fiction, Virginia Woolf discussed why women throughout history were so limited in achieving success in literature. The essay and the series of lectures it evolved into in 1928, remain a potent feminist examination on three areas: what women are like, women and the fiction they write, and women and the fiction written about them. 

In A Room of One's Own Peta Hanrahan has taken Woolf's words and adapted them for the stage putting her 90-year-old thoughts under a compelling new light. First performed in 2016 at La Mama Theatre, Hanrahan's production returns for a second season at fortyfive downstairs with four actors expressing Woolf's thoughts and ideas as if they were an internal dialogue. Hanrahan eloquently interprets these to present an intelligent and articulate conversation on feminism while ensuring a relevance to the contemporary world we live in.

Daddy review | Arts House

You are immediately drowned in a haze of pink light as you take a step inside the venue. It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust and take in the dreamlike space you have walked into. It is then you spot a figure in skimpy, shiny briefs posed like Michelangelo’s The Creation of Adam on a pink cloud of fairy floss and you wonder how you didn't see it earlier. The last in a trilogy of confessional works by dancer/performer Joel Bray, Daddy explores his relationship with his father and subsequently his culture, while also opening up about being a gay man and how he uses sex in an effort to fill an emptiness inside himself.

Bray brings to the surface the relationships, the history and the culture that he has lost due to colonisation. While there’s gravity to what he saying, the fluffy pink set pieces and props (sugar and sweets) are a stark contrast to his words. There’s a link between his childhood and adulthood and culture and identity that is unable to be separated. Not having the opportunity to learn how to speak Wiradjuri as a child from his father, Bray uses an app on an iPhone. This exploration of loss is further highlighted as he struggles to teach himself how to shake-a-leg, a traditional Indigenous dance.

Wool! A History of Australia's Wool Industry: The Musical review | Melbourne International Comedy Festival | The Butterfly Club

The history of wool doesn't sound all that exciting, but underneath the layers of fluff there is story that is just as riveting as how Facebook or the iPhone came to be. Cabaret performer Kit Richards knows this and in her Melbourne International Comedy Festival show, Wool! A History of Australia's Wool Industry: The Musical, she presents the story of Elizabeth and John Macarthur, two wool pioneers from the late 1700s.

Armed with just a few hats to bring these figures to life, and despite the comedy and cabaret elements of the show, she ensures that the portrayals of John and Elizabeth are not parodies or over the top but seen as authentic people with goals and motivations. While set in the late 1700s, Richards tells the story through a contemporary lens with a focus on Elizabeth's role during this time; she is not just a housewife but an active player in the wool industry and very much driven by her own desires.

Beasts - Melbourne Fringe Festival review

In 1974, three sisters were found dead in the desert region of Chile. They were tied together at the waist and hung near their home. To this day, speculation still exists as to what happened to them; if this was a suicide pact or something more sinister. Beasts tells the story of these sisters while also highlighting their struggle of holding on to what was dear to them when faced with roadblocks at every turn.

Alejandra Marin, Maria Paula Afanador and Samantha Urquijo-Garciaare portray the Quispe sisters, and they deliver strong performances, conveying much emotion and feeling through their body language and movement. Each actor shows the conflict that these sisters is experiencing, which while they each respond to it differently ultimately reach the same devastating end. 

At one point, the sisters discuss how the world outside of their land has changed as they attempt to explain the modern wonders of electricity and television to each other. They are later pressured by a trader to swap their warm, functional clothing for lighter, brighter clothes that people are embracing. This constant push-pull on tradition and modernisation leaves us questioning who the 'beasts' of this story actually are.

Sneakyville review | fortyfivedownstairs

Serial killer Charles Manson may be dead, but the infatuation society has with him seems like it will never die. Christopher Bryant's Sneakyville is a darkly comedic look at this obsession through events that took place during that time, events that could have happened and events that could happen when the darker side of our nature is explored.

In the first act, Bryant gives the audience a crash course on who the Manson Family were leading up to the evening of August 9, 1969 when actor and model Sharon Tate - along with five others (including her unborn child who she was 8.5 months pregnant with) -  was brutally murdered. Bryant's script and Daniel Lammin's direction ensure that the tension is dialled up without the need to depict any violent or gruesome scenes. Bryant cleverly speeds through the next 50 year period informing us on the aftermath of the murders, including the Family's eventual arrests, sentencing and parole appeals, and how Manson influenced (and continues to influence) popular culture.

salt. - Next Wave Festival review

Selina Thompson is a 28-year-old black woman who lives in Birmingham. But being a woman of colour with ancestry from Jamaica and Montserrat, when asked where she’s from, the UK is often not considered an acceptable answer. To explore her diasporic identity, Thompson bought a ticket on a cargo ship and retraced one of the routes of the Transatlantic Slave Triangle, going from the UK to Ghana to Jamaica, and then back.

In salt., Thompson poetically recalls this experience with the audience while reminding us of the irreparable damage colonialism has had on her ancestors and how this grief will be felt for generations to come. Thompson also ties in her own personal encounters with racism in all its forms, and we hang off her every word as she goes trough these incidents, reinforcing the fact that despite the passing of time, attitudes have changed very little.

Deceptive Threads review

What do a nineteenth century Lebanese immigrant and an Australian singer / spy have in common? They are both the grandfathers of David Joseph and in Deceptive Threads, Joseph digs into the mystery of these men and how despite their pasts, they have both ended up playing a prominent role in his present and continue to do so with his future.

Joseph and Karen Berger have devised this show, and between them they perform, direct, and create the set, sound and projection designs (along with Zoe Scolgio for the latter). In doing so, they allow for the design elements to work together and form a deeply layered intimacy that draws the audience into these two tales and for Joseph to seamlessly flow between the two.

This Is Eden review

While waiting in the foyer for This Is Eden to begin, a young woman in a bonnet and dress appears. Her name is Jane (Emily Goddard), a Female Convict Heritage Tour Guide, who provides us with a brief but entertaining overview on the history of female convicts. Jane is wide-eyed and enthusiastically explains how most women convicts who were sent to the Cascades Female Factory in Hobart were non-violent criminals, and we all laugh as she fumbles with putting on a spiked iron collar that women convicts often wore; it's easier to discount the tales of atrocity experienced this way.

Devised by Goddard and Susie Dee, This Is Eden is more than just a story about Australia's convict history. It is also about the treatment of Indigenous people throughout time and our treatment of asylum seekers today. Through the show, it is clear we have yet to learn from our mistakes and like Jane, we seem to be more upset over failed relationships than we do by sending people to certain death.

Once ushered to our seats, Jane hopes we enjoy the show and as she leaves, we are enveloped by silence and darkness. Moments later, Goddard reappears on stage, unrecognisable this time as convict Mary Ford. Her wild hair and near deranged demeanour is unsettling yet captivating as she shares the stories of her captors.

The Intimate 8 by Moira Finucane review | Finucane & Smith | National Gallery of Victoria

There is a sense of excitement and anticipation shared between twenty strangers as they stand around the National Gallery of Victoria's information desk. We are about to embark on Moira Finucane's The Intimate 8 tour of the gallery, and anyone who knows Moira Finucane knows that expectations should be left at the door and to openly accept the adventure that awaits.

 I'm not quite sure when or where Finucane appears from, but suddenly she stands before us, wearing a black flowing dress with Swarovski crystals. "This is the gallery ladies and gentlemen, The National Gallery of Victoria, and it belongs, belongs, belongs to you, to the people", she proclaims as we are guided through a number of artworks housed in the NGV. 

The tour requires we all wear headphones so that when we hear Finucane speak, it feels like she is a thought in your mind, as if your subconscious has suddenly come to life to enlighten you. Her constant elaborate movements, physical contact with the audience and steady, impassioned eye contact as she relays the history of the various paintings, sculptures and other works vividly bring these items to life as humanly possible.

Top 10 Shows of 2016

What a year of theatre! Managed to squeeze in 172 performances in 2016 while working full-time and starting a Masters part-time. Not sure where I found the time or the energy but there's just so much great theatre and live performances happening in Melbourne constantly, that it's impossible to say no to things. Having said that, there are still shows I deeply regret missing out on seeing this year but unfortunately that is always going to be the case, it's impossible to see everything.

Seeing the 2017 programs for Dance Massive, Midsumma, Arts House, Malthouse Theatre, The Butterfly Club and Theatreworks (just to name a few), there is something in store for everyone no matter what your interests so get on it! 
I know it's going to be another busy year for me and I cannot wait, but back to 2016 and my top ten shows of the year. If I originally reviewed the show then a link to the original review is also provided.

So, without further ado, here is my list:

1. Picnic At Hanging Rock

Picnic At Hanging Rock Photo Credit: Pia Johnson

Having been a massive fan of the book and movie, I was initially skeptical as to how Matt Lutton's production would hold up, but I was utterly impressed by this that I decided to see it a second time.
Lutton perfectly captures the repressed sexuality of these private schoolgirls and the harsh landscape in which these people attempt to own and control.
The ensemble (Elizabeth Nabben, Amber McMahon, Arielle Gray, Harriet Gordon-Anderson and Nikki Shiels) are flawless in their various roles, constantly switching between characters - covering both genders and a range of ages - in the blink of an eye.
A thoughtful and inspiring set design by Zoë Atkinson - particularly the ominous 'tree' hanging over the rest of the set in the shadows - together with Paul Jackson's lighting design, Ash Gibson Greig's composition and J. David Franzk's sound design made Picnic At Hanging Rock an unforgettable example of creating horror in theatre.
Full subscription to Malthouse Theatre's incredible 2017 season has already been purchased and can't wait to see what's to come.

LadyCake review

When you hear the quote "let them eat cake", you can't help but think of Marie Antoinette. Interestingly enough, there is no official account of the lady ever having said this, and most facts point to it being almost impossible for it to have been coined by her. Performed as part of the Poppy Seed Festival, LadyCake looks at the life of Marie Antoinette through the eyes of three of her handmaidens and how there is much uncertainty on what is fact and what is fiction when it comes to the last Queen of France. 

The three performers, Candace Miles, Madelaine Nunn and Anna Rodway - who also created the story - seem to relish playing the three handmaidens, and to be having real fun in messing with history in such a macabre and ostentatious way. While set in the 18th century, the script includes references to modern innovations - such as the internet - darkly reminding us that despite the centuries, the roles women play in society have not changed that much. This is further highlighted in the scenes where they each play Marie's disapproving mother Maria Theresa, and of the general population who slowly began to turn against the Queen.