Liliana Macarone as Romeo and Sarah Doyle as Juliet. Image Credit: Benjamin Prindable Photography. Celebrating their 20th birthday in 2021, Queensland Shakespeare Ensemble returns to the Roma Street Parkland Amphitheatre with their first full production of Romeo & Juliet. Directed by QSE Artistic Director Rob Pensalfini, who also played Friar Lawrence, and starring Liliana Macarone... Continue Reading →
Review: West Side Story (Opera Australia & GWB Entertainment)
Pictured is dress rehearsal for West Side Story production on June 26, 2021 at Crown Theatre in Perth, Australia. Photo by Will Russell. Content warning: this production contains coarse language, adult themes, racial slur,s and sexual violence. West Side Story has opened at QPAC’s Lyric Theatre, directed by Joey McKneely and featuring a cast studded... Continue Reading →
Review: Prima Facie (Queensland Theatre & Griffin Theatre Company)
Sheridan Harbridge in Prima Facie, photographed by Brett Boardman Content warning: This production contains descriptions of sex scenes and sexual assault. This isn’t life. This is law. Directed by Lee Lewis and played out powerfully on the Bille Brown Theatre’s corner stage, Suzie Miller’s scorching one-woman play Prima Facie has finally opened in Brisbane after... Continue Reading →
Review: White Pearl (Queensland Theatre)
Imagery by Phil Erbacher Gaslight, Gatekeep, Girlboss. Anchuli Felicia King’s corporate satire has opened at Queensland Theatre and sets out to tackle a broad range of issues, from intracultural racism to start-up culture and the cosmetics industry. Directed by Priscilla Jackman, White Pearl follows the aftermath of an ad that goes viral for all the... Continue Reading →
Review: A Bed of Roses (Arbour Theatre Company)
Scripted by Disapol Savetsila from the true stories and experiences of young people around the world during COVID-19, A Bed of Roses is an immersive theatre experience that explores the familiar frustrations of a share house with the added stress of a global pandemic. After the devastating year that was 2020, the housemates of 22 Rose Street... Continue Reading →
Review: Sex, Lies & Betrayal: Memoirs of a Hollywood Star (JTM Productions)
Review of May 9 performance by Elise Lawrence. Written and directed by Margaret Fisk, Sex, Lies & Betrayal: Memoirs of a Hollywood Star was a glamourous and salacious one-woman cabaret based on the true stories of a 1940’s Hollywood legend (although, the jury is still out on exactly who that is). Beautifully coiffed and with a drink... Continue Reading →
Review: Meat Mirror (Jay Younger & Lisa O’Neill)
Review of May 9 performance by Elise Lawrence. A ten-minute performance art piece in the Mappin’s Nursery Share House, Meat Mirror used video projections and physical theatre to blur the lines between beauty and horror. A collaboration between Jay Younger and Lisa O’Neill, Meat Mirror is a condemnation of social media and the normalisation of cosmetic surgery to achieve... Continue Reading →
Review: SHELTER (The Drawer Productions)
Review of May 9 performance. The Drawer Productions placed the audience at the heart of an unravelling family mystery with their unsettling immersive theatre piece SHELTER. I saw SHELTER on Mother’s Day and it turned out to be an appropriate choice with its focus on mother-daughter relationships and themes of legacy, intergenerational trauma, history’s tendency... Continue Reading →
Review: Hog Wild (Taylor Edwards)
Review of May 8 performance. An evening of offbeat stand-up and committed character comedy with a local flavour. Taylor Edwards’ debut solo show is full of funny family tales, self-deprecating humour, and wild characters. Those who saw her perform Everyone’s Leaving Brisbane with Rosa Sottile at Anywhere Festival 2019 will recognise a couple of sketches, especially Brisbane-centric... Continue Reading →
Review: Intoxication (Before Shot)
Review of May 8 performance. A powerfully personal performance exploring intimacy and connectedness in the digital age. Christopher Bryant demonstrated his mastery of storytelling in this highly polished and deeply personal show. Intoxication is a sharp examination of fear and loneliness in a world where we are constantly connected, constantly performing our identity for known and unknown... Continue Reading →
Review: This Little World (The Giddy Round Theatre)
Review of May 8 performance. Owen Corey delivered an impressive and moving performance as King Richard II, direct from the USA to your device. The Giddy Round Theatre presented a condensed production of Shakespeare’s Richard II as a polished one-man show, streamed live on YouTube from their converted rowhouse in West Philadelphia. Speaking from his prison cell... Continue Reading →
Review: Mental Illness Is Not A Crime (Claire Fitzpatrick)
Review of May 7 performance. Claire Fitzpatrick facilitated a calming space for sensory exploration with her interactive experience Mental Illness Is Not A Crime. Mental Illness Is Not A Crime was not a performance in a traditional sense but more of a workshop or an interactive space focused on ASMR. Autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) is a... Continue Reading →