Month: March 2017

Comedy, Reviews

REVIEW: Matt Hale | Midlandia

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Review by Lara Fox 25.3.2017 Matt Hale Comedy Hypnotist brought plenty of laughs to Midland on Saturday 25 March, with good value entertainment for people of all ages and backgrounds. The show is part of Midlandia, which is described as an urban circus, magic and comedy festival that runs throughout March in Midland. The festival is a joy: it is set out nicely like a mini-Fringe, complete with circus tents, shipping containers as box offices, quirky furnishings and a great vibe. Unfortunately, Matt Hale Comedy Hypnotist was in a circus tent which was too large for the crowd that attended, … Continue reading REVIEW: Matt Hale | Midlandia

Reviews, Theatre

REVIEW: Once in Royal David’s City | Black Swan State Theatre Company & Queensland Theatre

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Once in Royal David’s City Review by Rhys Tarling 29.3.2017 Throughout Michael Gow‘s Once in Royal David’s City, I couldn’t help but draw comparisons to Alejandro Innaritu’s 2014 film Birdman. Both works feature a protagonist with an inhuman power to warp the reality of the stage/film set, and then render that power toothless by locking them in stories and circumstances where they can do little but be consumed by their own sense of uselessness – a good chunk of Once in Royal David’s City is theatre geek/teacher Will by the bedside of his near-dead elderly mother, and a good chunk … Continue reading REVIEW: Once in Royal David’s City | Black Swan State Theatre Company & Queensland Theatre

Opera, Reviews

REVIEW: Tosca | WA Opera

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Tosca Review by Susie Conte 28.3.2017 In West Australian Opera’s 50th anniversary year, Tosca is a triumph to open their mainstage season. A tale of passion, sacrifice and betrayal, it is used to tell the story of real people experiencing real life, to express ‘great griefs in small souls.’ Stuart Maunder, director of this production and General Director of New Zealand Opera, returns to Perth where he has directed for the West Australian Opera before, including Tosca. His familiarity and respect for the opera shines through. Tosca (Antoinette Halloran) is a renowned prima donna, her hero Cavaradossi (Paul O’Neill) is … Continue reading REVIEW: Tosca | WA Opera

Reviews, Theatre

REVIEW: Heathers: The Musical | WAAPA

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Heathers: The Musical Review by Susie Conte 24.3.2017 WAAPA’s first Musical Theatre production for the year is a bold choice. Heathers: The Musical is a rock musical with music, lyrics, and book by Laurence O’Keefe and Kevin Murphy based on the 1988 cult film Heathers. The show, while a comedy, deals with issues of teen suicide, bullying, homophobia, and gun violence. All shoulder pads and big hair, the production is a touching one. Directed by Andrew Lewis, the musical is a big puppy of a show, poking fun at high school while highlighting serious issues. The staging was slick, and I … Continue reading REVIEW: Heathers: The Musical | WAAPA

Comedy, Reviews

REVIEW: Tom Gleeson | Midlandia

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Review by Cicely Binford 24.3.2017 So event gurus Jump Climb appear to have made a break from the Fringe with their Midlandia hub, which has been going strong in Midland for four years now. They’ve focussed in on comedy, magic and circus events, and have brought along some of the big guns from Fringe to fill out their roster. One such gun is comic Tom Gleeson, who many people will know and love various TV spots including most recently ‘Hard Chat’ on ABC’s  The Weekly with Charlie Pickering and Hard Quiz. Midlandia has set up a large tent in a field … Continue reading REVIEW: Tom Gleeson | Midlandia

Dance, Interviews

INTERVIEW: Paul Selwyn Norton for One Flat Thing, Reproduced | STRUT Dance

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On the back of their huge success with Ohad Naharin‘s Decadance Perth 2016, STRUT Dance are bringing another dance work to Perth that is normally quarantined to major dance companies: William Forsyth‘s One Flat Thing, Reproduced. The 20-minute piece will be performed outdoors and with a roaming audience for the first time ever at the State Theatre Centre courtyard from 29 March to 1 April, as a curtain-raiser to Black Swan State Theatre Company‘s Once in Royal David’s City by Michael Gow. The piece for 14 dancers using 20 specially-constructed tables was first performed in 2000 by Forsyth’s Ballett Frankfurt, and STRUT Dance … Continue reading INTERVIEW: Paul Selwyn Norton for One Flat Thing, Reproduced | STRUT Dance

Interviews, Theatre

INTERVIEW: 7 Questions with Ben Thomas for So You Think You’re Charlie Smith

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The Blue Room Theatre will open its April – July season with a show from sandpaperplane, the folks behind Fringe sensations Fairybread and 34,000 Forks. So You Think You’re Charlie Smith is an original work that takes a dark look into the world of reality television, “explor[ing] identity, purpose and escapism to interrogate what is the nature of reality in an unreal world.” We spoke to co-writer and co-producer Ben Thomas for a bit of background about the show. Why did you want to tell this story? We had tossed up a few concepts when thinking about a new idea for a show, and … Continue reading INTERVIEW: 7 Questions with Ben Thomas for So You Think You’re Charlie Smith

News, Theatre1 Comment

NEWS: Spare Parts Puppet Theatre brings back the beloved Hachiko in April

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  Spare Parts Puppet Theatre is set to delight audiences once again with their cardboard, paper and clay version of the true story of Hachikō, the loyal Japanese dog who waited day after day at the train station for nine years for his owner to return. First developed for inclusion in the 2012 AWESOME Arts Festival, Hachikō toured Australia through to 2104 and was again brought back for another season in Fremantle in 2016, garnering wonderful reviews along the way. Spare Parts is bringing Hachikō back to their Fremantle stage on Chuuken Hachiko Matsuri, or Hachikō Day, April 8 until the … Continue reading NEWS: Spare Parts Puppet Theatre brings back the beloved Hachiko in April

Dance, News

NEWS: Co3 and The Farm bring Frank Enstein to Perth in April

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Frankenstein isn’t usually interpreted as a kids’ story, though there are plenty of kid-friendly references to it in popular culture. Certainly, generations of American kids have smeared green pain on their faces, drawn wiggly black stiches across their foreheads with their mum’s eyeliner, and hit the streets in search of candy at Halloween. The ‘Frankenstein’ image enters the psyche from a young age, and it’s not until we get a bit older that we realise that the hulking, stalking figure we’ve been calling Frankenstein since we were little isn’t really Frankenstein at all. Scientist Victor Frankenstein is the central figure of Mary … Continue reading NEWS: Co3 and The Farm bring Frank Enstein to Perth in April

News, Visual Art

NEWS: Lex Randolph’s Human Becomings opens Friday at Paper Mountain

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  Opening this weekend at Paper Mountain, Human Becomings by multidisciplinary artist Lex Randolph explores the intersection of body, gender and identity through an array of flesh-tone textiles, fabrics and watercolours in a museum of real and imaginary body parts. Ideas and work from Randolph’s residency at Paper Mountain last year come to fruition in the current exhibition, and he uses himself and his personal understanding of the fluidity of gender and the body to open a dialogue. Randolph says his aim is to take a light-hearted approach to this conversation on the body, and that “it’s not just an issue … Continue reading NEWS: Lex Randolph’s Human Becomings opens Friday at Paper Mountain