The back of the downstairs theatre at the Tap Gallery is covered in A4 sized colour images of films, albums, and odd bits of iconography that represent a mood and a philosophy rather than a time or place. At first they look like a teenagers bedroom, the images internet-stolen, hand printed, blu-tacked to a wall, […]
Category Archives: Articles
November
29
Triune – Brave New Word take the audience back, forward and sideways through time. (Theatre Review)
posted by lisathatcher
November
26
New Theatre ends a brilliant 2013 with the promise of an even better 2014.
posted by lisathatcher
Several of my favourite theatre experiences in 2013 happened at The New Theatre in Newtown. Top Girls, Jerusalem and The Ham Funeral were all stand out performances, beautifully executed with fine direction and great actors bringing the words of great playwrites to life. Alice Livingstone, undaunted by the complex nuances of Caryl Churchills fabulous Top Girls, […]
November
25
Dying for It – Nikolai Erdman is remembered through Moira Biffini and New Theatre (Theatre Review)
posted by lisathatcher
“You can’t sentence a man to live.” “Why not? He deserves it!” There are times when absurdist satire becomes prolific due to control by an oppressive regime and there are times when the regime is successful in stamping out its influence, a case in point being Nikolai Erdman, an enormous Russian talent built belonging to […]
November
18
Sweet Nothings – John Kachoyan and Pantsguys Productions bring David Harrower to new life. (Theatre Review)
posted by lisathatcher
There is a reason Arthur Schnitzler’s play Liebelei (Flirtation), also known as The Reckoning when it was adapted for film by the great Max Ophuls, Dalliance when it was rewritten by Tom Stoppard and Sweet Nothings when it was rewritten by David Harrower, has been adapted and rewritten so many times by such great artists as […]
November
18
Christina in the Cupboard – Paul Gilchrist and the magical world within. (Theatre Review)
posted by lisathatcher
You do not need to leave your room. Remain sitting at your table and listen. Do not even listen, simply wait, be quiet still and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked, it has no choice, it will roll in ecstasy at your feet. Franz Kafka An arrival at the […]
November
18
Son’s of Sun – Sam Phillips’ story as told by Kieran Carrol, John Kennedy and Neil Gooding. (Theatre Review)
posted by lisathatcher
There is a little recognised talent, known in the music industry for years, but only recently being recognised by the public, that is as crucial to the heart and soul of all music as the guitar player, the vocalist, the drummer and the song writer. That’s the talent of the careful listener, and particularly the […]
November
15
Apples and Pears – Sean O’Riordan and the soul of friendship. (Theatre Review)
posted by lisathatcher
Rhyming slang is said to have originated in the 1840’s in London’s east end, possibly as a deliberate rouse for criminals to converse without fear of detection by the law. It’s an obscuree form of communication, noun based, that has come to represent its location more than its era, and retained its value for all […]
November
12
505 Theatre and the launch of the 2014 season – 50.5 reasons to subscribe to 505.
posted by lisathatcher
50.5 reasons to subscribe to the 505 Theatre’s 2014 season: 1. The old 505 is the coolest theatre in town. 2. We’re Bastards – play written by Oleg Pupovac, dramatically revealed at the old 505 from Feb 5 to 23 2014. 3. #indietheatrefunk 4. Hilt – Jane Bodie’s play directed by Dominic Mercer. 5. Buzzing […]
November
11
The Maintenance Room – Gerry Greenland and the question of trust. (Theatre Review)
posted by lisathatcher
“Something in us wishes to remain a child, to be unconscious or, at most, conscious only of the ego; to reject everything strange, or else subject it to our will; to do nothing, or else indulge our own craving for pleasure or power.” — Carl Jung, The Structures & Dynamics of the Psyche “I was […]
November
08
Rooted – Phil Rouse and Don’t Look Away bring Alex Buzo back. (Theatre Review)
posted by lisathatcher
Rooted, Alex Buzo’s sixth play, was first produced in 1969. That means (from what I can gather) Buzo had Australians on the stage before, or at least at the same time, as David Williamson did, but somehow, unlike Williamson, Buzo got caught up in Australia’s cultural cringe and he never experienced quite the same level […]
Lisa Thatcher 