Tag Archives: Sydney theatre

November 26

New Theatre ends a brilliant 2013 with the promise of an even better 2014.

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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, […]

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November 18

Sweet Nothings – John Kachoyan and Pantsguys Productions bring David Harrower to new life. (Theatre Review)

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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 […]

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November 08

(extra)ordinary, (un)usual – Pete Malicki and the power of one. (Theatre Review)

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The survival of theatre in the digital age is an ongoing conversation; lows pitted are against highs, optimism against pessimism and of course the eternal conversation about the dollar. Theatre is at home among other arts in its awkward swim for survival, with books, music, art and even film finding itself battling the oceans of […]

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October 29

Hay Fever – Noel Coward, The New Theatre, and the joy of the Blisses. (Theatre Review)

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Theatre legend has it that Noel Coward’s Hay Fever, and Noel Coward himself, stopped being popular with the rise of play writes such as Harold Pinter in the 1950’s, largely because funny was not seen to equal deep or complex. And yet, after a revival of Hay Fever in the 1960’s (the play was written […]

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July 28

Dangerous Corner – Peter Lavelle brings JB Priestly into the future. (Theatre Review)

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The key to J.B. Priestly’s Dangerous Corner lies not in its narrative or its very interesting and convoluted plot, but in the opening and closing scenes of the play.  Time here is crucial to the plots development; Priestly made a series of ‘time plays’ and Dangerous Corner is one of them.  However, time is also […]

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July 21

The Twelfth Dawn – Time, Pain and insomnia from the 505 Theatre founders. (Theatre Review)

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One of the most devastating moments in the Iliad is Priam’s distress at the death of his son, Hector.  Between the moment of death and the eventual burial Priam lives in a kind of tormented hell that was so deep and troubled, it aroused the sympathies of the gods. The abuse of Hector’s body was […]

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July 13

Haus – Dimitri Armatas and the tragedy of cultural identity. (Theatre Review)

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It is often thought that if you put a human being through the most trying circumstances you get to see what they are made of. The assumption is, the more pressure you apply, the more strength you will get in response. This is an observation made by witnesses, not protagonists, because only as the observer […]

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June 23

Helter Skelter – Jonathan Wald and the tragedies of Neil LaBute. (Theatre review)

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The first thing to note about Helter Skelter is that normally the play is shown with another one of LaBute’s plays – which may or may not be a good thing.  Helter Skelter is currently having its Australian premiere at the Old 505 theatre, shown without The Furies or Land of the Dead. Having never […]

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May 15

Richard the 3rd (or almost) – Timothy Daly brought to life by Markus Weber and the King Street Theatre. (theatre review)

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In the play commonly titled No Exit, but more accurately titled In Camera, John Paul Sartre deals with the concept of sins, our relationship to them, hell, eternity and his all time favorite subject, authenticity. Because his character Garcin utters the phrase “hell is other people” , the primary themes of the play have been […]

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