Reviews and Such

  TYRONE: 'When I have put myself ahead of the group. When I have acted badly, in order that I may stay around the campfire, all I have to do is say... The Devil made me do it.'   Pictured, from left to right: Tyrone (Michael Cooper) and Jason (Michael Cooper). Credit: Janelle McMenamin and Michael Moore.   There is no other non-religious gathering that will have you murmuring the name of "Jesus Christ" under your breath more than a production of the play that is  Hand to God . One of the most explicit comedies I've ever had the pleasure of seeing, it is a supernatural comedy that discusses the concept of honesty amongst the backdrop of religious southern regionalism.    You can already start to see where the fun begins.    This play saw a spectacular run in 2022 by Everyman Theatre, who have dusted off old Tyrone and thrown him back into the spotlights of the ACT Hub this December. As a fan of the original, I am happy to report that Everyman have...

'We should at least play until we've all had our feelings hurt.'   Pictured, from left to right: Benny (Ingrid Nielsen) and Willa (Ashlee Lanza) Credit: Anna Henderson   After  Equus  and  The Almighty Sometimes , I was convinced my tour of plays that tackled psychology and the emotional injury inflicted upon their discussion was well and truly finished. That is, until I was invited to view a staging by Canberra College of  You Can't Tell Anyone , a play by Joanna Richards, commissioned by Canberra Youth Theatre in 2023. First performed in the Canberra Theatre Centre's Courtyard Studio, this show is a mature and intimate production that relies on its typically younger cast to enhance its identity and envelope any space within which it is performed. Luckily, Richards' play is given a worthy staging by some of Canberra's finest youth talent, who have successfully met the challenge set forth by this script.    Caitie Bissett emerges as a director to ...

  VIVIENNE: '“Look up, look up, look up,” the little girl said, and she flew around her mother, and did somersaults in the air, and walked along the clothesline, and made silly faces at the window, while the mother cried, and the skin turned to slush in her hands.'    Pictured, from left to right: Anna (Winsome Ogilvie) and Oliver (Robert Kjellgren) Credit: Photox - Canberra Photography   November seems to be a month of challenging theatre, both well-known and not. Despite the deep-seated discomfort these experiences can usher forth, it's good to know (depending on how you look at it) that today, there remain playwrights capable of taking your heart and crumbling it into their hands over the course of a Two-Act play. Such is the effect of  The Almighty Sometimes , an Australian family drama by Kendall Feaver, and the debut production of Off The Ledge Theatre. Despite this rather bleak picture I've painted for you,  The Almighty Sometimes is a piece that re...

  DYSART: That's what his stare has been saying to me all this time: 'At least I galloped - when did you?' The cast of  Equus .  Credit: Janelle McMenamin Equus  is a play by Peter Schaffer; one that carries with it immense prestige. Like a sort of taboo haunt, this play is one that is discussed frequently, yet eludes staging in a community setting due to the immense demands it makes of both its audiences, and the creatives that would hope to present it. A play of personal theology, how it clashes with psychiatry's understanding of it, and the effects this conversation can have on the personal state of affairs of all involved dialogues, it is no easy piece to digest, let alone present. Director Anne Somes has succeeded, with a triumphant vision that is determinable and impressive in its scope, presenting a simultaneously mythological, yet godless, work of drama that pulled from its crowd all the murmurs and whispers and left in its wake a foreboding silence that foll...

COMPANY:  "When the sun is coming up,  And the world has come ashore,  If you're hoping for a harbour, Then you'll find an open door In the winter, from the water, Through whatever's in the way To the ones who have come from away Welcome to the Rock!"   Pictured: The cast of  Come From Away .  Credit: Janelle McMenamin   Come From Away  is a show set during one of the darkest periods in recent memory; during a great tragedy that changed a nation, and the world at large, forever. But, while it does concern itself with that darkness-the smoke, the fire, and the chaos of that day-it mainly focuses on the people that often escape observation in times of crisis; the ones who helped heal each other of this devastating blow. It is a show of a light found in the most remote and darkest of lands; of discovered hope in the face of ultimate adversity. Simply put; it is an emotionally charged show that demands full emotional engagement by all involved. A...

BEBE: (stopping the  GROUP and crossing down  to THE LINE) Oh, please-I don't wanna hear about how Broadway's dying. 'Cause I just got here.   Pictured: Cast of  A Chorus Line . Photo: Janelle McMenamin Certainly a *snap* dimensionally-more-than-singular sensation,  A Chorus Line  is a brutal undertaking by any prospective production team or cast, and I don't think anyone would have it any other way. In fables of show business, the prospective journey to break through and achieve stardom is often just that; a fable. Over here in reality, the theatre is a cut throat business; one that takes considerable effort, skill, and luck to make it anywhere in. And what better environment to showcase that competitive setting than to examine it at its most modest of positions...  The audition room of a titular Chorus Line; the gateway to stardom and the place where all performers begin their tumultuous journey of sink or swim.  The show itself demands of its c...