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Never Closer (Off the Ledge Theatre) - Review

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  DEIRDRE:  “Though you venture to strange and distant shores, may you always remember us, and never be too long away.” Pictured. from left to right: Mary (Breanna Kelly), Deidre (Emily O'Mahoney), and Niamh (Tash Lyall) in Never Closer .  Credit: PHOTOX (Ben Appleton) In a choice someone should be given an award for, Canberra has been gifted a premiere of Grace Chapple's Never Closer in the wonderfully intimate, yet deceptively spacious, Courtyard Studio of the Canberra Theatre Centre. A play that seeks to discuss issues of the Irish Troubles through the lens of the social occurrences between friends and acquaintances in Northern Ireland, it calls for lesser luxuries typically afforded by a theatre, to its benefit; this is recognised well by the folks at Off the Ledge Theatre, who have staged a magnificent production of a engagingly intriguing piece. Director Lachlan Houen has produced an intelligently considered and fascinatingly thought-provoking staging of this play...
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Bedroom Farce (Canberra REP) - Review

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Delia:  “One reads between the lines, darling... You can tell a great deal from people's bedrooms.” Pictured: The cast of Bedroom Farce Credit: Tiana Johhanes Design, Helen Drum. When my mother asked "would you like to see Bedroom Farce at REP tonight?" out of the blue, I thought about the prospect of starting the year off the right way with a return to the wonderfully welcome arms of the REP Theatre and a production of a warm comedy to bring it all together. So, of course, along I went (shrugging off the uneasy feeling brought about by my mother suggesting us doing anything social together) expecting a grand time. And, sure enough, the cast and crew delivered a night of well-measured, sublime comedy. Director Aarne Neeme, assisted by Assistant Director Ariana Barzinpour, has staged a quaint production of Alan Ayckbourn's subtle comedy. The majority of the play's humour is found in the discussions that take place within; these dialogues are paced briskly by Neeme...
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A Midsummer Night's Dream (Echo Theatre) - Review

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Lysander:  “The course of true love never did run smooth.” Pictured: The cast of A Midsummer Night's Dream Credit: Photox (Ben Appleton). 'Tis the season of returning seasons of productions that have been seen years prior in the Canberra community theatre space, once more giving theatre goers the chance to hop along and see what all that fuss was about. Once more, Echo Theatre has graced us with a phenomenal staging of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream , and just like Hand to God , it hasn't aged a day. I will mention that although all the photos you see in this review are of the performance as it was intended in the great outdoors, some nasty weather ushered the play into the indoor space of the Q's next door facility, the B. By removing what would appear to be the main gimmick and overall appeal of the show, the cast and crew were all tested in their ability to own an entirely different space, while imparting a similar experience upon the audience. To th...
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Hand to God (Everyman Theatre) - Review

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  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...
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You Can't Tell Anyone (Canberra College) - Review

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'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 ...
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The Almighty Sometimes (Off The Ledge Theatre) - Review

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  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...
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Equus (Free-Rain Theatre Company) - Review

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  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...
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