Author: thedialogtheatreblog

A log of student theatre reviews at the University of Melbourne. A dialogue between theatre makers and audiences.
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Rhinoceros: What’s Grey, Weighs a Ton and is An Allegory For Fascism?

The programme for Trinity College’s 2018 production, Rhinoceros, states the college’s move away from more serious theatre to something funny. Perhaps the most studied piece of absurdist theatre in the world after Waiting for Godot, this play certainly is ripe with comic potential. The students at Trinity have, accordingly, provided a hilarious, madcap rendition of Ionesco’s work. Being an allegory for fascism, the weighty themes … Continue reading Rhinoceros: What’s Grey, Weighs a Ton and is An Allegory For Fascism?

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IDA: Not Your Princess

Reproducing respected writer Anita Punton’s much loved 1994 production of ‘The Princess Ida Parlor’ was always going to be a challenge. Completely readapting IDA for a modern audience whilst also being forced to completely re-compose the score seems almost impossible. Yet, despite the potential setbacks, the indispensable Union House Theatre has triumphed once again in creating an engaging, informed and most of all, inspiring theatre … Continue reading IDA: Not Your Princess

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‘Ida’: Interview with Lucy Seale and Emily White

Union House Theatre’s 2018 production Ida follows the story of the first female students at the University of Melbourne. Earlier this week, I spoke with cast members Lucy Seale and Emily White to hear about the show and their experience with the production. So just tell me about Ida E: So, it’s a remount of a 1994 musical that was done here in 1994 L: In the … Continue reading ‘Ida’: Interview with Lucy Seale and Emily White

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Ophelia/Machine: Hamlet Who?

Shakespeare’s Hamlet is arguably his most frequently performed play, with Hamlet himself known as one of theatre’s most iconic leading men. The original text has been interpreted and reinterpreted throughout theatrical history, with big names, gender swaps and re-contextualisations providing fresh takes on the play.   The most subversive and widely respected of these interpretations is Heiner Müller’s Hamletmachine. This 1977 play originally ran for seven … Continue reading Ophelia/Machine: Hamlet Who?

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The Witches of Eastwick: Wickedly Slick

From novel, to film, to theatre, The Witches of Eastwick has had many incarnations, the latest being UMMTA’s most recent production. Three single women, outcasts from their town of Truman Show-like domestic perfection, pray for the ‘perfect’ man to save them from their struggles. When he arrives, innocent fun turns into manipulation and harm of a more serious kind, and the three ‘witches’ must unite to … Continue reading The Witches of Eastwick: Wickedly Slick

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The Addams Family: No Normal Night Out!

The Addams Family is an absolutely fantastic choice for a college musical; rampant in innuendo-fueled laughs, boasting a catchy yet surprisingly complex score and a fun dose of gothic aesthetic. Plus, if all else fails, it has the unique ability to lean upon audience nostalgia for its iconic source material.  I was particularly excited to learn that St. Mary’s College would be tackling it in 2018, … Continue reading The Addams Family: No Normal Night Out!

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Mindquest: Saving The Universe, One Hipster at a Time

A trio of unlikely adventurers. A quest to save all humanity from a terrible fate. It may sound familiar, but I bet you haven’t seen it done quite like Mudcrabs do it in their first long-form narrative work, Mindquest: Journey into Forever. The show centres around Eva (Liv Bell) and Gil (Shane Woods), two Brunswick locals pulled into a quest to save the universe from … Continue reading Mindquest: Saving The Universe, One Hipster at a Time

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Alone Outside: A Burdensome Picture of Living Rural

Clocking in at just an hour, Liz Newell’s play, Alone Outside crafts a delicate portrait that moves too slowly and ambles too indulgently to be fully appreciated. Taking a narratorial approach to ever-shifting family dynamics and growing up rural, Newell taps into universal experiences of love, loss and compassion. It is unfortunate to see such interesting themes and topics collapse beneath a logy execution. Further, the … Continue reading Alone Outside: A Burdensome Picture of Living Rural

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Lou Wall’s Drag Race: Drag With a Difference

The latest endeavour of comic singer songwriter Lou Wall, Lou Wall’s Drag Raceis not your ordinary fringe show. It is a glitzy, spoofy, non-binary drag fringe show, and is not to be confused with the Ru Paul created cess pool of cis white men, something which so many of us have come to identify with the art of drag. This racially diverse, intersectional and cross … Continue reading Lou Wall’s Drag Race: Drag With a Difference

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Così: Where Laughter is the Best Medicine

Così, recently performed by Queen’s College at the Union House Theatre, was inspired in the early 1970’s when university graduate Louis Nowra found himself directing a musical staged by the inmates of Melbourne’s Mount Park Asylum. Nowra wrote himself into the character of the protagonist Lewis, a young impassioned director hired to stage a play with the patients of a mental facility as part of a … Continue reading Così: Where Laughter is the Best Medicine

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