Enthusiasm and feeling permeate MUSLSA’s Annual Charity Play On Time, which follows the Fernando family as they move into a new neighbourhood, next door to notorious old grouch Bernie Wilson. Manjitha Wijesinghe skilfully portrays this character both as a spirited young man and a curmudgeonly seventy-year-old. Sharini Arachchige is delightful as the bubbly seven-year-old Lucy; and Ariana (Inushi Ilangamage), the unexpected hero, drew laughs in the second … Continue reading It’s Got Heart

In an ideal world, this show wouldn’t need to exist. This is not an ideal world, and so The Roar had to be made. And had to explain itself in both beginning and end. Because people – and I include myself here – fail to see the lack of female representation in theatre, fail to see the inequalities and perhaps have asked at one time … Continue reading Hear Them Roar

Joanna Murray-Smith’s The Female of the Species is zany romp through the shifting politics of feminism. A conceited writer is held hostage in her mansion by a former student, while her rhetoric is placed under interrogation. Hilarity ensues. The college crowd audience were immensely entertained by the opening night performance I watched. At times, some of the dialogue was lost under the crowd’s laughter. A … Continue reading An Implausible Species

UMMTA ticks a lot of boxes with its take on the hilarious, absurd and incredibly sexist A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. This is a traditional take on a classic farce that first opened on Broadway in 1962. Set in Ancient Rome, it follows the exploits of a slave called Pseudolus as he attempts to win his freedom from his young … Continue reading Fantastic but Problematic

It’s a brave enterprise to stage a production of Shakespeare’s most notoriously misogynistic play to draw attention to a devastatingly relevant issue in Australian culture: the cycles of family violence and abuse. The dangers are obvious. Make one wrong move artistically, and you risk reinforcing the very thing you’re condemning. MUSC’s production of The Taming of the Shrew walks atop this razor’s edge, and the … Continue reading The Shrew We Need

A ruined wedding, a love triangle, psychotherapy, homosexuality, intergenerational conflict and inhumane bureaucracy – all set against growing activism for democracy in Hong Kong. These are just some of the areas covered in this expansive new musical. Nanjing Beijing is the brainchild of Bang Xiao, who wrote the dialogue and composed its music, and is deftly directed by Helena Lu. What an astonishing feat for … Continue reading Love & Tradition

St Hilda’s production of The Wedding Singer is a boisterous and enthusiastic show that doesn’t take itself too seriously. An easy eighties rom-com, this is a somewhat predictable musical that closely follows genre conventions, but is no less satisfying for it. Mackenzie Downie was charming as Julia, giving an endearing quality to the female lead’s girl-next-door simplicity. She conveyed Julia’s romantic indecision both convincingly and … Continue reading Polyester Rainbow