Author: thedialogtheatreblog

A log of student theatre reviews at the University of Melbourne. A dialogue between theatre makers and audiences.
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Barkly Theatre’s Oedipus: A Complex Look at a Consummate Classic

REVIEW BY MYA HELOU EDITED BY EMMA PARFITT The stage is fully visible when I enter the cozy black-box theatre. Lucas Prescott’s carefully constructed runway of wooden pallets is framed by two white drapes hanging from the ceiling at the back of the stage, oddly human-shaped rubbish bags dumped along the sides. It’s a texturally dense amalgamation that looks like a makeshift rebuilding of something … Continue reading Barkly Theatre’s Oedipus: A Complex Look at a Consummate Classic

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Panic At The Disco: MUSC’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

REVIEW BY ASHLEIGH SHEARMAN EDITED BY BRONTE LEMAIRE Shakespeare’s Midsummer Night’s Dream is perhaps one of the most beloved and performed plays of all time: a story about the messiness and beauty of love and relationships. Josh Drake and the MUSC committee lean into these aspects in their production, adding a modern twist to the classic tale. As I first enter the Guild Theatre, I … Continue reading Panic At The Disco: MUSC’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

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High School Musical: A Wildcat Performance By University College 

REVIEW BY TARAS SCURRY EDITED BY AZMY AZURITE University College rallies in, filling the first floor of the Union Theatre with a buzz of anticipation. It’s opening night and the lights are shining bright, excitement trickling throughout the theatre, cheers flooding through for the first act as Producer and Musical Director Samantha Johnson’s vision springs upon the stage.  The company starts strong, with athleticism from … Continue reading High School Musical: A Wildcat Performance By University College 

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Pants, Poetry and Possibility: MUDfest First Light Shines Bright

REVIEW BY AKSHITA BENNY AND JESSIE WILLIAMS EDITED BY EMMA PARFITT MUDfest (Melbourne University Drama Festival) is an annual celebration of student works ranging from photography to performance. Starting back in 1990, MUDfest has become the largest student-run arts festival in Australia, enabling new and emerging creatives within the University of Melbourne community to create new works and explore different concepts. The theme for MUDfest … Continue reading Pants, Poetry and Possibility: MUDfest First Light Shines Bright

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Numa and Karl: A Profoundly Emotional History

REVIEW BY AZMY AZURITE EDITED BY EMMA PARFITT “Are you sure you’re ready for the backlash?” “Of course!” “He’s not.” Numa and Karl: The Extraordinary Man That He Was is the story of Karl Henrich Ulrichs, the first man in history to ever come out as gay. He invented his own word for the phenomenon—urning, its roots in Aphrodite’s epithet Urania, which emphasises Aphrodite’s more … Continue reading Numa and Karl: A Profoundly Emotional History

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ISMENIA: Life Is Experienced in Moments

REVIEW BY BRONTE LEMAIRE EDITED BY MYA HELOU When we walk in, there are already whispers from the audience members as they look over the theatre. The set, designed by Sophia Murphy, has already created an off-kilter atmosphere; we’ve been blocked from seeing the stage. A piece of thin white plastic has been stretched across the stage like a translucent wall, embryonic. It’s too tall … Continue reading ISMENIA: Life Is Experienced in Moments

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Jazz everywhere, booze everywhere, joy everywhere in Ormond College’s Chicago!

REVIEW BY GRACE DWYER EDITED BY EMMA PARFITT Chicago is big. It’s the hit 1975 musical that went on to claim 2002’s Best Picture, enjoy long-lasting intercontinental theatrical success, and ensure every theatre kid has their own favourite Merry Murderess. A perfect show for Ormond Drama, who blew us away last year with their 2024 production of Into the Woods, so my friends and I … Continue reading Jazz everywhere, booze everywhere, joy everywhere in Ormond College’s Chicago!

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All In This Together: Newman College’s High School Musical 2

REVIEW BY TOM WORSNOP EDITED BY EMMA PARFITT Newman College’s joyful production of High School Musical 2 is fun, upbeat, and oozing with nostalgia for 2000s high school drama. The show follows Troy Bolton (Luke Higgins) and his East High Wildcats basketball team, trying to find jobs for the summer break. They all find themselves employed at the Lava Springs resort, owned by the family … Continue reading All In This Together: Newman College’s High School Musical 2

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Earnestly Stylish Fun – Camberwell Grammarians’ The Importance of Being Earnest

REVIEW BY TOM WORSNOP EDITED BY EMMA PARFITT Old Camberwell Grammarian Theatre Company’s staging of The Importance of Being Earnest offers a visually delightful rendition of Oscar Wilde’s iconic farce about two upper-class bachelors, named Jack and Algernon. Each are pretending to be a fictional man named ‘Ernest’ in order to win over two women they’ve fallen in love with – Gwendolen and Cecily respectively. … Continue reading Earnestly Stylish Fun – Camberwell Grammarians’ The Importance of Being Earnest

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‘no title’ – But No Less Power

REVIEW BY GRYFF CONNAH EDITED BY EMMA PARFITT OCD often manifests as an amorphous, nameless thing. It metastasises in silence, slowly and surely until, one day, its shapelessness is your whole shape and it is staring you in the face from all sides. I would know; I am living with it.  The experience of OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) is something that is very difficult to … Continue reading ‘no title’ – But No Less Power

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