Tag: #reviews

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Barkly Theatre’s Gruesome Playground Injuries: Thankfully Only Emotionally Gut-wrenching

REVIEWED BY KIT WILLS EDITED BY AZMY Content Warning: The play Gruesome Playground Injuries, as well as this review, contains reference to self-harm, graphic imagery of physical wounds and blood. The play also contains references to vomit, suicide, death, ableist language, trauma and allusions to sexual abuse/assault. As a squeamish person, entering the Motley Bauhaus to watch a play titled Gruesome Playground Injuries filled me … Continue reading Barkly Theatre’s Gruesome Playground Injuries: Thankfully Only Emotionally Gut-wrenching

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MUST’s The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals: Forget Kool-Aid, come and drink the weird blue shit!

REVIEWED BY ELLA CALLOW-SUSSEX EDITIED BY CHARLOTTE FRASER StarKid fans are a cult – and one I heavily ascribe to. Few other shows live in perfect perpetuity on the internet, but The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals is one high on my list. It is a triumph of accessible art. But what a joy to see one live. The challenge of putting on a beloved … Continue reading MUST’s The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals: Forget Kool-Aid, come and drink the weird blue shit!

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An explosive new work: GAS brings the heat

REVIEWED BY KIT WILLS EDITED BY CHARLOTTE FRASER Sometimes the upsetting truth about growing up alongside someone is that eventually you can grow apart. Thomas Dallimore and Tarquin O’Toole’s play GAS presented as part of La Mama’s Explorations 2026 explores the messiness and heartbreak of young adulthood, with simmering relationships that inevitably boil over.   I’d never been to a play at La Mama before. … Continue reading An explosive new work: GAS brings the heat

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Who needs a shrink when you can go see Mr Big AKA Tatay, A Transwoman And That Tiring Tune?

REVIEWED BY ELIJAH VALERY SLAVINSKIS EDITED BY CHARLOTTE FRASER “Thank you for coming to my very public, very expensive therapy session” writes playwright Dax Carnay-Hanrahan in the program for Mr Big AKA Tatay, A Transwoman And That Tiring Tune (June 24th – July 5th @fortyfivedownstairs). Diana (Carney-Hanrahan), a trans immigrant, is preparing for her wedding, when she finds out her dad has died. Diana starts … Continue reading Who needs a shrink when you can go see Mr Big AKA Tatay, A Transwoman And That Tiring Tune?

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Cheerleading, blackmail and doing your own thing: Theatrical’s Bring It On

REVIEWED BY CHARLOTTE FRASER EDITED BY AZMY Bring It On: The Musical has taken over the National Theatre. Inspired by the iconic 2000 film of the same name, Bring It On follows Campbell Davis as she pursues her dream of becoming captain of Truman High School’s cheer squad and winning the national cheer championship. However, right before her senior year is about to start, she … Continue reading Cheerleading, blackmail and doing your own thing: Theatrical’s Bring It On

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The Flesh is a dream that makes your teeth feel heavy

REVIEWED BY AZMY EDITED BY CHARLOTTE FRASER Content warning: this review discusses abuse, assault, violence, death, cannibalism and manslaughter. It also seriously spoils the show! We need connection with others to survive. The thing is, when you get rid of the structures around you, the only thing that’s left is a bag of meat. You are a bag of meat. And there are just a … Continue reading The Flesh is a dream that makes your teeth feel heavy

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Sitting in at The Last Actor Standing

REVIEWED BY KIERA EDELSTEIN EDITED BY CHARLOTTE FRASER Tucked into an alleyway in North Melbourne and situated at the top of a Spirited Away-esque winding staircase, the foyer of Club Voltaire looks like you’ve stumbled into a student share house or the backstage of a Vaudeville show. The room was so small and stuffed with blankets, posters and trinkets that a defined closeness was created … Continue reading Sitting in at The Last Actor Standing

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UMMTA’s ’26 Sitzprobe is Stripped Back, but still Ambitious and Compelling

REVIEWED BY GRACE DWYER EDITED BY AZMY Relative to last year’s mainstage four-show stacked cast extravaganza, UMMTA have taken this year’s Sitzprobe – a showcase of multiple student-written musicals – in a more intimate direction under presidents Nishka Varghese and Josh Drake. This is not to say that the 2026 Sitzprobe is in any way theatrically subdued, or the material any less gripping. Instead of the … Continue reading UMMTA’s ’26 Sitzprobe is Stripped Back, but still Ambitious and Compelling

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DisUnited States: a reflecting pool of Americana reality

REVIEWED BY ISLA TEAGUE EDITED BY CHARLOTTE FRASER As someone familiar with the Motley Bauhaus I felt quite comfortable entering the theatre and settling in. However, that quickly changed as I spied an imposing clown-like statue in the wings, covered in American flag motifs. Then it moved. On stilts Richard Mealy moved in a terrifying, robot-like fashion, coming out of the shadows, looming over me … Continue reading DisUnited States: a reflecting pool of Americana reality

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Katzenmusik: The Cat dies in this one

REVIEWED BY JADE BREEN EDITED BY RACHEL THORNBY Trigger warning: The cat dies in this one. Well, eighty-five of them to be precise, but who’s counting? Presented by Theatre Works and Paracosm, Tom Fowler’s Katzenmusik turns up the broken radiator, raising a bold middle finger at the all too familiar perils of the housing crisis. Derived from German, Katzenmuzik is defined as a caterwaul; the … Continue reading Katzenmusik: The Cat dies in this one

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