The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson is a classic Victorian gothic story that played into contemporary concerns about good and evil, science and religion, and the conundrum of man v God. Steve Cuden and Frank Wildhorn’s musical adaptation with book and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse maintains the story’s sordid details but with an added interest in society’s facade.
Continue reading →The popularity of Netflix’s The Crown and the enormous media attention around Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding in 2018 demonstrate that there is still plenty of interest in the British Royal Family in the 21st century. Crown Matrimonial could even be considered a precursor to The Crown, taking as its focus an earlier Royal scandal: the abdication of King Edward VIII.
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Small towns are known for their quiet, steady atmospheres where not much changes. For the Price Family of Halett Cove, that’s been true for 25 years. But this year everything’s in upheaval from affairs and coming outs to heartbreak and resolved regrets.
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This review comes from Night Writes guest reviewer Brianna McCarthy.
Fangirls is a hilarious and beaming musical production that has just opened for a second season at the Seymour Centre after a wildly successful run at Belvoir in 2019. The show brilliantly engages in vindicating the passionate highs and lows of growing up as a girl, falling into all-consuming love with teen idols and discovering what it truly means to be yourself.
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Being a teenager is brutal with the nagging parents, unstable friendships, and general boredom of school but it’s all heightened by the raging hormones and overwhelming pressure to figure yourself out as quickly as possible. Jonathan Harvey’s 1993 play is all about teenage angst but with the sparkling joys of love and understanding, too.
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After a long interruption to performing in 2020, Bangarra return to the stage with Spirit, a show comprised of pieces from their repertoire over 31 years. The performance represents an opportunity for healing and reconnecting as Artistic Director Stephen Page says, “Dance is our medicine, a practice which connects the past, present and future through the communication, and passing on, of cultural knowledge.”
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It seems every few months another newspaper publishes a think-piece about how technology or millennials are degrading language and the art of communication. In this confessional lecture-style theatre piece, three poetry enthusiasts unravel the thousand-years-old tradition of Persian poetry as a courtship ritual, a fortune teller, and a wise guide to life.
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Reduced Shakespeare Company have made quite a name for themselves by reducing enormous works of theatre and literature into short and witty stage plays. After the success of Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) the company added to their repertoire William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (Abridged).
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There’s a phenomenon often discussed amongst women where you reach a certain age and suddenly become invisible. Because you’ve passed through the three layers of societally recognised womanhood, (ie virgin, desirable, mother), you’re no longer relevant or worthy of attention. In this new show, creators Jonny Hawkins and Nell Ranney turn all the attention to older women and pay tribute to their stories in a conglomerate homage character named Maureen the Harbinger of Death.
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Much of circus is about the spectacle; making unbelievable feats of human strength and agility effortless and entertaining. After the success of Humans at Sydney Festival in 2017, Circa returns with the revamped Humans 2.0 which examines touch, intimacy, connection in the wake of COVID-19.
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