Author: Liz Baldwin

★★★★☆ Since it was first performed in 1899, the endless adaptations of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya speak to its eternal themes. What does it mean to live a good life? Is there a path out of despair? How can we coexist when those we’re closest to also feel like our captors?…

★★★★★ Bell Shakespeare’s new production has ruthless egos, shifting rivalries, existential dread – but no, we’re not in the wilds of Scotland, on the way to Inverness. This is Hollywood, circa 2006, where the hair may be blonder, but the contest for the throne is as fierce as ever. Mackenzie…

★★★★★ What choices do we make when there are no good choices? Melbourne Theatre Company’s The Glass Menagerie is a moving exploration of three people bound and constrained on all sides – by family ties, by poverty’s strictures, and by society’s expectations. This production is a stunning contemporary adaptation of…

★★★★★ Art the play is funny, outrageous, compelling – everything great theatre should be. Its star-studded Australian run, by star director Lee Lewis (whose credits include the first production of Prima Facie), deserves to sell out every night. The play has a storied history. First performed in Paris in 1994,…

★★★★☆ Amplified: The Exquisite Rock and Rage of Chrissy Amphlett is not a tribute show. It’s a stunning piece of art in its own right, anchored by an incredible performance from Sheridan Harbridge. Chrissy Amphlett, best known as the lead singer of 1980s Australian rock band Divinyls, holds a special…

Kitty Litter, playing at the MC Showroom Prahran for a limited season, is a brilliant new Australian comedy by production company A Serious Goose – fresh, fast, and funny. The play opens with Robin (Sian Crowe) entering an apartment and pouring herself a very large glass of wine. She’s had…

Envy, obsession, fear. Sydney Theatre Company’s gripping production of The Talented Mr Ripley wrestles with the darkest depths of humanity. The Talented Mr Ripley was published in 1955 as a novel by Patricia Highsmith. Tom Ripley, a rootless, ne’er-do-well New Yorker, falls into the orbit of Dickie Greenleaf, the scion…

Melbourne Theatre Company’s play Dying: A Memoir is a captivating new piece, anchored by a spectacular performance from Genevieve Morris. The play is a new adaptation of Cory Taylor’s 2016 memoir of the same name. Written in the last years of her life, as she faced terminal melanoma, it charts…

Melbourne Theatre Company’s new production of Rebecca is a sensation. This tight, gripping play leaves audiences with a chill running down their spine. The play is a new adaptation of Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 novel Rebecca, by Melbourne Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Anne-Louise Sarks. A young woman, unnamed, is working…