Category: Perth
Review: Hiromi The Piano Quintet Perth International Jazz Festival
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The Perth International Jazz Festival kicked off Friday night, boasting a line-up of esteemed international jazz musicians. Opening the festival with a sold-out Perth debut was Grammy Award-winning pianist Hiromi: The Piano Quintet, featuring New York’s PUBLIQuartet. If this show is any indication of what’s to come over the next…
Review: Heart Is A Wasteland Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company
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Indigenous theatre is often typified by a deep spiritual connection to Country, the Dreaming and the Ancestors, and enriched by song, dance and powerful symbolic imagery. In John Harvey’s superb play, Heart is a Wasteland, presented by Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company, all of these tropes are skilfully employed to create a…
Review: Speaking In Tongues Lays Bare The Complexities of Love And Deception
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Seeing a play written by Western Australian playwright Andrew Bovell is almost a rite of passage in Perth. His works are renowned across the country and state. They often pop up (deservedly so) in conversations about the most impactful theatre pieces in schools, at WAAPA, and in professional theatre. No…
Review: Here You Come Again Sparkles In Perth
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It’s an age-old adage: “What would Dolly do?” As any country music and rhinestone enthusiast would know, Dolly Parton is a guiding light to many in tough times, and no time was tougher than the COVID-19 lockdown. This is the setting for Here You Come Again, a fresh new production…
Review: Corteo Is A Celebration Of Life In Full Colour
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Created and directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca, Corteo by Cirque du Soleil has enthralled millions since it premiered in 2005. Now, Corteo is kicking off its Australian tour in Perth. Corteo makes the impossible look easy, and the possible look spectacular. Combining elements of traditional Italian circus with late 14th century commedia dell’arte, Corteo uses circus…
Review: Beauty And The Beast Has Perth Under Its Spell
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Beauty and the Beast is deeply ingrained in our cultural zeitgeist. Multiple generations across countless cultures have resonated with some form of archetypal narrative about the transformative power of empathic love. Disney’s 1991 animated classic, Beauty and the Beast, is by far the most beloved, alongside its 2017 live-action remake, and the…
Review: Plied And Prejudice Sees Austen Get Tipsy And Terrific
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Chaotic, hilarious, and downright debaucherous. Plied and Prejudice, presented by Alex Woodward of Woodward Productions and the Arts and Culture Trust, is a certified hit and a great night out. The premise is simple. Five actors take on one of Jane Austen’s most famous works, Pride and Prejudice, but there’s…
Review: Whalebone Blurs The Lines Between Science And Magic
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Whalebone exudes quirky fun the entire family can enjoy. Written, directed, and performed by Jens Altheimer, this immersive experience blurs the lines between science and magic – not to mention the boundary between physical and virtual worlds – through clever set design and comedic storytelling. The show begins with bureaucratic…
Review: Never Have I Ever Brings Secret Lies And Laughs
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From the mind of comedian and author Deborah Frances-White comes Never Have I Ever. Directed by Kate Champion, it’s showing in the beautiful Heath Ledger Theatre and presented by Black Swan Theatre Company. Recently bankrupt chef, Jacq (Emily Rose Brennan), alongside her boyfriend, Kas (Deep Sroa), invite their friends Tobin…
Review: WAAPA Leaps And Soars In The Electrifying RISE
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The West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) dance showcase, RISE, is a stirring exploration of human connection in all its forms. Showcasing four works that span both classical and contemporary styles, the program weaves a rich tapestry of movement from the 2nd and 3rd year Dance students. Held at…
Review: WAAPA Finds The Bittersweet Magic In Merrily We Roll Along
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Since it first debuted in 1981, Merrily We Roll Along has become a cult classic amongst musical theatre fans. Its 2023 Tony Award-winning revival has given the production another resurgence in popularity, and it is great to see it staged by the current 3rd year WAAPA Music Theatre students. Coincidentally,…
Review: And Then There Were None Beguiles Perth
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Over 80 years after its initial publication, Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None is still sharp, slick, and chock full of suspense. It promises everything we have come to enjoy and admire from this seminal mystery writer. Following the 2023 production of The Mousetrap, the same production team delivers…
Review: WAAPA Takes A Brutal Look At Teenage Life in Punk Rock
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Simon Stephens’ play Punk Rock is set amongst the anxieties and social hotpot of a posh English grammar school. Presented by the 3rd year Acting students at WAAPA, it is as depressingly relevant today as when it premiered in 2009. Punk Rock takes place almost entirely within the confines of the…
Review: Black Swan’s Blue Swims in Grief and Hope
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If there’s one thing I’ve learned in this life, it’s that stories bring people together. There’s a universal kinship that can be formed by sharing the seemingly insignificant jigsaw pieces that give our lives meaning. The way it felt to live in our childhood homes. The perfect way to have…
Review: Playlovers’ 8 Women Is More Than A Murder Mystery
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Playlovers’ Western Australian premiere of 8 Women, directed by Paul Treasure, is a deliciously stylish and sharply executed murder mystery that blends melodrama with dry humour and emotional depth. The play was originally written by French playwright Robert Thomas in 1958 and translated into English by Céline Oudin. This version…
Review: Perth Raises Its Voice For The Joyful Sister Act
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On Wednesday night, Perth’s Crown Theatre said its prayers and renounced its hedonist ways for the opening night of Sister Act the Musical. While Whoopi Goldberg made the singing nun iconic in the 1992 film, the stage version features all-new original music and a fresh take on the story. This…
Review: Freaky Friday Finds The Funny In Family Life
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You, like me, may be surprised to learn that the 2003 Disney Channel film starring Jamie-Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan is, in fact, not the original iteration of Freaky Friday. Upon reading the program for WAAPA’s production of the musical by the third year Music Theatre students, I discovered that there…
Review: WAAPA Brings Austen To Life With Wit And Warmth
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Written by Laura Wade and performed by the third year Acting students from WAAPA, The Watsons is a quirky adaptation of Jane Austen’s unfinished novel of the same name. We are introduced to Emma Watson, daughter of the Watson house, eagerly awaiting a suitor. But what starts as a sophisticated family drama soon…
Film Review: Paddington in Peru at Moonlight Cinema Perth
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Normally, when I see a weather forecast of 36°C I have my complaints ready to go. But with tickets to Moonlight Cinema to look forward to on Sunday, I held them in. The warm evening air after a sticky day was the perfect environment to trot over to Kings Park…
Review: Lord of the Rings A Musical Tale Perth
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The 80+ year legacy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels still persist, evidenced by The Lord of the Rings – A Musical Tale, bringing the epic fantasy to the Crown Theatre in Perth. Frodo Baggins, an orphan hobbit from the tranquil paradise of The Shire, is bequeathed the One Ring, an object imbued…
Review: August Osage County A Once in a Lifetime Night at the Theatre
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It’s not every day a Pulitzer Prize-winning drama makes its way out west to Perth stages – and when there’s a chance to see some of the country’s most talented performers tackle a modern classic like August: Osage County, it would be mad to miss it. This Belvoir / Black…
Review: Night Night Bursts with Energy and Whimsy
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Last night, a full house packed into Perth’s State Theatre Studio Underground for the world premiere of The Last Great Hunt’s Night Night as part of Perth Festival. The Last Great Hunt is known for making highly innovative theatre that blends dramatic acting with puppetry, animation, and mind-boggling technology. Night Night is no different.…
Review: Jesus Christ Superstar Thrills with Raw Energy and Passion
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Jesus Christ Superstar is the second mainstream collaboration between venerated musical theatre masterminds Sirs Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber. Born of the 1970s, an era when rock music was finding its way out of small clubs and pubs and starting to fill arenas with bombastic, hair-raising glamour, the production tells…
Review: LASSÙ Big Top Fun at Fringe World Perth
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The world premiere of LASSÙ is the debut production from seventh-generation circus performer Merrik Ashton. Combining modern and traditional circus acts with cabaret, dance, and burlesque, LASSÙ serves as a very entertaining evening for Perth theatregoers this Fringe season. LASSÙ is performed in a bespoke big top/ spiegeltent in Victoria Park. The stage…
