DAISY PULLS IT OFF

 

Written by Denise Deegan

Directed by Kate Blackhurst

Canberra REP production at the Canberra REP Theatre, Acton to 26 September

 

 

Reviewed by Len Power 11 September 2026

 

It’s a rare play that gives 13 women, no men, a chance to play a set of colourful characters in a parody of a ‘Girls Own’ adventure in the style of the much-loved fiction of Angela Brazil, Ellinor Brent-Dyer and Enid Blyton.

 

Set in 1927 England in the elite Grangewood School for Young Ladies, Daisy Meredith, the first scholarship student, has to deal with practical jokes, snobbery and hockey while pluckily managing to solve a mystery at the same time.

 

This mystery story is performed as a play probably written by the school’s students themselves. As expected in a school play, props are minimal. The passing scenery outside a train window and the framed school portraits are particularly imaginative and amusing.

 

The characters are mostly schoolgirls with a couple of staff members, and they are played by actors of all ages. As part of the play, a couple of “male” characters turn up with false beards and moustaches to add to the fun.

Ashleigh Butler (Daisy) and Alex McPherson (Sybil)

This play is a golden opportunity for actors to play the characters encountered in this type of period fiction. Everyone has their moment and there are some outstanding performances. Ashleigh Butler as Daisy is a fine heroine filled with determination and moral courage. Alex McPherson plays Sybil Burlington, the nasty snob, with relish and the best performance in the show is Elaine Noon as the eccentric best friend, Trixie Martin. Noon shows a true understanding of the style required with her particularly uninhibited and delightful playing.

The play seemed a bit long and wordy for what it is and the pace was a bit slow at times. However, this is a funny play and a nostalgic dive back into the literature that people of a certain age grew up with.

 

Photo by Alex Unikowski

Len Power's reviews are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 in the ‘Arts Cafe’ and ‘Arts About’ programs and published in his blog 'Just Power Writing' at https://justpowerwriting.blogspot.com/.

 

ARCADIAN SPRING - MUSICA DA CAMERA

 

Musica Da Camera String Orchestra

John Ma, musical director

Holy Covenant Church, Cook, September 5

 

Reviewed by Len Power

 

It might not have looked like spring outside, but Musica Da Camera ensured their concert showed us the promise and glory that the season can offer.

With a thoughtful and apt collection of music works by Bach, Fischer, Scarlatti, Telemann and Vivaldi, this spring concert, directed by Early Music specialist, John Ma, was a delight for the senses.

Violinist, John Ma, gave entertaining and educational information about the chosen works and he was really in fine form with this concert. He could make anyone love baroque music.

The program commenced with Alessandro Scarlatti’s Sinfonia suite from Clori, Dorino e Amore. With harpsichordist, Ariana Odermatt, Ma led the orchestra in a spirited playing of this work with its grand opening, elegant melodies and charming rhythms.

Ariana Odermatt, harpsichordist

Ouverture Burlesque by Georg Philipp Telemann was next. Burlesque in the 18^th century saw music provoke laughter through parody or cartoonish exaggeration. The work provided musical portraits of Commedia del Arte characters such as Scaramouches, Harlequinade, Colombine and Pierrot. Ma’s colourful descriptions of these characters provided a welcome and amusing depth to the music.

John Ma with Musica Da Camera

The orchestra then played Bach’s sparkling Violin Concerto No. 1 in A minor. This was a wonderfully clear and graceful playing of this timeless work. In three movements, Ma and the orchestra excelled with a particularly beautiful and sensitive playing of the central Andante. It was the highlight of the concert.

The next work, Vivaldi’s Concerto for Strings in B-flat major (Conca) was inspired by the strings mimicking the resonant blasts of a conch shell. It was a good example of the Baroque era’s spirit of experimentation and everyone clearly had fun playing it.

Johann Fischer, a German composer, was a good choice for spring with his 3^rd Suite from Le Journal du Printemps. The elegance of the French Court style blended with the contrapuntal traditions of German music and this fine work was very well played.

Telemann’s Excerpts from Die Satyn in Arcadien was the final work on the program. The introduction was rhythmic and full of atmosphere and the dances in the second half were witty, colourful and rousing. They were played with gusto and skill by Ma and the orchestra. By the end, there was definitely a feeling of spring in the air.

 

Photos by Dalice Trost

 

This review was first published by Canberra CityNews digital edition on 6 September 2026.

Len Power's reviews are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 in the ‘Arts Cafe’ and ‘Arts About’ programs and published in his blog 'Just Power Writing' at https://justpowerwriting.blogspot.com/.

Len Power also presents the weekly Concert Hall program on Artsound FM, playing recordings of some of the best concerts from in and around Canberra. Concert Hall can be heard on Sundays at 8pm and is repeated on Wednesdays at 2pm.

 

 

ANIMAL FARM

By Elizabeth Brennan and James Jackson

From the novel by George Orwell

Created and Performed by Bloomshed

The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre to 5 September

Review by Len Power 3 September 2026

 

George Orwell’s Animal Farm, a fierce 1945 allegory for the Russian Revolution and satire on the Soviet Union and Leninism, proves to be an ideal vehicle for Bloomshed, a company who states that their work emerges primarily from the people who make it, not the other way around.

In Orwell’s original story, a rebellion by farm animals, who then create a self-governing farm built on equality, unravels as some animals see themselves as more equal than others.

Bloomshed sets the story in rural Australia, giving the animals a voice that sounds uncomfortably like the language of Australian labour politics. It may be your imagination, but some characters seem to be almost recognizable figures in the current political scene.

The second half of the show depicts the collapse of Animalism in a wildly satirical re-enactment of a Senate Select enquiry. While it’s broadly played and is very funny, it does feel uneasily close to the real thing.

Syd Brisbane and the company

The ensemble cast of eight - Anna Louey, Edan Goodall, Elizabeth Brennan, James Malcher, Laura Aldous, Lauren Swain, Sam Nix and Syd Brisbane – give equally fine performances full of energy and deftly defined characters. Their sense of timing of the humorous elements of the script is particularly strong.

It’s an eye-catching production with a stylish and substantial set of wood and glass. As well as the fine performances, Justin Gardam’s sound design is a major element of the production as is the clever lighting design by John Collopy.

Running just 75 minutes without an interval, this production moves at a frenzied pace, honouring Orwell’s original story but making it a recognizable take on the current Australian political scene. It’s highly amusing even though it makes you squirm.

 

Photo by Sarah Walker

 

This review was first published by Canberra CityNews digital edition on 4 September 2026.

Len Power's reviews are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 in the ‘Arts Cafe’ and ‘Arts About’ programs and published in his blog 'Just Power Writing' at https://justpowerwriting.blogspot.com/.

 

  

BOMBSHELLS - Echo Theatre - The Q, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre.

 

Written by Joanna Murray – Smith – Directed by Jordan Best

Lighting Design by Linda Buck – Set & Props designed by Jordan Best and Roz Hall

Costume Design by Jordan Best & Cast – Stage Managed by Owen Davis

Composed by Andrew Hackwill – Musical Arrangements by Leisa Keen

Choreographed by Nathan Rutup & Sally Taylor

Produced by Echo Theatre, The Q, Queanbeyan Performing Arts Centre August 27^th – 29^th 2026.

Evening performance on August 29^th reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.

Written by Joanne Murray-Smith as a tour-de-force performance piece to showcase the talents of musical theatre star, Caroline O’Connor, “Bombshells” originally consisted of six short vignettes, focussed on the travails of six different women. O’Connor toured the piece nationally and it was filmed and broadcast on ABC television.

Later Sharon Millerchip, who had starred opposite O’Connor for a national tour of “Chicago”, repeated O’Connor’s feat by performing “Bombshells” for a season at the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney.

In 2024, Jordan Best, had the idea of staging a production of “Bombshells” for her company, Echo Theatre, casting each vignette with a different actress. It worked a treat. So much so that “Arts On Tour” has picked up the production for an eleven-city NSW regional tour, of which these performances in Queanbeyan were the first.

In remounting her production for touring, Best wisely took the opportunity to omit the nightclub singer segment designed to provide the opportunity for O’Connor to exercise her remarkable vocals.

This handsomely mounted touring version has been slimmed down to five different stories, told without interval, with each story performed by a different actress. Each has her own attractive setting, and all remain on stage for the duration of the play.

Yanina Clifton as Meryl.

Yanina Clifton delivers a poignant performance in the first monologue as Meryl, a mother on the verge of 40 and a nervous breakdown. Meryl verbalises her thoughts as she sinks under her efforts to meet her own expectations of being the perfect wife and mother, while breast-feeding her infant, trying to cope with her inquisitive daughter, and worries about completing the housework and having dinner prepared before her perfect husband arrives home from work.

Her situation is almost too sad to laugh at, but Murray-Smith’s razor-sharp dialogue makes it impossible not to.

Louise Bennet as Tiggy

Louise Bennet plays Tiggy, a cacti enthusiast from the Queanbeyan East Cactus & Succulent Club. In the midst of her illustrated lecture on cacti, Tiggy is distracted by her marital problems and her comments become as sharp and spiky as her cacti as she struggles to keep her lecture on track.

Sally Taylor as Mary O'Donnell

No such problems for Mary O’Donnell, captivatingly created by Sally Taylor.  Mary is supremely confident that she will cement her position as the Liza Minnelli of St. Clare’s College with her self-devised solo Shaunessy the Mystery Cat. Just as she finishes her rehearsal, Mary learns that her arch-rival has chosen the same solo. In desperation, Mary decides to dance her solo to the music of Shaft.

Ella Buckley as Theresa

Ella Buckley plays a bride, Theresa, who is preparing for her wedding. As she dons her wedding dress, Theresa confides her joy in finally getting to wear this gown. But as her thoughts drift towards her life after the wedding, Theresa begins to panic at the realisation that she knows very little about her groom, realising that her only reason for getting engaged was to wear the wedding dress.

Lainie Hart as Winsome.

The final character is portrayed by Lainie Hart. Her name is Winsome, and she’s a well-dressed, outwardly sophisticated widow, who at 65 decides to embark on a new hobby; reading books to blind clients. When one of her clients’ requests that she read him extracts from a racy novel, Winsome discovers rather more joys to book-reading than she had an imagined.

The five actors remain on stage in their individual settings for the duration of the performance, with each monologue separated by a short oscillating lightshow which hints tantalisingly at how each character has progressed following their revelations.

Stylish and absorbing, “Bombshells” is a delightfully satisfying production notable for the depth of characterisation achieved by each of the performers, and for the careful attention paid to every aspect, especially presentation and choreography.

                                                          Photos by Ben Appleton - Photox

TOUR DATES: Queanbeyan 27-29^th August. - Cowra, Sept. 2.– Springwood, Sept 4  - Picton, Sept. 5. -Coffs Harbour, Sept 11.– Port Macquarie, Sept 12. – Dubbo, 16. -Belrose Sept18 & 19. – Griffith, Sept 23. – Albury, Sept. 25. – Bathurst, Sept. 27.

                       This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW.Link Here

BOMBSHELLS

Bombshells by Johanna Murray-Smith. Directed by Jordan Best. Echo Theatre. The Q Theatre. August 27-29.

 

Johanna Murray-Smith’s Bombshells is a series of insightful sketches reflecting the lives of a motley collection of women.

 

Jordan Best’s thoughtful production is off touring and is a tighter version than the one she directed in 2024, dropping off the last character, a singer from America doing a desperate Australian visit. This gave the show a slightly tentative finish on opening night but director and cast will find the right energy to tighten this.

 

The result is strong and often funny stuff, beginning with the pressurised monologue of a mother (Yanina Clifton) dealing with the non stop demands of a new baby and a couple of other small kids. Then comes the older woman (Louise Bennet) who is trying to sublimate her marriage breakup by taking up a new  hobby, growing cactus. The results as they show up in her presentation to what seems to be a cactus growers’ club are angry and spiky and darkly funny.

 

A bride (Ella Buckley), about to marry, talks through the romantic elements until she is left with some pretty mundane realities. The dress is not everything. A performance mad teenager (Sally Taylor) learns that not everyone plays fair as a rival in the talent quest sets out to outmanoeuvre her.

 

And a gentle widow (Lainie Hart) finds surprising fulfilment in reading to the blind…

 

Lovely perceptive stuff full of strong personalities that should appeal on tour.

 

Incidentally the lighting crew are to be congratulated for their navigation of the loss of a vital light at a crucial moment.

 

Alanna Maclean 

I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE

I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. Music by Jimmy Roberts. Book and lyrics by Joe Dipietro. Directed by Janie Lawson. Free Rain Theatre. ACT Hub. To Sept 5.

 

This is a lean and funny musical that has been around for a few decades but which has sensibly been updated to fit the times.

 

There are no great surprises in its tracking of relationships between the sexes nor in its music and songs but it is funny and poignant and a skilled cast of six (Amelia  Andersson-Nickson, Connor McNaught, David Pearson, Deborah O’Toole, Sam Thomson and Sarah Copley) gives it a good run. 

 

There’s no real plot unless it is the charting of various moments of connection (or non-connection) between a range of characters. Dating, failing to date, weddings, parenthood, a fraught family car trip, the perils of texting, the desperation of loneliness, birth, babies  and finding a date at a funeral are among the matters touched upon in a rapid procession of short punchy scenes and songs that, if not particularly memorable, do the job.

The cast of the show

There’s an odd chess metaphor being played out with giant chess pieces on a checkered stage and mysterious robed figures turn up from time to time to manipulate the action. The Hub doesn’t always make it possible to see the floor from all parts of the audience so the metaphor is a little lost except for a late vicious move by a Queen.

 

A musical duo (Leo Amadeus on piano and Laura Lay on violin) are the very hard working orchestra gorgeously underpinning it all.

 

Hard to pick favourites in a large song list but the teamwork and the singing of the cast is excellent and energetic and the range of ages, characters and genders done perceptively.  The ending, with an ancient couple picking each other up at a funeral, is an aptly funny comment on the whole parade of love gone right and love gone wrong.

 

Alanna Maclean 

GREASE

 

GREASE Book Music and Lyrics by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey

Director Bradley McDowell. Choreographer Jordan Kell. Musical Director Ella Ragless. Conductor Craig Johnson. Dance Captain Charlotte Cox. Intimacy Coordinator Jill Young. Stage Manager Lucy Van Dooren. Erindale Theatre. Canberra Philharmonic Society and Erindale Theatre. August 27 – September 12 2026. Bookings philo.org.au

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

From the opening number, Canberra Philharmonic thunders out a  piston-pumping production of the hit musical Grease.  Grease is a triple threat musical as American as Pumpkin Pie and director Bradley McDowell, Musical Director Ella Ragless, and Choreographer Jordan Kelly with their assistants have turned out a foot-tapping, cheering production that explodes with the exuberance and vitality of a top-notch ensemble of performers who show that they can sing, dance and act their way through a musical that is showing no sign of aging.

Samuel Whiter as Danny. Ashleigh Maynard as Sandy

McDowell and his team have kept the flavour of Grease's origins as far back as the 50’s at Rydell High, but forged a more eclectic version of Rock, Pop and Swing, Jive, Jitterbug and Twist even. Anachronism aside, Philo’s production is about energy and colour as McDowell suggests in his Director’s Notes. This version has plenty of that in the large Chorus numbers (Grease (Is the word), Shakin at The High School Hop or We Go Together (Finale). It explodes in Kelly’s highly physical choreography that is slick and snappy. This is given additional gusto with Alex Clifford’s lighting design and James McPherson’s sound design as well as the orchestra under Craig Johnson’s baton. Every aspect of this finely tuned production has been carefully detailed and the cast rise to the occasion with all the enthusiasm of amateurs in the true sense of the word – an ensemble of performers who love what they do and have the skill to hit the mark in their acting, singing and dancing, a joyous triple threat of the American musical genre.

Georgia Motto as Rizzo. Joseph Mansell as Kenickie

The challenge in producing a musical that has entertained millions on stage and film for half a century is to make it fresh, as though staged for the first time and offering new insight. McDowell has done this by approaching the musical as a rock musical. Kelly has introduced unique choreographic movements that keep pace with Raglessess’ lively arrangements, and has brought some new songs from the film to the stage version.

Danny, Kenickie, Sonny, Roger and Doody in Greased Lightning

But it is the attention to character by the cast that set this performance in many ways apart from other productions I have seen, and there have been many. What struck me was the vulnerability that cast members brought to their characters. Senior school can be a tough time, and beneath the male bravado and macho posturing or the girl’s cliquiness that disguises the insecurity that 18 year olds can experience as they face the future. Samuel Whiter’s Danny Zuko has it when he is initially forced to play the cool dude in front of Sandy (Ashleigh Maynard) Georgia Motto’s Rizzo is made to confront her fears when others learn of her pregnancy. Maynard’s Sandy faces the awkward challenge of fitting in and in a perfectly managed transition shakes off the insecurity by asserting her control (You’re the One I Want). It is to the credit of the performers that they are able to bring out a layer to their performance that gives this production insight that in no way diminishes the sheer fun and entertainment of Grease

 

Sandy (Ashleigh Maynard) and the girls in Summer Nights

There is not a weak moment in this show and every member of the company onstage and behind the scenes gives their all to make it a night to remember. In addition to Whiter (Greased Lightning), Maynard (Hopelessly Devoted) and Motto (There Are Worse Thing I Could Do), there are others in the cast who deserve special mention including Meaghan Stewart’s feisty, firebrand teacher Miss Lynch, Emma English’s Beauty School Dropout Frenchy, and comical nerd couple Patty (Chloe Archer) and Eugene (Edward Murphy) join the other students of Rydell High in this hilarious glimpse of life beyond the classroom. There are excellent performances too from the adults in the room; Michael Cooper gives a smarmy performance of celebrity guest Vince Fontaine. Declan Pigram is a gangly MC and Dave Collins makes his cameo appearance a commanding presence as Teen Angel.

Sandy (Ashleigh Maynard). Rizzo (Georgia Motto). Jan (Kay Liddiard).
Frenchy (Emma English) and Marty (ErinHawker) in Grease.

There are two great reasons for making sure that you don’t miss this show. One, you are a fan and love Grease. Two, you’ve never seen Grease on stage and Philo has turned out the best production you are likely to see in a long long time.  

Photos: Photox