5 LESBIANS EATING A QUICHE - Everyman Theatre - ACT Hub.

Meaghan Stewart - Crystal Mahon - Steph Roberts - Sian Harrington - Ylaria Rogers in 
"5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche"

5 LESBIANS EATING A QUICHE – Everyman Theatre – ACT Hub.

Written by Evan Linder and Andrew Hopgood – Directed by Jarrad West

Assistant Director: Jo Zaharias – Lighting and Sound Design: Nikki Fitzgerald

Set Design: Jarrad West – Costume Design: Fiona Leach

Presented by Everyman Theatre – ACT Hub – July 17^th – August 1^st, 2026.

Opening night performance on 17^th August reviewed by BILL STEPHENS

Madam President having a moment - Crystal Mahon and Meaghan Stewart

 

(Q) What happens when five of Canberra’s most accomplished actresses are let loose on a play bearing the provocative title of “5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche” under the direction of the city’s most prolific director of queer theatre? 

(A) A night of zany, hysterically funny theatre from which its audience leave the theatre exhausted from laughter. That’s what!

Everyman Theatre has again hit the jackpot with this wonderfully silly play in which the entire audience becomes attendees at the 1956 annual quiche breakfast hosted by the Susan B. Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein.

Yes guys, this means you too, because in the interests of inclusivity, both males and females in the audience are provided with stickers bearing female names, making them honorary lesbians for the night.

 Conducting the event from the head table is the President of the society, Lulie Stanwyck (Crystal Mahon) who rules with an iron fist coated with an excess of charm.

Lulie is flanked by her events co-ordinator, Wren Robin (Steph Roberts), obviously aspiring to be Lulie’s successor; the society secretary, Ginny Cadbury (Sian Harrington) firmly under the thumb of Lulie; Dale Prist (Ylaria Rogers), the society historian; and Vern Schultz (Meaghan Stewart) the Buildings and Grounds Chairman. All of whom are competing for the honour of producing the best quiche. 

Sian Harrington demonstrating how to eat a Quiche
Ylaria Rogers - Sian Harrington - Crystal Mahon -Steph Roberts - Meaghan Stewart

Also present in the audience is the unfortunate previous society Chairperson, on whom the audience is encouraged to heap its disdain in support of the new regime’s efforts to make clear that changes are being made, as well as participate in the society’s rituals.  

To give too much away would spoil the surprises. Suffice to say, subtlety has no place in this production. The acting is gloriously over-the-top, as is West’s confident direction which ensures that the chaotic, brilliantly staged, slapstick scenes never get out of hand, and that each member of the ensemble cast gets a moment to shine.

Steph Roberts - Meaghan Stewart

A particular pleasure of this production is watching how each actor plays those moments for real with brilliant comedy acting, while supporting and playing off her colleagues, referenced by just two of those moments; Sian Harrington’s hilarious demonstration of how to relish a quiche, and Ylaria Rogers’ masterful monologue about a childhood trauma.

Yalaria Roberts with a painting of the founder of the Susan B. Anthony Society for The Sisters of Gertrude Stein

Jarrad West’s imaginative setting draped in American flag bunting, together with Fiona Leach’s colourful 50’s costumes, provide a perfect environment for the madcap antics of this accomplished cast who ensure that this production is guaranteed not only to raise your spirits, but is also one you’d be mad to miss.

   

                                                       Photos by Janelle McMenamin

This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. Link - 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche - Everyman Theatre

     

5 LESBIANS EATING QUICHE

 

5 Lesbians Eating Quiche by Evan Linder and Andrew Hobgood.

Directed by Jarrad West. Assistant Director · Jo Zaharias Lighting & Sound Design · Nikki Fitzgerald. Assistant LX Design · Rhiley Winnett. Set Design · Jarrad West. Set Construction · Matthew Ovenell. Costume Design · Fiona Leach. Backstage Managers · Marion West & Alice Ferguson. Marketing Design · Louiza Blomfield. Marketing & Publicity · Karina Hudson. Production Photography · Janelle McMenamin. Cast: Sian Harrington, Crystal Mahon, Steph Roberts, Ylaria Rogers and Meaghan Stewart. Act Hub. Causeway Hall. 14 Spinifex Street Kingston July 17 – August 1. 2026. Bookings: ACTHUB.COM.AU

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

I am not a Lesbian and I don’t eat quiche for dietary reasons, so why should I have found this so riotously funny that it even had me laughing, and if not uproariously at least with a permanent grin on my face that not even Dale’s tragic monologue could not remove.

Sian Harrington as Ginny.
Meaghan Stewrt as Vern

So how did it happen that this quirky, queer work by Evan Linder and Andrew Hobgood worked so successfully for this straight man with no propensity for a bacon free quiche. Well it’s simply because of director Jarrad West’s pacy, snappy and clever business and his cast’s over the top shenanigans carried out by the finest ensemble of comic actors that one is likely to find in Canberra. Steph Roberts as Wren Robin – Events Coordinator  is the ideal organizer of the Susan B Anthony Society for the Sisters of Gertrude Stein annual quiche breakfast. Poor Ginny Cadbury - Secretary (Sian Harrington) is the fazed member of the committee. With her Scottish accent she is no true blue patriot of the star spangled South and therefore an easy butt for an uppity Lulie’s meanness. Ylaria Rogers as Dale Prist -Historian is your picture postcard poser, all bounce and bubble with a sad secret to reveal when the time comes. Vern Schultz – Buildings and Grounds Manager - (Meaghan Stewart) is your butch maintenance member prone to a tantrum that can bring the house down, and then there is Lulie Stanwyk - President (Crystal Mahon), the grand dame of the group with a devotion to chickens and the glorious egg. She too has a secret to throw the hens among the cats. Together they are the guardians of the sacred widows’ ritual of glorification of the egg and I don’t mean the chicken’s.

Crystal Mahon as Lulie. Meaghan Stewart as Vern

With an ensemble so deliciously madcap and with a taste for farcical mayhem, 5 Lesbians Eating Quiche is no buffet of intellectual gourmandizing, but it’s worth developing a taste for a healthy diet of entertainment. The flyer promises wild audience interaction, which harbours the threat of audience participation. At the door we are asked to choose a name to stick to our clothing. Is this a foreboding of having to become involved? Rest assured, you are put in the role of an assembled Society member while the committee sets about to judge the winning quiche. Apart from one plant who is targeted as the hapless Marjorie and butt of the committee’s verbal abuse or incriminating glances, you will only be urged to applaud, cheer or sing along. It’s all good fun which only becomes more chaotic when an atomic explosion hits the town and everyone is trapped in the dining hall bunker of the community hall, gaily festooned with 4^th July decoration. Only in America. An unlikely event? Perhaps but a willing suspension of disbelief will keep you laughing at Linder and Hobgood’s satirical swipe at silly societies that take themselves too seriously.

Ylaria Rogers as Dale

So for a treat to chase away the winter chill, 5 Lesbians Eating Quiche at ACT HUB serves up a delicious taste of top-notch comic performances in this eggcellent production.

 

 

KEROSENE - Off the Ledge Theatre - Courtyard Studio - Canberra Theatre Centre

Winsome Ogilvie as Millie in "Kerosene"

Written by Benjamin Nichol – Produced and Directed by Lachlan Houen

Assistant Director: Anna Lorenz – Stage Manager: Lucy Van Dooren

Co-Lighting Designer – Liah Naidoo -Composer: Fergus Mashman

Voice and Performance Coach – Sarah Chalmers.

Presented by Off the Ledge Theatre.

Courtyard Studio – Canberra Theatre Centre 16th - 19th July 2026.

Performance on 16th July reviewed by BILL STEPHENS

Winsome Ogilvie as Millie in "Kerosene"

Director, Lachlan Houen certainly set himself and his actor, Winsome Ogilvie, a challenge with his production of Melbourne playwright, Benjamin Nichol’s 2021 monodrama, “Kerosene”.

Raw and confronting, the play is narrated by Millie (Winsome Ogilvie) who describes the events leading to a catastrophic event which she has initiated.

Millie is a tough, streetwise young woman seeking love and acceptance. However, she encounters rejection at every turn, except from her elderly grandfather, and her best friend, Annie.

Millie’s friendship with Annie becomes her emotional anchor, but when Annie becomes involved in a relationship with an abusive boyfriend, Millie’s inability to cope with the situation becomes the central focus of the play.

Essentially an examination of what drives people to commit acts of violence, “Kerosene” is presented on a bare stage without props, costumes, or other actors. The challenge for both director and actor is to maintain audience interest for the duration of the play.

Houen and Ogilvie attack this challenge head on.

 

Winsome Ogilvie as Millie in "Kerosene"

Perfectly cast as the disaffected protagonist Millie, Ogilvie’s understanding of the character is clearly projected and the clarity of her diction admirable. Her impressive performance is brave and compelling, never flinching, despite confronting dialogue.

It may have been even more affecting had she been able to bring more light and shade to her performance which was pitched at such an intense level throughout as to leave her nowhere to go as the play reached its climax.

Similarly, Houen’s direction, though thoughtful and inventive in exploring opportunities to have his actor prowl the stage rather than risk the production becoming too static, missed opportunities to bring out more of the play’s subtext, such as the significance of the opal gifted to Millie by her grandfather. It would also have benefited from more dramatic lighting that didn’t reveal so much of the bare stage.

Nevertheless, this is a production that warrants attention as an admirable initiative by Off the Ledge Theatre to provide Canberra audiences with the opportunity to experience the work of an impressive emerging Australian playwright in Benjamin Nichol.

                                                 

                                                         Photos by Andrew Sikorski



This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW -  KEROSENE - Off the Ledge Theatre

                                                  

    

 

KEROSENE

Kerosene by Benjamin Nichol.  

Directed and produced by Lachlan Houen. Assistant Director Anna Lorenz. Lighting design by Lachlan Houen and Liah Naidoo. Stage Manager Lucy van Dooren. Sound designer and composer Fergus Mashman.  Off The Ledge Theatre. Courtyard Theatre. Canberra Theatre Centre. July 16-18 2026. Bookings: 62752700.

 Reviewed by Peter Wilkins.

 

“Love is a stain I never want to fade.” It is a love brandished in the complex and confusing world of a young woman growing up, rejected and alienated and desperately searching for love and friendship.  Winsome Ogilvie gives a powerhouse performance as Millie, a young woman struggling to assert her identity in a world that is more prone to judge than to accept, to diminish rather than support and feed insecurity rather than inspire confidence and security. And yet Benjamin Nichol’s startling debut monodrama offers hope. His writing pulses with dynamic realism, uttering a voice that is singularly that of Millie, a battler, burning with defiance in a quest to discover herself. Ogilvie breathes a fire into her character fuelled by an inner resilience and the love for her best friend Annie, a love so strong that she gifts her friend an opal that her grandfather gave her.

Winsome Ogilvie is Millie in Benjamin Nichol's Kerosene

Nichol’s writing is visceral, plumbing the struggles of Millie’s coming of age and her passage from the onset of her menstrual cycle at the Lilydale Swimming Club to the awakening of a wider world. Through it all Nichol weaves the relationship of Millie and Annie and the abiding power of loyalty and unswerving love of a dear friend.

Director Lachlan Hoen presents Nichol’s intense monodrama in the sparse setting of the Canberra Theatre Centre’s Courtyard Studio against the blacks and with only Ogilvie to tell the story unencumbered by any setting. Only a variety of spots capture the shifting moments of Ogilvie’s 50 minute telling of her story. Nichol’s writing is powerfully evocative capturing the shifting emotions of a girl and a woman confronting life’s challenges. The language is from the heart, forceful, often profane, or poetically evocative. Ogilvie, alone on stage, embraces the text with all the passion and energy of Millie’s search for meaning and eruptive anger at Annie’s abuse by her partner that fires the urge for revenge. Together Nichol and Ogilvie forge a partnership that has resulted in a compelling and fiery performance. It has been said that all that is required for excellent storytelling upon the stage is two actors and a plank, and sometimes you don’t need the plank. Playwright Nichol’s debut work needs no plank and only Ogilvie to tell his tale. Ogilvie gives a performance that every aspiring young actor should see.

Kerosene sees the creation of a new partnership that promises to ignite an exciting new flame in Australian theatre and in the spirit of Millie’s final moment of love and hope, I await more collaboration between Nichol and Ogilvie under the direction of Off The Ledge Theatre Company’s Lachlan Houen. Houen is moving Off The Ledge Theatre Company to Melbourne but I hope that future work by this exciting new company will again be seen on the Courtyard Theatre stage.

Production Photographs by Andrew Sikorski

kerosene

 

Written by Benjamin Nichol

Directed by Lachlan Houen

Performed by Winsome Ogilvie

Off The Ledge Theatre production

The Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre Centre to 18 July

 

Reviewed by Len Power 16 July 2026

 

Award-winning Melbourne playwright, Benjamin Nichol’s first play, “kerosene”, is as inflammatory as its title. A study of rage and loneliness in a time where we’re told we are more connected than ever, it is repellent and ugly but also touching in its cry for help and understanding.

Millie, a rough-talking and acting young teenager, revels in her friendship with Annie as they grow up. Annie leaves Millie behind as she starts dating a boy, but Millie clings to her friendship with Annie and cannot understand why things have to change at all. When Annie returns after some time, a victim of domestic violence, Millie takes out a shocking and remorseless revenge on Annie’s attacker.

This one person play is told from the point of view of the young teenager, Millie. As the years go on, we see her unable to change and grow emotionally, making her feel rejected and lonely. The underlying rage in her personality together with her isolation is the trigger for an explosive act.

Playing Millie would take a lot of courage. Canberra actor, Winsome Ogilvie, alone on stage for the whole play, gives a high energy, intense performance, showing a strong depth of understanding of this character. In the intimate space of the Courtyard Theatre, she’s confronting and like a caged animal prowling around looking for escape.

Winsome Oglivie (Millie)

Ogilvie gave a memorably fine performance of this tough character, but it needed more light and shade in her delivery. Starting at, and maintaining, such a high pitch, there was a feeling that she had nowhere else to go, when the story demanded an even higher level of intensity.

The stark production of the play with just lighting and minimal sound added to the realism and confronting nature of the show. It was certainly powerful.

 

Promotional photo by Liah Naidoo

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/.

 

 

Murrudha: Sovereign Walks

 Visual Art Exhibition Review | Brian Rope

Murrudha: Sovereign Walks | Dr Matilda House, Brenda L. Croft, William James Mildenhall, Prue Hazelgrove, Dean Freeman, Cheryl Davison, Shane Herrington

ANU School of Art & Design Gallery | 7 July - 7 August 2026

In her capacity as team leader for the Australian National University (ANU) Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge, Professor Brenda L. Croft drew inspiration from her ancestors' sovereign acts. 

Protesting genocidal conditions imposed on them over eight decades of colonial and unsettler-colonial impact, more than 200 Gurindji (and related nations and clans) stockmen and their families marched off the 2nd Wave Hill Station in outback Australia in 1966. Together with an earlier sovereign action in 1963 by Yolngu people, their 22-kilometer Walk-Off Track garnered national and international coverage and support over nearly nine years of activism. It became seen as the origins of the national land rights movement.

In 1927, senior Wiradjuri walamira (clevermen) Nangar/Yangar (c.1848-1927) also known as Jimmy Clements), and Ooloogan (c. 1840-1928) also known as George John Noble and Marvellous together completed a 3 days, 93 miles (150 kilometres) walk. It was undertaken in order to demonstrate their sovereignty by being present for the official opening of the new federal Parliament House on 9 and 10 May on Ngambri/Ngunawal homelands in the, then, recently established national capital, Canberra. Contemporary press clippings acknowledge their participation as defending their sovereign rights to their traditional Country.

They walked from the Brungle Station (also known as Brungle Community), nestled between Gundagai and Tumut on Walgalu/Wiradyuri Country, across the Brindabella Range to Canberra. It has been (and is) the driving force for the Challenge project

Murrudha: Sovereign Walks – Track #14 is the fourteenth outcome associated with the Challenge project "Murrudha: Sovereign Walks – tracking cultural actions through art, Country, language and music".

The Murrudha team and First Nations community members have undertaken two test walks determining Nangar and Ooloogan’s route, with a final test walk undertaken for the 99th anniversary in May 2026.

This exhibition showcases creative-led research in progress since 2020, including audio-visual documentation, alongside creative art and craftworks by a number of First Nations, and some non-Indigenous, artists associated with the project. The room sheet available at the exhibition provides background information regarding the various significant people integral to the project.

At the exhibition’s official opening guests heard a great presentation by Dr Aunty Matilda House OAM singing up Country and were treated to a wonderful performance by the Djinama Yalaga choir. And exhibition curator, Professor Croft, spoke passionately about the project. I mention that because all of those things added wonderfully to the visual art on display.

Dr Aunty Matilda House OAM © Brian Rope

Djinama Yalaga choir © Brian Rope

Professor Brenda L. Croft © Brian Rope

There are 35 diverse works in the exhibition including three audiovisuals to spend time with, two artworks by Dr Matilda House on loan from the Canberra Museum and Gallery Collection, and three photographs. Two of the latter show indigenous people on the steps of Parliament House – one on 10 May 1927, the other on 23 November 2023. The third is of George John Noble aka Marvellous with a dog, pre-1926. These photos are by William James Mildenhall and Prue Hazelgrove.

Aunty Matilda House was born in 1945 and is a proud Ngambri-Ngunnawal woman who has determinedly pursued social justice for Indigenous people in the wider community. She is well known and respected, indeed loved, by the general community of Canberra, all of whom have been at various events when Aunty has welcomed them to Country. It is good to have her artwork included here.

Many Canberrans know about the Mildenhall collection which comprises more than 7,700 images on glass plate negatives and has significant cultural and historical value to all Australians. Hazelgrove specialises in the wet plate collodion process. The inkjet print from her original tintype nicely complements the Mildenhall works.

Still image from: Brungle to Canberra – Final Test Walk 4-8 May 2026 (Murrudha: Sovereign Walks – Track # 14), projection. Participants: Brungle First Nations community members, Bugang Bila Indigenous Rangers (Tumut, Brungle, Snowy Mountains area), Professor Brenda L Croft, Monika Duggan, Terry Cleary, Rohit Rao (ANU). Drone operator/A-V documenter: Colin Elphick, Numeral Creative. 

Dr Matilda House (Williams), Murumbeeja dooligah, 1996, Edition 1 /6. Printer Jan Hogan and Theo Trembly Studio One Inc Canberra. Canberra Museum and Gallery Collection.

Jimmy Clements (also known as Nangar, Yangar or ‘King Billy’) on the front steps of Parliament House, c. 10 May 1927. Photograph by William James Mildenhall. Inkjet print on archival paper. National Archives of Australia.

Prue Hazelgrove, Nangar and Ooloogan Descendants on steps of Old Parliament House, 23 November 2023, as part of Murrudha: Sovereign Walks – Track #4, 24 November 2023. Inkjet print on archival paper, (from original tintype, wet plate collodion process) on archival paper.

There is a superb acrylic gouache on rag board by Cheryl Davison, some beautiful wood coolamons by Dean Freeman, and an impressive bark canoe and wooden spears by Shane Herrington. And, last but not least, numerous high quality inkjet prints (from original tintypes) by Brenda L. Croft. Davison’s artwork is inspired by the river that flows from the mountains to the sea (a phrase Canberrans know well) through the Country of her grandfather. Making cultural objects allows Freeman to connect with what his Ancestors used in their daily lives. Herrington’s approach also fosters a deep connection to cultural heritage. Croft’s artworks here are some of her First Nations portraits created since 2019.

Cheryl Davison, Still on Country, 2026, acrylic gouache on rag board, 70 x 57 cm.

 

Dean Freeman, gulaman (coolamons) (installation), 2023-26, wood, dimensions variable

Installation image © Brian Rope

Shane Herrington, Murlin (bark canoe) 2026. Bark, bush string, dimensions variable

And Spears, 2026. Wood, bush string, dimensions variable

Installation image © Brian Rope

Brenda L. Croft, Julie (Dhulanyagan clan, Yorta Yorta/Wiradjuri/Wurundjeri Peoples), 2024 from the series Naabámi (thou shall/will see): Barangaroo (army of me). 42 x 27.9cm, inkjet print (from original tintype, wet plate collodion process) on archival paper.

Brenda L. Croft, Men of High Degree: Jim Everett – puralia meenamatta (clan plangermairreenner, Ben Lomond people, Cape Portland nation, north-east Tasmania), 2023. 42 x 27.9cm, inkjet print (from original tintype, wet plate collodion process) on archival paper.

 

There it is - art, Country, language and music. All feature in this excellent and important exhibition - and in planned associated events. Please see it in person if you are able to.

This review is also available on the author's blog.

THE MERRY WIDOW - Opera Australia - Joan Sutherland Theatre - Sydney Opera House.

 

Alexander Lewis - Julie Lea Goodwin and the cast of Opera Australia's "The Merry Widow"

 

Composer: Franz Lehar – Librettists: Viktor Leon, Leo Stein.

English translation by Justin Fleming.

Conductor: Vanessa Scammell – Director & choreographer: Graeme Murphy AO

Creative Associated: Janet Vernon AM – Assistant Director: Cameron Mitchell

Set Designer: Michael Scott-Mitchell - Costume Designer: Jennifer Irwin

Lighting Designer: Damian Cooper – Sound Designer: Jim Atkins

Presented by Opera Australia – Joan Sutherland Theatre, SOH July 8^th – Aug.18^th, 2026

Opening night performance on July 8^th reviewed by BILL STEPHENS

Julie Lea Goodwin (Hanna Glavari) and the male chorus of "The Merry Widow"

 

From its Perth premiere in 2017, Graeme Murphy’s exquisite staging of Franz Lehár’s delightful 120-year-old operetta for the Opera Conference was clearly destined to become an audience favourite.

This revival at the Sydney Opera House powerfully demonstrates why.

From the outset, Michael Scott-Mitchell’s sumptuous Art Deco set, enhanced by Jennifer Irwin’s lavish costumes and beautifully lit by Damian Cooper, offers a constant feast for the eyes.

Julie Lea Goodwin (Hanna Glavari) and the dancers of Opera Australia's "The Merry Widow"

Murphy makes full use of Irwin’s flair for designing costumes for dancers, by creating a series of gorgeous dance sequences: faux-traditional folk dances for the Pontevedrian party scene, cheeky can-cans for Maxim’s grisettes, and swooning waltzes for Hanna Glavari and Danilo Danilovich.

Julie Lea and the cast of Opera Australia's "The Merry Widow" singing "Vilja"

His finely nuanced direction brims with imaginative ideas, and his handling of the duets is masterly. It is hard to imagine a more breathtakingly romantic staging of the second-act story-song, “Vilja” which climaxes with Julie Lea Goodwin as Hanna Glavari seated on a giant water-lily frond, held aloft by four dancers in a Monet-inspired setting watched by Danilo from the shadows of the summer house.

Both Julie Lea Goodwin and Alexander Lewis are not only fine singers but also excellent dancers. With performers of such versatility, Murphy clearly relishes the chance to surround them with superb dancers and choreography that showcases their talents.

June Bronhill, herself an acclaimed Hanna Glavari, once observed that the only way to make operetta work was to play it truthfully. Goodwin and Lewis clearly understand this.

From the moment Goodwin appears as the wealthy young widow hoping to rekindle a former love affair, her dazzling smile and lustrous soprano voice radiate star power.

Lewis is a superb match as her reluctant paramour. Their scenes together generate a captivating frisson rarely seen on operatic stages, making them a bewitching pair and giving the production a compelling central focus.

Alexandra Flood and John Longmuir are also beautifully matched, singing superbly and playing “A Respectable Wife”, Valencienne, and her ardent would-be lover, Camille de Rosillon, with charming conviction.

Richard Anderson (Kromov) - David Whitney (Baron Mirko Zita) - Tom Hamilton (Konrad Pritschich) - Iaian Henderson (Raoul De St. Brioche) -Alexander Lewis (Danilo Danilovich) - Alexander Hargreaves (Diminik Bogdanovich) -Nathan Lay (Viscount Nicolas Cascada) singing "Women, Women, Women" in Opera Australia's "The Merry Widow"

The first-rate supporting cast includes David Whitney as Baron Mirko Zeta, alongside Benjamin Rasheed (Njegus), Richard Anderson (Kromov), Alexander Hargreaves (Bogdanovich), Jane Ede (Sylviane), Iain Henderson (de St. Brioche), Nathan Lay (Cascada), Helen Sherman (Olga Kromov), Tom Hamilton (Pritschich), and Dominica Matthews (Praskovia). All clearly relish the opportunities in Justin Fleming’s witty libretto to create delightfully silly, blustering characterisations.

Under Vanessa Scammell’s baton, the Opera Australia Orchestra gives an impeccable performance, capturing the authentic Viennese lilt of Franz Lehár’s irresistible score and ensuring this production will remain a treasured memory for all those fortunate enough to experience it.

 

Photos by Carlita Sari

 

                          This review first published in CITY NEWS ON 13.06.26

 

                          Also AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW   https://artsreview.com.au/the-merry-widow-6/