EQUUS - Free Rain Theatre - ACT Hub/

 

Arran McKenna (Martin Dysart) - Sam Thomson (Nugget) - Jack Shanahan (Alan Strang) in "EQUUS".

Written by Peter Shaffer – Directed by Anne Somes

Set Design by Cate Clelland – Costume design by Anne Somes

Sound Design by Neville Pike and Patrick Dixon – Live soundscape by Crystal Mahon

Stage Management: Jill Young – Movement Direction by Amy Campbell.

ACT Hub 12^th – 22^nd November 2025.

Opening night performance on 12^th November reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.

A Court Magistrate in a small town in England visits a local child psychiatrist to implore him to interview a 17-year-old boy in an attempt to discover the boy’s motivation for blinding six horses. 

This is the pretext of Peter Shaffer’s acclaimed 1973 play, “Equus”, which is currently playing in the ACT Hub in a masterful production directed by Anne Somes for Free Rain Theatre. 

Presented on an atmospheric, stripped-back setting, designed by Cate Clelland, which eschews furniture and hand-held props in favour of dramatic lighting and sound to create drama and spectacle, Somes relies on the skill of her actors, and the imagination of her audiences to fill any gaps in the storytelling.   

Arran McKenna (Martin Dysart) - Crystal Mahon (Hesther Salomon) in "EQUUS".

Shaffer’s play is wordy, but in this production Arran McKenna shines in the demanding role of the psychiatrist, Martin Dysart, who is himself questioning his own sense of purpose and the nature of his work. As Dysart, McKenna delivers Shaffer’s wordy musings on human nature, the drivers of sexuality, and the value of psychiatry, with impressive aplomb.    

As the troubled boy, Alan Strang, who resists Dysart’s intervention by refusing to communicate other than by singing advertising jingles, Jack Shanahan is riveting, offering a brave performance that requires him to perform naked for much of the second act.

Arran McKenna (Martin Dysart) - Jack Shanahan (Alan Strang) in "EQUUS". 

Playing Dysart’s confidante, the magistrate Hesther Salomon, Crystal Mahon brings a re-assuring warmth and dignity to the role, while Janie Lawson also contributes a strong performance as Alan Strang’s uncomprehending mother, Dora Strang.

Bruce Hardie is effective as both Alan Strang’s father Frank, and as Strang’s employer Harry Dalton; as are Lily Welling as Jill Mason, the unwitting catalyst for Alan Strang’s atrocity, and Caitlin Bissett who plays a nurse.

Jack Shanahan (Alan Strang) - Janie Lawson (Dora Strang) - Arran McKenna (Martin Dysart)

However, it is Sam Thomson who displays remarkable presence in the non-verbal role of the horse, Nugget, and his stablemates, Jamie Johnson, Finlay Forrest, Samara Glesti, Bianca Lawson and Robert Wearden, who are most likely to remain in the memory. They are on stage for the full duration of the play, either as horses or observers, and it is the spectre of their presence which ultimately drives the play.

Jack Shanahan (Alan Strang) - Sam Thomson (Nugget) in "EQUUS".

“Equus” is a play that has fascinated audiences for more than 50 years. Anne Somes inventive and imaginative production at ACT Hub is a strong indicator of why this is so.

                                                     Photos by Janelle McMenamin.

MICHAEL SIMIC NAMED ARTIST OF THE YEAR AT THE 35TH ANNUAL ACT ARTS AWARDS

 Michael Simic has been named 2025 Canberra CityNews Artist of the Year at the 35^th annual ACT Arts Awards evening, held in the ANU Drill Hall Gallery on Tuesday, November 11.

ACT Arts Minister Michael Pettersson presented a certificate and cheque to the value of $1,000 to Michael Simic. One of the most colourful stage personalities ever to emerge from the Canberra region and better known through his flamboyant stage persona Mikelangelo, Simic and his band The Black Sea Gentlemen have performed to sold-out audiences on London’s West End and at major festivals across the UK, Europe, New Zealand, Canada and the US.

With his larger-than-life stage presence and faux-Balkan accent—a nod to his Croatian heritage—Simic was praised by the Canberra Critics’ Circle as a “consummate professional entertainer” known for his rich baritone voice, relentless energy and effortless rapport with audiences.

Michael Simic (Mikelangelo) - Photo: Sarah Walker

Earlier in the evening, the 2025 Helen Tsongas Award for Excellence in Acting was presented by Jordan Best, artistic director of The Q Theatre in Queanbeyan, to Andrea Close.

Described by members of the Canberra Critics’ Circle as “a formidable figure in Canberra’s arts community,” she has been recognised for her commanding performances this year — as the Machiavellian sister Agatha in The Moors at The Mill Theatre, Dairy Road (March–April), and as the powerful corporate figure Jen Lay in Enron, also at The Mill (July–August).

Andrea Close as Jen Lay in ENRON 2 - photo: Daniel Abroguena

The awards evening also featured the circle’s own awards, which went to:

MUSIC

The National Capital Orchestra

For its concert program during the course of 2024/25, recognizing consistent quality of performance, presenting challenging repertoire and playing new Australian compositions with great spirit and cheerful optimistic audience engagement.

 

Andrew Hackwill

For his outstanding contribution as a multi-instrumentalist and sophisticated jazz music arranger with numerous diverse Canberra ensembles.

 

Richard Johnson

For leading and sustaining the annual Sound Out Festival, a summit of experimental music, at the ANU Drill Hall.

 

Canberra Qwire

For its powerful and bold presentation of Henry Purcell’s Dido & Aeneas as Dido & Aeneas Reimagined, the story told with passionate and touching conviction.

 

Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen

For Journey Through the Land of Shadows, a visionary example of the timeless artistry of live performance.

 

THEATRE

 

Christopher Samuel Carroll

For his highly dexterous performance of his self-written play, Cadaver Palaver, Christopher Samuel Carroll. Carroll’s versatile physical and vocal virtuosity drew upon elements of the British comedy vernacular as produced by the likes of Peter Sellers and Terry Thomas while giving a light-hearted not to Australian comedy proponents like Drew Forsythe and Darren Gilshenan. There are very few actors who can integrate mimetic movement forms with high levels of delivery of spoken text as seen by Carroll.

 

Christopher Baldock

For his performance as the brain-damaged farmer, Angus in ‘The Drawer Boy  this actor extended a huge range of dexterity in both vocal and physical aspects of performance; establishing a true role model for performance. His grounded and intense performance highlighted the actor's propensity for creating a highly believable and challenging portrayal of an essentially sad character.

 

Jarrad West

For his bold direction of The Inheritance, a play by Matthew Lopez inspired by E.M. Forster’s ‘Howard’s End in which Lopez profoundly explores themes of love and legacy in the queer community in 2015 New York. This mammoth undertaking in two parts by Everyman Theatre showed how the past shapes and forms current existence as well as the future. Its message of love, loss, hope and healing resonated through the depth of performance, sensitively guided by the director.

 

James Scott

For a frightening and poignant interpretation of the luckless servant, Lucky, in Waiting for Godot at The Street Theatre in November 2024. For his sculpted impression of oppressed subjugation in which he inhabited the pain of his character before bursting forth with a cry for understanding in an uncaring universe.

 

The Street Theatre

For its investment in human creative energies by commissioning, developing and ultimately staging the production of Dylan Van Den Berg’s play The Chosen Vessel in August 2025, a significant and overdue exploration into a new dimension in Australian theatrical form.

 

MUSICAL THEATRE

 

Amy Orman

For her outstanding performance as Charity Hope Valentine in the Free Rain Theatre production of Sweet Charity which captured the indomitable spirit and vulnerability of the character.

 

Sarahlouise Owens

For her extraordinary achievement in conceiving, writing and performing as Anna Bishop in Opera’s Bad Girl which delivered superbly judged renditions of demanding arias with restraint, finesse and humour.

 

Queanbeyan Players

For its imaginatively staged and delightfully entertaining production of the Gershwin musical Nice Work If You Can Get It.

 

Alexander Unikowski

For his beautifully sung, moving and thrilling portrayal of the composer, Jon, in the ACT Hub production of Tick, Tick… Boom!

 

Amelia Andersson-Nickson

For her extraordinary rendition of Waiting, a complex song regarding the intimacy of a layered emotional journey, in the Canberra Philharmonic Society production of The Addams Family.

 

DANCE

 

Ausdance ACT

For providing young dancers with a professionally curated and technically sophisticated platform for dance and choreography as it celebrated its 40th Anniversary of the Youth Dance Festival at Canberra Theatre in November 2024 with the theme, What Do You Dream?

 

Akira Byrne

For her powerful solo A Destination Should Not Be Expected created and performed as part of the QL2 Dance Emerging Choreographers Program, inspired by her own battle with chronic pain and endometriosis.

 

Alison Plevey and Sara Black

For the exceptional production of a solo dance work, Essor (Thank You) in response to photographic material by renowned photographer Tracey Moffatt on display at the National Portrait Gallery; and for their mentorship of dancer Yolanda Lowatta.

 

VISUAL ARTS

 

Sophie Dumaresq and Asil Habara

For inviting questioning of the currents that shape our own material reality and cultural landscape, both online and In Real Life - in their exhibition Is somebody gonna match my freak? at M16 in January–February 2025.

 

Aidan Hartshorn

For his illuminating installations that render the ancestral craftsmanship of First Nations canoes, shields and hand axes in contemporary glass and neon works, evocatively capturing the disquieting incongruity of our reliance on hydro-electric power schemes and the environmental and cultural destruction left in their wake, for his solo exhibition Fulcrum at Canberra Glassworks (June—August 2025).

 

Maddie Hepner

For Paradox of Control, a sensitive and courageous multi-media exploration of compulsive hair pulling in September this year at Platform, the Contemporary Art space at Manuka.

 

Jo Hollier

For her exhibition Creek Walks at the Belco Arts Centre in August. The artist demonstrated her considerable technical skills in printmaking in a series of closely observed sensitive and emotive works that celebrated the birdlife and flora of the bush walks she had undertaken in the South East Forests National Park in NSW.

 

Al Munro

For her exhibitions Pattern/colour/space/form at the Australian National Capital Artists Gallery (ANCA), February to March 2025, and Pattern Recognition at Canberra Contemporary, November 2024 to January 2025. Her artistic concepts stood out for their bold originality, through geometric repetition and the intricate interplay of colour and shape that filled each work.

 

POETRY

 

Maggie Shapley

For Fruits of Exile, a poetry collection that offers an intimate re-reading of the works of Margaret Scott and Gwen Harwood while subtly exploring their resonances in women’s realities today.

 

S. K. Kelen

For The Cult of What Comes Next, a poetry collection of fantastical inventiveness, which holds on to love, dignity and sanity while surveying the shallow obsessions and rogue technology that foreshadow a world of madness.

 

John Foulcher

For The Night Stair, a collection of tender, elegant and candid poems that reveal the startling influence of distant memories on the waking moment.

 

NON-FICTION

 

Edmund Goldrick

For Anzac Guerrillas, an exceptional feat of research which, in illustrating the efforts by a handful of Australian soldiers to prevent a genocide, reconstructs an overlooked but profoundly valuable story of moral courage.

 

Emily Gallagher

For Playtime, a highly original work of history, which finds in children’s writings, artworks, toys and games a lifeworld of imagination, fears and hopes that compellingly reflect social change and freshly animate the modern Australian story.

 

SCREEN

 

Ann McGrath and Andrew Pike

For the documentary film Japarta, a work of sensitivity and insight into the important legacy of Minoru Hokari and his writing about the Gurindji people. Japarta tells a special story, moving and memorable, about an exceptional figure.

THE NUTCRACKER - BIG Live - Canberra Theatre, 2025

 

BIG Live dancers in the finale of "The Nutcracker".

Music by Pyotr Illyich Tchaikovsky – Choreographed by Joel Burke, after Marius Petipa

Set Design by Joel Burke, TVS Arcitect and Christopher Osborne

Costumes: Sophia Drakos, Anne Tytherleigh, Brisbane Arts Theatre.

Lighting Design by Ben Hambling & Steven May.

Presented by BIG Live, Canberra Theatre, 6^th & 7^th November 2025.

Matinee performance on 7^th November reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.

BIG Live dancers perform Act 1 of "The Nutcracker".

Christmas came early this year for Canberra ballet lovers with what now appears to have become an annual event, the BIG Live production of “The Nutcracker”.  

Since it was first created in 2021 by Co-Directors, Khalid Tarabay (Executive Director) and Joel Burke (Artistic Director) with a mission to broaden the audience for classical ballet, while creating more job opportunities for dancers, BIG Live has been steadily building its audience and touring schedules.

Commencing with International Ballet Galas and full-length productions of popular classics, “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Nutcracker”, the company broadened its ambitions to include original full-length productions of “Dracula” which premiered in 2025, and “The Great Gatsby” to premiere in 2026, as well as a Christmas Spectacular which will play Sydney and Melbourne, all choreographed by its Artistic Director, Joel Burke.  

It has also increased its international touring schedule, which already includes New Zealand, with performances of “The Nutcracker” in Singapore with guest artists, Iana Salenko and Marian Walter, both seen in Canberra this year in the 2025 BIG Live International Gala. 

Not content to rest on its laurels, BIG Live has enhanced its production of “The Nutcracker” with the addition of some sumptuous new costumes and settings. The company has   very noticeably, strengthened the line-up for the corps, and its attention to detail for the execution of the choreography, so that the spectacular Snowflakes scene that concludes act 1, and the Waltz of the Flowers in Act 2, can now truly claim to be of world standard.  

Burke’s version of Act 1 was always a highlight of this particular production because of the clarity of the storytelling and vivacious interaction of the party guests. But with Alexander Taber opting to create a warm and attentive Drosselmeyer, rather than the usual scary magician;  with Mia Zanardo, quite lovely as Clara, confidently partnered by Joel Burke as her Nutcracker, through a succession of  elegant overhead lifts for their swoon-worthy pas de deux, with William Cheung just a little too disobedient as Clara’s naughty brother, Fritz, and Janae Kerr (Doll), Timur Dymchikov (Jester) and Ervin Zagidullin (Sailor) each offering virtuosic solos, together with the well-staged battle between the rats and the toy soldiers, this act now becomes a delight in its own right, rather than something to be endured while waiting for the spectacle of act 2.

BIG Live dancers perform the Act 1 finale of "The Nutcracker"

With its new setting and costumes, Act 2 is a visual delight, even it the decision to have Clara and the Nutcracker sit on the steps of the great gates to watch the proceedings did create an odd moment  when both had to vacate the steps to allow the Nutcracker to open the gates to allow the Sugar Plum Fairy and her prince to make their rather awkward entrance.

 Elsewhere, each of the series of testing divertissement was well danced. Timur Dymchikov captivated with his energetic Russian Dance; Maria Zagidullina and Bella Collishaw delighted as the sprightly Merlitons; Brock Tighe, Janae Kerr, Jack Jones and Summer Duyvestyn offered a dramatic Spanish Dance; and Huw Pritchard and William Cheung were suitably oriental for the Chinese.

However, it was Charles Herkes and Giselle Osborne who really raised the temperature with their superbly executed Chinese. This fascinating pas de deux requires great strength and total trust from each of the dancers to execute the demanding lifts and manoeuvres, while appearing completely calm and showing no strain. On this occasion it was given a tour-de-force performance by both dancers.   

Abbey Hansen as the Sugar Plum Fairy partnered by Ervin Zagidullin as her Prince added the proverbial icing to the cake with their execution of the famous Grand pas de deux which climaxes the ballet before the whole cast take the stage for the rousing grand finale. 

                                                     Images provided by BIG Live 

   This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW. www.artsreview.com.au

THE LOVERS A Musical by Laura Murphy. Theatre Royal Sydney until 16th November, 2025.

Loren Hunter (Hermia) - Mat Verevis(Lysander) - Stellar Perry (Oberon) -Jayme-Lee Hanekom (Puck) - Natalie Abbott (Helena) - Jason Arrow (Demetrius) in "The Lovers". 

Book, Music & Lyrics by Laura Murphy - Directed by Nick Skubij

Choreographed by Yvette Lee – Designed by Isabel Hudson

Lighting design by Trent Suidgeest – Sound and Video design by David Bergman

Fight and Intimacy direction by Nigel Poulton.

Presented by Shake & Stir Theatre Co and John Frost for Crossroads Live,

Theatre Royal, Sydney until 16^th November 2025.

Opening night performance reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.

Jayme-Lee Hanekom (Puck) - Stellar Perry (Oberon) in "The Lovers". 

Enjoying the rare phenomenon for an Australian musical, a second new production, Laura Murphy’s whip smart “The Lovers” was first premiered in Sydney by Bell Shakespeare in 2022.  

Reconceived by director, Nick Skubij for Shake & Stir Theatre Co, Queensland Performing Arts Centre in association with Brisbane Festival, and premiered in Brisbane in September of this year, “The Lovers” now returns to Sydney fresh from its Brisbane season, for this very brief season at the Theatre Royal, courtesy of Shake & Stir Theatre Co and John Frost for Crossroads Live.

Now, Frosty knows a good show when he sees it, and his interest in this particular musical, bodes well for its international potential.  

10 years in the making for Murphy, who wrote the book, music and lyrics, “The Lovers”, offers a contemporary riff on Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”, concentrating on the four lovers, Hermia, Lysander, Helena and Demetrius, and the complications caused in their relationships by Puck’s careless handling of Oberon’s love potion.

Loren Hunter as Hermia in "The Lovers".

With Loren Hunter as a feisty, Hermia, who’s in love with Lysander (Mat Verevis), who’s in love with Helena (Natalie Abbott), who’s in love with Demetrius (Jason Arrow),  the four lovers commence the show in an imaginative designer’s version of Elizabethan gear complete with white ruffs, which they eventually doff for more practical creations for the hilarious shenanigans in which they later become embroiled.    

Stellar Perry, costumed in a sparkly red cowboy suit, plays Oberon, while Jayme-Lee Hanekom wears fluffy red pants, red & yellow striped stockings and pom-poms on her head to play a delightfully mischievous, Puck.  All are uniformly excellent in their roles, responding to Nick Skubij’s erudite direction with enthusiasm and flair.

Although she draws on Shakespeare’s text for her spoken dialogue, most of the storytelling is told through Murphy’s catchy songs. There are about 27 in the show.  Each crammed with clever, ear-catching, rap-style lyrics, quite a few of which were lost on opening night, due to a sound balance that tended to favour the excellent on-stage band.  

Natalie Abbott (Helena) - Mat Verevis (Lysander) in "The Lovers"

Visually the show is gorgeous. Utilising revolving stages, ultra-romantic lighting design by Trent Suidgeest, and melting video imagery by David Bergman, designer, Isabel Hudson has created a lusciously romantic forest environment dominated by a huge blossom-laden tree, with a huge love-heart which drops in at appropriate moments.

The over-all effect is of dream-like, original, young, fresh and very funny show, which was given a rapturous reception by the Sydney opening night audience.   

Not only is “The Lovers” an outstanding addition to the growing list of musicals inspired by Shakespeare’s writings, it is also a compelling showcase for the depth of Australian creative talent currently vying for attention on the world’s stages.

While Shake & Stir Theatre Co and John Frost for Crossroads Live are to be commended for bringing this outstanding production to Sydney, hopefully some way will be found to allow it to be enjoyed by audiences beyond this short Sydney season.  

Natalie Abbott (Helena) - Jason Arrow (Demetrius) in "The Lovers"



Special note for Canberra readers: - If some of these names sound familiar - Laura Murphy and Loren Hunter played Glinda and Elphaba respectively in Free Rain Theatre's 2016 production of "Wicked", and Laura Murphy played Princess Fiona in Free Rain Theatre's 2018 production of "Shrek" 




Photos by Joel Devereaux



This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ARTS REVIEW.    www.artsreview.com.au

 

  

Dark Matter 2025

Visual Art (Photography) Review | Brian Rope

Dark Matter 2025

Joshua Catanzariti, Danica Chappell, Kristian Häggblom, Bingham Thurgate

Photo Access, Canberra

23 October 2025 – 22 November 2025

The 2025 Dark Matter residency program brought together four most interesting artists. They each spent part of this year working in the Photo Access darkroom and developing new works through experimentation.

At a conversation with the artists event I attended at the gallery, Joshua Catanzariti spoke about his research regarding how other people have used digital negatives and how, the more he explored, the more he felt that printing images onto paper and then using those prints as negatives was something he wanted to pursue. A large collage of images displayed in this exhibition was created in that way, using Japanese washi paper. The fibres of that paper got translated into those prints. Using film negatives, layering them on top of each other in the enlarger, was another technique he used. Overall, the created artworks are a marvellous portrait of the outcomes of the artist’s experiments.

Joshua Catanzariti’s artworks – installation image © Eunie Kim 

Joshua Catanzariti, passage to Kasuga - installation (detail), 2025 © Eunie Kim

Joshua Catanzariti, Fuji – framed, 2025 - installation image © Eunie Kim

Danica Chappell’s artworks are absolutely different. She pressed her hands directly to surfaces, breaking a golden rule that had previously been instilled in darkroom workers: a film or paper surface should never be touched. She has investigated the history of photography through experimentation and touch, drawing inspiration from pictorialism photography, which links the hand and chance. Both colour and light are valued in the materials she employed, such as egg whites and old typewriter paper, as well as in the actual production of her final products. She clearly has a strong interest in geometry and abstraction, receding spatial forms, and advancing photography's methods while appreciating its past.

Danica Chappell’s artworks – installation image © Eunie Kim 

Danica Chappel, selection from the series Kaleidoscope, 2025 – installation image © Eunie Kim 

Two most interesting pieces amongst those on display are from a series, appropriately titled Shadow Shaping (light-modulated-form). The shapes, the colours, the light - all are fascinating.

Danica Chappel, Shadow Shaping (light-modulated-form #6), 2025 – installation image © Eunie Kim

Kristian Häggblom has drawn on his childhood memory. He has used surviving darkroom photographs made by his father as the impetus for his explorations. In particular he has referred to images his parent made relating to the 1986 Halley’s Comet celestial occurrence. He has sought to re-tell and speculate about that and other associated stories of destiny and doom. And he has spoken about embracing mistakes in the darkroom. The integrated placement of the displayed completed artworks provides a complete, and most enjoyable, visual portrayal of this project – in many ways a homage. However, the artist has suggested we may not be able to read it all.

Kristian Häggblom’s artworks – installation image © Eunie Kim 

Kristian Häggblom, Halley’s Comet, 1986 – photograph and print by Robert Haggblom, analogue print with wooden base – installation image © Eunie Kim

Kristian Häggblom, On the Beach (Kunihiro Hanasaka & Kristian Häggblom), 2004 – photograph by Souma Sato, framed archival digital print – installation image © Eunie Kim

Bingham Thurgate’s work is accompanied by text written for the catalogue by Mae West on his behalf. It seeks to shift our focus to the “spatial, objectual and material qualities of the photographic image and the ways in which these elements, once manipulated, both shape and guide his methodology.” Four created three-dimensional pieces of art use a variety of materials, such as acrylic paint, hinges, chair legs, bolts, paraffin wax, polyester fabric, and balsawood, in addition to their photographic content.

Bingham Thurgate’s artworks – installation image © Eunie Kim

It is good to view these works from various angles rather than simply front on. Doing that reveals so much more, better enabling us to see their qualities in the way West has identified.

Bingham Thurgate, Photographic print #1, 2025 (dye-sublimation print on eco lycra, MDF board, chair legs, bolts) - installation image © Eunie Kim (detail selected by Brian Rope) 

All four artists have created excellent artworks from their individual programs of experimentation, demonstrating once again that the annual Dark Matter residencies program is successfully achieving its aims.

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

RENT - Opera Australia and LPD Productions - Sydney Opera House

 

Jesse Dutlow as Angel in Opera Australia's production of "Rent"

RENT - Opera Australia and LPD Productions – Sydney Opera House

Book, Music and Lyrics by Jonathan Larson.

Directed by Shaun Rennie – Musical Direction by Jack Earle

Choreographed by Luca Dinardo – Set Design: Dann Barber

Costume Design: Ella Butler - Lighting Design: Paul Jackson – Sound Design: Evan Drill

Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House until November 1^st 2025.

Opening Night Performance on October 1st reviewed by BILL STEPHENS

The cast of "Rent".

   

Watching this production in the vastness of the Joan Sutherland Theatre in the Sydney Opera House it was impossible not to be struck by how incongruous it looked in this environment.

Although creator Jonathan Larson drew his inspiration from a well-loved opera, Shaun Rennie’s brilliant stripped-back, low-tech interpretation, with its op-shop costumes, stark steel scaffolding scenery, with components manipulated around the stage by the cast, that had worked so well in more intimate venues as it toured the country last year, now seemed the very antithesis of the purpose for which the opera house was built.

Voices are now amplified to the point where it is often impossible to hear the lyrics, with  the predominantly new cast appearing to have been directed to broaden their performances  to the point, where for this reviewer at least, it is no longer possible to empathise with the characters, who have now become caricatures, who prefer to embrace the squalor of their environment, and despise those of their number who aspire to lift themselves out of it, with shouting, pushing and shoving replacing subtlety and nuance.

Although none of that seemed to worry those in the audience on opening night determined to greet their efforts with rapturous applause.  

“Rent” is a director’s show, in much the same way as abstract shows like “Hair” and “Jesus Christ Superstar” offer possibilities for daring interpretations. Shaun Rennie has embraced this opportunity and surrounded himself with an outstanding creative team who include choreographer, Luca Dinardo.  Dann Barber designed the sets, Ella Butler the costumes, and Paul Jackson and Evan Drill respectively, responsible for the lighting and sound.  Jack Earle is the Musical Director.

Outstanding moments include a representation of The Last Supper, an eye-popping orgy scene, the death of Angel, and a glorious rendition of “Seasons of Love”. However, it is hard to forgive Larson’s misguided decision to have Mimi come back to life at the end to join her friends in the finale singsong, thereby robbing the show of a potentially shattering climax.

Despite the reservation expressed above, this production remains a remarkable interpretation of the show, including innovative staging and thrilling performances, but perhaps the magic moment of the Sydney Opera House opening night was the introduction of members of the cast of the very different original 1998 Australian production including  Rodger Corser, Justin Smith, Michelle Smith, Genevieve Davis, Prinnie Stevens, Peter Murphy and Troy Woodcroft.  

Whether the global success of “Rent” is due to the legend surrounding the death of the writer and composer of the work, Jonathan Larson, who died just one day before his show opened in New York, or because of the quality of the writing which earned Larson a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the show, multiple Tony Awards, “Rent” continues to be a magnet for audiences and creatives alike. 

The cast of Opera Australia's production of "Rent".



Photos by Neil Bennett.



This review originally posted in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 04/10/25.

 9 to 5 THE MUSICAL. Music and lyrics by Dolly Parton. Book by Patricia Resnick. Directed by Sarah Hull. Choreography by Lauren Chapman. Musical director Jenna Hinton. Queanbeyan Players. The Q, Queanbeyan. Oct 31-Nov 9.  

Judy (Sarah Copley), Doralee (Sienna Copley), Violet (Kate Eisenberg). 

(Photox - Canberra Photography Services)

Is it really over 40 years since the film 9 to 5 came out? Some aspects have dated but this musical still has all that gusto about women’s rights and justice in the workplace that made the film good. And it is good to see the women’s roles foregrounded. 

Young wide eyed Judy (Sarah Copley ) arrives  to take up a job in an office and is soon enmeshed in office politics. She has no skills, not even typing or photocopying, and has to learn on the go. Violet (Kate Eisenberg) has ambition and is a single mother but the males get preference when it comes to promotion. And Doralee ( Sienna Curnow) is looking for friends who will see her for the good and positive person she is.

The office is run by the uptight Roz (Shennia Spillane) who is very strict with the underlings but is secretly carrying a torch for the dreadful boss, Franklin Hart (Steven O’Mara). Franklin has no time for women’s rights or workers’ rights and is also up to some shady financial  activity. 

Excellent performances all round, with the three central women doing more than justice to the songs and the themes. This show is not all comedy and the production remains aware of that. . 

How the women plot their boss’s downfall and achieve some kind of workplace justice is at the core of the story and a big cast give it great energy and drive. Office furniture and walls move around with flexibility to create the many settings and there’s a somewhat 70s feeling to the costumes. 

Jen Hinton leads the pit orchestra powerfully in all the scores’s nuances and energy.  Choreographer Lauren Chapman creates some splendidly coordinated moves, especially with all those men in grey suits. And it is great to see some subtlety in the follow spot work.

The sound was not the best in the first half but came good in the second. 

In a way, despite the vigour of Parton’s songs we are really waiting for the title number, which is hinted at then finally used full bore at the end. Fans of the film will find much to satisfy in this production which is clearly a creation in its own right. 

Alanna Maclean.

9 to 5: The Musical - Queanbeyan Players - The Q.

 

Sarah Copley (Judy) and company  in "9 to 5: The Musical"

 “9 to 5: The Musical” - Queanbeyan Players – The Q, Queanbeyan.

Directed by Sara Hull – Musical Direction by Jenna Hinton

Costume Design – Samantha Marceddo – Set Design: Thompson Quan Wing.

Lighting Design: Jacob Aquilina – Sound design: Telia Jansen

Presented by Queanbeyan Players – The Q, Queanbeyan, Oct.31 – Nov. 9, 2025

Opening night Performance reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.

Kate Eisenberg (Violet) and male ensemble in "9 to 5: The Musical"

 Hard -working Violet, is employed in the offices of Consolidated Industries, and is   frustrated at continually being passed over for promotion for less talented men. After accidentally poisoning their boss, Franklin Hart, her two workmates, Doralee and Judy, persuade Violet to join them in a plot to kidnap Hart, and take over the running of Consolidated Industries.  

Such is the premise of “9 to 5: The Musical”, a female empowerment musical based on the 1980 film of the same name and given an exuberant production by Queanbeyan Players.

The main attractions of this musical are the songs by Dolly Parton, well sung by a cast of talented principals and the large ensemble;  choreographer, Lauren Chapman’s spectacularly staged production numbers; and Musical Director, Jenna Hinton’s  excellent band, so good, that many of the first night audience remained after the finale  to enjoy the play-out music.

Shennia Spillane (Roz) - Steven O'Mara (Franklin Hart) in "9 to 5: The musical"

However, whatever the charms the originating film, they seem to have evaporated in this strident musical adaptation. So that despite the best efforts of director, Sarah Hull and her team, it was difficult to become invested in the collection of charmless cardboard characters that inhabit this musical.

However, Steven O’Mara was particularly good at being bad as the impossibly misogynistic boss, Franklin Hart, even if his adversary, Violet, as interpreted by Kate Eisenberg, is so aggressive, that it is difficult to imagine how her management style would be any different to Hart’s when she took over the management of Consolidated Industries.   

Sienna Curnow (Doralee) and company in "9 to 5: The Musical"

A tendency to gabble her lines, together with her thick Southern accent, compromised the effectiveness of Sienna Curnow’s portrayal of the warm-hearted blonde, Doralee, making it difficult to understand what she was saying.

 Of the trio, only Sarah Copley, with a delightful comedic performance as the insecure, Judy, managed to capture the convincing tone for her character. Her self-discovery solo, “Get Out and Stay Out”, was one of the show’s highlights.

Among the supporting characters, Dave Collins as Joe, found warmth in his character, so that his second act duet with Violet,” Let Love Grow”, was another highlight.

Dave Collins (Joe) - Kate Eisenberg (Violet) in "9 to 5: The Musical"

Shennia Spillane is delightful, as Hart’s nosy secretary, Roz, who harbours a secret passion, while Andrew Taylor is extraordinarily cast-off-able, as Judy’s ex, Dick.

Elsewhere among the large cast, Joshua Galang (Josh), John Whinfield (Dwayne), Kirsten Smith (Kathy), and Kara Sellars (Maria) revel in their opportunities as various of the office dwellers at Consolidated Industries.

Thompson Quan Wing is responsible for the imaginative set design, Samantha Marceddo for the tasteful costuming, Helen McIntyre for the myriad properties, and Stage Manager, Sarah Morris for marshalling the large cast.

Jacob Aquilina and Telia Jansen created the Lighting and Sound Design and special mention to Sophie Hope-White for the delightfully clear and informative Printed Program design.         

 

                                               Photos by Ben Appleton - Photox

     This review first published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 1st November 2025.