A CELTIC CHRISTMAS by a Taste of Ireland - Canberra Theatre

"A Celtic Christmas" dancers in action.

Directed and choreographed by Brent Pace

 Co-Directed and Co- choreographed by Ceili Moore

Musical Direction by Charlie Galloway – Set Design Gavin Leahy

Sound and Video design by Jack Kearney.

Performed by Mitchell O’Hara – Callum O’Neill – Tom Doherty – Cathal Doughan - Declan McLaughlin – Ciaren Keogh – Joey Roca – Rochelle Hoffman – Meagan Urbanek – Aoibhin Kenneally – Emma Martin – Eleanor Murray – Minnie Yarnold – Bella Masters.

Presented by Pace Live’s A Taste of Ireland – Canberra Theatre – December 12, 2025.

Reviewed By BILL STEPHENS

The cast of "A Celtic Christmas"

A very specific dance style, Irish dance is characterised by upright posture, rigid torso, and rapid footwork, accompanied by fiddles, pipes and drums.

As with classical ballet, exponents usually commence learning the techniques at an   early age, then perfect those skills by participating in competitions initially at fairs and social gatherings.

In 1994 a seven-minute interval dance presentation by Michael Flatley and Jean Butler during the Eurovision Song Contest sparked world-wide interest in Irish dance, leading to the creation of the stage show Riverdance in 1995.  Riverdance combined Irish dance with theatrical elements and became a global sensation.

 A Taste of Ireland grew out of this interest in Celtic dance and for more than ten years has been touring the world in various iterations. A Celtic Christmas by A Taste of Ireland is its flagship Christmas production.

Rochelle Hoffman and the cast of "A Celtic Christmas"

A Celtic Christmas presents a captivating blend of Irish tunes with upbeat arrangements of Christmas carols, all wrapped up in a pretty package of colourful costumes and theatricalised Irish dance. The show provides a delightful evening of feel-good entertainment along with some truly spectacular Irish dancing performed before a huge painted backdrop depicting a cosy room with blazing fire, augmented with a giant video screen utilised for locale changes. 

Although there is a story included that’s meant to connect the impressive group dancing, but the rigid Irish dance technique isn’t really conducive to storytelling so that the production numbers devised to support the storyline, although spectacular, often felt contrived.

The singer and musicians for "A Celtic Christmas"

Particularly as the dance numbers were interrupted by items performed live by a singer, a fiddle player and a guitarist, subtly enhanced by a pre-recorded soundtrack; ostensibly to provide time to allow the dancers to change costumes, but being traditional Irish songs and music, appeared to have nothing to do with the story being told.

Regretfully that trio shall have to remain nameless as there is no reference to them either in the printed program or the A Celtic Christmas website.   

But it was the dancing that the audience had come to see, and in that area, this troupe is very impressive indeed. Among the talented ensemble cast are some who have danced in productions of Riverdance and Lord of the Dance around the world, and most rank among the top ten world title holders for their Irish dance skills.

Mitchell O'Hara and Rochelle Hoffman in action during "A Celtic Christmas"

Led by Mitchell O’Hara and Rochelle Hoffman as the lovers, commoner Oisin and Princess Ava, they perform a succession of spectacular, inventively choreographed group routines.

While the first half of the program impressed with its impressive energy, discipline and attention to detail, after interval, the pace slackened alarmingly with the inclusion of obvious padding.

A long sequence involving the male ensemble pretending to be blokey carollers performing poorly sung carols, seemed superfluous. Had the performers attempted harmonies and treated the carols with respect, it may have had some point. But as presented, the singing was raucous and performed in a manner likely to offend Tom in the audience to whom those particular carols have significance.

Mitchell O'Hara in action during "A Celtic Christmas"

There was also a long solo by O’Hara in which he demonstrated his impressive dancing virtuosity. As skilled and charming as he is, however, his propensity to shamelessly milk his applause, caused him to overstay his welcome.

This was time that could have been more interestingly devoted to devising more opportunities for individual ensemble members to demonstrate their obvious mastery of the dancing technique the audience had come to see. 

Mitchell O"Hara - Rochelle Hoffman and some of the cast of "A Celtic Christman"




Photos supplied.



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

 

Hand to God - Everyman Theatre

 Hand to God by Robert Askins. Presented by Everyman Theatre at ACT Hub at Causeway Hall. 10 December – 20 December 2025.

Reviewed by Frank McKone
Dec 12

Directed by Jarrad West

Cast
Michael Cooper as Jason (and the puppet Tyrone)
Amy Kowalczuk as his mother Margery
Lachlan Ruffy as Pastor Greg
Meaghan Stewart as Jason’s girlfriend Jessica
William 'Wally' Allington as Timothy, one-time school acquaintance.


Hand to God is an American play: embarrassingly funny; a crude satire. Yet, in the final scene of a young man’s mental breakdown, we see a reflection of America this century – even unto Donald Trump.

Though first produced in 2011, the teenager with his devil of a hand-puppet is an image that inevitably brings to mind that over-the-top ham actor’s extremities in his first Presidential Term 2017-2020, and currently.

Tyrone with Michael Cooper as Jason 
in Hand to God, Everyman Theatre 2025

 The point about the play is that it’s very funny – I would say terribly funny.  AI says The play is described as a "blasphemous black comedy (with puppets!)" that explores faith and morality and is intended for adult audiences due to its mature content, coarse language, and sexual references.  So, don’t take your chidren.

 

William 'Wally' Allington as Timothy, Meaghan Stewart as Jessica, Michael Cooper as Jason

 More – it really means, don’t take the children to America, where the diabolical Donald has Trumped – like Tyrone trumps Jason, destroying his faith in family –  even at the level of our international family.

In their small-town Cypress, Texas, Marjorie’s attempts to stay true to her marriage vows after her husband’s death, distracted by entertaining the faith community with puppets which go crazy, represent a world ruled by the dictates of an entertainer who believes he is the real thing.

Fortunately we still have the writers and performing artists we need to help us at least understand ourselves a bit better.

This is where the puppets and the terrific performances by Everyman come into the picture.

Once upon a time, many years ago when Drama was still not an independent school subject, I experimented with teachers of disaffected young teenagers using drama to assist with their education.  Using just one hand as theirself and the other as a puppet, what the hands said to each other, about behaviour issues, for example, could result in a new awareness about actions and consequences.  If the situation was managed by the teachers carefully and positively, of course.

In Hand to God, son Jason’s emotional dilemmas about his mother Margery’s struggles to find her way out of the grief and loss of her husband, while facing up to his own attraction to Jessica – and including the threat from Timothy’s sexual intentions towards both women – is simply not a situation that can be managed.

This is because they, including Paster Greg who is attracted, probably genuinely, to Margery, are all enclosed in an emotional prison.  There is no escape hatch; nor any independent non-interested outsider to help them manage.  Even in my teaching role, as my experiments showed, a successful change was difficult to achieve.

So in performing Jason, as he, as himself, talks with and argues with his puppet, who is also Jason – and in doing so instantly switching voice, mannerisms and feelings from one character to the other – Michael Cooper achieves an extraordinary feat as an actor.  From the very beginning, sitting alone (but with Tyrone) before any other characters have come on stage, I could respond at once to him, not as a puppeteer, but as a real person with some kind of special relationship with his puppet.

That degree of professionalism built throughout the cast and makes this production of Hand to God as good to see and engage with as I can imagine.

I fear, though, for America – and therefore for all the world – because Trump plays himself as Tyrone all the time, never revealing what we may hope is a real commonsense character hidden in himself.

The result is that too many people laugh – as we certainly did last night at The Hub – at the entertainment, and don’t realise that Marjery’s hope that her puppet show will create peace and harmony can’t succeed without true emotional intelligence.

The play ends deliberately without making it clear that the inordinate mess in the Church Hall, where everything is torn up and scattered everywhere, can never be put back in order.

Or maybe we might think that Margery’s final hug with Jason is an OK sign for the future.

For America, I guess, we haven’t got to the end of the play yet – but I’ve stopped laughing.  This is serious.

And I thank Jarrad West and everyone in Everyman Theatre.  

See Hand to God, but be careful of your mental puppets.

Michael Cooper, Amy Kowalczuk and Lachlan Ruffy
in the final scene of Hand to God, Everyman Theatre 2025

 

 

HAND TO GOD - Everyman Theatre - ACT Hub

Michael Cooper as Jason, with his puppet friend, Tyrone in "Hand to God"

Written by Robert Askins – Directed by Jarrad West

Executive Producer/Technical Director/ Sound Designer: Nikki Fitzgerald

Set Design: Jarrad West – Puppet Design: Emma Sissons

Lighting design: Nathan Sciberras -Stage Manager: Lucy van Dooren

Intimacy Co-ordinator – Lachlan Ruffy.

Presented by Everyman Theatre - ACT Hub until 20^th December 2025.

Opening night performance on 10^th December reviewed by BILL STEPHENS

Tyrone (Puppet) - Jason (Michael Cooper) - Margery (Amy Kowalczuk) - Jessica (Meaghan Stewart) 

This is the second production by Everyman Theatre of this extraordinary play. If you missed it first time around, do yourself a favour and try to catch it this time.

Again, expertly directed by Jarrad West, with a cast of many of the city’s most accomplished actors, all of whom are new to their roles, apart from Michael Cooper who repeats his tour de force turn in the central role as Jason. This alone is a compelling excuse to revisit this play, even if you were lucky enough to experience its first iteration.

Jason’s mother Margery (Amy Kowalczuk) has been recently widowed and is trying to manage her grief by making puppets for the local puppet club. Margery is a member of a fundamentalist Christian congregation which uses puppets to teach children to follow the Bible and avoid Satan.

Timothy (William Allington) - Jessica (Meaghan Stewart) - Tyrone - Jason (Michael Cooper) in
"Hand to God"

Jason has a crush on his next-door neighbour, Jessica (Meaghan Stewart), who together with his best friend Timothy (William Allington) the school bully who’s attending Alcoholics Anonymous, are all members of the Puppet Club run by Pastor Greg (Lachlan Ruffy).

Pastor Greg has designs on Margery and is doing his best to persuade her to put on a performance by the puppet club the following Sunday.

Pastor Greg (Lachlan Ruffy) wooing Margery (Amy Kowalczuk) in "Hand to God"

When the characters become sexually attracted to each other, Jason’s hand puppet, Tyrone, takes on a life of its own, announcing that he is Satan and revealing secrets the other characters would rather leave unacknowledged.

“Hand to God” can be enjoyed as a farcical romp. It certainly is fun on that level. The writing is witty, even if the language and the subject matter is often quite confronting.

But for those looking for something deeper, the author, Robert Askins, delivers, by drawing on the classical tools of humour to create a desperate atmosphere of mental and physical chaos and violence to display taboos denouncing the hypocrisy of American society, and more particularly, that of Christian congregations faced with the sexuality of teenagers. To this end, he challenges his audience with a complex combination of laughter and unease as he dares them to laugh as they cringe.

Director Jarrad West understands this, and his cluttered set design reflects this notion.   He’s directed his actors to interpret the characters, not as clowns, but as real people, and while most of their reactions are ridiculously over-the-top, the audience is compelled to emphasise and feel for them.

In a brave, compelling performance, Amy Kowalczuk becomes Margery, a woman on the brink of a nervous breakdown, and in her grief, in no mood for a relationship.  Overwhelmed by the attentions of Pastor Greg, and horny teenager, Timothy, her responses are both terrifying and hysterically funny.

Willam Allington, as the sex-obsessed punk teenager, Timothy, is as confused as Margery by her responses to his advances. The cleverly staged scene in which they succumb to their mutual lust is one of the highlights of the production.

 Lachlan Ruffy invests the role of Pastor Greg with a creepy venality that makes it easy to laugh at his inept attempts to seduce Margery. Then later, even admire his acquisition of enough backbone to challenge the out-of-control puppet, and yet, still rejoice in his come-uppance when his self-serving hypocrisy is finally exposed.  

In a delightfully restrained performance, Meaghan Stewart charms as the manipulative teenager, Jessica, aware of Jason’s clumsy attentions, and unimpressed by his friendship with Timothy. The scene in which Jessica and Jason engage in small talk while their puppets joyfully explore every possible sexual position, is another of many highlights.

Jessica (Meaghan Stewart) - Tyrone - Jason (Michael Cooper) share a moment in "Hand to God".

But as accomplished as the performances of the supporting cast are, it is the virtuosic performance of Michael Cooper, as both Jason and his puppet, Tyrone, which drives the production. 

Cooper manages to invest each character a distinct personality and voice, so that there is never the slightest confusion as to which character is speaking, even though he never attempts to disguise his own voice with ventriloquism techniques.

The mood of the play darkens with the climactic scene in which Tyrone begins to take control of Jason’s life. Cooper’s performance of their final fight for control is brutal and disturbing to watch but brilliantly executed and absolutely memorable.

Jason (Michael Cooper) and Tyrone harass Margery (Amy Kowalczuk) observed by Pastor Greg (Lachlan Ruffy) in a tense scene during "Hand of God". 

Though some may find it disturbing and confronting, this production of “Hand to God” is hugely entertaining, brilliantly performed, full of surprises and shocks, and an excellent representative of the quality of the productions presented by ACT Hub throughout 2025.  

                                      Photos by Janelle McMenamin and Michael Moore.

 

  

HAND TO GOD

 

 Hand To God by Robert Askins

Director: Jarrad West. Executive Producer / Technical Director: Nikki Fitzgerald. Stage Manager: Lucy van Dooren. Sound Design: Nikki Fitzgerald, Lighting Design: Nathan Sciberras. Set Design: Jarrad West. Puppet Design: Emma Sissons. Intimacy Co-Ordinator: Lachlan Ruffy

Backstage Crew: Jude Livermore, Alex Boulton, Paige Rawlins, Sophie Hope-White

 

 

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

Michael Cooper as Jason with Tyrone

 Three years ago I described Jarrad West’s inaugural production of Robert Askins’ black comedy   Hand to God as “outrageously funny” and “discerningly honest”. West’s revival for Everyman Theatre is still outrageously funny and even more disarmingly honest in probing the fragile complexity of the human condition. Although still capable of having an audience in fits of laughter, this revival appears somewhat darker and more cynical in its depiction of the characters' inner turmoil. Of the original cast of Michael Cooper as meek and mild Jason. Stephanie Roberts as Margery, Jason’s mother, Arran McKenna as Pastor Greg, Josh Wiseman as the rebellious sex crazed Tim and Holly Ross as the sweet and innocent Jessica only Cooper reprises his role as Jason whose tyrannical puppet Tyrone creates a seismic upheaval from the very depths of the subconscious in a tsunami of truth. West’s casting for the revival is impeccable, showcasing some of Canberra’s most outstanding actors.

 

The cast of Hand To God during a devilish moment
Lighting by Nathan Sciberras

Amy Kowalczuk plays Margery, desperately trying to run the church’s puppet club while struggling to cope with the grief at the loss of her husband, the attentions of Pastor Greg, the profession of love by young Timmy and the volatile behaviour of Jason in the grip of Tyrone’s demonic outbursts.  Kowalczuk’s performance is perfectly restrained, searingly honest and wildly liberated when Tim’s sexual advances release the repression. William Allington’s troubled teenager, Tim, exudes surly defiance which becomes unbridled lust when Margery succumbs to her desires. This is in stark contrast to Lachlan Ruffy’s  professions of love and controlled propriety as a servant of the church. Ruffy’s Pastor Greg is the epitome of true Christian morality, while all around him the devil wreaks mayhem and madness.  As Jessica Meaghan Stewart demonstrates her versatility as an actor in her portrayal of the demure and sweet innocent, whose secret fantasies are eventually awakened by the sexual abandonment of her puppet Joelle  with Tyrone. Pivotal to the production is Cooper’s brilliant portrayal of the shy Jason in tandem with his explosive and uncontrolled outbursts as Tyrone.  Cooper’s transition between characters from  human to puppet is magnetic, his timing brilliant and his vocal dexterity and physicality riveting.

Michael Cooper (Jason) and Amy Kowalczuk (Margery)

With a cast as outstanding as this, Jarrad West’s production is a master class in direction. The performances reverberate with honesty. The timing is faultless, the business  is clever and inventive   and West keeps the pace racing along through moments of high octane chaos, simulated sex scenes, tender moments of pathos and empathy and crazy hilarity.  What I wrote in 2022 at the highly success and award winning production rings true of this revival, so I shall repeat it as a reason not to miss this excellent and highly professional production

Meaghan Stewart as Jessica. Michael Cooper as Jason
with puppets Joelle and Tyrone designed by Emma Sissons

“Depending on your sense of humour Everyman Theatre’s production of Hand to God will either have you laughing until you cry or crying until you burst into uncontrollable laughter. It’s a blasphemous devilishly outrageous black comedy.  The guffawer will split his, her or their sides at the rude retorts of the rebellious puppet Tyrone. The giggler will find the sexual antics of mother Margery and yobbo Timmy hilariously ribald. But the more restrained subtle smiler will simply smirk with secret delight  at the absurd members of the local church ministry puppet club. If however, you are prone to shock and indignation, then this wonderfully clever, and an absurdly Pandora’s box of all your private fascinations is certainly the place to revel in your unabashed catharsis.

William Allington as Timmy and Lachlan Ruffy as Pastor Greg

ACT HUB has forged a reputation for providing the very best in first class theatre and Everyman’s Hand to God is no exception.   Playwright Askins reminds us of the complexity of human nature and the peril of blind acceptance, false idols and painful suppression. The comedy may be black but the moral is gleaming white thanks to Tyrone, whose manner may be brash but at least you know at which hand you stand.

 Everyman Theatre’s Hand to God is a revival that you would be sorry to miss.   Let your Tyrone loose and hand it to God. You’ll be glad you did!”

Photos by Janelle McMenamin and Michael Moore

 

 

 

HAND TO GOD

 

Written by Robert Askins

Directed by Jarrad West

Everyman Theatre Production

ACT Hub Theatre, Kingston to 20 December

 

Reviewed by Len Power 10 December 2025

 

When shy young Jason joins his mother’s Christian Puppet Ministry in the tiny, conservative town of Cypress, Texas, he unwittingly releases the Devil through his creation of a puppet, Tyrone. The resulting effect on Jason and the characters around him has to be seen to be believed!

 Robert Askins’ play, first produced off-Broadway in 2011, seems to have everything you need for a good night out at the theatre - religious hypocrisy, family dysfunction, shockingly bad language, faith, bullying, morality, bereavement, horny teenager troublemaking and assorted sexual stuff, blasphemy, insanity, puppet addiction, obsessiveness, furniture smashing, virginal timidness, ear biting, frenzied behaviour and violence. I think that was everything…

All five members of the cast give strong performances with excellent comic timing. Michael Cooper as Jason and his puppet, Tyrone, displays extraordinary vocal ability that brings Tyrone to malevolent life, adding a surreal edginess to the show. His physical performance as he fights with the puppet has to be seen to be believed.

Michael Cooper (Jason)

Meaghan Stewart is quietly funny as Jessica, the young woman attracted to Jason. How she manages to show her true feelings for him results in a hilariously explicit sex scene. William ‘Wally’ Allington, as Timmy, the youthful and horny town tough chasing after the mother, Margery, gives a nicely repellent and amusing performance.

Amy Kowalczuk as Margery, the religious mother overtaken by lust, brings out the humour in her role through thoughtful characterization. Lachlan Ruffy as the hypocritical Pastor Greg with a strange dress sense, is funny as well as creepy.

Lachlan Ruffy (Pastor Greg) & Amy Kowalczuk (Margery)

The speed at which this show is played is breath-taking at times. The Director, Jarrad West, has kept a firm control on the frenzied and farcical action in the first act, but the second act seemed less humorous and slower, making it feel more uncomfortable than funny in places.

Overall, ‘Hand to God’, with its fine performances and strong direction, is an outrageously funny play with a lot of truth under the surface.

Photos by Janelle McMenamin & Michael Moore 

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/.

 

 

PRETTY WOMAN The Musical - Theatre Royal - Sydney

Samantha Jade as Vivian Ward and Ben Hall as Edward Lewis in "Pretty Woman" 

Book by Garry Marshall & J.F. Lawton – Music and Lyrics by Bryan Adams & Jim Vallance

Directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell – Recreated by Rusty Mowery

Resident Director: Liam McIlwain - Musical Director: David Skelton

Music Supervision, Arrangements and Orchestrations: Will Van Dyke.

 Scenic Design: David Rockwell – Costume Design: Tom Rogers

Lighting Design: Kenneth Posner & Philip S. Rosenberg – Sound Design: John Shivers

Produced by Jones Theatrical, ATG Productions & Gavin Kalin Productions

Theatre Royal, Sydney until 4th April 2026.

Sydney opening night performance on 4^th December 2025 reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.

Ben Hall as Edward Lewis - Samantha Jade as Vivian Ward and company in "Pretty Woman"

You don’t have to be a fan of the film, on which this musical is based, to be charmed by this delightful adaptation. Possibly one of the few souls on earth who missed the film, this reviewer still succumbed to the Broadway panache employed by director and choreographer, Jerry Mitchell, and his collaborators, in transforming this seductive adult fairy-tale into a stylish stage musical.

The casting is impeccable. Samantha Jade is bewitching as the feisty streetwalker, Vivian Ward, who wants to be “Anywhere but Here”.  An accomplished singer, actor and dancer, Jade draws on all those skills to create a character, constantly intriguing, as she traces the trajectory of Vivian’s journey. It is the role which will be remembered as her break-out role, and which stamps her as an exciting new musical theatre leading lady.  

Similarly, Ben Hall, as the ridiculously wealthy businessman, Edward Lewis, who intrigued by “Something About Her” provides Vivian with the opportunity (and money) to become her ‘real’ self. Hall has the look and bearing of a perfect Prince Charming and the voice of a Broadway leading man.

Ben Hall as Edward Lewis and Samantha Jade as Vivian Ward in "Pretty Woman"

Both have the presence, and the acting chops, to convince audiences to forget the improbability of the storyline, (thoughts of Sweet Charity, My Fair Lady, even Cinderella), and put questions of common sense aside to wallow in the lusciousness of their romance.  

But this is where Jerry Mitchell’s brilliance surfaces. Recognising the differences between a successful Hollywood movie and a successful Broadway musical, he has surrounded Vivian and Edward with a milieu of thoroughly delightful supporting characters, stylish settings, glamorous costumes, and clever choreography. Theatrical devices which delight the eye and burnish the storytelling.

Tim Omaji as Happy Man and cast of "Pretty Woman".

Principal among the supporting characters is Tim Omaji, completely lovable as Mr Thompson, the manager of Beverly Wilshire Hotel (Oh, for a hotel manager like this one). Omaji also plays an other-worldly, hippy character, Happy Man, who leads the ensemble through “Don’t Forget to Dance”.

Both roles provide Omaji with the opportunity to exercise the formidable dance skills for which he gained fame as Timomatic. The male dance duo during “On a Night Like Tonight” performed by Mr Thompson and the porter, Giulio, (an effervescent Jordan Tomljenovic), is a real showstopper which had the first night audience screaming with delight.

Another showstopper was the dreamy staging of “You and I”, in which Edward introduces Vivian, gorgeous in the iconic red dress, to opera. Snatches of “La Traviata”, gloriously sung by Rebecca Gulinello as Violetta and Callum Warrender as Alfredo, are threaded through swirling dancers in an intoxicating confection observed by Edward and Vivian from a red velvet opera box.

Michelle Brasier as Kit De Luca and cast in "Pretty Woman".

Michelle Brazier, as Vivian’s hooker friend, Kit De Luca, also gets opportunity to display her well-honed comedic skills and powerful vocals in “Welcome to Hollywood”, “Luckiest Girl in the World” and “Rodeo Drive”.

Good performances abound among the busy ensemble, who each play a variety of roles and execute Mitchell’s demanding choreography with enthusiasm and pizzazz.

So how does “Pretty Woman – The Musical” compare with “Pretty Woman- The Film”?

I’ve no idea, but if the film was half as good as the musical, then it is easy to see why it is a favourite for so many.

However, with the musical, as well as a captivating story, expect upbeat songs, spectacular dances, glamorous costumes and scenery, and a cast brimming with top-flight Australian talent. It might surprise you by becoming your favourite musical.

 

The cast of "Pretty Woman".



Photos by Daniel Boud.

GOD

 

 GOD by Ferdinand von Schirach and translated by David Tushingham.  Lexi Sekuless Productions, with Rare Bird Ensemble,  at The Mill, Dairy Road, Canberra, November 26 - December 18, 2025

Reviewed by Frank McKone
Dec 5

CREATIVES & COMPANY

Cast
Rachel Gärtner: Heidi Silberman; Ms Biegler: Alana Denham Preston
Dr Keller: Maxine Beaumont; Dr Sperling: Timmy Sekuless
Bishop Thiel: Richard Manning; Professor Litten: Helen McFarlane
Chair: Jay James Moody; Council Associate: Sarah Hartley

Contingency and understudy for Dr Keller: Chipz Jin (playing Keller 230pm & 730pm 13 December)

Production Team
Writer: Ferdinand von Schirach; Translator: David Tushingham 
Director and Designer: Lexi Sekuless
Sound Designer: Damian Ashcroft; Costume Designer: Annette Sharpe
Shadow Costume Designer: Nicola Vavasour
Lighting Designer: Andrew Snell; Scenic Painter: Letitia Stewart
Set Builders: Revive Canberra
Production Stage Manager: Bea Grant
Deputy Stage Manager: Paige MacDonald 
Assistant Director: Eli Narev
Photographer: Daniel Abroguena

Producer: Lexi Sekuless Productions 
Principal Sponsor: Willard Public Affairs
By Arrangement with International Performing Rights Ltd


GOD asks the first question: when death knocks on your door, would you call the butler and tell them to let you out into the void?

But then a second question arises, since you and the butler are members of society.  What if the butler is afraid of being charged with a criminal act?

The drama is set in what seems to be Germany where a law has been passed to allow the butler to open the door, but only if they are a doctor qualified to judge whether you are of sound mind, but not of sound body – and so agree you would be better off dead.

But a 55-year-old woman has appealed to us to allow her to call death in, despite being sound of both mind and body.  This is because she had suffered for many months with her husband while he was dying in hospital,  where his butlers, the doctors, finally agreed to stop trying to ‘save’ his life; and she, his literally ‘other half’, cannot live without him.  A court has rejected her application as ‘unconstitutional’.

We, no longer a mere audience, sit on the official Council (like the Australian Capital Territory Appeals Tribunal) to hear the woman’s lawyer and a series of expert witnesses for nearly two hours (including a 20 minute tea break), before submitting our votes for or against her request.

The effect is dramatic, to say the least, as we bit by bit realise that our vote in that last ten minutes is not playing out a game of theatrical fiction.

Last night the 35 people voted 19 in favour, 15 against with 1 abstention.  On other nights, I’m told, the balance of votes was quite different, in different directions.

The value, in fact I would say the importance, of presenting this play is to marvel at the author’s amazing capacity, through the medical, social and religious ‘experts’ he creates, to takes us through something like the last three thousand years of the development of Western Philosophy, to the point where we feel sincerely that our decision is for real.

Then we realise how high is the quality of the directing and the acting on everybody’s part to shift our experience beyond mere observation and thinking about the issues, into a state of personal decision-making as we submit our votes (of course, recorded privately by the Council clerk, with only the numbers each way announced).

This is certainly my kind of theatre, becoming one in a tradition at The Mill Theatre, and definitively not to be missed – I say even if I am a generation older and biassed by my approaching the time I may decide I need the law to be on my side.

 

 

 

Low Pay? Don't Pay!

 Low Pay? Don’t Pay! by Dario Fo. Translation by Joseph Farrell. Directed by Cate Clelland. Canberra Rep. Canberra Rep Theatre. To Dec 6. 

Low Pay? Don’t Pay! starts a little too slowly but once it gets up a bit of steam in the strong hands of director Cate Clelland and a capable cast it turns into a heartfelt production that is driven by Fo’s sense of history, politics and social justice. 

They’ve Anglicised the names and made references to suburbs in Canberra but this play remains resolutely Dario Fo and deeply Italian even in translation and really ought to stay there. But that’s a hard call; how do you translate the Italians?

Toni (Maddie Lee) and Maggie (Chloe Smith) are battling the cost of living and decide to take matters into their own hands when it comes to what they will pay for things, if anything. Hiding the goods is another matter and  Toni in particular becomes adept at spinning fantastical explanations and creating false pregnancies to conceal groceries.

Toni’s husband Joe (Lachlan Abrahams) falls for this and reveals his own fantastical view of how a pregnancy works. Maggie’s husband Lou (Rowan McMurray) is a little more grounded.

There’s good capture of characters who are battlers with heaps of attitude. It’s all happening in a working class suburb with graffiti and washing on the line.

Meanwhile the cops are watching out and not averse to a bit of aggro. 

Antonia Kitzel is simply billed as The Actor but that means she expertly plays a range of parts, from police heavies to wonderfully ancient tottering neighbours, transformations often assisted by a mysterious household cupboard upstage. 

And there is a large hardworking tribe of extras lurking around the backyards and verandahs, locals, cops, people with opinions, sometimes individuals, more often as a group. 

The collective sense of injustice builds until finally at the end of the play all the characters are standing with the workers moving toward the viewer in Giuseppe Pellizza da Volpedo’s powerful painting The Fourth Estate (Il quarto stato) (c 1900). It’s a shift from comedy to history but it does make sense. It makes the point that the struggle remains real. 

Alanna Maclean

‘illuminate ’25

Visual Arts Exhibition Review – Brian Rope

‘illuminate ’25 - Friends of the Gardens Photographic Group

Australian National Botanic Gardens Visitors Centre Gallery

21 November – 14 December 2025

Exhibitions in the Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG) Visitor Centre Gallery explore the Australian environment through diverse creative forms. This annual exhibition is of photographic artworks, using light to illuminate the subjects in a variety of ways.

As always the standard of the works in this annual exhibition is high – technically and creatively eye catching. Generally, the imagery is what we expect in nature exhibitions – focussed absolutely on nature with no non-nature intrusions, fauna and flora in their natural environment, in the correct colours of the subjects, and capturing the essence of nature so highly valued by people all over the world. There are, however, a few exceptions and that is fine in my view. All the images entered in the competition associated with this event were required to have been taken in the Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG), A small number not entered in the competition did not have to be ANBG subjects; but may well also have been.

There are portraits of native plants, close-up images of Australian flowers, birds and insects, and intimate landscapes to be seen in the gardens.

This year’s judges selected two works by Pam Rooney for awards. One of them Bush Dialogue: Tracks and tunnels of the scribbly gum moth larvae won the Fauna category Award. This composite of five vertical images most successfully used selections of those wonderful scribbly patterns that we all enjoy seeing in the surfaces of gum trees. The well-balanced composition is Rooney’s own artwork created from the natural artworks that are the tracks and tunnels. Another member of the Gardens Photographic Group, Karen Neufeld, was Runner-Up in the Fauna category with her image of a masked bee, titled Bubbling Bee.

Pam Rooney – Bush Dialogue

Karin.Neufeld - Bubbling Bee

A work by Narelle Aldridge Dew drops in the desert was Highly Commended in the David Cox Memorial Award which honours and celebrate the contribution made to the Photographic Group’s activities by the late David Cox. The same artwork was also the Rangers’ Choice. The rangers at ANBG are experienced educators who specialise in bringing the stories of the Gardens to life.

Narelle Aldridge – Dew drops in the desert

Amongst the works which were “different” was Ben Harvey’s cleverly titled Banksy. The image is a black and white monochrome, so we do not see the colours of the bird perched on a banksia. But the detail in the print is excellent and provides plenty to be examined, making the artwork successful and most suitable for display in a modern home.

Ben Harvey - Banksy

A work by Mohamed Rageeb titled Through the Dragon’s Eye is most eye-catching. A close up of the dragon’s colourful eye surrounded by delightful shapes and patterns of the creature’s body surface stopped me in my tracks and commanded me to use my own eyes and look into the dragon’s.

Mohamed Rageeb - Through the Dragon’s Eye

Simone Slater’s work Seven! is another artwork most visitors will spend time with. It doesn’t take a long time to work out the title. On a Xerochrysum flowering plant native to Australia, there are variegated Adonis ladybirds. How many do you think there might be?

Simone Slater – Seven

 

Another Simone Slater piece Behind the Wire was also different. A flower in bloom, more or less framed through a section of wire fencing, completely captured my attention. I found myself wondering whether real frames might be created from wire to use instead of displaying images such as this in traditional black timber frames. Perhaps, someone reading this who has the necessary skills might like to have a go at doing what I have suggested?

This is an exhibition well worth visiting if you can - to see all the artworks, not just the ones I have shown and/or spoken about here. You would also have an opportunity to pick up some delightful Christmas gifts for friends or family whilst you are there.

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