WUTHERING HEIGHTS - Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney.

Based on a novel by Emily Bronte – Adapted and Directed by Emma Rice

Composer: Ian Ross – Set and Costume Design: Vicki Mortimer.

Sound & Video design: Simon Baker – Lighting Design: Jai Morjaria

Movement and Choreography: Etta Murfitt.

Presented by Liza McLean & Andrew Kay in association with A National Theatre, Wise Children, Bristol Old Vic and York Theatre Royal.

Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney. 31^st January to 15^th February 2025.

Opening night performance on 1^st February reviewed by BILL STEPHENS

This short, exclusive to Sydney, season at the Roslyn Packer Theatre gives Australian audiences an opportunity to experience a production by acclaimed British director Emma Rice.  

For those who have devoured Emily Bronte’s sprawling Gothic novel, this production will prove a fascination, not the least because of the economy with which the director and her creatives have managed to compress the myriad of detail contained in the epic novel into a production that runs less than three hours.

The story traces the convoluted lives of two wealthy families who lived in the Yorkshire moors in the 19^th century. It is complicated by the fact that many of the highly strung characters bear the same names as their ancestors.

For her adaptation, Rice approaches the story from the point of view of the moors, represented by a Greek chorus of actors who also play various characters from the novel as the play progresses.

A surrealistic stripped-back set design by Vicki Mortimer consists largely of cleverly stacked chairs. Wheeled on screens represent various locales. Lowered chandeliers differentiate the residences. Puppets are utilised to represent children and savage dogs. Atmospheric lighting, sound, and video, together with choreographed ensemble scenes provide additional atmosphere and spectacle.

 

Characters address the audience directly to express feelings, while members of the Moors keep the audience updated with hand-held blackboards on which are scribbled in chalk, the names of characters and the dates of the action taking place.

Throughout a haunting score played by onstage musicians and sometimes sung by the ensemble add to the other-worldly feel of the play, especially during the sections featuring the cello, played by TJ Holmes, who also portrays Dr Kenneth in the show.

Only John Leader as Heathcliff, Stephanie Hockley as Catherine and Nandi Bhebhe as the Leader of the Moors play a single character throughout. Each offers a memorable portrayal.  The other eight members of the company each play at least two or more supporting characters.  

 

On opening night, not all the actors had adjusted their vocal delivery to the size of the theatre, resulting in the loss of vital information. This, coupled with the heightened acting style, the ever-changing procession of neurotic characters, and Rice’s frenetic direction, although admittedly clever, provided a significant challenge to those trying to keep track of the convoluted storyline.  

This was particularly evident after interval when thirteen-year-old Cathy Linton is introduced and the story of how three years later she falls in love with Heathcliff’s son Linton commences. Despite the skill of the actors, the over-the-top melodrama of the pair’s story began to elicit nervous giggles, even belly laughs, rather than empathy.

Some laughs had also occurred in the first half of the production, and although it may have been the director’s intention to insert a few laughs into the proceedings to lighten the mood, although welcomed by some, they felt incongruous in the context of the storyline, and raised questions as to whether they were purposely placed or accidental.

For devotees of “Wuthering Heights” there is much to enjoy in this striking production. For those yet to be persuaded, this is your opportunity.

                                                    Photos by Steve Tanner

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

 

 

Exhibition Review: Visual Art | Brian Rope

Creek I Kirsten Wehner

M16Artspace, Gallery 2 I 24 January - 16 February 2025

Kirsten Wehner is a research-centred artist, curator, producer and writer living and working in Ngunnawal Country (Canberra). In her practice the artist works across a number of disciplines. She creates accessible writing, participatory experiences, sculpture installations, and a variety of visual media works.

Wehner is a Co-Director of Catchment Studio, an ACT-based independent creative platform transforming people’s relationships with waterways. She is also Co-Chair of the Board of the Cad Factory, an artist-led organisation based in Narrandera, NSW which collaborates ethically with people and place to create a local, national and international program of experimental work. And this busy artist also contributes to the committee of Plumwood Mountain, a unique 120-hectare heritage-listed private property near Braidwood, NSW which was handed back to the Walbunja people of the Yuin Nation in 2024 - the first time such a property has been gifted to an Aboriginal community.

Wehner is the M16 Artspace/ConceptSix Environmental Artist-in-Residence for 2024/5. Significant recent projects in which she has been involved include the National Museum of Australia pop-up touring installation River Country, the documentary More than a Fish Kill which explored how artists, fishery managers, and First Nations custodians processed 2019 and 2023 fish death events along the Darling River, and Finding Weston, Considering Country, a Traditional Custodian-led series of on Country walks. She has explored how disordered and unloved waterways can be re-imagined as holders of story and sites of cultural/ecological potential.

So where and what is Weston Creek? Located in south-western Canberra where a suburb carries its name, the creek was in the past “an intermittent stream, a system of rills, soaks and wetlands vibrantly alive with plants, insects and birds. Today, the waterway is largely piped and drained, forced underground or encased in concrete, struggling with pollution from street run-off and largely invisible to people who live in the area. And yet the creek is still there. Wehner says it is “flowing as it can, supporting life as it can, creating traces that ask us to know it.”

Immediately upon entering the gallery to see the artist’s exhibition, simply titled Creek, I was drawn to the framework of gathered sticks which invites us to imagine the creek as it once was. That, of course, is very much a part of what good artists do – they imagine things and invite those of us who see their artworks to do likewise.

Kirsten Wehner_Creek (installation view)_2024_Image Brenton McGeachie, courtesy the artist

Creek explores life along the Weston Creek waterway, asking what it might mean to care better for this particular disordered place. Inspired by talks and walks with Ngunawal Elders Uncle Wally Bell and Aunty Karen Denny that considered the creek as Country, Wehner explores some of the ways in which people connect with and seek to look after places along this waterway.

Just to the left of the stick structure some words about the exhibition pose a few questions adding to what we might think about. How might we respect and nurture Ngunawal wisdom? How does the work done by local park care groups sit alongside the invasive re-engineering of the creek’s flows? How can we listen to such waterways?

In what she appropriately describes as the “bends and eddies of the stick structure”, Wehner shows us some delightful watercolour and pastel works revealing what volunteers have done. Can we see how their efforts near to invasive engineering have contributed to the restoration of native habitat, despite the legacies of concrete drains?

Kirsten Wehner_Channel_2024_Image Brenton McGeachie, courtesy the artist

Other artworks in this excellent show incorporate ideas of fracture, using multiple panels or separated surfaces so we might avoid seeing the waterway simply as a ‘view.’

Kirsten Wehner_Flow Story_2024_Image Brenton McGeachie, courtesy the artist

Kirsten Wehner_Liferafts_2024_Image Brenton McGeachie, courtesy the artist

I considered how we humans think of fractures as something that occurs when our bones are broken, interfering with our everyday tasks. Then I thought about fractures in the land, caused naturally or by human interventions. Whether fractures occur naturally or otherwise, proper diagnosis and treatment are crucial for effective healing and recovery. Wehner is effectively encouraging us to understand that.




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

TITANIQUE - The Grand Electric Theatre, Sydney

The Cast of "Titanique".

Written by Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli, Tye Blue.

Produced by Michael Cassel and Eva Price.

Directed by Tye Blue – Choreographed by Ellenore Scott

Australian production directed and choreographed by Cameron Mitchell

Musical Direction by Hayden Barltrop – Costume design by Alejo Vietti

Sound Design Lawrence Schober, adapted by David Tonion

Lighting Design by Paige Seber adapted by Kathy Pineo.

The Grand Electric, Sydney until March 30^th 2025.

Matinee performance on February 1^st 2025 reviewed by BILL STEPHENS

 

Drew Weston (Jack) and the cast of "Titanique".

The inventors of the jukebox musical – a stage or film musical that uses popular songs instead of original music – have much to answer for.

The writers of “Titanique”, have played fast and loose with facts for this cleverly conceived concoction which purports to tell the probably untrue story of what really happened on the Titanic prior to its bingle with an iceberg.

The story is narrated by Celine Dion (Marney McQueen) who may or may not have been on the Titanic that night, assisted by a cast of characters, who, according to the film, definitely were, and some ring-ins like Tina Turner and Kathy Bates who definitely weren’t.

The result is a gloriously funny, superbly mounted and brilliantly performed example of high camp silliness guaranteed to uplift the spirits of even the most jaded individual attempting to reconnect with the real world while leaving the theatre with the song My Heart Will Go On still ringing in their ears.

There are plenty more of Dion’s songs threaded through this show, performed by an accomplished cast of eleven singers and actors who achieve polished harmonies and showstopping solos and duets, while revelling in the surfeit of witty double entendres that punctuate the clever script, and supported by a switched on four-piece band, Hayden Barltrop, Sam Loomes, Debbi Yap and Alysa Portelli who sometimes find themselves involved in the action.  

In the well-worn tradition of jukebox musicals, “Titanique” doesn’t confine itself to the repertoire of Celine Dion. A couple of surprises including Who Let the Dogs Out? and another particularly popular Aussie anthem, which must remain nameless because, as Dion confided, the producers don’t have the rights to it yet, find their way into the chaos.  

Sydney is the first city outside New York to experience this delightful piece of nonsense which has been running in New York since 2022 with new productions scheduled to open soon in Toronto, Montreal and London.

The Michael Cassel Group were quick to recognise the potential of the show and have certainly done their Australian production proud. The witty script is supported by excellent production values and a topflight cast directed and choreographed by Cameron Mitchell.

Marney McQueen and the cast of "Titanique".

Marney McQueen anchors the show, obviously relishing her role as Celine Dion. Georgina Hopson plays Rose, Drew Weston is Jack, and Matt Lee is Victor Garber.

Stephen Anderson is outrageous as Rose’s mother Ruth, (Yes! That’s right) chewing up the scenery at every opportunity, while Abigail Dixon gives him a run for his money as Molly Brown. Keane Sheppard-Fletcher oozes suave entitlement as Cal, Jack’s creepy rival for the affections of Rose.

Jo-Anne Jackson, Jenni Little and Trent Owers are kept busy providing sweet harmonies as well as impersonating the Titanic’s passengers, miscellaneous necessary others, and icebergs.

Talking of icebergs, another of those is artful scene stealer, Abu, who not only services the passengers as The Seaman, but also contributes a show-stopping turn as Tina Turner.   

At the matinee reviewed here, covers Artemis Alfonzetti and Matthew Predny played the young lovers, Rose and Jack, while Tyran Stig played Victor Garber. All were so good as to provide an excellent excuse to revisit the show.

In fact, several surrounding audience members were already on their second or third visit, obviously keen to share their experience with besties. No doubt the discovery of The Grand Electric Theatre, a cute heritage venue tucked away up a narrow lane in Cleveland Street, Sydney, may also have been a compelling attractor.

“Titanique” is a superior well-produced party show that doesn’t depend on audience participation for its success but of course embraces it with gusto. It is fast becoming a word-of-mouth sensation in Sydney, so it might be quite a while before you get the opportunity to see it elsewhere.

                                                         Photos by Daniel Boud

 

 

 An edited version of this review published in the digital edition of CITY NEWS on 04.02.25

Aria

 

Aria by David Williamson.  Ensemble Theatre, Sydney. January 24 – March 15, 2025.

Reviewed by Frank McKone
February 1

Creatives

Playwright: David Williamson
Director: Janine Watson;  Assistant Director: Anna Houston
Set & Costume Designer: Rose Montgomery
Lighting Designer: Matt Cox
Composer & Sound Designer: David Bergman
Operatic Voice Coach: Donna Balson
Intimacy Coordinator: Chloë Dallimore

 Cast
Monique - Tracy Mann

Her sons:
Charlie - Rowan Davie         Liam - Jack Starkey-Gill             Daniel - Sam O’Sullivan

Their wives:
Midge - Tamara Lee Bailey   Chrissy - Suzannah McDonald   Judy - Danielle King         
     
 _________________________________________________________________________  


David Williamson is only just a year younger than me, so when I say Aria is as good as the best of the old David Williamson, you know what I mean.  It’s full of the rapid and incisive repartee of Don’s Party but with the social and political world brought up to date.

And of course it’s funny, with his traditional one-liners – often causing us to universally groan while we laugh – and yet it’s a comedy, though never black, which brings out the honest reality to the third generation of this middle class family.  

Way back in The Department (1975) as the play ends Owen announces “It’s a girl” to add to his “four bloody boys already.”  And goes on “Boys are okay when they’re little, but by the time they’re about six they’re testing themselves out against you all the time.  I haven’t got the energy to cope with another.”  

And I hear Chrissy, the wife of Monique’s son, the ambitious never-at-home politician Liam, being accused of not disciplining her children and – in our social media world – in tears of frustration because they take no notice and just answer her back.  She wanted to be a teacher.  I hear the very same story from teachers today, in classrooms full of devices.

The beauty of Williamson’s writing is how we even end up feeling sorry for the deluded over-the-top capitalist Monique, singing Mozart's Queen’s aria which never made her the Maria Callas she believed she should have been, except that love, for her three boys, got in the way.

Ensemble Theatre, of course, has done the right thing again by providing the best in directing, designing and coaching for, in my view, an extraordinary team of actors.  The force of their energy as a group enlivens everyone as if Hayes Gordon is still here in his wonderful in-the-round acting space (and I am old enough to have seen him there at work).  

But much more than that, even, is each actor’s terrific awareness of the meaning of every word in Williamson’s script – not merely in their character’s personality, but so clearly motivated as to why they speak (or don’t) in their relationships with the other characters – and even further bringing out the implications in the metaphors which Williamson leaves implicit.  

Aria is exciting theatre of the very best kind – and kindness is what we need so much more of today.  At 84 it makes me charged with hope again by such great work from a mere 83-year-old.

Please don’t miss it!

 

 

 

MUSIC TO CELEBRATE

Salut! Baroque

Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest January 31

 

Reviewed by Len Power

 

It’s hard to believe that in 2025 Salut! Baroque celebrates 30 years of presenting Baroque music.

Their first program for this year celebrated the entire spectrum of baroque music – from its near-beginning to its near-conclusion – presenting various composers who were either an influence for what was to come or influenced by what had already taken place.

A feature of a Salut! Baroque concert is the presentation of obscure or never heard before composers from the era. This concert offered works by Giovanni Antonio Guido and Jan Rokyta as well as works by several other composers.

The concert commenced with Tarquinio Merula’s canzona, The Nightingale, from 1615. Anna Stegmann, Sally Melhuish, Alana Blackburn and Alicia Crossley, playing recorders, gave this work a delightfully atmospheric performance.

On Baroque instruments, John Ma (violin), Julia Russoniello (violin), Isaiah Bondfield (violin), Brad Tham (viola), Tim Blomfield (bass violin) and Monika Kornel (harpsichord) then played Pietro Antonio Locatelli’s 1741 Concerto in E Flat Op. 7 No. 6, subtitled Arianna’s Tears. The sombre and contrasting bright and melodic sections were given a sensitive performance of great depth.

Salut! Baroque

The next item, Giovanni Guido’s Playful Harmonies on the Four Seasons – Summer Op. 3 from 1717 was performed by the string players. They were joined by Anna Stegmann on recorder for the final section, Dance of the Faun. The performance of this melodic and colourful work by the no longer well-known composer, Guido, proved to be one of the highlights of the concert.

Moving to an unexpected 1969, Balkanology, by Jan Rokyta for four recorders, this haunting, mysterious and complex work with Romanian and Turkish influences was given a superb performance by the four women on their recorders. The thunderous audience applause at the conclusion was well-deserved, making this another highlight of the concert.

There were also works by Johann Christian Schickhardt, Antonio Vivaldi and Johann Heinrich Schmelzer. Each of these was given a fine performance by these musicians.

The concert concluded with a work written towards the end of the baroque period in 1750, Georg Philipp Telemann’s Concerto in A minor TWV 43. The combination of strings and recorder produced a rich sound that was at times dreamlike. It was memorably played and the perfect end to a concert that was educational as well as charming.

 

Photo by Dalice Trost

This review was first published by Canberra CityNews digital edition on 1 February 2025.

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/.