THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME

Based on the novel by Mark Haddon

Adapted by Simon Stephens

Directed by Chris Baldock

Mockingbird Theatre Company

Belconnen Arts Centre to April 5

 

Reviewed by Len Power 20 March 2025

 

For their first official production as the theatre-company-in-residence at the Belconnen Arts Centre, Mockingbird Theatre Company has chosen a famous, award-winning play that is a huge challenge to stage successfully.

Young, autistic Christopher Boone, investigates the mystery surrounding the death of a neighbour’s dog. His determination to solve the puzzle brings him into conflict with his father, renewed contact with his mother and enables us to see the world through his eyes as he struggles with relationships and situations that challenge him.

‘The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time’, adapted by Simon Stephens from Mark Haddon’s 2003 novel, was first staged by the National Theatre in London in 2012. The play won a record number of Olivier Awards and its subsequent Broadway production won the Tony Award for Best Play.

Those who saw this original production would remember the extraordinary, expensive-looking set design for this play-within-a-play and wonder how a local company with limited resources could find a way to successfully stage it. Mockingbird’s director, Chris Baldock, has made it a fully immersive experience with clever projections, designed by Matt Kizer, on the walls and the floor of the theatre-in-the-round. It works superbly, giving us a more direct and clearer experience of the world as seen by this autistic young man.

Wajanoah Donohoe as Christopher

On opening night, the marathon central role of Christopher was played by Wajanoah Donohoe. It was a performance of skill, warmth and great sensitivity, making us care deeply for this young man as he struggles in a world that is difficult for him. Ethan Wiggin will share the role of Christopher at other performances during the season.

Richard Manning (centre) as Ed, Christopher's father

There were also notably fine performances by Richard Manning as Christopher’s father, Claire White as his mother and Leah Peel Griffiths as Siobhan, his school mentor and the play’s narrator.

From left to right: Callum Doherty, Travis Beardsley, Meg Hyam, Leah Peel Griffiths (Siobhan), Anthony Mayne, Tracy Noble and Peter Fock

The six other cast members play multiple roles successfully, giving often quick, but effective, character sketches and impressing with their sense of timing.

Rhiley Winnett was responsible for the projection realisation and operation as well as the lighting design with Chris Baldock. His contribution to the success of this production is immense.

Director, Chris Baldock has created an imaginative production of this entertaining and important play that, because of its immersive design, was even more effective than the original production.

 

Photos by Chris Baldock

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/.

 

Shirley Valentine

 

Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell. A Gooding / Woodward Production presented by Canberra Theatre Centre, March 19-23 2025.

Reviewed by Frank McKone
Opening Night March 20

Performed by Natalie Bassingthwaighte


Lee Lewis - Director
Willy Russell - Playwright
Simone Romaniuk - Costume and Set Designer
Paul Jackson - Lighting Designer
Marcello Lo Ricco - Sound Designer
Brady Watkins - Composer
Jennifer White - Dialect Coach
Producers: Neil Gooding & Alex Woodward



It’s some twenty years since I was first as surprised as Shirley herself to learn the correct pronunciation of ‘clitoris’.  Played then by Sue Howell in the relatively small Canberra Repertory Theatre, I wrote (Canberra Times, Aug 2004) of her interpretation that it “avoids raucous superficial laughter, invokes a quieter response, and allows us time to absorb Shirley's feelings about how her youthful self, Shirley Valentine, became lost in the "cribb'd, cabin'd and confin'd" English suburban life of wife and mother Shirley Bradshaw.  Her observations about orgasms, men, feminists and English xenophobia are not merely witty, but are little illuminations in self-understanding.”

Natalie Bassingthwaighte, playing today to Canberra Theatre Centre’s almost full “proscenium arch theatre seating 1,244 patrons in one raked tier”

successfully talks to her kitchen wall – through the ‘fourth wall’ – achieving the laughter the crowd expects, while leaving us understanding the importance of Shirley’s right to independence – yet wondering how she will manage her middle-aged future when her job waitressing in Kosta’s taverna inevitably will come to an end.

Bassingthwaighte’s success was measured as much in the silence of so many as we absorbed the implications of Shirley’s responses to her situations, at home and away, cleverly built into Willy Russell’s script; as it was in the standing ovation bringing her back on for an extra curtain call.  But, I thought, she can’t do an encore!

You only have this weekend to see her in action in Canberra – do not miss the opportunity.  Otherwise you’ll have to travel to Adelaide for the Festival, April 1-6.

 (Frank McKone's reviews are also available at www.frankmckone2.blogspot.com)

 

 

 

SHIRLEY VALENTINE

 

Shirley Valentine by Willy Russell

Directed by Lee lewis. Performed by Natalie Bassingthwaighte.  Simone Romaniuk – Costume and Set Design. Paul Jackson – Lighting Designer. Marcello Lo Ricco – Sound Designer. Brady Watkins – Composer. Jennifer White – Dialect Coach. Neil Gooding & Alex Woodward – Producers. Canberra Theatre. Canberra Theatre Centre. March 19-23 2025. Bookings canberratheatre.com.au or 62752700

 

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

 

 The rapturous standing ovation at the end of Shirley Valentine at the Canberra Theatre on opening night was not only to applaud Natalie Bassingthwaighte  triumphant solo performance in the eponymous role, It also acknowledged Lee Lewis’s astute and beautifully orchestrated direction. And it identified wholeheartedly with playwright Willy Russell’s award winning play about an English housewife who seizes the opportunity to escape her little life and discover herself on a Greek Island.

It is almost thirty years since I saw Pauline Collins premiere the role of Shirley Bradshaw nee Valentine in the West End. What struck me as I watched Bassingthwaighte bring the character so vividly and realistically to life that Russell’s portrait of a woman wishing to break free from a life unused and to discover her true identity and spirit is as relevant today as it was thirty years ago. The play is rich with references  that strike a familiar chord with anyone who has found themselves defined by other people’s view of them  and judgemental expectations . As the curtain rises we discover 42 year old Shirley Valentine in her modest kitchen preparing a meal of egg and chips for her husband Joe. She is talking to the wall while sipping on a glass of wine that she continues to top up. Russell’s insight into the life and character of the working class north country women is acute. Like Rita in Educating Rita Russell creates women constricted by circumstance who know that they can strive for a more meaningful and fulfilling life. For Rita it is academic pursuit to improve her lot. For Shirley it is the chance gift of an air ticket to Greece from her friend Jane that symbolizes her ticket to freedom and escape fro m a husband incapable of change and adult children living their own lives. It is a struggle that Shirley eventually overcomes at the end of the first act.

In the second act we find her on the Greek Island, dressed in the red silk dress that her neighbour Jillian gave her in envious admiration of Shirley’s bravery. Her feminist friend Jane has left her to hook up with a man she met on the plane and Shirley finds herself with the kind of tourists who seem to take delight in complaining and criticizing. At a tavern she meets the smooth talking Costas and with him discovers her dream and the courage to live her life on her terms. Her passionate affair with Costas on his boat is an act of empowerment and self discovery. Russell creates characters who escape a sense of low self esteem imposed in Shirley’s case by her unappreciative husband or an intimidating school headmistress or demanding kids. At the end of the play, the audience learns that Joe is coming to take Shirley back to their house in Manchester. It will be a different Shirley he finds, living her new life on the Greek Island.

Bassingthwaighte’s performance is a tour de force. Alone on stage for the entire evening, she captivates the audience with her portrayal of Russell’s ordinary Lancashire lass. Director Lewis guides Bassingthwaighte through the changing moments and rhythms of the monologue. At times Bassingthwaighte is the skilled stand-up comedian relating the discovery of the clitoris or describing her son Brian’s childhood role of Joseph in the nativity play. The audience can be heard laughing uproariously one moment and falling completely silent in the moments of pathos as Shirley pauses to reflect on her life experiences. Bassingthwaighte’s timing is superb, her storytelling engrossing and her charm charismatic. She holds the audience entranced by Shirley’s story and inspired by her resolve to live the life she wants and not the life she has to. Under Lewis’s sensitive and perceptive direction, Bassingthwaighte gives a performance in Willy Russell's witty and insightful play that is not to be missed.

THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA

Written by Federico García Lorca

Adapted by Karen Vickery, Assisted by Andrea Garcia

Directed by Karen Vickery

Chaika Theatre at the ACT HUB Theatre, Kingston to 29 March

 

Reviewed by Len Power 19 March 2025

 

Described in the play’s subtitle as ‘a drama of women in the villages of Spain’, poet and playwright, Federico García Lorca’s last play was first performed in 1945 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. García Lorca, who wrote the play in 1936, was assassinated shortly after, in the Spanish Civil War.

During a period of mourning for her dead husband, Bernarda Alba wields total control over her five adult unmarried daughters whose ages range between 20 and 39. A housekeeper, a servant and Bernarda’s elderly mother also suffer from the repressive behaviour of Bernarda. No males appear during the play and its study of female repression, passion and conformity in a strongly male culture leads to a devastating tragedy.

Karen Vickery and Andrea Garcia have produced an adaptation of this play that is highly accessible, retaining the full power and poetry of García Lorca’s original.

As director, Vickery has assembled an expert cast of performers who each give their characters an individual and believable life. As Bernarda, Zsuzsi Soboslay, dominates the stage with a ferocity that hides the fear, pain and sorrow beneath the surface. It is a performance of impressive depth.

 Zsuzsi Soboslay (Bernarda)

All five daughters, played by Karina Hudson, Sophie Benassi, Yanina Clifton, Amy Kowalczuk and Maxine Beaumont, clearly show their relationships with each other as well as their own hopes and dreams. Particularly impressive is their playing of a disturbing innocence of life, due to their repression. The ensemble playing by these performers rings true every moment they are on stage.

Sisters, Grandmother and Housekeeper in 'The House Of Bernarda Alba'

Also giving fine, in-depth performances as the servants are Diana Caban Velez (Lucia) and Christina Falsone (Poncia) and Andrea Garcia as the neighbour, Prudencia. Alice Ferguson as Maria Josefa, Bernarda’s mother, gives a strong and believable portrait of an elderly woman losing touch with reality but still displaying signs of the strength of the woman she once was.

Alice Ferguson (Maria Josefa)

It was a clever touch having the voices of men singing distantly, but near enough to show that the male influence of this society was ever-present.

The play is staged in the round, effectively drawing the surrounding audience into this closed and repressed world.

This is a fine production of a famous play with excellent performances by the entire cast. Vickery’s and Garcia’s adaption of the original play, Vickery’s direction and the performances make this a compelling evening in the theatre.

Photos by Jane Duong 

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/.

 

THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA

 

The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico Garcia Lorca.

Adapted by Karen Vickery with the assistance of Andrea Garcia. Directed by Karen Vickery. Creatives: Director Assistant to the Director Disa Swifte Composer Michael Huxley Sound Design Neville Pye Lighting Design Disa Swifte Lighting Realisation Sophia Carlton Stage Design Marc Hetu Costume Fiona Leach Voice Sarah Chalmers Movement Ylaria Rogers Stage Manager Disa Swift Assistant Stage Manager Sophia Carlton Pre-production photography Ben Appleton Rehearsal photography Marc Hetu Production photography Jane Duong Publicity/Social Media Sebastian Winter Karen Vickery Presented by Chaika Theatre. ACT HUB. March 19-29. Bookings. 62108748,  acthub.com.au

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

 Zsusi Soboslay (Bernarda Alba). Christine Falsone (Poncia)

Chaika Theatre follows up its highly successful inaugural production of Anton Checkov’s The Seagull with a powerfully dramatic production of Federico Garcia Lorca’s The House of Bernarda Alba. Lorca’s final play is often regarded as the third play in his rural tragedy, with Blood Wedding and Yerma. All three plays are set in the harsh Andalucian landscape of southern Spain. The House of Bernarda Alba is Lorca’s only all women play, set in a household mourning the death of the family patriarch and ruled over by a dominant and embittered Bernarda Alba (Zsuzsi Soboslay).  She exercises her iron-fisted control over her five daughters, imprisoned by the culture and stifling insularity of the village. From the very start of director Karen Vickery’s tightly adapted production played in the round at ACT HUB  there is a pervading sense of foreboding in the scene between the head servant Poncia ( a beautifully articulated and grounded performance by Christina Falsone as the voice of conscience) and the maid (Diana Caban Velez) This is reinforced with the appearance of Bernarda Alba and her five daughters in mourning. There is a sense of gloom and doom in the black clothing made even more repressive by the tyrannical mother’s declaration of eight years of mourning. 

Magdalena (Amy Kowalczuk) Amelia (Maxine Beaumont) Phot: Jane Duong

There is the eldest sister, 39 year old Augustina (played as a plaintive middle-aged woman by Sophie Benassi and the child from Bernarda  Alba’s first marriage. Magdalena (a sensitive and caring performance by Amy Kowalczuk) is 30 years old and already old beyond her years. 27 year old Amelia is played with a compliant willingness by Maxine Beaumont. Yanina Clifton gives an intriguing performance as the complex and troubled 24-year-old Martirio whose suitor was rejected by her mother and she has feelings for Pepe el Romano who is betrothed to Augustina.  The youngest child twenty-year-old Adela is played with the feisty rebelliousness of the daughter craving free-spirited independence and sexual freedom. Karina Hudson gives a remarkable performance that captures the universal relevance of the young woman’s experience. To complete the family scenario, Lorca introduces the delirious grandmother Maria Josefa, who dreams of escape and marrying by the sea. Alice Ferguson gives a highly creditable performance of an old woman sliding into dementia. The minor role of a visiting neighbour who also represents the traditional conservatism and parochial gossip of the village  is played by Andrea Garcia.

The catalyst for the tragedy that inevitably ensues is Pepe el Romano, whom Augustina is to marry and seduces the sexually enlivened Adela. Pepe never appears but the consequences of his existence erode the very fabric of the family’s life with a tragic result.

Lorca’s poetic realism is more realism than poetry in this adaptation. Vickery has decided to focus on character and relationship in the simple ACT HUB setting. It a wise decision and gives the play a contemporary relevance, although it is clearly set in the period prior to Spain’s Civil War in the 1930’s. On a very warm Canberra night and in a hot theatre, the suffocating heat of the Andalucian household is powerfully and unsettlingly real. There is little to relieve the tension between the sisters as they argue and confront the restriction on their independence and desire for freedom. The mood is repressive sexually and psychologically and Vickery and her actors probe with truth and passion the bondage of their circumstance. It took some time to warm up during the first scene but at the entrance of the tyrannical Bernarda Alba and her five daughters in black mourning wear the sparks began to fly and the scenes catapulted the characters towards the shocking denouement.

Alice Ferguson as Maria Josefa

Lorca’s theatre is inspired by the power of the Duende, which in his theory he defines as “a momentary burst of inspiration, the blush of all that is truly alive, the truth of all the performer is creating.

tIt is the essence of this description by Lorca that Vickery and Garcia have achieved in a modern adaptation and that the cast have strived for under Vickery’s direction. I would have preferred that the drama was played out without an interval. Nonetheless, Lorca’s empathy for the suffering and confinement of women in a traditional male-dominated  and oppressive society is inescapable and Chaika’s production does justice to Lorca’s spirit and the power of Duende.

I am also thankful that an excellent Canberra theatre company has had the courage and the talent to stage The House of Bernarda Alba. It is often overlooked in preference to Blood Wedding and Yerma. Perhaps one day Canberra audiences may have the opportunity to see the entire trilogy, but for now Chaika gives audiences the perfect opportunity to see a fine production of The House of Bernarda Alba.

 Photos by Jane Duong

SMILE - THE STORY OF CHARLIE CHAPLIN ADELAIDE FRINGE 2025

 

 

Smile – The Story of Charlie Chaplin. 

Devised and performed by Marcel Cole. The Courtyard of Curosities at the State Library and Migration MuseumCirculating Library. State Library of South Australia. Adelaide Fringe March 11 – March 23^rd. 2025.

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

It is impossible to leave Marcel Cole’s latest show Smile- The Story of Charlie Chaplin without a smile on your face and a spring in your step. The Circulating Library with its bookshelves of old books reaching to the ceiling is the ideal venue for this affectionate and fascinating show about the darling of the silent screen.  Last year’s Fringe I managed to catch Cole’s production of The Ukelele Man about the life of  Georg Formby and I knew that this year I would be in for a special treat and I wasn’t disappointed.

Smile- The Story of Charlie Chaplin tells the story of the life of Chaplin from his early career as the Little Tramp in Mack Sennett silent movies to his career in talking pictures, his denouncement by Senator McCarthy’s purgative House Unamerican Activities as a Communist, his exile to Switzerland and his eventual return to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1977 Oscars Award Ceremony.

It is an extraordinary life and Cole captures the key moments with an endearing charm that makes engagement utterly irresistible. Cole is a brilliant mime artist. He was trained at the prestigious Jacques Le Coqu’s International  School of Theatre in Paris. Little wonder that he can capture Chaplin’s unique walk, gesture and expression with such authenticity. The whirring sound of an old movie camera takes us back to the start of the twentieth century and Chaplin’s first movie The Gold Rush. Cole strikes a plaintive figure, digging for gold or eating a shoe.  This is trademark Chaplin sketched with perfect precision, infusing every nuance with bewildered naivety. Cole captures the clown who can make us laugh at his antics one moment and cry at his predicament the next.

To heighten the comedy, an unsuspecting member of the audience is brought up from the audience, donned with a Keystone Cop’s hat and instructed to whack Cole’s head with a rubber truncheon. It’s a familiar action that leads to a chase through the intimate space and amongst the audience much to their delight. Audience participation is a regular part of this show. A woman plays his first wife at the time of the proposal. Another his second. A member of the audience refuses so her husband is selected to play Oona, his final companion and mother to his children. Audience participation can be a risky business, but Cole’s invitation to take the risk and whispered instruction is so welcoming that everyone bar one was happy to oblige. Each was rewarded with enthusiastic audience applause.

The show shifts into a later period as Cole picks up a book from the shelf and My Biography appears on the screen.  It is here that Cole demonstrates his remarkable versatility as an actor and where his performance resonates with a very different tone. Chaplin’s bitter parody of Hitler in his film The Great Dictator offers a timely warning and the final speech of the film is delivered by Cole. He is still and the speech that comes at the close of his first talking picture has a relevance that resonates today and down through the centuries. Cole delivers it simply, a plea for humanity void of greed and hate and the lust for power. Although the speech is delivered by the little Jewish Barber in The Great Dictator also played by Chaplin, we sense in Cole’s beautifully delivered plea that this is Chaplin the man talking. It is therefore ironic that this humanitarian should fall victim to the madness of McCarthy’s scourge against Communism. Cole makes us feel for the man who gave the world such pleasure. I cannot imagine anyone else playing Chaplin with such heart and sensitivity.  An audience member is seated in a chair on the stage. The coat is placed over him and his eyes are closed as Cole brings to an end Chaplin’s autobiography. The old title on the screen casts us back to those early pictures when we were simply shown THE END,

Smile-The Story of Charlie Chaplin  is a show that makes you laugh at the funny carryings-on, feel a lump in the throat at the poignant moments and invite you to think about how we treat each other and care for the world we live in. Through it all the enormously talented Cole captivates our hearts and our minds with a performance that lifts our spirits and teaches us to smile. Do not miss Smile-The Story of Charlie Chaplin if it is appearing in a theatre near you.  

JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOUR DREAMCOAT

 

Tim Dal Cortivo as Joseph

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Music by Andrew Lloyd-Webber. Lyrics by Tim Rice. 

Directed by Kelda McManus. Usical director Jenna Hinton. Choreographer Caitlin Schilg. Conductor Craig Johnson. Stage Mnaager Sue Gore-Phillips. Canberra Philharmonic Society. Erindale Theatre. February 27 – March15 2025

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

Joe Dinn as Pharaoh and Ensemble dancers

Canberra Philharmonic’s production of Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat is an absolute dream of a production. It is a glittering star in Canberra’s musical theatre firmament and places Philo at the very pinnacle of musical companies in the Capital. What made this production such a joy to attend on the closing night was the amazing array of talent that director Kelda McManus, musical director Jenna Hinton and choreographer Caitlin Schilg were able to assemble. To simply label it an amateur production would do Philo’s production a grave injustice. What I witnessed on the final night was a community event displaying an amazing array of talent from the very young performers who excelled in singing, dancing and acrobatics to the adult actors and dancers who, under McManus’s direction, Hinton’s musical direction and Schilg’s vibrant choreography were slick and sparking with energy and exuberance to the principals who injected a freshness, contemporary relevance and stunning talent to make Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s 1978 West End musical a local triumph.

With a production as alive and fresh today as Philo’s  Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat it is difficult to believe that the musical had its genesis as a short commissioned performance for a school in 1965 before being developed by Lloyd Webber and Rice in 1978 into the smash hit West End production. It is obvious that it was the creation of a young composer aged 17 and a fledgling lyricist aged 20. They were obviously having serious fun with a pastiche of music and dance styles, quirky arrangements and various styles from country and western to jazz to calypso and so on. The work is enormously challenging in its eclecticism but Canberra Philharmonic have hit the jackpot in every aspect of the show. It is simply stunning. The Old Testament story of Joseph of Canaan, sold into slavery by his jealous brother’s because of being the favourite child of Jacob is told with humour and a touch of the ironic.  After various trials and tribulations , his talent for interpreting dreams frees him from a prison to become the right hand man of the Pharaoh. His brothers are brought before him to beg for food during the drought and now are at his mercy. He tests their character and decides to forgive them and be reunited with his father in a happy ending. And the moral of this tale?: Any Dream Will Do.

Tim Dal Cortivo (Joseph) Taylor Paliaga (Narrator)

McManus and her creative team understand the difficulties that Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat poses. With so many settings from an American desert to a Pharoah’s palace to a French style café and various stage locations, set dsigners Ian Croker and McManus with the aid of lighting designer Alexander Clifford transport the audience to the different places in their imagination. As the locations change so too do the costumes from country and western to Broadway glitz to Berets at Café Du Canaan and ancient Egyptian garb. With a cast of about fifty filling the stage with fabulous colour and movement costume designer Jennie Norberry and her costume makers have performed a miracle. The full production team deserve the highest praise for transforming the Erindale Theatre stage into a visual wonderland.

McManus, Hinton, Schilg and  conductor Craig Johnson have chosen their cast and musicians and dancers with impeccable judgement. It is a pity that we don’t see the musicians at the wildest, happiest, and most professional curtain call of encores that I have ever seen on a Canberra stage. Their musicianship under Johnson’s baton was outstanding.

Taylor Paliaga as the Narrator tackles her sung role with perfect assurance, commanding the musical styles with perfect aplomd. Her diction is clear and she gives her narration the variety and interest that is demanded of any narrator telling the story. Tim dal Cortivo’s Joseph is thoroughly engaging. An excellent voice and an endearing grasp of his character make Cortivo a pleasure to watch on the stage. There is a sense of an ordinary man being thrust into extraordinary circumstance . There is excellent support from David Cannell as the greasy slaveowner Potiphar and a caricatured Jacob with a dreadful wig and beard. His Jacob reminds me of the amateur period performances of the Fifties. Cannell captures that air of comical pathos. In contrast his seductive wife, played with sensual allure by Lara Niven uses her tempting wiles to lure poor Joseph and effect his imprisonment, which ironically becomes his salvation when he interprets his dreams for the butler (Daniel Isherwood) and the Baker (Amelia Andersson-Nickson)

The sensational standout performance of the night in an evening of magnificent moments, music and dance routines was Joe Dinn’s over the top high camp performance of the Pharaoh. In a perfectly played parody of Garry Glitter and Elvis Presley and prancing about the stage like a Madam in Drag the heavily made up Joe Dinn commanded the stage with his Song of the King. Dinn brought the house down with his performance of a Pharaoh with the divine right to be outrageous.

Musical gems came hot on the song of each other. I left the theatre  humming  Any Dream Will Do, Bradley McDowell’s solo One More Angel in Heaven, Matthew Paliaga’s sultry, doleful Those Canaan Days with his brothers in the Café Du Canaan,  and the closing company number Give Me My Coloured Coat.

To leave a theatre humming so many numbers and filled with the memories of a superb production is , like Canberra Philharmonic’s production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat,  a rare achievement

 

Photography by Ben Appletion - Photox 

 

 

TRENT DALTON'S LOVE STORIES ADELAIDE FESTIVAL 2025

 

Trent Dalton’s Love Stories Adapted for the stage by Tim McGarry

Additional writing and story by Trent Dalton and Fiona Franzmann. Directed by Sam Strong. Dunstan Playhouse. Adelaide Festival Centre. Adelaide Festival March 12 – 16  2025.

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins 

Lovers of Trent Dalton’s book Love Stories will love this heartwarming, colourful and joyous production of his highly successful collection of people’s response to Dalton’s simple request, “Can you tell me a love story. There appears to be no stopping passers-by in the Brisbane CBD opening up their hearts to a man on the corner with the gift of an old Olivetti typewriter and a sincere desire to know what extraordinary stories of love are offered by ordinary people. 

The ensemble in Trent Dalton's Love Stories

 

As the audience enter the Dunstan Playhouse at Adelaide Festival Centre they see before them at the back of the stage a large mirror reflecting the people in the stalls of the theatre. On the mirror are projected a variety of responses to the question “What is love?” “Love is the hope that helps you when everything seems black.” “Love is your heart skipping a beat when a husband smiles and waves at you as you approach him” “Love is a fuzzy feeling.” Each member of the audience reflected in the mirror has a story to tell. As the song says everybody “wants somebody to love” There is the man who desperately perseveres in his attempt to propose until he is successful. A grandfather describes the love for a grandchild. Dalton’s own story is reflected in the woman who seeks to reunite with a heroin-addicted mother. In an hilarious demonstration of the pelvic hug, a group of men attempt to discover themselves and the meaning of love. Scientist John O’ Hagan explains the chemical reaction in the body when love takes hold. The stage burst into life with the tramp of busy feet to the beat of Jean Benoit's drum. There is always someone who will stop and tell their story. Or occasionally the voice of anger hurls an unhappy person’s abuse. The stories are deeply personal and the actors seize the moment with gusto or quiet contemplation.  A widow describes the grief at the loss of a loved one. As each story unfolds upon the stage, the joy, the pain and the longing for love are played out by a company who change characters with vigour and enthusiasm. They too have a story to tell.

Michala Banas and Jason Klarwein

Strong directs with flair and variety, moving the play along and varying the tempo for moments of revelation, a dance sequence in a riotous club or a gentle pas de deux to accompany a more sensitive moment. A videographer (Tneee Dyer) moves about the stage capturing the close-up and bringing the stage to life upon the screen at the rear. In an attempt to incorporate as many stories as possible the vignettes flash by. Those who are aware of the stories and Dalton’s work may find Trent Dalton’s Love Stories more engaging. The vignettes are snapshots of the human experience but they are brief and the play moves quickly on to the next episode. People who come to the theatre without prior knowledge of the stories may feel confused by moments that flash by. The adaptation does not have the opportunity to delve more deeply into the various moments. Josh Creemer’s account of stolen indigenous children warrants more than a three minutes grab. This is a heart wrenching story of stolen children and lost love and it is the lack of a more serious view of love that can diminish the power of story or comment to initiate change.

Rashidi Edward as Jean Benoit

 McGarry’s compact adaptation does acknowledge the sacrifices that a writer makes at the expense of personal relationship.. Dalton’s own story is given more insightful weight as the husband (Jason Klarwein) and his wife (Michala Banas) confront the impact of his obsession. Love’s pain and love’s pleasure are as much a part of the writer’s life as of his subjects’ experiences. Queensland Theatre Company’s uplifting production is a love lesson to all of the power of laughter and the healing power of tears. If you are unable to see the stage production of Trent Dalton\s book, the next best thing would be to read the book and delve further into the lives of real life characters and their quest for the true meaning of love.

 

 

 

 

Photos by Craig Wilkinson and Andrew Beveridge 

CREATIVES
Author  Trent Dalton
Adaptor Tim McGarry
Director/Dramaturg Sam Strong
Additional Writer Fiona Franzmann
Associate Director & Ensemble Member Ngoc Phan
Choreographer & Movement Director Nerida Matthaei
Composer & Sound Designer Stephen Francis
Lighting Designer Ben Hughes
Set & Costume Designer Renee Mulder
Video Design & Cinematographer Craig Wilkinson
Intimacy Coordination Nerida Matthaei and Michala Banas   

PRODUCTION CREDITS
Brisbane Festival Executive Producer Melinda Collie Holmes
QPAC Senior Producer Thomas Pritchard
QPAC Production Manager Jason Organ
Voice & Dialect Coach Gabrielle Rogers
Singing Coach  Megan Shorey
Costume Realiser Kasey Turner
Video Design Assistant Lani Dwyer
Lighting Programmer Tom Broadhurst 

 

CREW
Tour Producer Natasha Phillips
Company Production Manager Pip Loth
Stage Manager Lucy Kelland
Assistant Stage Manager Briana Clark
Sound Operator Israel Leslie
Video Systems Technician Joshua Braithwaite       

CAST
Jean-Benoit Rashidi Edward
Husband Jason Klarwein
Wife Michala Banas
Ensemble Patrick Jhanur
Ensemble Angie Milliken
Ensemble Kirk Page
Ensemble Bryan Probets
Ensemble Jacob Watton
Ensemble Hsin-Ju Ely
Camera Operator Tnee Dyer

  Production shots David Kelly