THE CHRONICLES ADELAIDE FESTIVAL 2026

 

 

THE CHRONICLES

Choreographer Stephanie Lake. Composer Robin Fox, Lighting Designer Bosco Shaw, Set Designer Charles Davis, Costume Designer Harriet Oxley,Dancers Max Burgess, Rachel Coulson, Tra Mi Dinh, Tyrel Dulvarie, Marni Green, Siobhan Lynch, Darci O’Rourke, Harrison Ritchie-Jones, Robert Tinning, Georgia Van Gils, Kimball Wong, Jack Ziesing. Solo Vocalist Oliver Mann. Children’s Choir (Adelaide Festival) Young Adelaide Voices. Conductor Christie Anderson. Child Soloist Ethan Lourie. Producer Beth Raywood Cross. Production Manager Lisa Osborn. Rehearsal Director and Bodywork Therapist Paea Leach. Associate Lighting Designer and Console Programmer Rhys Pottinger. Sound Engineer James Wilkinson. Stage Manager Rosie Osmond. Choir Consultant Renee Heron. Costume Makers Jo Foley, Fiona Holley, Emma Ikin, Kym Yeow. Financial Manager Bree Nurse. Additional Music: Ah Poor Bird (trad) – Arranged by Robin Fox. Forever Young (Alphaville). The Dunstan Playhouse. Adelaide Festival Centre. Adelaide Festival. March 12-15 2026.

Images Neil Bennett and Daniel Boud

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

Stephanie Lake’s latest work for the Adelaide Festival attests to the extraordinary artistry of her choreography and the athleticism, grace and energy of her dancers.  The curtain rises slowly revealing a shaft of light and a black box that rises to reveal a foetal form upon the floor. Slowly the figure begins to unfurl, limb by limb, rising to reach towards the sky. The moment of birth is greeted with a forceful percussive beat and the company burst onto the stage. Life has begun.

 When composer of the electro acoustic score Robin Fox described The Chronicles as “from womb to tomb” Stephanie Lake completely agreed. The opening image of a human being emerging bit by bit from the womb to the final image of a figure being laid to eternal rest embraces with powerful resonance the cycle of life and the inevitability of our mortality, the inescapable end to a precious life. This is made even more moving by the introduction of the young Adelaide singers who in a soulful lament to the passing of time look forward with hope to a new tomorrow in the traditional song Ah Poor Bird. The lament comes full cycle at the end of the work as baritone Oliver Mann stands among the greenery at the rear of the stage to sing a song that longs to remain Forever Young. The irony is inescapable as a lone dancer gently lowers a companion to the ground and the box descends to the onset of eternal darkness.

 Bosco Shaw’s evocative lighting design complements Lake’s choreography. Dancers appear entrapped within squares of light across the stage. They struggle against Life’s challenges, their bodies tremoring against the confinement. At another time two shafts of light create a cross upon the floor as dancers surge towards the future intersecting and lurching towards the unknown. From the ensemble a solitary dancer moves into a spot or two dancers emerge mirroring each other in synchronized unison against the dimly lit background of ferns and bushes. Nature is always there as a constant in Life’s journey upon the stage.

 It is left to the audience to interpret the dance in terms of one’s individual life. Lake’s choreography is mesmerizing. There is the life force in the ensemble’s herd-like traverse of the stage. There is the intimacy of coupling in the negative spacing movement of coming together transforming and departing. Images merge and dissolve as Lake’s imagination takes wing. The Chronicles is an eclectic collection of styles- jazz and classical ballet, break dance or gymnastics as bodies are lifted thrown and caressed. This is the essence of Life’s vicariousness, constantly changing and coming to rest only in the final image of mortality’s inevitable destiny. In a meticulous sequence of dance movements and patterns Lake carries us along through metaphor and image. A dancer enters dragging a load across the stage. Dancers slide along the floor each pushing their baggage like Sysiphus before them until they are torn open and yellow hay engulfs the stage. One dancer is smothered before breaking free to reveal a solitary dancer rising from the burdens that have entwined her. A loud scream echoes through the auditorium as the dancers hold the note until only one remains in a victorious salute to survival.

 The Chronicles is an account of all our lives. The pulsating energy and constancy of the dance is beautifully accompanied by the pure voices of the young singers of the Adelaide Youth Choir under the direction of Christie Anderson. Dancers and children, carrying lanterns, come together in a celebration of community. It contrasts with Mann’s soulful baritone rendition of Forever Young. There is a tone of regret, of lost opportunity and longing for the past. It is a note of sombre reflection, realized in the final image of the two dancers beneath the descending tomb.

The Chronicles is an astounding work of choreographic imagination. It is visceral, performed by a talented ensemble of dancers. The Chronicles reminds us how fleeting is our life and yet Lake’s work does not thrust us into despondency but celebrates our time with all its trials and tribulations, joys and triumphs between our beginning and our end. The collaborative nature of the work is instantly apparent in the choreography by Lake, performed by her wonderful ensemble of youthful and athletic dancers, the set design by Charles Davis, brilliantly lit by Bosco Shaw and the music composed by Robin Fox. The Chronicles is an exciting and totally engaging experience with the power to encourage us “to make hay while the sun shines”.

Adelaide Festival production photos by Andrew Beveridge.

 

THE CONVICT AND THE COMPASS - The Untold Story of James Meehan - by PETER BRADLEY.

 

THE CONVICT AND THE COMPASS – The Untold Story of James Meehan – By Peter Bradley.

Reviewed by Bill Stephens.

Peter Bradley is a Canberra writer whose first book Convicted inspired by the discovery of his great-grandfather’s first-hand account of surviving a shipwreck, was an engrossing retelling of a father, son and grandson entwined with the history of Australia, from the landing of the First Fleet in 1788.

Bradley’s latest book, The Convict and the Compass is a richly detailed and deeply human portrait of James Meehan, an Irish political prisoner whose quiet precision and dedication as a surveyor, helped lay the foundations of modern Australia.

Author Peter Bradley.

Far from the celebrated names of early colonial exploration, Meehan’s story has been long overshadowed. Bradley’s work turns a long-overdue spotlight on to a man whose maps and town plans shaped the nation’s early settlement.

The book blends meticulous historical research with an engaging narrative style, making it accessible to both history enthusiasts and casual readers. Bradley, himself a descendant of Meehan, writes with a personal warmth that adds emotional depth without sacrificing scholarly rigour.

The descriptions of Meehan’s surveying expeditions, from trudging through dense bushland to charting the layout of emerging towns, are vivid and immersive, giving readers a sense of the physical and intellectual challenges of the work.

In the manner of a well-paced stage production, Bradley sets his scenes with care, drawing the reader into the raw, often unforgiving landscapes of earth 19^th -century New South Wales.

His prose has a measured rhythm, allowing the drama of Meehan’s transformation, from convict shackled by circumstance to a man whose maps would shape the very bones of the colony, to unfold with understated power.

Bradley knows when to step back and let his subject take centre stage. Meehan emerges not as a romanticised hero, but as a man of grit, precision, and quiet ambition.

The book’s strength lies in its balance. The historical detail is rich without ever feeling academic, and the human story is told with warmth and respect.

What stands out most is the way Bradley frames Meehan, not just as a skilled professional, but as a man navigating the complexities of colonial politics, personal redemption, and the lingering stigma of his convict past.

The book also subtly challenges the “great man” narrative of Australian exploration, showing how unsung figures like Meehan were indispensable to the colony’s development.

A large (600 pages) impressively produced publication, The Convict and the Compass comes with informative prologue and epilogue, pages of photos, maps, research information and a comprehensive index. Making it not only a compelling and respectful tribute to a forgotten figure of Australian history, but also a must-read for those interested in early colonial history, the hidden contributions of convicts, and the human stories behind the maps that shaped a nation.

Published in 2025 by Ventura Press.

THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE

Book by Rachel Sheinkin

Music and Lyrics by William Finn

Conceived by Rebecca Feldman

Directed by Nathan Patrech

Canberra Philharmonic Society (Philo) production

Act Hub Theatre, Kingston to 18 March

 

 

Reviewed by Len Power 12 March 2026

 

Using the ACTHub Theatre for this smaller scale musical was a clever move by Philo. The 100 year old Causeway Hall at Kingston provided the perfect atmosphere for the plot of the show.

A bunch of quirky students from various American elementary schools come together at Putnam County school to compete in a spelling competition (the ‘Bee’), which is run by three equally quirky adults.

The show might be quirky, but it needs a strong cast who can bring these colourful characters to life as well as handle the vocally demanding score. Everyone in this cast is more than up to the challenge and make the most of their individual moments to shine.

The ensemble performances of Amelia Andesson-Nickson, Dave Collins, Meaghan Stewart, Joe Mansell, Ella Colquhoun, Stirling Notley, Hannah Miller and Lachlan Nicholls as the students were excellent.

Director, Nathan Patrech, has staged the show simply. He allows the actors to have a lot of fun as adults playing adolescents, but the show is disciplined and fast-paced.

Of the adult characters running the Bee, Amy Kowalczuk is outstanding as Rona Peretti. It was good to hear this accomplished actress singing in a musical again. Tim Stiles gave a fine performance as the strong, but sensitive ex-convict and now Comfort Councillor, Mitch Mahony. Michael Cooper was very funny as Douglas Panch, the Vice Principal, with his officious and edgy performance as the word pronouncer.

Music director, Samara Marinelli, has obtained fine vocal performances from everyone in the cast. Lachlan Ruffy provided strong choreography that suited the individual characters. Jennie Norbury’s costumes looked very funny and somehow were worn just right by the students. The adults’ costumes were well chosen for a school function.

This is a funny, very noisy show with memorable characters. Before the show, audience members are given the opportunity to put their names down to participate onstage in the spelling competition. The three people selected on opening night clearly had a lot of fun and were pretty good spellers, too.

 

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/.

 

PURE GENIUS - The Geoffrey Tozer Story - Palace Electric Cinema

 

Produced and directed by Raymond Hoefer and Peter Wyllie Johnston.

Cinematography by Raymond Hoefer and Oscar Nastri – Edited by Raymond Hoefer

Script by Peter Wyllie Johnston – Sound by Raymond Hoefer

Music selection and supervision by Peter Wyllie Johnston.

Presented by Hofland Music and The Estate of Geoffrey Tozer

Palace Electric Cinemas – 10^th March, 2026. Reviewed by BILL STEPHENS.

Memories of Paul Keating and Geoffrey Tozer spending quiet Saturday afternoons over coffee in The School of Arts Café planning renovations for the conversion of the Queanbeyan Convent into a conservatorium, were revived by an invitation to attend the Australian premiere screening of a new documentary film “Pure Genius - The Geoffrey Tozer Story”.

There is little doubt that Geoffrey Tozer was a musical genius, but to many Canberrans, he was best known as a part-time music teacher at St. Edmunds College.

Paul Keating's son was attending St. Edmunds in 1987, and it was then that the-soon-to-become Prime Minister first became aware of Tozer, when he saw him performing in a school concert. .

Captivated by Tozer’s extraordinary musical abilities, Keating became his champion, making it his business to ensure that such musical genius would not go unrecognised.

Geoffrey Tozer and Paul Keating.

In musical circles, Tozer was already celebrated as a pianist of exceptional ability having made his professional debut at the age of eight, playing Bach’s Concerto in F Minor on ABC national television.

In 1968 he became the world’s youngest ever recipient of a Churchill Fellowship, the first of two he would receive during his career, and had already given over forty concerto performances in Australia.

By age fourteen, Tozer was competing in piano competitions overseas becoming a semi-finalist in the Leeds Piano Competition in 1969, winning First Prize in the Royal Overseas League in London and First Prize in the Alex de Vries Piano Competition in Belgium, both in 1970.

Also in 1970, Tozer was presented to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11 and made his debut at the Albert Hall playing Mozart’s Piano Concerto in B Flat No 15 K450 with the BBC Symphony under Sir Colin Davis.

By age eighteen, in 1973, Tozer was a semi-finalist in the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in the United States, including among the pieces he played, his own composition; Aboriginal Sunrise.

That same year Tozer was awarded a second Churchill Fellowship, and in 1974 became the first Australian concert pianist to tour Asia under the auspices of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Musical Viva, with performances in Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, Thailand and Singapore.

Under Keating’s auspices, Tozer’s International career continued to flourish, and it was Keating who in 1991 secured him a record contract with Chandos, allowing him to cement his position as one of the world’s leading concert pianists.

With Chandos Tozer recorded 34 CDs, receiving a 1993 Grammy Award nomination for his recordings of the complete concertos of Nikolai Medtner recorded with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

But in 2009, Tozer died tragically, alone and penniless, leaving behind a vast catalogue including 150 compositions, musical diaries and performance notes, both published and unpublished. There are more than a thousand audio and film recordings of his performances from around the world; and more than forty commercial releases on Chandos and other labels, in archives in Australia and more than twenty other countries, most notably in Berlin where the Akademie der Künste has established the Geoffrey Tozer Archive.  

“Pure Genius – The Geoffrey Tozer Story”, produced and scripted by the executor of Tozer’s estate, Peter Wyllie Johnston, together with Raymond Hoefer, who is also responsible for the sound, focusses on Tozer’s massive musical achievements both in Australia and internationally.

The film is an homage to Tozer’s musical genius and a treasury for music lovers, preserving excerpts from fifty musical performances by Tozer. Among them, his historic 1982 performances filmed at the Sydney Opera House; his Hungarian debut in the Vigado Concert Hall in Budapest in 1987, and film of him in China becoming the first Western pianist to perform the famous Yellow River Concerto with the Xiamen Philharmonic Orchestra televised to an audience estimated at more than eighty million.  

Narrated by actor, Colin McPhillamy, the film includes cameo appearances by Hazel Hawke and Jill Goodall, with interviews with friends, colleagues and supporters who had close associations with Tozer, including Paul Keating, Patricia Conolly, Pamela Freeman, Ross Gengos, Imogen Burley and Judith Dowson who recalls her last day with Tozer when she flew from Perth to be with him in 2009.

 Geoffrey Tozer was just 54 when he died, following an extraordinary career in which he had travelled the world between 1963 and 2009, giving more than 2,500 performances in five continents. Yet despite attracting the patronage of eminent people he died alone and penniless under tragic circumstances.

“Pure Genius – The Geoffrey Tozer Story”, pays scant attention to the circumstances surrounding Tozer’s death, preferring to focus on Tozer’s many triumphs and musical accomplishments.

The suggestion that his demise was brought about by mismanagement and ill-treatment by the musical establishment, inevitably raises questions as to the nature of these circumstances.

Some answers are offered in a previous documentary “The Eulogy”, which focuses on the eulogy given by Paul Keating at Tozer’s funeral, currently available on streaming platforms, while a comprehensive biography by Peter Wyllie Johnston is scheduled for publication in 2027.  

Following its Canberra showing, “Pure Genius – The Geoffrey Tozer Story” is expected to be seen in all major Australian film festivals, as well as overseas film festivals, beginning with the Sydney Film Festival in June, followed by art house cinema release around Australian and overseas.  

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

 

MY BRILLIANT CAREER

A new musical based on the novel by Miles Franklin. Directed by Anne-Louise Sarks. Musical director Victoria Falconer. Choreographer Amy Campbell. Melbourne Theatre Company. Canberra Theatre, Canberra Theatre Centre. March 7-15.

My Brilliant Career is a long show with a grand vision and thanks in very great part to the almost never off the stage performance of Kala Gare as Sybylla Melvyn it certainly has impact. This Sybylla is very hard to ignore.

Not that the other performers are slouches. There are heaps of tightly observed characters in this world created originally in Miles Franklin’s 1901 novel and the show is teeming with arrogant squatters and horrible children and long suffering wives and people going broke.  Everyone’s on the verge of losing the lot. They comment on the out of work blokes drifting by, casualties of forces they cannot control.

Some may take issue with the modern perceptions and the anachronisms in the costuming but there’s an energy that never flags. Everyone appears to play a musical instrument, even the techies are roped in to do the occasional bit of performance.  There’s agreeable songs but they don’t particularly stick in the memory.

Sybylla doesn’t have too many choices. It’s a bit like Jane Eyre. When things get tough on the family farm in Possum Gully she’s sent off to affluent relatives to be groomed for and tested in the marriage market. At least she’s a reader and has picked up some piano skills. When her relatives run into financial troubles she’s packed off to be a governess to the huge and horrible McSwat tribe, a family who have no elegance nor learning whatsoever.

The handsome and charming Harry (Raj Labade) is certainly an attraction but the compromises might prove too much for her need for independence.

It’s all a bit of a surface take on a novel that has quite a bit more to say about the strictures on women and the general nature of Australian society at the turn of the 20th century. The show has reflective moments but sometimes seems more interested in how many ways the central piano can be climbed over. And the occasional sense that the central character is aware of a future where things might improve for a young woman blunts the anger.

The performers, with Gare’s rambunctious performance leading the way, do a good job with a big range of roles. But you might want to go and read the novel. What’s missing here is that anger and a certain fire that sits in Miles Franklin’s voice.

 

Alanna Maclean 

ORFEO ADELAIDE FESTIVAL 2026

Ensemble Pygmalion. Photo Frank Montagne

 

Orfeo . 

Composer Luigi Rossi. Libretto by Francesco Buti. Conductor Raphael Pichon. Pygmalion choir and orchestra.  Adelaide Town Hall. Adelaide Festival. March 4 and 6 2026

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

Luigi  Rossi’s 17^th century opera Orfeo with libretto by Francesco Buti received a rapturous  ovation in a concert performance in Adelaide’s stately Town Hall. The fact that the opera was performed without the embellishment of a full scale production did nothing to diminish the sheer power and passion of Ensemble Pygmalion’s performance under the baton of the company’s founder Raphael Pichon. Singers and orchestra were unparalleled in their performance. The fact that it was a concert offering with minimal action and unpretentious modern day costuming heightened my appreciation of the opera and the unique period instrumentation. Although written almost four hundred years ago, Ensemble Pygmalion’s performance was both contemporary and relevant to our time. Rossi’s Orfeo was no museum piece in spite of its baroque composition and 17^th century period instruments which lent an unique authenticity to the performance. The singing by the principals and the chorus accentuated the drama of the fateful myth of Orpheus (Xenia Puskarz Thomas) and his beloved Euridyce (Julie Roset)

The opera opens on Euridyce’s wedding day to Orpheus. The couple are warned of bad omens but ignore the warnings and continue with the wedding much to the dismay of Aristaeus (Blandine de Sansal) who is desirous of Euridyce. He seeks the help of Venus (Camille Chopin)) to prevent the union. Venus uses deception to manipulate events and cause the ensuing tragedy. During a dance, Eurydice is bitten by a serpent and rejects any help. She dies in Orpheus’s arms and descends to Hades. Grief stricken, Orpheus implores the Fates (Laurence Kilsby, Rene Ramos Premier, Renau Bres) for help and they grant him the permission to descend and find his beloved Euridyce. In Hades, Orpheus soothes the King of the Underworld Pluto (Alex with his voice and is allowed to take Euridyce back to the earthly world. However, he must not look back or Euridyce will die and remain eternally in the Underworld. As they ascend, Euridyce takes hold of Orpheus who turns to her face and once again she dies in his arms, leaving him to bear the enormous burden of grief. The opera ends with Orpheus alone pleading with Death to let him die with his bride.

The first modern revival of Orfeo was not until 1976 in Belfast and it received its first production in Italy at La Scala in 1982. It is difficult to believe that a work so beautifully composed and orchestrated should have taken three hundred years to gain the reputation it so richly deserves. Ensemble Pygmalion has breathed life into Rossi’s remarkably relevant work and Pinchon’s mercurial interpretation lends the work an immediacy that is exciting and emotionally powerful. His use of instruments of the period such as the harpsichord, the harp, the Fagotto and the theorbos complement along with the traditional violins, violas guitas, organ and double bass an aural landscape of emotional diversity. Love, loyalty, deception,, jealousy, fate and power are  all players in this destiny of the lovers.

Rossi has written the roles of Orpheus and Aristaeus for castrato. Mezzo soprano Xenia Puzkar Thomas strikes the heart with her powerful display of grief. There is a touch of style and sophistication in her white pants suit that lends grace to her performance. Blandine Sansal’s Aristaeus sings with a despairing passion that paints her as a victim of her own weakness. Soprano Julie Roset, dressed in red, personifies sweet innocence. It is a tender performance totally befitting her naivety. There are fine performances from the other characters in this dramatic tragedy. Bass Alex Rosen fills the town hall with the power of Pluto’s authority. The real strength of the performances in this straightforward enactment of Rossi’s and Buti’s opera is Pinchon’s attention to characterization. Orfeo is Shakespearian in its scope, embracing the dark emotions of the human psyche as well as the moments of comedy that are unexpected. There are whimsical touches in the costuming and a cheeky absurdity in the portrayal of the old woman, Vecchia (Dominique Visse)

Though Ensemble Pygmalion’s performance of Orfeo may be considered minimalist in the Adelaide Town Hall setting, this is a work that still resonates through the ages. The themes are universal, the travails of life and death, the fears and the dreams that rule our destiny. Under Pinchon’s baton Rossi’s Orfeo is exceptionally innovative, bridging as it does the Italian and French traditions. It is because of this influence that we can be still surprised by the emotional shifts and variations as the characters love, suffer and die. On a narrow stage Ensemble Pygmalion’s performance  is highly dramatic and at other times, gentle and tender as in the Act 1 duet between Orpheus and Euridyce. Singers, orchestra and choir create a musical landscape of such passion and humanity that we are swayed by the myth and Pinchon’s magical interpretation of Rossi’s centuries old work.

It is a privilege to be introduced to this work, performed so magnificently by singers and musicians of extraordinary talent and insight. Pinchon’s conducting is playful and liberating. He inspires exceptional originality in the playing and in the performances of his principal artists and the choir, who at one point sing from the balcony, surprising, delighting and filling the auditorium with the thrill of the performance.

Originally, the opera was staged with huge scenery and complete operatic spectacle. I found myself fully immersed in the passion and the performance in concert with only the musicians and the singers to make Orfeo an unforgettable highlight of the Adelaide Festival.

Photos by Claudio Raschella

Orfeo Programme. af26-show-programs-pygmalion-orfeo-fv.pdf

MY BRILLIANT CAREER - The Canberra Theatre

 

Kara Gare as Sybylla Melvyn in Melbourne Theatre Company's production of 
 My Brilliant Career.

Book: Sheridan Harbridge & Dean Bryant – Lyrics: Dean Bryant – Music: Mathew Frank

Director: Anne Louise Sarks – Musical Director: Victoria Falconer

Choreographer: Amy Campbell – Set & Costume Designer: Marg Horwell

Lighting Designer: Matt Scott – Sound Designer: Joy Weng

Presented by Melbourne Theatre Company – Canberra Theatre - 7 to 15^th March 2026

Opening Night performance on March 8^th reviewed by BILL STEPHENS

Kala Gare as Sybylla Melvyn in My Brilliant Career.

How appropriate that Canberra be the first city outside Melbourne to experience performances of this joyous, much-lauded new musical since its Melbourne premiere in 2024, given that in the main street of nearby Queanbeyan is a plaque honouring Miles Franklin whose 1901 novel provided the inspiration for this musical and who lived much of her life in this district.

Happily, it is obvious from the moment the cast of Melbourne Theatre Company’s audacious musical adaptation of My Brilliant Career take the stage, it is clear that they, and the creative team, not only understand Miles Franklin’s fiercely independent heroine, but relish her contradictions.

Sheridan Harbridge and Dean Bryant’s book and lyrics, and Mathew Frank’s music brim with vitality, wit, and a distinctly Australian sense of place. 

Drew Livingston - Cameron Bajraktarevic-Hayward -Kala Gare - Victoria Falconer - Raj Labade in My Brilliant Career 

 The restless energy of Sybylla Melvyn is captured in an extraordinary central performance by Kala Gare that is as mercurial as it is magnetic. Her command of the stage is remarkable, often addressing the audience directly, one moment tossing of a sardonic quip, the next revealing a flash of vulnerability that makes her journey all the more compelling.

Gare is supported by the original multi-skilled ensemble cast who all play musical instruments, perform Amy Campbell’s clever evocative choreography, as well as bring to life, the multitude of diverse characters who inhabit Sybylla’s world over the years.

Directed with an un-erring eye for visual interest and performance possibilities by Anne Louise Sarks, Raj Labade earned sighs as Harold Beecham, the romantic suitor who almost succeeds in persuading Sybylla to abandon her life’s priorities.

Kala Gare (Sybylla Melvyn) - Raj Labade (Harold Beecham) in My Brilliant Career.

Drew Livingstone, Cameron Bajraktarevic-Hayward, Ana Mitsikas, Christina O’Neill, Jarrad Payne, Melanie Bird, (replacing original cast member HaNy Lee) as well as musical director, Victoria Falconer, who moves through the show as an ethereal, non-verbal musical muse underlining nuances and heralding changes of mood with her violin, all contribute captivating characterisations, except perhaps for the McSwats , who, while entertaining, definitely belong in cartoon-land.   

Visually, the staging is a delight. Marg Horwell, aided by Matt Scott’s painterly lighting design, cleverly conjures up dusty expanses of the bush, elaborate mansions and ballrooms with a set that shifts seamlessly between pastoral beauty and the claustrophobia of small-town life. Her costumes are equally imaginative, allowing the storytelling to move through years without the need for the actors to leave the stage for costume changes.

Similarly, the tapestry of lilting folk-infused melodies and punchy ensemble numbers that make up Mathew Frank’s tuneful score, together with Dean Bryrant’s perceptive lyrics propel the story forward without ever feeling forced. Particularly memorable are “In the Wrong Key” in which Sybylla pinpoints her own personality and “Prince of a Girl”, her father’s perceptive description of his daughter.

What impresses most is the production’s tonal balance. It honours Franklin’ s century old text, while speaking directly to a contemporary audience, never shying away from the grit beneath the romance. The humour is sharp, the pacing brisk, and the emotional beats land with satisfying precision.

In short, My Brilliant Career is a joyous, intelligent, and deeply Australian musical that celebrates self-determination without sentimentality. It’s the kind of theatre that leaves you walking a little taller, and perhaps like Sybylla herself, a little more determined to write your own story.

Fresh from a sold-out revival season in Melbourne and following its Canberra season, My Brilliant Career moves on to seasons in Sydney (Mar. 21 – April 26) and Wollongong (May 8 – 17).  If it comes your way, don’t miss it.

Karla Gare in My Brilliant Career.

                                                             Photos by Pia Johnson 

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