What Did She Think?

WHAT: Biographica WHEN: 21 September - 1 October 2023 WHERE: Theatre Works (Acland St) MUSIC BY; Mary Finsterer LYRICS BY: Tom Wright DIRECTED BY: Heather Fairbairn CONDUCTED BY: Patrick Burns DESIGN BY: Savanna Wegman LIGHTING BY: Niklas Pajanti PERFORMED BY: Helen Bower, Melody Chia, Julia Cianci, Belinda Dalton, Tom D'Ath, Elyane de Fontenay, Rosa Hwang, Rachael Joyce, Douglas Kelly, Dion Mills, Juel Riggall, Ely Ruttico, Mira Stephens, Laura Tanata, Terrence Teo, Brandon Waterworth, Tim Willis, and Raphael Wong VIDEO BY: Aron Murray STAGE MANAGED BY: Brittany Stock Rachael Joyce, Juel Riggall, and Douglas Kelly - photo by Jodie Hutchinson For a short period at the start of this century Chamber Made was producing small but magnificent new operas of the scope and scale of the show being presented at Theatre Works right now. Sadly, Melbourne has lost that resource as the company has moved in a different direction now. On the other hand, Lyric Opera has sprung up and moved int

WHAT: Turn, Turn, Turn WHEN: 13 - 23 September 2023 WHERE: Theatre Works (Explosives Factory) WRITTEN BY: Keith Gow DIRECTED BY: Renee Palmer SET BY: Tom Brayshaw LIGHTING BY: Gabriel Bethune SOUND BY: Patrick Slee PERFORMED BY: Melanie Audrey, Sarah Hartnell, Sodi Murphy-Shrives, and Eben Rotjer COSTUMES BY: Adele Cattenazzi Sodie Murphy-Shrives, Sarah Hartnell, Melanie Audrey, and Eben Rotjer - photo supplied I love science fiction. I live it. I breath it, I would eat it if I could. I REALLY love how science fiction is making a permanent and entrenched place in live theatre. The latest entrant in that genre is T urn, Turn, Turn which is being presented at the Explosives Factory this month. Written by Keith Gow , the premise for Turn, Turn, Turn is a future in which humanity keeps moving from planet to planet as they use up the resources on each one they colonise. In this play the characters are abandoning Earth 7 and are in a race to get to Earth 8. Earth 8 is different though beca

WHAT: The Nervous Atmosphere WHEN: 14 - 17 September 2023 WHERE: Arts House (Main Hall) WRITTEN & COMPOSED BY: Zoe Barry DIRECTED BY: Ingrid Voorendt SET & LIGHTING BY: Bosco Shaw SOUND BY: Jed Palmer PERFORMED BY: Zoe Barry and Goldie Palmer COSTUME BY: Renate Henschke Zoe Barry - photo by Sarah Walker Before you sign a contract you really need to make sure you read the fine print. I strongly recommend you do this before going to see The Nervous Atmosphere  produced by Chamber Made and presented at Arts House this week. If you don't you risk not really appreciating the show for what it is and that would be a shame. Zoe Barry (writer, composer, performer) had three unexpected and unusual encounters with lightning in the space of 6 months at a certain point in her life. Whilst none of them were direct, unabated traumas (the first hit her car, the second landed in front of the car and the third hit her house several months later) she felt changed by the experiences. It is

WHAT: A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum WHEN: 8 - 24 September 2023 WHERE: Chapel Off Chapel (The Chapel) MUSIC & LYRICS BY: Stephen Sondheim BOOK BY: Larry Gelbart and Bert Shevelove DIRECTED BY: Melanie Hillman MUSICAL DIRECTION BY: Trevor Jones SET BY: Sarah Tulloch COSTUMES BY: Jemima Johnston LIGHTING BY: Rob Sowinski PERFORMED BY: Sarah Barlow, Sarah Brown, Gen Campbell, Rina D'Cruz, Charmaine Gorman, Milo Hartill, Jacqui Hoy, Trevor Jones, Kristie Nguy, Mel O'Brien, Alanna Ritchie, Judith Roberts, Luisa Scrofani, Sophie Weiss, Cathy Woodhouse, and Sarahlouise Younger CHOREOGRAPHY BY: Sophie Loughran SOUND BY: Marcello Lo Ricco STAGE MANAGED BY: Daikota Gerrett Charmaine Gorman, Jacqueline Hoy, Milo Hartill and Mel O'Brien - photo by Jodi Hutchinson Let's be honest. Staging A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum today is a fraught decision - almost as fraught as staging Shakespeare . After having watched it I truly believe the only way yo

WHAT: Myra In Space WHEN: 7 - 17 September 2023 WHERE: Fortyfivedownstairs WRITTEN BY: Bridgette Burton DIRECTED BY: Alice Bishop DESIGN BY: Silvia Shao LIGHTING BY: Richard Vabre SOUND BY: Nat Grant PERFORMED BY: Nicholas Jaquinot, Annie Lumsden, Kelly Nash, Rama Nicholas, and Greg Parker Kelly Nash and Greg Parker - photo by Jody Jane Stitt The space race is on again thanks to a few outrageous gazillionaires and it has caused some of us to think back to our youths when space was a frontier and flying into it was a future full of options and adventures. Myra In Space , now playing at Fortyfivedownstairs, explores what that yearning was and now is for the people who lived it the first time around. It is impossible for the current generation to ever truly understand the hope and belief space travel inspired us to embrace last century. The idea of breaking free from the limitations of this world, this life, and exploring that big blue/black expanse of nobody knew what would be found. A r

WHAT: SLUTNIK™ 2: Planet of the Incels WHEN: 7 - 16 September 2023 WHERE: Theatre Works (Acland St) WRITTEN BY: Flick DIRECTED BY: Tansy Gorman SET BY: Harry Dowling and Tansy Gorman COSTUMES BY: Emily Busch LIGHTING BY: Georgie Wolfe PERFORMED BY: Ben Ashby, Michael Cooper, Matilda Gibbs, Ethan Morse, Sara Reed, Benji Smith, and William Strom SOUND BY: Jack Burmeister CHOREOGRAPHY BY: Mia Tuco AV BY: Derrick Duan STAGE MANAGED BY: Jemma Law Sara Reed and Matilda Gibbs - photo by Sarah Clarke So here is one of life's more incredible ironies. The term ' incel ' was actually coined by a woman back in 1993. What began as a website for all people to explore their non-sexual experiences and situations, by 2010, become a range of sites dominated by white cis males extolling hate and violence and strongly linked to the alt right. We heard a lot about them last decade but then a little thing known as COVID came along and they seem to have disappeared back into their dark and lonely

WHAT: What Of It WHEN: 30 August - 9 September 2023 WHERE: Theatre Works (Explosives Factory) WRITTEN BY: Rebecca Fingher DIRECTED BY: Mitchell Whelan LIGHTING BY: Spencer Herd PERFORMED BY: Xanthe Blaise, Courtney Cavallaro, and Emma Wright SOUND BY: Rebecca Price CHOREOGRAPHY BY: Samantha Hortin STAGE MANAGED BY: Arky Ryall Xanthe Blaise and Courtney Cavallaro - photo supplied Reality has a lot to answer for in this world. Not a lot of it is good, but Geordie Shore has spawned something which perhaps make the world a better place. Riffing off  chav culture, an other-than-binary zeitgeist, and feminism, Rebecca Fingher's debut play What Of It has found it's way to the Explosive's Factory to kick off Spring. What of it is a trio of chavettes hanging in the hood. Bored and restless they see a sign saying the world will end in three days and this begins a journey of indulgence and despair as the limitations of their lives become stark. Rebecca Fingher  (writer) has crafted