Adapted by Sandy Rustin from the screenplay by Jonathan Lynn, with additional material by Hunter Foster and Eric Price. Henry Lawson Theatre, Werrington NSW. Director: Rebecca Fletcher. 15 – 23 Nov, 202.

Reviewed : 13 November*

Jonathan Lynn’s 1985 film Clue, based on the Hasbro boardgame Cluedo, has become a cult movie – and a favourite of Henry Lawson Theatre’s Rebecca Fletcher’s family. No wonder that she grabbed the opportunity to direct Sandy Rustin’s stage adaptation Clue: On. Stage, which is just as whacky – and busy – as the movie!

Clue is murder mystery with the added absurd elements of farce – crazy characters, silly situations, puns and pratfalls – all of which occurs, like the board game, in the many rooms of a big house. That means multiple doors, possibly multiple bodies and in this case multiple gumshoe detectives.

Like any farce that also means multiple direction and design challenges, all of which Fletcher has met with skilful management, creative imagination and a lot of joy.

Six characters have been invited to a dinner party in the remote, mysterious Boddy Mansion – but they have been instructed to come as the colourful characters of the board game: Miss Scarlet, Professor Plum, Mrs. White, Mr. Green, Mrs. Peacock and Colonel Mustard. They are met by Wadsworth, a creepy butler, Yvette a saucy French maid and a villainous cook – but no host! That’s because their host Mr Boddy is …  a body!

Who has killed him? With what? And why?

All six characters admit to having been blackmailed by the corpse, so accusations fly, trust evaporates and mayhem ensues! Moving walls, hidden passageways, locked doors and more corpses result in a pantomime of crazy chases and comical collisions.

Revolving rooms, opening and shutting doors and twelve actors chasing each other around the stage require planning, timing, much rehearsing – and loads of patience and good humour. Farce has to be fun for everyone – those entertaining and those entertained. And Rebecca Fletcher has achieved that difficult balance. Cast members report that they are “having a ball” – and the audience certainly are!

The stage crew may not agree! They have the task of revolving rooms set on wheels while actors are making their way through the done room to appear in another. And they do it multiple times! The continuity of the action, and the safety of the actors, are dependent on their timing and deftness. It’s a big responsibility and bouquets to those behind the scenes who move the scenes so smoothly.

Bouquets too to John Bell, Ken Fletcher, and Mike Rochfort who took on the task of constructing the set Fletcher had envisioned and the “countless weekdays” they gave up to do so.

And don’t think I’ve forgotten bouquets for the cast! Creating these crazy characters must have been fun; cavorting them around the stage, in and out of doors, along imaginary hallways, all the time taking care not to trip or topple, must have taken hours of rehearsal. But they have done it, will continue to do it for another weekend of performances – and seem to be having fun!

Alexander Smith is the arrogant Wadsworth, disdainfully greeting the guests and surreptitiously manipulating things. Smith uses his height and bearing to make Wadsworth haughty and condescending, establishing feelings of resentment and antipathy from each guest as they arrive.

Tayah Gulyas is Yvette, the pert maid who fluffs her feather duster flirtatiously. Holly-Leigh Prophet is the scary cook, cleaver in her hand, evil in her eyes. Both meet untimely ends, but materialise later, along with Mark Prophet and Brianna Grima, in an ever-increasing squad of dodgy detectives.

Heloise Tolar is an elegant Miss Scarlet. In clinging crimson, she is a little snooty and aloof, but warily watchful. Tolar has a strong stage presence and uses comic timing to fine effect.

Professor Plum in plush purple is played by Elliott Prophet. Prophet makes him worldly wise but wide awake to any murderous mischief.

Neridah James is Mrs White, she of the many demised husbands. In a silver-white wig shining above her white pearl-backed stole and black gown, James finds smirking evil in this character despite her avowals of innocence.

Mitchell Rist plays a bumbling Colonel Mustard. Lost in this stylish group and unable to follow the twists of the conversation, he delights the audience with his misunderstandings and mistakes.

Mrs Peacock, played by Nicole Smith preens in shades of cyan, turquoise and cerulean, making her presence felt in sharp remarks and quizzical queries.

Lesh Satchithananda in his theatrical debut as the slippery Mr Green, surprises the other guests – and the audience – with his bizarre behaviour and strange outbursts.

None of them is trustworthy. None of them is trusting. All of them are suspects. All of them are suspicious.

Put them together with a few corpses – two of them played by Aurel Vasilescu who spends a lot of time either lying on the floor or slumped in a chair! – some spooky music, a ready supply of weapons and a lot of energy and you have the makings of a farce. Making that farce work requires careful planning, clear direction, relentless rehearsal and tricky timing, and Fletcher and her cast are making it work well.

You have a few more chances to see that – IF there are any tickets left! Last weekend was a sell out, so be quick!

Also published in Stage Whispers magazine

*Review performance

By Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe and Philip Scott. The Seymour Centre. 11 Nov – 23 Dec, 2024& touring

Reviewed : 12 November, 2024*

What shall we do without The Wharf Revue? ‘Tis hard to accept that this will be the last! For over 25 years Jonathan Biggins, Drew Forsythe, Phil Scott (and his piano) have brilliantly lampooned politics and politicians from here and overseas. They’ve done it in song, in dance, in verse and on screen. Even in telling contemplations that played poignantly above the satire.

They’ve picked up mannerisms and movements, quirks and clichés, affectations and artifices and developed them into impersonations that have been incredibly realistic … and funny! Prime Ministers and Presidents, senators and stirrers, moguls and millionaires! All have been cunningly and cleverly mocked … and audiences have flocked to see them all over NSW and in Melbourne and Brisbane.

But no more! Except for this last, slightly longer, even a bit wistful, retrospective romp! They have included all the contemporary favourites, and a few new ones, as well as some treasures from the past! Hawke about to play with the Prime Minister’s Eleven, dear old Bob Brown, an aging John Howard, the almost-forgotten Australian Democrats … and Paul Keating!

In fact Keating (Biggins of course!) opens the show – “You didn’t think I’d miss this did you?” – and gives it a proper, Paul pasting!

From Three Men and a Baby Grand way back at the Tilbury Hotel to their 1990s TV program of the same name, Biggins, Forsythe and Scott had been “taking the mickey’ out of “people of note” for years. When they moved to the Wharf Theatre twenty-five years ago with a few props and a new name, who could have imagined such a long future or such an extensive, devoted band of followers.

When you really think about it, where else in the world would the populace countenance such pointed satire? Such clear caricatures? Such raunchy ridicule? We are such a bold, broad-minded, lucky country!

In this their final show “the Three Men” are joined once again by Mandy Bishop and David Whitney. Together these five brilliant performers not only “flashback” to the past, but introduce a few new characters, including some well-known English TV stars – led by dual UK/Australian citizen Miriam Margoles – wheeled on by the inimitable Phil Scott complete with a new wig, expansive girth and, of course, a little flatulence!

“On tour” in Australian she meets up with island hopping Martin Clunes (Whitney), Joanna Lumley (Bishop) and their monarch Charles Rex (Biggins again). This new segment was a welcome, very funny surprise, especially for ABC viewers!

The very lithe Jonathan Biggins in a silver sequinned mini-dress and high, silver boots is an elegant Angus Taylor Swift explaining that when asked about policies you just “Make it Up”!

Various ‘hindsight’ segments remind the audience of ‘policies’ that have come under fire in the in the last 25 years – the environment, finance, foreign affairs, climate change. All the PMs and pundits who dealt with them appear in ‘door stop’ video grabs, while some ex-pollies looking remarkably like Joe Hockey and Mathias Cormann explain the possibilities of “Jobs for the Boys”.

An aging Rupert Murdoch (Forsythe) and Peter Dutton (Whitney) broach a much more immediate policy – the nuclear alternative – and possibly a return to coal and gas!

One of the best sketches is a disco in 1984 where a young ‘with it’ Anthony Albanese (Biggins) and Julia Gillard (Bishop) and slightly out-of-fashion Kevin Rudd (Scott) dance to The Angels “Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again” complete with the usual audience response – though Rudd never gets it right!

Mandy Bishop becomes Jacqui Lambie MC-ing the parliamentary Midwinter Ball, and Drew Forsythe returns in his delightful impersonation of Pauline Hanson – “The red diva of the red house” – in a “One Nation, One woman show” complete with malapropisms like “I am unparalysed in history”!

Oh, how we shall miss those clever impressions, those ingenious parodies, the timing, the pace, the intelligence! Thankfully this is just the beginning of this final show, so don’t miss it! See it at the Seymour Centre until the end of the year –  or at the other many venues on their 2025 tour.

First published in Stage Whispers magazine

*Opening Night

Live at the Great Synagogue. 5-6 November, 2024

Reviewed : 6 November, 2024

What a wonderful way to escape a day besieged with reports about the American presidential election! The calm, beautiful decorative pillars, stained glass windows and vaulted, star studded ceiling of the Great Synagogue AND Internationally acclaimed Australian pianist Simon Tedeschi, “revered’ jazz trumpeter Mat Jodrell and bassist extraordinaire Cameron Und playing favourites from the golden age of jazz.

Live at Yours couldn’t have chosen a better time for this special concert! It was heartening to see and hear these incredible musicians playing to a huge, culturally diverse audience gathered in such a distinctive place. For ninety delightful minutes the toe-tapping nostalgic rhythms of the deep south lifted jaded spirits and inspired joy.

The special connections between musicians are always a joy to witness. In jazz they are even more special – a gentle, admiring nod, a supportive smile, a clever handover to a solo, the coming together to reach a final crescendo. Those moments, that unique relationship made this performance especially electrifying.

Imagine Tedeschi alone at the piano in the centre of the synagogue. The lights dimmed as he plays the first few notes of “Basin Street Blues”. Then from the back of the great building the high, clear note of the trumpet reverberating! What a beginning! And it just got better! Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm” saw all three coming together. Jodrell swaying, Undy almost dancing with his beautiful 150 year-old bass, Tedeschi’s heel tapping as he took the notes deeper and lower before handing over to the bass for a stunning solo … “Who could ask for anything more?”

But it came! The slow, sultry notes of Gershwin’s “Summertime” conjuring lazy, languid memories. Cole Porter’s “Dream Dancing” introducing a less well-known gem from the composer’s repertoire. Jerome Kern’s “Nobody But Me” letting the piano set the pace with the trumpet and bass calling and answering in a piece that really roused the audience.

Tedeschi added a classical moment after that with Claude Debussy’s gentle “Footprints in the Snow” its three-note opening motif and more complex middle section allowing the muted trumpet and bass to call to each other over the soft, clear notes of the piano. A solo by Tedeschi playing “Clair de Lune” ended his “classical interlude”.

Then it was back to jazz of a different kind with Fats Waller’s strangely titled, but much loved by jazz aficionados, “Jitterbug Waltz”. Here that special communication between the three was visual as well as musical as they smiled at each other with every variation.

“The Preacher” by Horace Silver brought a faster, deeper tempo and tone that had the musicians almost laughing as they played and swayed to its pulsing beat that was a great introduction to the finale, Duke Ellington’s famous, toe-tapping “C Jam Blues”.

It was a brilliant way to bring the “wonderful world” they had recreated to an end. They had recalled the spirit of a special musical era – and restored the spirits of a very appreciative Sydney audience.

How fortuitous that Vladimir Fanshil and Eleanor Lyons’ original idea to present live music in a safe way during the Covid pandemic has led to Live at Yours and the outstanding line up of local and international artists it brings to audiences across Australia.

Check the website www.liveatyours.com.au to see what Live in 2025 has in store.

First published in Stage Whispers magazine

By Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss. Louise Withers, Michael Coppel and Linda Bewick, by arrangement with Kenny Wax, Wendy and Andy Barnes and George Styles. Theatre Royal, Sydney. Opening Night: 30 October, 2024

Reviewed : 30 October, 2024*

It’s easy to see – and hear – why Six, its queens and their Ladies in Waiting have been wowing audiences around the world since its debut at the Edinburgh Festival in 2017! How clever of Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss to turn history around and write about the wives of Henry VIII rather than their errant husband!

How clever to make it a rock musical that almost passes the Bechdel Test! Because though the queens do mention the man they married, the stories they tell are not about him. There’s “N,N,N, No Way” that the king features strongly in their stories! And there is nothing dull about those stories. They are clever and witty, told in a punchy “pop concert” beat and language that thumbs its nose at historians who have side-lined women for years.

While the first Australian production of Six was presented in the snug stage of the Studio at the Opera House, this production bursts brightly onto the much larger stage of the Theatre Royal. “It fits very nicely into the space,” says Associate Director Sharon Millerchip of this sassy satire vividly festooned with contemporary theatrical magic.

The set is electric! Designer Emma Bailley calls it an “intimate tech-pop Tudor court” which she wraps around the stage like a mini electrified amphitheatre where the queens and their musical Ladies in Waiting work together in time, tempo and sparkling colour.’

Costume designer Gabriella Slade created the incredible costumes that have become a Six symbol. Every queen has her own colour and individual design quirks that Slade says “reflect moments” of their story or personality. Aragon has enlarged shoulders that “reflects tradition and steeliness”. Seymour’s costume suggests the lines of Tudor architecture. Anne of Cleves is cheeky in thigh high boots and chains. Boleyn wears a choker!

Every costume is intricately constructed, including the cunningly concealed pouch in each waistband that holds their hand-held microphone. Studs, chains, crystals and lights glitter on corsetry, skirts, moulded shoulder pads and platform boots as the queens belt out their signature songs and move faultlessly together in precise, fast choreography. This is their history and it’s written with a brash, new pen!

They are portrayed by six of Australia’s highly trained, exuberant arts sorority. Kimberley Hodgson is the determined, defiant Catherine of Aragon. Deidre Koo returns to the Royal as a strong, feisty Anne Boleyn. Loren Hunter is the loving and (supposedly) loved Jane Seymour. Zelia Rose Kitoko is a sassy, Teutonic Anne of Cleves. Chelsea Dawson plays the much-maligned Katherine Howard and Giorgia Kennedy is a calm, intelligent Catherine Parr.

With their Ladies in Waiting at their backs – keys (Heidi Maguire, Claire Healy), drums (Kathryn Stammers), guitar (Danielle Colligan) and Bass (Ann Metry) – the six queens enter in a flash of electronics to greet an excited first night audience.

‘Hello Sydney!’ calls one just as Taylor Swift did earlier this year. “Get ready for a story you may have studied for your HSC!” says another. They know their audience and are prepared to give them just what they expect – fine, clear voices, fast, co-ordinated movement, lots of sass and chutzpah … and a story that is much fairer and decidedly more upbeat than the old rhyme “divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived”!

See Six and be impressed not just by the clever idea, the music, the costumes, the colour and energy but by the talented Australian queens who really rock this bit of history!

First published in Stage Whispers magazine.

*Opening Night

By Dipika Guha. National Theatre of Parramatta and La Boite Theatre. Director: Mina Morita Riverside Theatres Parramatta. 17-27 Oct, 2024

Reviewed : 19 October, 2024*

Yoga Play is just as the LA Times described it: “a fresh new comedy with a sharp cultural bite.”  The satire of the first act becomes laugh-out-loud comedy in the second act, making it a couple of hours of entertainment with cracks at political correctness, marketing techniques and social and cultural expectations.

laywright Dipika Guha creates satirical characters that mirror human foibles and eccentricities but gives them a script that is fun, funny and artistically demanding all at the same time. Celebrated American director Mina Morita realises all of that in this in a tight, carefully styled production that is fast and colourful and technically precise.

The set and costumes designed by James Lew allow the action to be centred in a compact, circular space with clean, clear lines that are accentuated in the cut and colour of the costumes. Kate Baldwin’s lighting emphasises the satirical, corporate brashness of some scenes and the sardonic social mockery of others. With sound designer Will Hughes adding special atmospheric effects and Mark Bolotin’s clever multimedia effects, this creative team gives Mina Morita the perfect setting to present her vision of what she describes as Guha’s “brilliant and kaleidoscopic comedy”.

Morita’s direction mirrors the clarity and style of Guha’s writing. Every action is designed to find the humour and satire in the words as well as the different comical but realistic dimensions of the characters. Pace and clarity are essential in any comedy, but especially in so in social satire. Morita’s direction is exact and defined and her cast obviously relish her clear vision of the play and her insightful and precise directions.

Andrea Moor brings wide experience on stage and screen to the production as Joan, the new CEO of Jojomon, specialist purveyors of yoga gear. Her task is to rescue the company after a social scandal. Moor shows Joan’s tension in taut, contained action and delivery that satirises the comedy of ambition and risk-taking while still showing the fragility of those who have that power. Moor anchors the production with a strong, perfectly timed performance.

Nat Jobe returns to Riverside as Raj, the company CFO who Joan pressures, somewhat cruelly, into taking on a ‘role’ that is well and truly beyond the call of duty. Jobe has excellent comic timing, whether playing the straight, eager-to-be-helpful Raj – or the very different character that Joan forces him to portray. His clear voice and expressive face and excellent use of pause are important assets in this production.

Jemwel Danao plays Fred, the “Chinese-Indian” migrant anxious to impress in order for his visa to be renewed and a green card. Danao too has a fine sense of timing and comedy which he uses effectively, especially in short private break-time discussions with Raj in Act 1 – and in an especially funny scene with Jobe and Camilla Ponte Alvarez in the second act.

Alvarez plays a number of roles, but shines as Romola, the yoga teacher Joan singles out to make her risky plan succeed. Alvarez is lithe and athletic as well as matching the comedic action and character required of this role that requires excellent timing and discrete action.

Thomas Larkin plays a very swamy, on leave company manager – and a very unexpected yoga guru. His control and almost imperceptive silent answers to questions added quiet smiles that juxtaposed the more ‘active’ comedy of other scenes.

Yoga Play is funny and satirical. It is well-written and this production is a fine example of good comedy well-directed and well-acted. What a pity there were only a few days on which to catch it!

Also published in Stage Whispers magazine

*Opening Night

By Samuel Adamson. New Theatre, Newtown, NSW. 8 October – 2 November, 2024

Reviewed : 13 October, 2024

‘Tis often said that when Nora Helmer walked out and slammed the door at the end of Henrik Ibsen’s Doll’s House in 1879 the sound reverberated all over Europe. A woman who left her husband? Walked out on her children? Rejected social customs? Sought independence?  Despite public outcry at the time, Nora became a feminist hero – and Samuel Adamson uses her as a symbol of marginalised groups in the society struggling for recognition and respect.

Adamson’s play is complex. It evolves over 83 years, four time frames and four productions of The Doll’s House. Each production raises different questions of identity and acceptance for Adamson’s characters, straight and queer.

Sound complicated? It is. Mainly because some of the scenes are over-written, with salient points being obscured in unnecessarily repetitive dialogue that wears the actors, especially when they are playing multiple roles. And it questions the intelligence of the audience! There is no need for repetition in those scenes. The messages therein are clear – and the audience “gets it” as the play progresses.

The play begins with a 1959 production of Ibsen’s play and its effect on a young wife, Daisy, and her belligerent husband. Daisy’s conversation with the actress playing Nora forces her to make a decision which affects her future and … as Adamson cleverly suggests … the future of succeeding generations of her family when they see the play in 1988, 2019 and 2042.

Six actors take the audience through those 83 years on a set designed by David Marshall-Martin to resemble an old-fashioned doll’s house, the colourful, picture book exterior opening out to reveal the rooms inside that take the actors backstage in 1959 and 2042, in bars in 1988 and 2019.

In those settings the cast of six – Julia Vosnakis, Imogen Trevillion, Will Manton, Pete Walters, Henry Lopez Lopez and Alison Brooker – play 14 characters in scenes that deal with the oppression of abuse, condescension, derision, discrimination, vilification – and, thankfully, the discovery of confidence and acceptance.

Though there are some minor moments of awkward blocking in the scene changes, the characters presented are clear and director Darrin Redgate ensures that the moments of humour and wit are found amongst the sometimes circumlocutious dialogue.

Wife is built on a clever premise and Redgate and his cast navigate its rocky patches relatively successfully.

Screenplay by Betty Comden and Adolf Green. Songs by Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed. Willoughby Theatre Company. Director: Declan Moore. The Concourse Chatswood. 12-27 October, 2024

Reviewed : 12 October, 2024*

Willoughby Theatre Company has done it again! This production has real class. Declan Moore, with his cast and crew, has captured the gentle charm and tapping pace that has made Singin’ in the Rain so loved since Gene Kelly, Donald O’Connor, Debbie Reynolds and Jean Hagen made it such a hit in 1952.

From the choreography and the continuity to the colour and the costumes and the comedy and charisma, this production has class … and rain! It is obvious that no expense has been spared – and that an inordinate amount of time has gone into the planning and time needed to recreate what designer Neil Shotter aptly calls “the vibrant spirit and charm of the original film”.

To do that, Shotter, Moore and WTC’s president Scott Richmond have set the production in a vintage film studio, complete with backdrops, posters and screens.  Shotter studied “the intricate engineering of water catchment systems” to generate the rain – and multiple layers of waterproofing to contain it – managing to create “something that the Concourse hasn’t seen before”.

That attention to detail is evident throughout the production, including the filming for the two silent movies that are intrinsic to the plot. It must have been fun for those involved to work with the costumes, the wigs, the sword fighting and a completely different dramatic style.

The choreographers, Moore himself and Amy Curtin, the musical director, Jeremy Curtin, lighting designers Matt Lutz and Sean Clarke and technical director Linus Karsai head the long list of technicians, operators and assistants that collaborated to realise Moore’s dream. They should be more than happy with the result. They have given the cast a wonderful set on which to work – and they work hard!

Matthew de Meyrick plays Don Lockwood, the silent movie actor whose name has been linked romantically with his co-star, Lina Lamont, played with feisty sassiness – and excellent comic timing – by Nikole Music. Taryn-Lea Bright is Kathy Selden, who steals Lockwood’s heart with her lovely voice and honesty – and becomes the brunt of Lamont’s jealous rage. Jerome Studdy plays Cosmo Brown, Lockwood’s talented sidekick who never seems to get the romantic breaks.

All four work cleverly together, establishing clear characters as they sing and dance their way through a first act that establishes their relationships – and the effect of the introduction of the ‘talkies’ on silent movie companies and their stars.

De Meyrick and Bright, in the straight, romantic roles, carry their characters from an awkward meeting on a park bench and various misunderstandings until they find each other in You Were Meant for Me. Music and Studdy create the comedy, Music by sustaining Lamont’s brassy, high-pitched, nasal voice and temperamental reactions – Studdy with some amazing dancing, clever acrobatic pratfalls and excellent use of pause and comic timing

Lachlan Leighton plays frustrated movie producer R.F. Simpson and Samuel Dobb uses comic pause most effectively to create a very funny Roscoe Dexter. Adrian Davis is the diction teacher whose tongue twisters lead de Meyrick and Studdy into the nimble wording of Moses Supposes and the even more nimble tap routine that goes with it.

Sarah Dolan is Lamont’s “pal” Zelda, Melissa Glinn is Lamont’s elocution teacher Miss Dinsmore and Jillian Narezzi introduces the show as radio journalist Dora Bailey.

With Aleksander Justin and Tianna Koolloos, they lead a supporting ensemble of thirty-seven singers and dancers who play a variety of characters and perform some very demanding dance routines – including the finale where they, along with the principals, are all “dancin’ and singing’ in the rain”.

Singin’ in the Rain is a much-loved musical that portrays a little bit of movie history as well as well as giving musical theatre some of its most loved songs.

Willoughby Theatre Company’s production under the direction and vision of Declan Moore is true to both the original movie and the musical itself. As well as a very classy production – and an amazing amount of rain – expect the ladder, the lamppost, the two-toned tap shoes, and forty-nine yellow raincoats, rainhats, black and yellow wellington boots and some pink umbrellas!

First published in Stage Whispers magazine

*Opening Night