Melbourne theatre, musical and dance reviews

To be clear, we didn't need to rereview Magic Mike Live. Having had its Australian premiere in Sydney at the start of 2021 months ago with the same cast, it’s arguable that our resources might be better spent elsewhere. Damn the resources. Magic Mike Live is the most fun a girl (or a guy!) can have in a tent. This show is physically magnificent and emphatically women-focused (almost) from the get-go. We say almost, because a cheeky bluff at the beginning has you double guessing what you've signed up for – but it’s a ruse that's swiftly clarified as the cast of charismatic dancers shake, grind and thrust through 90 minutes of pure, unadulterated celebration of the human form.  That form is largely male, but Magic Mike Live also features some cleverly inserted female dancers who are more than on par with the masculine stars of the show. The cast was certainly fortunate to pick out certain “audience participants” so skilled in contemporary dance – most notably a formidably liquid Clare Bilson, who brings down the house in a breathtaking performance with an equally dynamic Anthony Bartley (the “Mike” for our performance).  Magic Mike Live declares "you can have whatever you want", and it delivers on that statement. Host Alexia and her imaginary unicorn lead the mostly female audience through a journey seen from the female gaze, with a narrative thread steeped in sensuality and respect. The live show is based off the two smash hit Magic Mike films, starring dancer-turned-actor Cha

Australian theatre has a tendency to churn through new works and spit them out the back end; very few of our plays get remounted compared to countries like the US or the UK, so the layers of silt required for them to become “classics” never has the chance to build. Andrew Bovell’s 2008 When the Rain Stops Falling is one of the exceptions, having been restaged plenty of times both nationally and internationally since its debut in Adelaide. It isn’t hard to see why: a work of shimmering humanism and pathos, it only increases in urgency as the planet tilts further towards its own destruction. Environmental destruction and intergenerational neglect are certainly prominent themes, but Bovell is far too smart a playwright to lash us with didacticism. Humanity’s inability to deal with trauma on a global scale is mirrored by the characters’ taciturn responses to their own grief, and the tomb-like silence that befalls them underscores their crushing sense of bewilderment. Under Briony Dunn’s thoughtful direction, these people’s emotional dissociation is not only credible, it’s quietly compelling. The plot is complex, spanning as it does multiple generations from 1959 London to 2039 Alice Springs. We have two characters named Gabriel and one named Gabrielle. We have older and younger versions of characters existing on the same playing space. And yet, with a little adjustment and some concentration, the audience can quite easily follow the emotional journeys, which largely consist of va

Update 15/06/21: Performances of Because the Night have been affected due to Victoria's fourth lockdown. Ticket holders for shows dated May 28 to June 17 are impacted and will be contacted regarding new dates. Performances are expected to resume June 18. There’s been a lot of hype about Because the Night, Malthouse Theatre’s new production where the audience can freely explore an immersive set while the cast perform around them. “Immersive” really is the word here, and for once the oft overused term doesn’t feel like a gimmick – nor does the intensely detailed open set undermine the integrity of the production. Because the Night is undeniably a work of theatre, but one that approaches the art with a bolt of inspiration that will attract new audiences to the discipline.  It’s apparent from the get go that Because the Night is unlike any production Australian audiences have seen before. The audience are split into three groups, each entering the performance from a different location. Ushers provide each person with a dark robe and Donnie Darko-style black rabbit mask to cover their face – apart from serving to differentiate audience from cast, the costume immediately puts visitors in the right headspace; goodbye Melbourne, hello Elsinore.  If you’ve seen Melbourne’s 2019 season of A Midnight Visit or even been lucky enough to attend Punch Drunk’s Sleep No More in New York, you’ll get the drill. The cast of six – which when we attended was Keegan Joyce (Hamlet), Nicole Nabout (C

Update 21/07/2021: Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes is available to stream via MTC Digital Theatre until July 27. Head to the website to book your digital video pass. Content note: this review discusses sexual harassment and assault.  There has been so much awful, really stomach-churning sexual violence in our public spheres lately – from the perversity of Weinstein and Epstein, to our own stinking corridors of power – that it feels like we may be wading too deep in the sewage by even going to a play called Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes. But Canadian playwright Hannah Moscovitch has fashioned a charged two-hander that burrows into the systemic power imbalances that gave rise to the #MeToo movement without making us feel dirty in the process. Whether she burrows deep enough, indeed, whether we should feel so cleanly entertained after this kind of exploration, is a question that lingers after the lights go pointedly down. The first thing that strikes you as the play begins is that Jon (Dan Spielman), the “rockstar lecturer” and acclaimed author who quite clearly represents the power in this power dynamic, is for a long time the only one speaking, and that he refers to himself in the third person. It’s a curious choice from a play that has been written in the wake of #MeToo. Jon doesn’t only hold status over his nineteen year-old student Annie (Izabella Yena); as the authorial voice and central character in the play, he holds status over us too. In so many ways,

The first rule of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is that you don’t talk about Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Safeguarding spoilers is an expected responsibility for anyone who attends the Potter-verse’s first on-stage outing. There’s even a hashtag: #KeepTheSecrets. But in truth (as far as theatre critique is concerned, at least), JK Rowling needn’t have worried. This marathon, five-hour spectacle has a plot so dense and sprawling, so wonderfully, unashamedly elaborate, it would take many thousands of words more than any theatre review to even scratch the surface. While we may have been sworn to secrecy about Cursed Child’s plot, we can reveal that the hype – and rarely has a piece of theatre ever generated such fever-pitched buzz – is entirely deserved. And not just because of the quality of the production. The masterminds behind the show – led by Rowling, playwright Jack Thorne and director John Tiffany – have not merely set out to put on a play, but rather craft a rich and detailed immersive experience. To this end, Melbourne’s Princess Theatre has undergone a top to bottom $6.5 million makeover, transforming its interiors to match a Hogwartsian, Potterfied aesthetic. If this sounds like an unnecessary extravagance, it’s probably an indication this play isn’t for you. The success of Cursed Child, which has smashed box office records on Broadway and the West End, is powered by its unapologetic exclusivity. Those without any prior knowledge of Harry and co will be baf