Nina Culley

When Red Stitch Actors' Theatre put on Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in late 2023, the gripping play enjoyed a critically acclaimed run. Now, in a historic partnership between Red Stitch, GWB Entertainment and Andrew Henry Presents, the production is returning for a mainstage commercial season at the Comedy Theatre in June and July.   For the first time in Red Stitch's 23 year history, the Melbourne-born theatre company has secured a commercial partnership which will see the production transferred from its 80-seat converted church hall home, to a mainstage theatre. This landmark partnership is reminiscent of arrangements common in major theatre capitals like London and New York, where independent theatre productions often transfer to the mainstage. Time Out reviewed Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? during its initial run last year. Read on for our 2023 review of the production. The Red Stitch Actors' Theatre in St Kilda East – piled with books and boasting a fully stocked bar – sets the stage for a night of emotional warfare in Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The space is cosy, which will later prove constricting for bottle throwing and violent throttling, but works to confine Martha (Kat Stewart) and George (David Whiteley) in their suburban marital hell.  Albee’s script endures for its unflinching dissection of a marriage marred by rage anddisillusionment, sharpened with barbed insults and clever repartee. Debuting in 1962, theplay echoes the era’s anxieties

In her first stand-up hour since 2018, Celia Pacquola serves up a hilarious whirlwind tour of the past five years: lockdowns, a new relationship, a haunted house, butt-masks (yes, things got weird during covid), and the arrival of her daughter. With the regal Comedy Theatre in Melbourne as her backdrop, Pacquola kicks off with a “you’re welcome” for the early 6.30pm start time; she’s in her 40s now and in genial Celia fashion, appreciates that people prefer to be in pyjamas by 9pm.   The show picks up from where her 2018 set (All Talk) left off, with a palpable sense of urgency as Pacquola swiftly revisits the #MeToo movement and her personal mental health issues – both thankfully now “solved.” She rewinds to 2020, a year that Pacquola anticipated as “her year,” only to be marked by the global pandemic and, in her opinion, an equally newsworthy story: the year she won Dancing with the Stars. Thus begins the prelude of her adventures as a self-proclaimed “fun mum.”  Here, Pacquola flaunts her trademark candour and quirkiness, regaling the crowd with flawed logic like a kicking system that dictates her meat consumption and the finding and returning of a lost cat. The decisively delirious tone of the set underscores her ill-preparedness for navigating parent groups, arguments with her smart home, and the moral quandaries of parenting. There’s a begrudging yet good-humoured intertwining of Pacquola’s dismissal from Bluey, having been initially offered the role of Chilli, now famo

It’s hard to imagine how a memoir spanning Maxine Beneba Clarke’s formative years could translate from page to stage. Yet, in the very capable hands of Beneba Clarke herself, alongside her creative team, this theatrical adaptation of The Hate Race not only taps into what’s so special about the source material but also stands as a powerful piece of storytelling in its own right. From the lighter moments of sneaking treats into your mum’s shopping cart to the raw reality of microaggressions and outright aggression, this production delves into the nuances of growing up diasporic in Australia. While you might expect a tender exploration of human connection and the struggle to fit in and more pertinently to survive, what takes you by surprise is the humour that springs from this truly joyful production.  Zoë Rouse’s simplistic set with the psychedelia of the ‘70s and ‘80s is the perfect backdrop for this one-person show that unfolds with all the richness of Afro-Caribbean tradition, blending poetry, ’90s music, sound effects and dance. Zahra Newman (The Book of Mormon, Wake in Fright and the audiobook version of The Hate Race), plays young Beneba Clarke with playfulness and vulnerability. Newman morphs into a multitude of characters, whipping from schoolyard bullies to her actress mother and brash PE teacher. You’ll clock this change not only by the flick of her accent, but in the actor’s physicality and facial transformations.  Under the expert co-direction of Tariro Mavondo and