Oh yes, there’s some lovely theatre on at the moment. I’ve been lucky enough to see a bunch of it. Here are my top picks.
Twelfth Night – Sport For Jove
I always recommend Sport For Jove, because they are really that good. Breathing fresh air into Shakespeare that will make you laugh, gasp and cringe. Gorgeous design, fast paced and sexy. All you could want. I saw this production in Leura last year and loved every minute of it. Its the perfect combination of visual gags, clever twists and 60s beach wear!
Pete the Sheep – Monkey Baa
Meant for kids, but one of the most enjoyable things I’ve seen! I had a huge smile on my face for the entire duration, the fast paced physical comedy and witticisms was a winning combination. The endless sheep puns had everyone in stitches and the cast did a fantastic job presenting cartoon depictions of sheep, dogs and shearers in snappy succession. The set was used to its full potential and attracted a round of applause during the main scene change. The show tunes and choreography were equally hilarious, and again, superbly executed by the cast.
Borrow a small child, niece or neighbour will do, this is definitely one for the diary.
Interplay – Sydney Dance Company
Following on from the brilliant Cactus last year, Interplay is another triple bill with a number of the same creative team on board. Sydney Dance Company delivers on spectacle and content once again. The three acts are all very different and distinctive, but an exciting and stimulating journey as you travel from beauty, to thriller, to the absurd. The second work was a dystopic portrait that had me on the edge of my seat. Zoe Coombs Marr featuring in the final piece was a bit of a surprise and a great way to top off a fun night. Awe inspiring and playful, funny and magnificent.
Noises Off – Sydney Theatre Company
I know its seems almost physically impossible for so many fantastic shows to be on at once, but Noises Off is also playing until the end of the week and is ridiculous. Ridiculously funny, silly and clever. A farce within a farce, this witty and fast moving comedy was so stimulating you’ll be on the edge of your chair trying to keep up. I found the brilliant writing and genius twists to be reminiscent of Tom Stoppard at his best. If you think the first scene is amusing, wait until you return from interval to find the set turned around and the whole thing playing out again from behind. Very amusing to anyone, but this show will perhaps bring a special bit of joy to theatre workers, who may have seen the farce played out in real life once or twice before anyway.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LiRWWCslao?feature=player_detailpage]
Alls Well That Ends Well – Sport For Jove
A Shakespeare play where chances are, you won’t already know the story line. This little performed play is unusual, but very interesting. At times darkly comedic, but then at other times, just plain fucked up. It will have you musing on the skewed morality and ambiguous characters for a long while after the applause fades away. An ambitious undertaking, I doubt many other companies could have produced an All’s Well that was such a powerful rollercoaster of power, sex and violence.
Worth a mention is the very cool design, with a versatile cube as the foundation and very evocative sets built from there. Lots of full frontal male nudity. If you’re into that kind of thing.