Tag Archives: theatre

The Story of the Miracles at Cookie’s Table @ QPAC, Brisbane 14-30 October 2010


A powerful play about family and culture and the ways in which storytelling binds people together” – The Australian

Purcell delivers a startlingly powerful performance” – Daily Telegraph

Award-winning Queensland actor and director Leah Purcell (Box the Pony, King Lear, Black Chicks Talking) will direct and star in Bungabura Production’s new presentation of Wesley Enoch’s powerful drama The Story of the Miracles at Cookie’s Table at Queensland Performing Arts Centre’s (QPAC) Cremorne Theatre from 14 – 30 October 2010.

This powerful family saga spans four generations and is a moving testament to culture lived, lost and found and the strength of a family adapting and gathering together.

First produced by Griffin and Hothouse Theatre Company, this new production of The Story of the Miracles at Cookie’s Table offers a compelling theatre experience that encapsulates themes of ownership, heritage, culture and sexuality.

QPAC Chief Executive John Kotzas said that QPAC is very pleased to be presenting this work because of its cultural significance for Queensland and the Centre’s longstanding relationship with Bungabura Productions.

The Story of the Miracles at Cookie’s Table is an immensely important piece of theatre –a story about families that transcends cultures,” said Kotzas.

In the 1870s a girl is born under a tree, which is cut down to become a kitchen table. Generations later, a young man and his mother fight for ownership of the table.

Winner of Patrick White Playwrights Award 2005 and short listed for both the New South Wales and Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, The Story of the Miracles at Cookie’s Table was written by renowned Queensland-born director and playwright, Wesley Enoch, who was recently appointed as the new Artistic Director of Queensland Theatre Company.

Wesley Enoch said the Story of the Miracles at Cookie’s Table has a mix between a strong naturalistic narrative of connection and a long imaginative storytelling about family and heritage. I was trying to write a piece about the emotional power of stories to bind a family together through hardship and adversity. Leah Purcell is one of the country’s best actors and she has created a character in a way that goes beyond what I could imagine as a writer,” said Enoch.

Director and lead actor Leah Purcell, whose portrayal of Annie has been described by reviewers as startlingly powerful, received a Helpmann Award for Best Actress in a Play in 2008.

“I am very proud of winning a Helpmann Award because I worked extremely hard to bring Annie to life, but being conscious of not making her character a cliché.

“This play is a universal story for all. It’s gutsy, it packs a punch or two, it’s laugh-out loud funny and takes you on an emotional journey as Annie and Nathan re-connect from being estranged for many years,” said Purcell.

“The Story of the Miracles at Cookie’s Table is a great yarn and a theatre experience worth seeing, whether you are a regular to the Arts or if you are experiencing theatre for the first time, this is something worth seeing,” she said.

QPAC presents
Wesley Enoch’s
THE STORY OF THE MIRACLES AT COOKIE’S TABLE
A Bungabura Production
Starring and directed by Leah Purcell

Winner Patrick White Playwrights Award 2005
Winner Helpmann Award Best Actress in a Play 2008

WHEN 14 to 30 October
WHERE
Cremorne Theatre, QPAC, Cultural Centre, South Bank
TICKETS*
Adult $49 Concession $39
Matinees – Adult $39/Concession $29
Schools $18
BOOKINGS 136 246 or www.qpac.com.au

*Ticket price includes GST and Booking Fee. Please note transaction fees may apply

Please note this performance contains strong language.


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Polarity @ The Judith Wright Centre, Brisbane 13th September 2010 – Live Review

Review: Lana Harris

  The performance starts in enmeshed innocence, dancer wrapped around dancer, cheek to cheek, limb to limb, ebbing and flowing into one another. Behind these demonstrations of closeness sits a man alone in a chair. Far away from him is a woman in a lounge room setting – flickering lamp, thick rug, and a lonely expression. They both ignore the blatant yet playful seduction occurring in front of them. The dancers too, are oblivious to these others: wrapped up in the intensity of their unfolding romance, their focus remains themselves and their explorations. There is no question we are watching the beginnings of love.

Continue reading Polarity @ The Judith Wright Centre, Brisbane 13th September 2010 – Live Review

Betrayal @ The Cremorne Theatre, Brisbane 10th September 2010 – Live Review


[Image courtesy Queensland Theatre Company]
  Review: Lana Harris

Silence, with its lack of apparent weightiness, is often the hiding place for what we don’t want to acknowledge. Guilt, fear and secrets hide in silence, and so it is fitting that silence plays a pivotal role in a tale which features these elements of duplicity.

Presented by the Queensland Theatre Company, Betrayal is Harold Pinter’s tale of a love triangle. The narrative reveals itself through scenes played out in a stream opposite to the usual: the end at the beginning, flowing through to the beginning at the end. Emma (Sibylla Budd) is married to Robert (Hugh Parker) but commits to an affair with Jerry (Paul Bishop), who is also Robert’s best friend. Emma’s betrayal of her husband is not the only disloyalty. At various points, each pair are pitted against the third person and in doing so, betray not just the others but themselves too.

While on the surface it reads like a tabloid scandal or a soap opera plot, Pinter’s treatment of this uncomfortable subject is both poignant and powerful. We are invited into intimate pivotal moments, witnesses to calculated weavings of pretended innocence and voyeurs of collapsing secrets, the awkward truth bursting illusions. The strength of the acting in these scenes forces the audience to forge emotional responses to these events – responses which seep out as nervous laughter or a sick feeling in the stomach. Parker, in particular, plays his character well, demonstrating a raw and believable portrayal of the cuckold’s agony coupled with a darkly amusing resilience.

Pinter leaves the why of affairs largely untouched, with no hints of moralising. Betrayal is more a sign-posted journey through the features of love, both illicit and sanctioned. Apparently, the play has echoes of Pinter’s own life in it (he was ‘Jerry’) and so it was with first hand experience that Pinter has clearly depicted the chase for devotion and satisfaction.

A great tension soaks Betrayal, with what’s not said often meaning just as much as what is uttered. It is in these moments that the silence of the theatre becomes the most important player on the stage. Realisations occur and each person in the room is aware of the silent roar of intense feeling. At such moments, it was so quiet you could hear the truth sink in. Betrayal’s surreptitiousness proves riveting.

Review: Lana Harris

Show: Betrayal
Venue: Cremorne Theatre, QPAC
Date: 10th September 2010


Related:
Betrayal By Harold Pinter @ Cremorne Theatre, Brisbane – 6 Sept-9 Oct 2010 – Press Release



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Gwen in Purgatory @ Roundhouse Theatre, Brisbane 30 Sept-24 Oct 2010

  “I’ve used the oven manual for the air conditioner and I’m roasting myself alive!”

Tommy Murphy is one of Australia’s most impressive playwrights: canny, dangerous and very funny. His plays include Holding the Man, one of the great success stories of recent Australian theatre with a very successful season in London’s West End earlier this year.

We’re thrilled to be co-producing his terrific new play with the legendary Company B Belvoir, directed by Australia’s finest director, Neil Armfield. Neil is fresh from his Broadway triumph with Exit the King, which starred Queensland’s Geoffrey Rush.

Gwen is 90. She woke up to discover that purgatory is sitting in a new house in a new subdivision, trying to work out if the remote in her hand operates the TV, the air-con or the fan-forced oven. As she muddles her way through the baffling technology, her family gathers around to battle over what’s going to happen next. Father Ezekiel is on his way to bless the house, so things are looking up…

“Full of laughs but also extremely emotional, Gwen In Purgatory is the best play to hit a Sydney stage this year.” The Daily Telegraph

“9/10…Melissa Jaffer is hilarious as Gwen, a feisty senior citizen with selective hearing and prone to misunderstandings, both real and deliberate. The comedy is truly Australian, pitched close to vintage ABC sitcom Mother and Son…Highly recommended” Sun-Herald

“Gwen is the story, I suspect, of every family. Or is it just mine?…Funny, very funny…I can’t think of another playwright who’s a keener, more insightful observer of Australian suburban life, let alone one who can document it so redolently…Gwen In Purgatory is a play for and about all of us. It is warm, funny, sad, tragic, poignant, moving and unsettling. Just like our lives. Life on the page, or stage, doesn’t get any better than this. This is the (very) real deal. A+” – Curtain Call

“Neil Armfield’s production is just about perfect, and exceptionally well cast. Melissa Jaffer combines radiance and dodderiness as Gwen. The bemused and homesick Nigerian priest Ezekiel (Pacharo Mzembe) and Gwen’s knockabout grandson, Daniel (Nathaniel Dean), are warmly drawn. Grant Dodwell is spot-on appalling as Gwen’s son, Laurie, and Sue Ingleton exhibits brilliant timing as the self-flagellating Peg.” Sydney Morning Herald

Production Credits
Director | Neil Armfield
Set Designer | Stephen Curtis
Costume Designer | Bruce McKinven
Lighting Designer | David Walters
Sound Designer | Paul Charlier
Assistant Director | Cristabel Sved

With | Grant Dodwell, Nathaniel Dean, Sue Ingleton, Melissa Jaffer and Pacharo Mzembe

Venue
Roundhouse Theatre, 6 – 8 Musk Avenue,
Kelvin Grove Urban Village

PERFORMANCE DATES
Preview 29 September
Opening Night 30 September
Season 30 September – 24 October
After Show Discussion Night 8 October

PERFORMANCE TIMES
Tuesday – Wednesday 6.30pm
Thursday – Saturday 7.30pm
Sunday 5pm
Matinees 11am 5, 12 & 19 October
2pm Saturday 23 October

DURATION
1 hour 45 mins, no interval

TICKETS
Preview $25
Opening Night $63 (includes VIP party)
Full Price $46
Concession $39
30 years and under $26
Group discounts $40 for 5+ (excludes group booking fee)

Phone bookings (07) 3007 8600

For Full details, visit La Boite Theatre Company

Sylvia – at the Brisbane Arts Theatre from 11th September 2010

Sylvia By A.R. Gurney

  Greg, middle-aged and middle-class, returns to his Upper West Side apartment in the late afternoon accompanied by Sylvia, a beautiful, frisky young blonde he has just picked up in the park. Greg sits in his favourite chair, worried about how Kate, his wife, is going to respond to Sylvia.

Sylvia doesn’t make things easy. Too excited to settle down, she moves around the room checking out the furniture. She turns to Greg. She obediently collapses onto the floor, resting her chin on his knee, while staring up at him with blind adoration. What man could resist?

A street-smart mixture of Lab and Poodle, Sylvia becomes a major bone of contention between husband and wife.

Continue reading Sylvia – at the Brisbane Arts Theatre from 11th September 2010

Betrayal By Harold Pinter @ Cremorne Theatre, Brisbane – 6 Sept-9 Oct 2010

  Betrayal – By Harold Pinter

Overview:

Could you keep an affair secret for ten years? Would you start an affair if you knew how it would end?

Harold Pinter’s Betrayal explores these questions and more as it shows a passionate love affair told in reverse, starring Paul Bishop, Sibylla Budd and Hugh Parker.

Robert and Jerry share many things – they work in publishing, have long lunches together and are both in love with Robert’s wife Emma.

Continue reading Betrayal By Harold Pinter @ Cremorne Theatre, Brisbane – 6 Sept-9 Oct 2010

Jesus Christ Superstar @ Playhouse Theatre, 20th August 2010 – Live Review

Review: Lana Harris

Rocking great guitar riffs fill the sold out venue, slow notes trembling across the grey walls of a ruined cathedral set, preparing the audience to receive the voice of Tod Strike. As Judas, he opens the narrative by launching into ‘Heaven on Their Minds’, a song which allows Strike to demonstrate a truly commanding voice and worthy of one of the lead roles in this production.

  This reimagining of the original production of Jesus Christ Superstar (first performed in 1971) has a pared back, post apocalyptic set that doesn’t change, and puts the focus on the singing, as does the score – which tells the whole narrative by using more than 20 songs to move the story forward. Not a single piece of dialogue is presented without a backing melody. The basic storyline is easy to follow – easier if you’re familiar with the story of Jesus, because even though this is a post apocalyptic version of a musical first performed in the seventies based on an interpretation of a book written centuries ago, the plot is still the basic biblical storyline of Jesus gets famous, Jesus is betrayed by jealous best friend, Jesus is crucified as a result of the backstabber.

The post apocalyptic setting of this tale makes it easy to draw parallels between this and the lives of modern day celebrities. The scenes where the supporting cast forms a mosh pit as Jesus sings boost the resemblance.

Continue reading Jesus Christ Superstar @ Playhouse Theatre, 20th August 2010 – Live Review

Tap Dogs @ Capitol Theatre – Jan/Feb 2011


The beat of their tapping feet has reverberated around the world for 15 years, and now Australia’s TAP DOGS is returning home for a strictly limited season.

TAP DOGS, the internationally acclaimed dance sensation which has won 11 major international awards, created by Olivier Award winning choreographer Dein Perry, will set summer temperatures soaring from 5 January 2011 in a five-week season at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre. TAP DOGS is designed and directed by Nigel Triffitt.

It will also mark the return of Australia’s International film and theatre star Adam Garcia to the Sydney stage leading the TAP DOGS troupe. Continue reading Tap Dogs @ Capitol Theatre – Jan/Feb 2011

JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR @ QPAC Playhouse – 19th – 29th August 2010

Read our review: Jesus Christ Superstar @ Playhouse Theatre, 20th August 2010 – Live Review

  JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR @ QPAC Playhouse
19th – 29th August 2010, QPAC Playhouse
music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice

Over thirty years ago, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice wrote the greatest rock musical the world has ever known.

Almost ten years ago, Brisbane audiences experienced the remarkable voice of a then unknown young singer in the title role as Harvest Rain Theatre Company launched the career of one of the most successful male performers in Queensland.

Continue reading JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR @ QPAC Playhouse – 19th – 29th August 2010

John Waters – Brel @ Playhouse Theatre, 25th June 2010 [Live Review]

Review: Lana Harris

  The piano player starts up, an accordion bursts in, and by osmosis of memory into reality, the room is filled with a cloud of collective audience thoughts of France. Personal artistic journeys for one, a package holiday with Eiffel tower earrings for another, access to the iconic baguettes and berets for those who haven’t been. This is the invocative power of Jacques Brel, a Belgian musician and artist who created his songs in the language of love. Never heard of him? He is mostly known in the English speaking world through his songs which have been translated and interpreted, but performers of these works include Frank Sinatra and The Dresden Dolls among many others. John Waters’ memories of Brel and his works start from a hitchhiking experience in France where Waters overheard a street musician playing a song whose passion captivated him. The song was Brel’s.

Since that time Waters has embellished the original experience by seeing Brel perform live, and Waters now tours his own shows of Brel’s works. He performs them “as often as I can” and they are brought to Brisbane tonight as part of QPAC’s week long cabaret festival.

A broad selection of musicians have been gathered to help Waters convey the magic of Brel. The singer performs with an accordionist, pianist, percussionist, saxophonist and two guitarists, some of whom jump to other instruments as the songs necessitate. Waters moves like a marionette to their sounds, arms extended, hands waving, rake thin grey suit legs twisting and flicking at the mercy of his tapping, rolling, springing feet, French phrases spilling indiscriminately from his lips. He performs the first song with no introduction, using humorous gestures to convey that the song, in part at least, is about wine and women. Fortunately for those of us who do not speak French, the rest of the songs are introduced by Waters’ summary and interpretation of their lyrics. Waters, who has a background in acting as well as song (most recently, he was part of the TV movie UnderBelly: The Golden Mile) delivers these synopses alternatively in humorous, dramatic and irreverent ways, and the stories become as much a part of the show as the music is.

The first tale we hear is about a man, losing his virginity. In the army. In the Mobile Military Brothel. Waiting in line for the occasion, he listens as his commander yells out ‘Next!’ at irregular intervals until, shuffling forward naked except for a towel, his first foray into the carnal world is anointed with a case of venereal disease. “Looking back, the man sees his place in the world ‘Next!’, as one of the endless line of the following and the followed ‘Next!’, never to be number one.” It’s not easy to tell how much of the poetry is in the song, and how much comes from Waters’ skilled translation. The song and sounds that follow are more light and jaunty than seem fitting given the tale told beforehand. The next tale speaks of love, not new love but old love, the love between people who know all of each other’s tricks, how the games are played and how they end, and yet still retain play and passion “knowing its okay to grow old, but not to grow up”.
This tale is told with musical worship, all minor scales and melancholic yearning chords, complemented by the French verbs and accents falling from Waters’ lips.


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Even death was covered in the wide ranging themes: one tale started with a dead man reflecting on his life as he lay awaiting his funeral, another focused on the concept of the last meal, a last life experience, a last drink and love and irreverent yell at God and the bourgeois – Waters finished this performance by giving the finger to the crowd. While the songs themes were not always clearly linked to the sounds which accompanied them, it was interesting to note the format of the songs did not swing from verse to chorus and back again, but ebbed and flowed without a strong pattern
except for a swelling of sounds and emotions at the appropriate places in the often emotional tales. This was most evident in a song which Waters described as “Renoir on acid” – imagine a painter on drugs transforming the colours into words and rhymes. The music was a maelstrom, starting with a funny waltz introduction before invoking rich brass sounds, becoming forceful and frantic and building to a raucous, drunken finish as Waters hurtled his voice into the crowd.

Waters performing Brel was mind expanding. Experiencing songs without the burden of lyrics but with a poetic description of the intent was a unique experience which allowed both the beauty of the tales and panache and verve of the music to be appreciated separately. This was enhanced within the jazz styled form of following the story with the music rather than constraining it with choruses. Waters combined the best of his acting and voice talents to present an intriguing, amusing and enjoyable evening of cabaret.


“FAME – The Musical” @ The Lyric Theatre, QPAC June 22, 2010 [Live Review]

Review: Lana Harris
The general rule is that you can recycle a trend around about every thirty years. The late ‘90s saw the return of super flared jeans and platform shoes adapted from their 1970’s incarnations, and the final years of the 2000-2010’s saw 1980’s revivals turning everything fluro again, including ruched skirts and the accessories holding big hair in check. As the wardrobes of many of the theatregoers tonight attested, the 80’s success Fame: The Musical is ripe for a comeback. Bucking usual trends, Fame (the movie) actually came out first, then a TV series, and then the musical, and it’s worth noting that the story is not the same as the movie.
Continue reading “FAME – The Musical” @ The Lyric Theatre, QPAC June 22, 2010 [Live Review]

David Campbell – The Broadway Show @ Concert Hall, QPAC, Brisbane 7th August 2010

  David Campbell currently sits as Australia’s foremost entertainer. His past three albums have garnered multi-platinum status, and his position as one of the country’s most popular live performers is assured. Campbell’s next project takes him back to his natural home: Broadway.

Combining Campbell’s legacy as one of Broadway’s most acclaimed cabaret stars, and his status as a leading man of Australian musical theatre, the Broadway show promises to be a once in a lifetime project from an extraordinary performer.

Continue reading David Campbell – The Broadway Show @ Concert Hall, QPAC, Brisbane 7th August 2010

Tashi returns to Brisbane Powerhouse June-July 2010

Tashi has done it again! Up to his old tricks and adventures, Tashi comes up against some of his biggest challenges in Tashi, the Swan and the Dragon and Tashi and the Big Stinker. Imaginary Theatre brings the magic of this lovable character back to life once again at Brisbane Powerhouse from 29 June – 12 July 2010 for Powerkidz.

Back by popular demand, Brisbane-based children’s theatre company Imaginary Theatre bring energy and imagination to these much loved stories by writer Anna Fienberg. Each story is a different mini adventure for Tashi and his audience of 4 – 8 year olds. Continue reading Tashi returns to Brisbane Powerhouse June-July 2010

Neil LaBute’s Fat Pig @ Bille Brown Studio, Brisbane 31 May – 26 June 2010

A stingingly witty romance tackling some weighty matters.

When Tom meets Helen in a crowded restaurant, their chance encounter soon develops into a full-blown romance.

Helen is beautiful, smart, funny and just a little on the large size. But to Tom’s self-obsessed work buddies, she’s just plain gross.

As office gossip about their relationship turns increasingly malicious, peer pressure leads to question whether his love for Helen outweighs the shallow stereotypes of his workmates. Continue reading Neil LaBute’s Fat Pig @ Bille Brown Studio, Brisbane 31 May – 26 June 2010

Theatre Review: Waiting for Godot – Theatre Performance, 29th April 2010

Review: Lana Harris

Waiting for Godot   A play about nothing? It sounds like a Seinfeld spin off, but Waiting for Godot was actually written almost sixty years ago. At the time, entertainment which focused on absolutely nothing was a revolutionary idea: post millennium we’ve been exposed to more than our fair share of popular media centred on not much more than ordinary people talking amongst themselves. But as tonight’s performance shows, nothing can still be a captivating, entertaining concept. Hosted by the Queensland Theatre Company in their Bille Brown Studio in West End, Waiting for Godot is delivered to a room packed with an appreciative audience.

Waiting for Godot opens with a man sitting on a log, trying to remove his shoe and blathering nonsense syllables as he does so, while the other stands with his back turned,

Continue reading Theatre Review: Waiting for Godot – Theatre Performance, 29th April 2010