After a hit debut run at Belvoir Theatre in 2020, the new musical Fangirls has made its way to the larger Seymour Center in Sydney to bring some preemptive post-pandemic music-mania to the stage. The tale of three schoolgirls and their obsession with the boyband True Connection and lead singer Harry (yes, you may notice... Continue Reading →
Theatre Review: Circle Jerk ★★★★
Michael Breslin and Patrick Foley's frequently hilarious high camp queer absurdist dark comedy Circle Jerk is very 2020. It's confronting, chaotic, unrelenting, far-fetched, deranged, and overstimulating. The theatrical equivalent of spending 100 minutes or so multi-screen doom scrolling yourself down a wormhole of alt right conspiracy theory threads punctuated with viral TikTok lip sync videos... Continue Reading →
Theatre Review: Lessons from amfAR’s digital Angels in America for a new pandemic age ★★★★★
The opening of amfAR’s digital The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America, which premiered on Broadway.com’s YouTube channel on October 8th, places the memory of the AIDS pandemic at its worst alongside now all too familiar images from 2020’s battle with COVID-19. The opener is a stark and sobering reminder of an obvious... Continue Reading →
Theatre Review: V&V (Vault Festival, London) ★★★1/2
Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? When you go to see a play about the famed writer you really don't expect to be laughing at bad sexting and awkward nudes! V&V, an entertaining new two-hander currently playing at The Vaults in London, juxtaposes the literary love affair of Woolf and socialite Vita Sackville-West with the modern... Continue Reading →
Theatre Review: This Queer House (VAULT Festival 2020, London) ★★
The concept of award-winning poet Oakley Flanagan's debut play, produced by the female and LGBTQIA+ led OPIA Collective in partnership with Gendered Intelligence, This Queer House was intriguing. The press blurb tempted me in: "A young queer couple inherit a home. A joint renovation project begins. A restless house gathers strength." I immediately wondered about... Continue Reading →
Teenage Dick (Donmar Warehouse, London) ★★★★
Reworking Shakespeare’s Richard III into American High School territory, Teenage Dick feels like a mash-up - take Netflix’s The Politician, mix in the social media of Dear Evan Hansen, a dash of Six’s feminine re-framing and serve nice and hot. Of course, most of these shows debuted after Teenage Dick first took to the stage... Continue Reading →
Theatre Review: The Inheritance (Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York) ★★★★★
Matthew Lopez’s Best Play Olivier award-winning The Inheritance, directed by Stephen Daldry, has arrived on Broadway following last year’s highly acclaimed production at London’s Young Vic and its West End transfer, with many of the original cast. Inspired by E. M. Forster’s novel Howards End, the epic two-part play examines multigenerational gay life in New... Continue Reading →
Theatre Review: High Fidelity (Turbine Theatre, London) ★★★1/2
A musical about a spoilt white guy who gets endless chances to learn life’s lessons may not be the show the world needs right now, but the Turbine Theatre’s UK Premiere of High Fidelity (the musical) makes it work through a combination of diverse casting and a talented ensemble. This is the tale of Rob,... Continue Reading →
Theatre Review: Hansard (National Theatre, London) ★★★★★
The simmering rage in a marriage has been the source of endless amounts of great theatre. Witty, sideways barbs that cut in ways only a lover would know, deflections and parries from an opponent who can predict your every move. Simon Woods’ debut play Hansard (named after the published record of parliamentary debates), has all... Continue Reading →
Theatre Review: Fleabag (Wyndham’s Theatre, London) ★★★★★
‘YES! Fleabag back on the stage, gotta get tickets!’ Posts like this filled my social media feeds earlier this year. Wonderful! I thought, now I can see Fleabag in its original form before I binge two seasons. Yes, I’m one of the few people who hasn’t seen the TV show yet. I can hear the... Continue Reading →