Big Name, No Blankets, ILBIJERRI Theatre company and Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra Theatre, 10-12 July (and subsequently touring to Desert Festival Araluen and Papanuya)

 

(note - photo from the 2024 Sydney Festival season - some cast changes since this run)

A biomusical about the history of the Warumpi band from the point of view of one of its members, using the inside perspective of several key family members, "Big Name No Blankets" is part rock-tribute-concert, part narrative, combining warmth, politics and pure rock power. The simple set design (an area on the left of the stage representing the Papunya land that the Butcher brothers remain connected with) and a central rock band setup with grand lighting and a projection screen at the back to take us anywhere and everywhere, using the band cases as setpieces for various scenes for the character's travels gives us something simulatenously epic- filling the stage of the Canberra Theatre - and intimate for personal connection moments in the plot. Baykali Ganambarr as narrator Sammy Tjapanangka Butcher gives genial warmth to the story, telling of how the band came together and how personal drives ended it, leading through the triumphs and the personal tragedies with an ingratiating charm. 

As lead singer George Rrurrambu Burarrwanga, Taj Pilgrim has the moves, the attitude and the voice to be a compelling frontman - from his first song to the ending he's got every rock credential you need, bringing the audience to their feet in foot-stomping, communal joy as he slides across the stage in moves that are part Hutchence, part Jagger and part traditional aboriginal dance. It's a triumph of a performance and absolutely sells the Warumpi's material with power and conviction. The cast alternate between acting and band, and are a truly rocking ensemble, playing it loud and powerful. 

With the show co-directed and, at this performance, introduced by Sammy's daughter Anyupa Butcher, and with two of his sons in the backing band, plus Sammy in as story and cultural consultant, this does feel very much like a family affair, very personal and heartfelt. And the combo of family intimacy and the power of fine epic rock music really plays well together - feeling both home-made and polished and skilful. It's a great true story that will delight anybody interested in one of the foundational music acts in Australian history. 

The Pirates of Penzance, Queanbeayn Players, The Q, 3 Jul-13 Jul

 

After a very trimmed down touring verison earlier in the year from the Hayes, it's good to have a full-cast chonky orchestra version of this Gilbert and Sullivan warhorse - though this is the Essgee version created with new orchestrations by Kevin Hocking, adaptation by Simon Gallaher and with additional lyrics by Melvyn Morrow, so the purple pants jokes are indeed back in abundance. As suits a company having a 60th anniversery, it's a frothy fun party of a show with joy bouncing across the footlights into the audience -while the Essgee version is a 30 year old revision of a 145 year old original, the only place where the age is felt is in Gilbert's victorian era freak-outs over older women having a sexuality (which is always moderated by Sullivan writing really great stuff for them to sing - one of the reasons G&S holds up to all ages is that Gilbert is fundamentally a cynic and Sullivan a sentamentalist - the two tones appeal to the different moods of the audience and somehow manage to unite gloriously harmonically in the best of their shows). 

In this production, the emphasis is on as much romping as possible, and on having as large a cast as can fit onto the Q's stage (plus orchestra) to deliver the music and some great stomping choreography. Led by Adam Best in full physical-comedy mode as a Pirate King who keeps chopping himself with his own sword and does dramatic lunges and big line readings in the grand manner, he's a delight to watch. David 'Dogbox' Cannell as the Major General is similarly fun as the finicky, goofy father of way-too-many-daughters, with all kinds of sideways nonsense thrown into the role, occasionally channelling Stephen Fry as General Melchett when in bellowing mode but also able to find some quieter moments to draw the audience in. Lachlan Eldterton as dim-but-nice hero Frederic is thoroughly charming with a smooth, gentle tenor, expressing the character's innocence in a way that is lovely to see. Louise Gaspari throws herself into the role of Ruth with enthusiasm, particularly enjoying a chance to wave a cutlass in act two. Demi Smith is a perfectly lovely soprano as Mabel, particularly when singing a squad of policemen to hopefully die in glory, despite them not really wanting to. The trio of daughters played by Emma White, Tina Robinson and Lillee Keating do some delightful scene stealing on the margins, popping up to surprise in all kindsa spots. Wally Allington as pirate assistant Samuel gives good swashbuckle, and Joe Moores as the Police Sergeant is sweetly adorable as the slightly soppy goofball. 

There's strong chorus work and musical direction under the firm hand of Jenna Hinton (who also gets to banter with the cast occasionally), and Jodi Hammond gets the cast moving in all kinds of spectacular ways. Alison Newhouse pulls the whole production together so it never quite spins off its axis to become pure nonsense - the occasional sincere emotional moment is given its due and respected. 

As a celebration of 60 years of Queanbeyan Players I can't think of a better way to launch into the next 60 years - yes, it's a look backwards at one of the classics, but it's a classic that works for a reason, and it's a show that will have people pouring into the Q and pouring back out with big smiles on their faces. 

The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Free Rain, ACT Hub, 25 June-5 July

 Martin McDonagh kicked off his writing career in 1996 with this sharp black comedy about a mother and daughter in a relationship that veers between caregiving and mutual hatred, and the two brothers who's lives intersect with theirs, before going on to a career that's seen him write and direct cult film "In Bruges" and two Oscar-contendors, "Three Billboards outside of Ebbing, Missouri" and "The Banshees of Inersheerin". This initial play, though, is a tight classic of the form, with the mutual destruction of the two women at the centre, the possibility of romance cruelly denied, and the rural frustration that drives the population of a small Irish village. 

Cate Clelland directs an intimate production in a corner of the Hub stage, with the audience right on top to hear the bitter barbs and feel the spaces between the characters. Janie Lawson and Alice Ferguson anchor the play as the longing, tired daughter and the bitter, needy mother, more alike than they'd like to think in their mutual battle. Bruce Hardie as possible suitor Pato Dooley has a charming romanticism and delivers the largely expositional act-two-opening letter with gentle care, giving a sense of his own aging frustration and gentlemanly forbearance. And Robbie Haltiner is deliciously irritating as the gossipy Ray Dooley,so caught up in his own petty issues that he never realises what he's doing to the people around him. 

Clelland has designed a solidly realistic set, a tight cage for the cast to push up against one another in, slightly faded and tired like the characters. 

This is a strong solid production of a modern classic  - at almost 30 years old, it's a play that speaks to the gap between family and kinship, and to the destructive nature of need. 

A Doll's House Part 2, Canberra Rep, 12-28 Jun

 

Taking the question of what happens 15 years after Nora walked out the door in the original, and looking at what the costs of personal liberation might be, "Doll's House Part 2" brings us a tightly contained drama of lost connections, possibilities and emotional truth. Lucas Hnath's script brings the language up to the moment (with some significant swearing) but keeps the dilemmas timeless. Joel Horwood's produciton uses the width and height of Rep's stage for a grandly imposing room, minimally furnished but with stark lights and angles introducing shadows and isolated spaces for the four characters to meet, argue and sometimes find a moment of connection. It's an impressive production visually as well as dramatically, on Tom Berger's grand set under Lachlan Houen's equally spectacular lighting, but the emotional side isn't lost in this stark, simple space. It's a show that doesn't require an in-depth knoweldge of Ibsen, though there are some links back to the original, and indeed connections to a couple of other Ibsen works which pay back the informed, but the central situation and stakes are set up easily for those coming in just for this story. 

Lainie Hart owns the stage as Nora - bringing the excitement of her adventures in the world outside and her slow-dawning realisation of what her choices have cost those left behind, and her realisation of how some of the history she left behind may be about to recur. It's intelligent, emotional, compassionate yet powerful. Joining her are Elaine Noon as the compassionate-but-concerned Anne-Marie, Anna Lorenz as the determined-to-be-distant Emmy and Rhys Robinson as the somewhat-shattered-but-still-in-motion Torvald - all strong characters determined to not be steamrollered by Nora again. 

This is an immaculate production - impeccably accurate, with a strong, simple design sense and powerful performances. 

The Queen's Nanny, Ensemble Theatre, The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre, 19-21 June (and subsequently Wyong, Cessnock, Springwood, Port Mcquarie, Gouburn, Griffith, Wagga Wagga and Dubbo)

 

(photo from 2024 season, not the 2025 tour)

A fast moving true story, covering almost 60 years over 90 minutes of stage time, staged with a cast of 3 using two large chairs, a couple of model houses, a carpet bag and a train, "The Queen's Nanny" looks at the career and after-effects of Marion Kirk Crawford, who was the titular nanny to Queen Elisabeth the 2nd from 1931 until 1947 - how during her time she became somewhat more of a mother to Lillibet than her actual mother, and how afterwards she was virtually excommunicated by the royals after a puff-piece interview became a bestselling book. In Priscilla Jackman's production it's a tight, compelling story of a woman fighting to own her own story against forces bigger than her, and an emotional tale of duty and inheritances. Melanie Tait mentions in her writers note she comes from a republican angle (which is apparent in the last five mintues of the material) but she's still interested in the humanity that lives inside an institution and how it treats those involved in it. 

The three cast members (two new to this tour) are all solid. Matthew Backer is the one who's come back for the tour, and he's got the tour-de-force role of narrator and odd-role-man, engaging the audience as easily as any long-term Play School presenter should do and switching between hard-bitten journalists, the child and subsequent woman Lillibet, the stuttering awkward Bertie and the aloof footman Ainslie. Briallen Clarke as Marion is engaging with all the firm compasison of a true scotswoman, letting us see the years working their way on her. And Sharon Millerchip delights in the role of Queen Mother Elizabeth, from flighty party girl to stalwart of the blitz to warrior for her own position in the family. 

Michael Hankin's set design is stunning in its simplicity, using simple rearrangemetns of elements for most of the scenes. Genevive Graham's costumes have style and power, locking in who is who easily for the audience to take in. Morgan Maroney's lighting design does a lot of the work of set in the colours of the backcloth, and James Peter Brown's sound design takes us from salon to wartime easily. 

This is a subject and production that should feel like cosy, polite theatre, but instead it's alive and thought provoking, letting us inside the corridors of power and never taking the gentle comfortable path with it. It's the kind of thing that should tour well and capture eyeballs in all kinds of locations.

Eureka Day, Outhouse Theatre Company, Seymour Centre, Reginald Theatre, 29 May-21 Jun

 

"Eureka Day" is a comedy set in a private, somewhat liberal Californian school during the 2018-19 school year - when the school is disrupted by a case of the mumps which precipitates a debate about immunization that nobody is ready for and which rips the school apart. It's a wild look at modern liberalism in crisis - the language that emphasises mutual respect and the way that mutual respect is abused by people who cannot brook any compromises at all - and how civil debate breaks down into emotional pleading and gratuitous insult. 

Jonathan Spector's script is sharp and fast and twisted, starting out as a light parody of committeespeak and the way sensitivity feels gratuitously squeezed like cheese sauce on top of discussions, before exploding into rage, hidden agendas and power plays as intense as any more obviously political drama. The highlight is, perhaps, a zoom-meeting sequence that dissolves as the comments section pops up with each comment taking everyone further into an unresolvable argument, though in some ways this does constitute the greatest challenge in Craig Baldwin's production - the comments upstage a lot of what the actors on stage are doing during this sequence and it's difficult for them to regain focus during this sequence. It's something that is intrinsic to the script and I'm not sure if it is actually something where you can stop the onstage actors from being upstaged in this sequence - here, certainly, the battle is lost. 

Elsewhere, the cast are strong - Jamie Oxenbould as the school's principal, Don, proves to have a bit more political ability hiding under his sweet surface, Branden Christine as new arrival Carina is a great entry-point character with a steely strength emerging, Christian Charisiou as the somewhat smug Eli gets a few surprising comeupances, Deborah An as May goes throguh some emotional turmoil and as the utterly sure-of-herself Suzanne, Katrina Retallick utterly epitomises a certain type of person with a smiling assassin approach. 

This is a clever look at modern cultural norms and the ways they can break up the most determinedly-touchy-feely communities - while it isn't quite the villain-free-zone it pretends to be, it's still a good reflection on how we live now. 

The Spare Room, Belvoir St Theatre, 7 June-13 Jul

 Mortality comes to us all, but the way we choose to face it can vary and the way it affects those around us is also tricky territory to navigate. But in the hands of Helen Garner, Judy Davis, Eamon Flack, Elizabeth Alexander and the rest of the Belvoir team, it becomes an illuminating, often hilarious, frustrating, emotional and powerful night in the theatre. The setup is simple - a woman invites a friend into her home to stay for three weeks while the friend gets treatment for cancer, but it quickly becomes apparent the treatment is alternative at best and fraudulent at worst, and the clear acceptance of this stuff by the friend drives the host into distraction. 

Eamon Flack adapts Helen Garner's book with a clear centering of the narrator, Helen, played to perfection by Judy Davis - we get instant access to her emotions, her frustrations, her attempts to restrain herself from interfering in a friend's personal choices and the moments when the dam breaks and she lets loose with rage, managing to work through much of this while doing the challenging work of replacing fitted sheets repeatedly. Elizabeth Alexander as Nicola, the friend, has the right level of sunny innocence to her - you know exactly why Helen has remained her friend and why she tries so hard to hold back from hurting her friend as long as she does, but you also see the pain and frustration at her condition that drives the desperation to find other options - she's not just a suffering object in the corner or a fool who's easy to dismiss, she's a real and rounded character. 

The remaining supporting cast play multiple roles, of healers, friends, community members, allies and a few surprise elements - Emma Diaz, Alan Dukes, and Hannah Waterman all do a fine job of establishing rounded figures in a couple of lines and a moment of response to the main two in a set of fine cameos. 

Mel Page's set and costumes mix the domestic and the professional, using all the spaces available on the stage to tell a story that traipses all over Melbourne. The presence of cellist Anthea Cottee providing live soundtrack gives the show a soulful vibe and adds to the intensity in some of the more emotive moments.  

As someone who's got a friend currently undergoing cancer treatment, I found this enlightening, emotional but not overly indulgently so, and thoughtful about the bigger questions of facing the end. And between Davis and Alexander there's expert actresses embodying the story.