The River, Sydney Theatre Company, Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House, 8 Apr-16 Mar

 Jez Butterworth's 80 minute play is an enigmatic story of a man, some women and the cabin where he brings them to fish for sea trout during a brief season when they're spawning back up the river near his cabin. Over the course of the evening, we see romantic banter, a fish is scaled, gutted and cooked, and the connection between coaxing a fish and coaxing a partner are explored. Butterworth's writing and Margaret Thanos's direction scrape against something disconcerting about parnership but ultimately there's not quite enough here to feel like a full theatrical meal - it's a little too keen on remaining mysterious.

Miranda Otto is absolutely the marketing hook of the show so it's odd that the play itself has her in a role that doesn't require her on stage full time. This is not the first time that STC has marketed a show on a star that isn't quite as engaged as marketing suggests nor is it the is it the first time that the play has been a bit of a disappointment. It feels like there's not quite enough meat for her or for the audience to chew on here - there's some very nice design here (Anna Tregoan's set and Damien Cooper's lighting do a lot to bring in the wide stage of the drama theatre for a play that is largely duologues), and the other members of the cast (Ewan Leslie as the Man and Andrea Demetriades as the Oher Woman) are certainly solid, but in the end it's a lot of high talent on a script that doesn't feel like it's saying particularly much - yes, it gratuitously quotes Ted Hughes for a bit of literary cred, but that's not enough for this to feel quite as meaty as it should. 

& Juliet, Free-Rain Theatre Company, The Q, 31 Mar-26 Apr

 Photo courtesy Janelle McMenamin

I will admit I enjoyed this when I saw the original run in sydney - part of this was enjoying all the bells and whistles of a big flashy professional musical production with no budget spared (and as someone who sees a lot of their musicals at the Hayes or in amateur production, it's nice to see conspicuous budget once in a while). Almost two years later, without the budget and the flash, how does Free Rain's production compare?

The main reason for seeing this show is still the Max Martin songbook, and it's given some good rich performances from the cast - Chloe Stevenson as the titular Juliet, in particular is required to sing iconic songs from Britney Spears, Ariana Grande, Kelly Clarkson and Katie Perry, and she delivers major pipes. Musical Director Callum Tolhurst-Close and sound designer Telia Jansen get some great rich pop sounds coming out of the 7-piece pit which, if it doesn't sound Just Like The Single, it's interesting enough to let the tunes run rich in our heads. Choreographer/Directors/Set Designer.s Charlotte Morphett and James Tolhurst-Close run a flowing production that keeps things spinning for most of the run (though their choice to do pre-show after the house closes rather than .. you know, Pre the Show, is ... certainly A Choice). Fiona Leach's costumes mix Elizabethan and street wear in funky ways although there is a little too many examples of corsets worn low enough to cover the crotch. Jacob Acquilina's lighting sets mood and flashes in spectacular style.  

Seeing David West Read's script without the flash, it does become a little more apparent how low-stakes the female-empowerment subtext here really is - it's about as deep as Martin's ballads and doesn't really give any of the women anything more socially interesting to do than to date or not date particular blokes - it's feminasm as written by (probably) gay men. Yes, the script does squeeze the songs in successfully, but it doesn't really use them in interesting ways to deepen or examine the characters, rather it enjoys their original pop fizz and bounce. There's also, in this production, an over-reliance on American accents (yes, most of the songs were originally performed by Americans, but few of the songs are so dependent on accent to get the rhymes to work and we're looking at characters who are variously English, Italian and French anyway so why not use just a neutral one, unless performers are so wedded to doing music theatre in American accents that they can't drop them?) 

 Elsewhere in the cast, there's some nice work from the frisky older duo of Katie Lis as Angeliaque and David Satolin as the uberfrench Lance (the one who gets to escape the americanisms), Tate Sissian displays adorable vulnerability as the befuddled Francois, and Mackinley Brown's self-adoring posturing as Romeo is quite fun too.

Look, this is delightful turn-your-brain-off fun for the most part. But my brain kept on switching itself on during the show which meant I didn't quite fall completely in love with this. But if you have a taste for cheesy pop, flashy choreography and a thin serving of plot holding it all together and your brain does have a functioning off switch, this may be for you. 

Sammy J: Hero Complex, Canberra Comedy Festival, Canberra Theatre, Canberra Theatre Centre, March 20 (and Melbourne International Comedy Festival 14-19 Apr, Sydney Comedy Festival 30 Apr-2 May, Brisbane Comedy Festival 16-17 May) )

 

Sammy J's show is a decade-later return season of a show that goes deep into his past, back to his school days, and how elements of what happened then have reverberated through the rest of his life, including a mutual love of Phantom comics, multiple trips to Canberra with significant effects on the rest of his life, a light act of larceny, a few songs, Jack Reacher and a waterfall in Samoa. It's a fascinating personal story which he tells with wit and geeky charm. It's surprisingly heartwarming and a comfy show to enjoy while also being geeky as hell and deeply frivolous. 

Frankie McNair: Huge Ass Mindset, Canberra Comedy Festival, Courtyard, Canberra Theatre Centre, 20 Mar 2026 (and Melbourne International Comedy Festival 7-19 Apr)

 

Comedy festival shows run a wide gamut. But I saw two shows that were autobiographical, about personal encounters that left their narrator's changed, and about sudden reunions later in life that reflect the movement that the years between has affected. Frankie McNair's is the show with the trigger warnings in the lobby and a lot of aftercare available if necessary - the encounter is childhood sexual abuse and its effects, as you might imagine, have been monumental. But the show refuses to be just an angst fest - there's jokes a plenty, from why the "Law and Order: SVU" theme is such a sultry banger to being the latest comedian to have their autism/ADHD diagnosis, to some inspired new clowning in a 30s Private Eye setting, to talking about growing up catholic, to the titular mindset which is truly inspiring. Frankie very much Goes There in her truthful, wildly capable show. If you're looking for tonal consistency in a comedy show, this is not one for you - it's a rollercoaster that turns into a tilt-o-whirl with a quick trip through the Ghost Train, with material that is deeply confronting and other material that is wildly goofy. But if you're looking for modern standup that combines thought with clowning, that's emotional, true and ultimately quite empowering, this is something for you.  

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Canberra Philharmonic Society, ACT Hub, 12-28 Mar

 

A musical about children at a spelling bee may sound like a particuarly gruelling evening of precociousness, but filtered through the brain of an improvisational team led by Rebecca Feldman and the musical assistance of William Finn (who's work has been ofen described as Sondheim-esque, mostly due to a lot of his songs sounding very much like what would happen if someone sung their therapy), it's a hilarious, incisive and even occasionally heartbreaking musical about an unsually passionate group of kids discovering things about themselves, whether it be triumph, friendship, a resistence of parental expectation, a sudden bodily betrayal or surprising intelligence in places they never expected. 

Philo's production is a tightly cast and well-woven production, mixing in improv and audience participation into the mix as various guest-spellers are tagged in to participate. The three adults of the show (Amy Kowalczuk as the ex-bee-champion-and-present-bee-booster Rona Peretti with a truly impressive lady-bun, Tim Stiles as comfort-counsellor-and-community-service-server Mitch Mahoney who discovers his inner sympathy with the kids, and Michael Cooper as the chaotic word-pronouncer Vice Principle Panch) more-or-less organise things while the main cast of six kids go through their individual traumas - Amelia Andersson-Nickson as lonely Olive, introducing herself with the song "My Friend The Dictionary" before  breaking our hearts with the climactic "I love you Song"; Dave Collins grotesquely marvelous as the adenoidal, obsessive, magic-foot possessing William Barfée, constantly suffering under an unpronounced acute accent; Meaghan Stewart as ultra-achiever Lograinne Schwartzandgrubinnaire, coping with two very excitable dads; Joe Mansell as the goofily confused Leaf Coneybear; Ella Colquhoun as the over-it-all Marcy whose accomplishments are beginning to bore her.; and Sterling Notley as the highly accomplished Chip Tolentino whose one slipup may be due to the end of his pre-adolescence...

Nathan Patrech directs a show that could easily become genuine pandemonium and instead is just on the right side of controlled chaos. Choreographer Lachlan Ruffy plays up the goofiness with just the right amount of showbiz pizazz. And Samara Marinelli's musical direction gives high quality harmonies and a nicely bubbling soundtrack underneath. 

In short, this is a show that will make you giggle up until the point where it briefly breaks your heart, about overacccomplished kids who learn how to enjoy themselves (and one dimwit who discovers maybe he isn't as dim as everyone thinks). It's a charmingly fun show that should induce multiple giggles. 

My Brilliant Career, Melbourne Theatre Company, Canberra Theatre Centre, Canberra Theatre, 7-15 Mar (and subseqently Sydney and Wollongong)

 

Five years after Belvoir's somewhat similar non-musical adaptation (down to sharing a lot of the same doubling and also having a piano on stage), the MTC's musical version shows up. There's some different points of emphasis - being a musical, the romance plot gets a lot more stage time here (being helped by Raj Labade's efortless charisma as Harry Beecham and his pure chemistry, in this case with understudy Melaine Bird as Sybylla) and some of the class questions that come up in the M'Swat section of the story seem comparitivley raced through on the way to the finale - but it's still Miles Franklin's classic story of a young woman emerging out of 19th century Australia on the way to finding herself and her options. Sheridan Harbridge and Dean Bryant's book takes the first person narrative of Franklin's novel and gives us a heroine who's simultaneously highly willed and befuddled as she emerges into adulthood over the course of a few years. The score by Matthew Frank and Bryant runs high on self-empowerment-ballads and is performed largely by the cast who fade in and out of supporting roles in between time on percussion, guitar, keyboard and double-bass. 

Marg Howell's set of an area of outback scrub that can upgrade to the grand mansion Caddagat and downgrade to the scrubby M'Swat farm, and she costumes the performers in adaptable outfits that feel part-turn-of-the-century and part now. The production moves swiftly and cleverly across the runtime in a stylish, capable production from Director Anne-Louise Sarks, and it's difficult not to adore Sybylla and her awkward launch into adulthood.  

Head over Heels, Well Done Creative, Hayes Theatre, 20 Feb-22 Mar

 A pop musical using the songs of the Go-gos with a plot drawn from the 16th Century pastoral romance "Arcadia" by Sir Phillip Sidney, "Head over Heels" takes place in a blissful kindgom disrupted by multiple love plots and an oracle's prophecy, involving mixed gender romances including some crossdressing, a threat to the ruler and a trip through the forest on the way to a happy ending. But in this production it's largely an excuse for a whole lot of queer joy with a bunch of performers breaking out in songs like "We Got the Beat", "Our Lips are Sealed", "Vacation", "Beautiful" and the Debbie Carlisle ring-in "Heaven is a Place on Earth". Ellen Simpson directs a clean fun frolicsome production on Josh McIntosh's adaptable set as identities are twisted, rearranged and meddled with all over the place on an adaptable space with clever units used to reveal, conceal and show off the performers. 

Stealing a lot of the show is Shannen Alyce Quan as the princessy Pamela who gets carried away by passion in the most delightful of ways - they have a goofy pleasure in their performance that makes everything they do fun. Gaz Dutlow's high-drag oracle Pythio radiates power and poise at all times, setting up and resolving the situation with aplomb. There's also a lot of joy from Nancy Denis as offsider Dametus, mostly observing the consequences of the various nobles running around her until finally getting a part to play in the finale. 

Musical director Zara Stanton keeps a tight rocking band working all the way through, and Ryan Gonzalez choreographs with 80s cheese aforefront as the ensemble moves tightly through the pop-rock classics. All in all it's 120 minutes of joy in pop-cultural form.