Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Nicnac Productions, Old Fitz theatre, 13 Jan-7 Feb 2026

 Photography by Tony Davison

A woman is waiting in a bar, drinking her drink, when the table next to her is filled by a man with bruised knuckles and an obvious temper. Over three scenes, they meet, spend the night together and early the next morning, they look at possible lives together - despite both clearly having short fuses and a powderkeg of emotions inside that could explode both of them before too long. John Patrick Shanley's play is over 40 years old but the types it displays are familiar, damaged people who we fear could do damage to one another as easily as they could to themselves - and while it never quite tips over the edge we're left in constant tension that it could any moment. 

In some ways this play is an actor's exercise, giving them a chance to play extreme figures discovering tenderness neither are sure they deserve - but this production has found two great actors to exercise with - Jacqui Purvis and JK Kazzi are both a powerful pair of combatants and we're glued them all the way through, even during a scene-change which is a ballet of give-and-take between them. Director Nigel Turner-Carroll gives the production just the right amount of tension on its way to a surprisingly satisfying payoff. It's a minimalist production (only a little bit of furniture with a few clever lighting effects) but a powerful and engaging one. 

Amplified: The Exquisite Rock and Rage of Chrissy Amphlett, Jacaranda Productions, Belvoir St Theatre, 29 Jan-8 Feb (followed by Her Majestty's Theatre Ballarat, Geelong Arts cetre, Comedy Theatre Melbourne and Seymour Centre Sydney until April - further bookings pending!)

 Images by Jade Ellis

Sheridan Harbridge has become a performer I'll follow anywhere. After striking supporting performances in Kill Climate Deniers, The Sugar House and Calamity Jane, she claimed centre stage as the original lead in Prima facie, before pivoting to directing such loose fun shows as 44 sex acts in one week, Dubbo Championship Wrestling and last year's Phar Lap, taking time to give a definitive Blanche DuBois downstairs at the old Fitz that I saw at first preview and therefore didn't review but just gaave a WILI to in 2023 (the rules of reviewing are simple - I don't review previews as they're not meant to be in review condition yet). Now she returns to centre stage to tell the story of one of Australia's rock godessses, writing and co-concieving a show that celebrates Chrissy Amplett in her raw, unfiltered glory, through song and stories of one woman's rise to rock supremacy and some of the many many battles that she fought along the way. 

Harbridge doesn't impersonate Amplett, but she channels her power anyway, in stories both from her perspective (drawing on her autobiography and a planned one-woman-show-that-Amphett-never-quite-got-to-perform), and from those around her, the audiences, the roadies, the collaborators and the enemies she got along the way. It's a powerful tale and a strong evening, playing more than just the hits, drawing on the backcatalogue to illustrate aspects of Amphlett as well as herself in a show that's both spectacularly personal and deeply invested in sharing the work of its subject, combining with a rocking band of musical-director-and-guitarist Glenn Moorehouse, bassisst Ben Cripps, keyboardist Clarabell Limonta and drummer Dave Hatch, under Paul Jackson's almighty lighting rig that shifts moods with aplomb.

This first Belvoir season has already sold out and it looks like this is going to be seen absolutely everywhere, but you should rush to see it simply to get your soul shattered and rebuilt by the powerhouse performer that is Harbridge in a rare case of a tribute show that makes both performer and subject look bigger together.