The Poison of Polygamy | La Boite Theatre & Sydney Theatre Company
Modern Australia has always been diverse, and more stories need to focus on the reality of diversity in our country, even if that is a complicated story to tell. I found the work challenging in the best possible way and felt affected by the narrative. The Poison of Polygamy is a must-see for anyone seeking relevant, high-quality theatric works.
La Boite Season 2023: Bolder and braver
When introducing the season, Stewart shared that she hopes that La Boite’s four main-house new Australian works will be the theatre classics of tomorrow. Stewart noted that it is, “… an entire season of necessary, never-before-seen work, brought to the stage by talented Australian artists and local creatives. From morality and betrayal, relationships and grief, identity and displacement, and crushes and cosplay, there is a show for everyone.”
The Last Five Years | La Boite
Director Darren Yap played so beautifully with the moments of looking, longing and near misses. In each song there was always a character longing for a glance, a look, a touch or an echo. And that glance, look, touch or echo was never received. There were some ‘ooo might it happen now’ which just made all the misses all the more painful.
RUNT | Dee, Cornelius and Wilks
We are ruled by the body. We think our chattering minds are leading this affair but really it is the body that sings and screams, the skin that hungers for touch. You can go mad if no one touches you. You can go mad if love gets all twisted up. We know that children need safety to grow strong and true, they need enough attention to validate them, that emotional maturity and regularity is directly linked to the security we experience in our formative years.
Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner | Darlinghurst Theatre Company & Green Door Theatre
Before they know it, Cleo and Kara are thrust deep, deep, deep inside the rabbit hole of racism, colourism and the ongoing, relentless commodification of Black women. But when tweets resurface that question @INCOGNEGRO’s stance on homophobia, the battle is no longer fought in cyberspace. It becomes very personal. Gender preferences, shades of skin-colour, types of hair, beauty… are on the table as these two rip into each other while delving headlong into their very own pain and anguish.
Caesar | La Boite
Caesar isn’t really an adaptation of Julius Caesar, it’s a show about actors putting on a play. In fact, it wasn’t really about putting on a play, but more so about the disputes and individual philosophies between the actors. It’s all very meta.
The Time is Now | La Boite's Young Artist Company
The Time Is Now features ten storytellers from different ethnic backgrounds and ages, with the youngest being a ripe old age of twelve (nearly thirteen) and the oldest, eighteen. The work was built around the UN Declaration of a Child’s Rights, with each performer making their own amendment to it. These amendments include each child having freedom of expression, the right to be safe, the right to have ice-cream and the right to be a bad ass Queen.
Bigger & Blacker | Steven Oliver
Accompanied by Helpmann-Award winner Michael Griffiths on piano, the duo titillated the audience with their ‘naughty’, fun, original score. The spicy banter between Michael and Steven was nothing short of sensational, making them a formidable duo on stage.
Add a disco ball to the mix and you have a flawless match made in heaven!
The Neighbourhood | La Boite & Multicultural Australia
Directed by La Boite’s Artistic Director Todd MacDonald, The Neighbourhood is, in my opinion, one of the most powerful forms of storytelling that I’ve witnessed both on and off the stage. Featuring seven storytellers (Amer Thabet, Naavi Karan, Matt Hsu, Aurora Liddle-Christie, Anisa Nandaula, Cieavash Arean, Nima Doostkhah), it is a devised work in which each actor shares their own stories, through music, dance, rap or song and by using the space and the set as their own creative playground.
Crunch Time | Counterpilot
There’s an explicit attempt to link the democratic processes at play in the work’s conception with debates and developments happening around global politics. Sibthorpe’s notes reference Brexit and Trump. There’s a development within the work that explicitly plays with the idea of leadership spills. If there’s a moment that elevates CrunchTime above a good dinner party, it’s that one.
Neon Tiger | La Boite
What is really lovely about this is that it is a side of queer female liaisons that isn’t often shown. The soft, the gentle, the foolish.
One the Bear | Black Honey Company
Decolonisation is an action, not an abstract concept. And it can be as simple as putting a new shape in an old box, a less-seen colour on a jaded set, a rarely-seen rhyme on a prestigious stage. Decolonisation is worthy work, but it doesn't have to feel worthy. It can feel like a whole lot of fun.
I just came to say goodbye | The Good Room
The audience rippled with trepidation for a minute, when they said this was a lock in. That’s right, my friends, once you are in you must stay in. And if you leave you can not come back. A fitting physical metaphor for the unfurling darkness ahead.