Author badges: 🥉 Bronze Reviewer (9 reviews)
Donna Portland is a journalist with experience writing for a regional newspaper and is also the author of a self-help book published in 2020.
A lifelong admirer of the arts, she has a particular passion for live performances, particularly stand-up comedy, theatre and music concerts.
As a reviewer for What’s the Show, Donna combines her love of film with her flair for writing, delivering insightful critiques that celebrate creativity while offering thoughtful analysis.
From 25–27 September, the performance collective Vaguely Adjacent (Nick Vagne, Sophie Florence Ward, Luke Standish, and Frank Dwyer) brought their quirky production Squatch Watch: LIVE to MerrigongX.
This experimental work set out to probe our relationship with conspiracy theories, certainty, and the noisy world of online spaces. Loosely styled as a live riff on the podcast format, the show mixed tongue-in-cheek commentary, audience interaction, and bursts of music and movement.
At its best, the comedy found sharp timing and delivered genuine laughs; at other moments, the wit fell a little flat. Still, the quartet’s energy and willingness to play with the audience kept things buoyant. The bigfoot/sasquatch/yowie conspiracy was explored with irreverent gusto, complete with dancing, improvisation, and a range of interactive stunts that drew strong engagement – especially from the largely under-25 crowd.
As devised theatre, Squatch Watch is both messy and inventive, a playful experiment that doesn’t always land but succeeds in creating a lively, participatory experience. With free tickets and a pay-what-you-like model, the company’s generosity of spirit matched their enthusiasm on stage, and the audience’s response suggested the experiment was well received.
The MerrigongX venue itself is spacious and welcoming, with excellent café offerings and plenty of room to relax pre- or post-show – an ideal setting for this sort of unconventional work.
Imagine stand-up comedy, but with music, glamour, and a powerhouse voice – that’s Skank Sinatra. Performed by the strikingly beautiful Jens Radda, this drag cabaret show is a witty, melodic, and delightfully cheeky celebration of song and storytelling.
Radda is radiant as Skank Sinatra – her skin flawless, makeup impeccable, and smile utterly disarming. The audience was clearly captivated, not just by her looks, but by her nuanced, hilariously expressive facial gestures and effortless stage presence. She moves with grace and confidence, her costume choices both bold and elegant. A sleek white ensemble showed off her svelte figure, and a clever costume change added to the theatrical flair.
But what truly sets Skank Sinatra apart is her voice. A rich contralto (with flashes of tenor range), Radda reimagines classic Sinatra tunes with clever lyrics that kept the audience highly amused. Her musicality is matched by strong storytelling – tales that span smoky jazz clubs in New York, the underground cabarets of Berlin, the flamboyant streets of Sydney, and even the wild savannas of South Africa – all delivered with charm, humour, and often while accompanying herself skillfully on the keyboard.
At times, the backing music could have been slightly louder, but that’s a small note in an otherwise polished, confident performance. She sings on key and with style – an absolute pleasure to listen to.
The intimate Loading Dock at Qtopia adds charm and closeness, though one couldn’t help but imagine how spectacular this act would be in a “Cotton Club”-style venue – a cabaret setting where the audience could dine, sip cocktails, and soak in the ambience. Still, the energy and enthusiasm in the room were palpable. Many in the crowd were return fans; others curious to see if the buzz was justified. It was – and then some.
Skank Sinatra has won Best Cabaret at the Adelaide Fringe two years running. It is excellent entertainment, blending glamour, satire, and musical talent in equal measure. Radda doesn’t miss a beat! Highly recommended.
Qtopia: The venue itself is worth a visit. Located in the heritage-listed former Darlinghurst Police Station, Qtopia is the largest museum and cultural centre dedicated to queer history and culture in the world. With four buildings on site, it’s worth arriving early or staying after the show to explore. A bar onsite offers refreshments, and the audience – an even mix of ages and genders – added to the warm, community feel.
In a quietly moving production, The Revlon Girl brings to life the complex emotional aftermath of one of the UK’s most devastating tragedies – the Aberfan disaster of 1966. Directed by Jennifer Willison, this amateur production presented by Hunters Hill Theatre honours the resilience and humanity of those left behind.
On the morning of 21 October 1966, a coal waste tip collapsed onto the village of Aberfan in South Wales, burying Pantglas Junior School. The landslide killed 144 people, including 116 children. The event, as sudden as it was catastrophic, left a community overwhelmed by grief, anger, and unanswered questions.
Docking’s play imagines a meeting of four bereaved mothers, eight months after the tragedy. They gather in a back room above a pub – still deep in mourning, but grasping for something, anything, to lighten their pain. In a gesture that’s equal parts defiant and desperate, they’ve invited a Revlon representative to speak to them about beauty. The logic? Maybe a touch of lipstick could lift the spirits, even briefly.
Each woman carries her grief differently. Rona (Anthea Brown) is fiery and confrontational, lashing out at others to mask her own despair. Sian (Laura Stead) is eager to please, lost in a fog of denial and abandonment. Marilyn (Kate Kelly) clings to the hope of contacting her children through spiritual means. Jean (Annalie Hamilton), heavily pregnant again, struggles to reconcile the past with the future growing inside her.
The Revlon Girl (Niamh McKervey) at first seems naïve and out of her depth, awkwardly tiptoeing around the room’s raw emotional undercurrents. But as the evening unfolds, she reveals her own hidden grief – bridging the gap between outsider and insider, and showing how even small acts of care can resonate in moments of deep despair.
While the play echoes with sorrow, it’s peppered with disarming humour and small moments of grace. The dialogue is rich with wit, capturing the unspoken ways people try to survive the unbearable. It’s a credit to the cast that these tonal shifts feel authentic, and not forced.
The minimalist set (Casey Moon-Watton) and restrained lighting (Wayne Chee) focus attention exactly where it should be – on the women, the words, and the emotional tension in the room. Subtle sound effects – rain, thunder, distant echoes – underscore the weight of memory without distraction.
The Hunters Hill Theatre’s home at Club Ryde is a relaxed and comfortable venue, seating around 100 in an air-conditioned auditorium. With food and beverages available at club prices downstairs, and ample onsite parking, it makes for a welcoming evening out.
Running from 30 May to 22 June 2025, The Revlon Girl is a sensitive, compassionate portrayal of unimaginable grief and the strength it takes to keep going. It reminds us that even in the darkest moments, connection – and yes, even a little lipstick – can offer a flicker of light.
Written by Neil Anthony Docking | Directed by Jennifer Willison | Presented by Hunters Hill Theatre at Club Ryde
Written by Amy Herzog | Directed by Rachel Chant | Presented by Mi Todo Productions at the Old Fitz Theatre
In Mary Jane, director Rachel Chant and playwright Amy Herzog deliver a moving, understated, and profoundly compassionate story. Set in New York, the play follows the life of Mary Jane, a single mother caring for her chronically ill son, Alex. With remarkable grace, humour, and resilience, she faces a cascade of challenges – yet never loses her grip on hope.
Eloise Snape brings quiet power and emotional authenticity to the role of Mary Jane. Her performance is restrained yet deeply affecting, anchoring the production with a sense of dignity and realness that never veers into sentimentality. Through her, the audience is drawn into a series of poignant, often heartbreaking moments.
Alex, born extremely premature, requires round-the-clock care. Mary Jane’s world is shaped by hospital visits, shifting diagnoses, and a rotating cast of support figures. Much of the play’s strength comes from the ensemble cast – Sophie Bloom (Hensser), Janine Watson, Di Adams, and Isabel Burton – who deftly inhabit multiple roles, from friends and neighbours to nurses and chaplains. Their seamless transformations mirror the changing stages of Mary Jane’s life and underscore the idea that help often arrives in different forms.
The fluidity of the staging – shifting from Mary Jane’s modest apartment to hospital waiting rooms and children’s wards – is handled with quiet elegance, thanks to production designer Soham Apte and stage manager Matilda Holton. Lighting design by Izzy Morrissey and Luna Ng, along with Clare Hennessy’s subtle musical cues, help shift tone and place without disrupting the flow.
The American accents, coached by Linda Nicholls-Gidley, were well executed across the cast – an impressive feat for an all-Australian ensemble. Director Rachel Chant handles the material with a light yet sure hand, allowing the play’s emotional weight to emerge organically, without melodrama.
Originally described by The New York Times as “the most profound and harrowing of Ms Herzog’s many fine plays,” Mary Jane is slow-burning and gentle, but never dull. It holds the audience with quiet force, unfolding with empathy and depth. It’s no surprise the work was nominated for four Tony Awards, including Best Play.
Presented by Mid Todo Productions and executive producer Chad Traupmann, this production of Mary Jane offers a rich, affecting night at the theatre. On now until 15 June at the Old Fitz Theatre, it’s the kind of intimate, beautifully crafted play that lingers long after the final scene. And yes – the pub upstairs does excellent food and drinks, making it a perfect evening out.
