- Whats The Show

Adelaide Fringe – Meg in the Magic Toyshop

The Adelaide Fringe’s Meg In The Magic Toyshop is a G-rated children’s production showing in the Atrium at The Warehouse Theatre. Children’s shows are often a hit-and-miss. Especially when you start to compare them with Wiggle’s and similar. The set is simple and in lots of bold colours.

The two performers, South Australians Mia Ferraretto as Penny, the toy soldier, and Merrilyn Greer as Meg, the doll, have the characters down pat. You can easily recognise their musical theatre training reflected in the show’s excellent payoffs.

As soon as the cast entered the stage, the audience of adults and children settled down. Penny and Meg command the stage. The storyline is pleasant and straightforward, with songs and a bit of magic that keeps the audience spellbound. It is slightly old-fashioned, but that is the charm of the show.

Adelaide Fringe - Meg in the Magic Toyshop

The cast performed their roles impeccably and ensured all children were engaged from the front down to the back row. The presentation engaged the audience and ignited their imagination with its interactive approach, effectively incorporating educational elements.

This was a simple story of a lost glove and the quest to hunt down its location in the toyshop. This 45-minute show held the audience’s attention throughout, and in the end, you could see from the smiles of the adults and children that the show was a success, and the audience went home happy.

This short but sweet show was brought to the public by Vintage Vendetta Productions and was developed in South Australia. It is undoubtedly a production company to keep an eye on. And this is definitely a show for parents to keep their children entertained.

The remaining session dates and times for Meg In The Magic Toyshop are as follows:-
Fri 08 Mar: 4:30pm
Sat 09 Mar: 10:00am, 11:30am
Sun 10 Mar: 11:15am
Fri 15 Mar: 4:30pm
Sat 16 Mar: 10:00am, 11:30am
Sun 17 Mar: 11:15am

This review also appears on It’s On The House, and check out more reviews at Dark Stories Theatre to see what else is on in your town.

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Adelaide Fringe – The Portable Dorothy Parker

The Adelaide Fringe is underway for 2024, and I was lucky enough to see The Portable Dorothy Parker, a production currently playing at the Arch in the Holden Street Theatres. Grove Goddess Productions, Fringe Management LLC, and Joanne Hartstone bring this production to you.

Upon entering the theatre, I was greeted by music of the 1940s era and a simple production set containing a drinks table, phone table, chair and a fashionable standard lamp. This setting was very well suited to the space on offer.

The role of Dorothy was ably played by Margot Avery, a third-generation actor from the United States. She commands the stage in the gentle telling of a moment in Dorothy’s life. Margot speaks to the audience as if we are the person working for Viking Press, the publisher for whom she is putting together the book “The Portable Dorothy Parker”, which is the title of Dorothy’s first collection of literary work.

Adelaide Fringe - The Portable Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker was a prolific writer, ensuring plenty of Dorothy’s authored material from which the play’s writer, Annie Lux, could draw upon. We get a sense of Dorothy’s character through her reminiscences as she sorts through samples of her writing and reads them to the invisible interviewer.

The direction by Lee Costello reinforces Dorothy’s character. Her movements around the sparse set to certain elements helped us gain insights into Dorothy’s character, such as the drinks cabinet, telephone and piles of paper and books. Through this, Dorothy talks about her life and namedrops her famous friends and acquaintances such as Ernest Hemingway, F Scott Fitzgerald and others.

A sizable audience enjoyed the show, with plenty of quiet chuckles from the attendees, who were clearly enjoying the wit of Dorothy’s writing. Only a couple of times did I miss a word or two. But that is only a minor complaint.

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Overall, I enjoyed this brief look into the life of Dorothy Parker. The creative team of Margot Avery, Lee Costello and Annie Lux have put together a nice piece of work. From the simple set and sound effects to the acting, it is well worth catching it before the end of the Fringe.

Tickets are on sale now for The Portable Dorothy Parker, which is showing from the 13th of February to the 17th of March with a runtime of 60 minutes.

This review also appears on It’s On The House, and check out more reviews at Dark Stories Theatre to see what else is on in your town.

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