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Neighbourhood Watch

09/08/2025 Rob McKinnon🥉

Neighbourhood Watch Rating

★★★★★

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The always reliable St Jude’s Players latest production is a journey from suburban Australia in 2007 to Hungary in World War Two with Lally Katz’s Neighbourhood Watch resulting in an excellent version of the play anchored by a marvellous performance by veteran actor Julie Quick as Ana.

Beginning the day after the election of the Rudd Labor Government in 2007 the play is centred in the neighbourhood of Mary Street in suburban Australia, where housemates Catherine (Ellie Schaefer) an out-of-work actor and Ken (Dylan Megaw) a diabetic want-to-be film maker are discussing the election. Across the road, an aging and often cantankerous Ana (Julie Quick) a Hungarian Australian refugee delivers a bag of leaves to her neighbour Katrina (Taya Rose) that have fallen from Katrina’s tree into Ana’s yard. Ana asks Katrina if she will pick her up from a specialist appointment the next day, but Katrina responds that she is too busy. Jovanka (Gail Morrison) an aging Serbian woman tries unsuccessfully to visit Ana.
As the plot progresses Ana and Catherine develop a friendship and as they talk Ana tells Catherine of her life story and the play travels to war time Hungary. As Ana’s journey unfurls, Catherine’s own story develops, affected by her own unhappy memories and life lessons are learned.

The multi award winning and one of Australia’s most performed playwrights, Lally Katz, based the character of Ana on stories that her real life aging Hungarian refugee neighbour told her. In Neighbourhood Watch, Katz honours her neighbour’s desires that her stories should not be forgotten. The plot explores the themes of isolation, friendship, war and the consequences of war, grief and the seeking of refuge. Katz weaves these themes cleverly throughout her play.

Director Lesley Reed, with many years of experience in professional and community based acting and recently directing productions for Galleon Theatre, Adelaide Repertory Theatre and the Stirling Players, has the formidable task of managing nine actors into around twenty five characters throughout the play and taking them from the Australian street to doctor’s rooms, chemist shop and cinema to war-torn Hungarian streets, tram, river crossing and dark fabric factory. This assignment she does seamlessly.

To help Lesley, set designer and construction coordinator Don Oakley, has provided innovative solutions to the staging given the limitations of stage size and budget, even if some solutions require a little creativity by the audience. Sarah Bradley’s original music is brilliant and adds another level to the production.

The whole cast, Julie Quick, Ellie Schaefer, Dylan Megaw, Nathan Brown, Taya Rose, Gail Morrison, Matthew Chant, Christopher Cordeaux and Megan Robson perform excellently, smoothly transitioning through their multiple characters. The experience of performing in over one hundred productions oozes from Julie Quick’s superb performance in particular. Her outstanding acting skills ameliorates the production.

St Jude’s Players’ production of Neighbourhood Watch is an ambitious project by this well-established theatre group, and they deliver an impressive result highlighted by superb acting worthy of the audience visiting Mary Street and beyond.

Reviewed by Rob McKinnon
Rating; 7 out of 10

Neighbourhood watch runs to 19 July 2025; remaining session dates and times are as follows:

Thursday August 14, Friday August 15, 7.30 pm.

Matinees Saturday August 16, 2pm.

Venue: St Jude’s Hall, 444 Brighton Rd, Brighton, South Australia.

Tickets (from July 17): https://www.trybooking.com/DCCMU
Or call 0436 262 628/email bookings@stjudesplayers.asn.au

To book tickets to Neighbourhood Watch , please visit https://stjudesplayers.asn.au/https-stjudesplayers-asn-au-wp-content-uploads-2024-11wp-content-uploads-2024-11-neighbourhood-watch_poster_final-jpg/.

Photographer: Les Zetlein

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Shakespeare In Hollywood

20/07/2025 Barry Hill OAM🥉

Shakespeare In Hollywood Rating

★★★★★

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“Playwright Ken Ludwig is to contemporary domestic stage comedy what Arthur Miller was to the dramatic theatre of his time.”— Contra Costa Times

The Adelaide Repertory Company brings Shakespeare to the masses with their latest production of Ken Ludwig’s Shakespeare in Hollywood.

Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, and winner of The Helen Hayes Award for Best New Play of the Year (the MacArthur Award), Shakespeare in Hollywood combines one of the bard’s greatest works with Hollywood royalty of the 30s and 40s

Set in1934, Shakespeare’s most famous fairies, Oberon and Puck, have magically appeared on the set of the Warner Brothers movie of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Overcome by the glitz and glamour of show biz, the two are cast to play (who else?) themselves. With a little help from a magical flower, a blonde actress and a movie mogul, the results are hysterical.

Director Jude Hines is no stranger to comedy having directed the bitter sweet new version of Mother and Son last year and the highly successful Jersey Boys for Therry Theatre in 2024.

Hines has gathered a talented, highly enthusiastic cast of sixteen, many who play multiple roles. Her blocking is meticulous and the production is ‘slick’ with particularly well-rehearsed scene changes. Her knowledge of the 30s Hollywood period is detailed as is her knowledge of A Midsummer’s Night Dream; essential if they are to be seamlessly blended.

Her vision is enhanced by Gary Anderson’s set design dominated by a large tree that could have come straight out of Camelot or Brigadoon, Ian Barge’s lighting with its beautiful contrast of a brightly coloured fairydom complete with magical smoke, the more austere studio lighting and the striking downlights for the phone call scenes and Sandy Whitelaw’s evocative costumes. (special mention to Oberon’s crown by John Duval and Ushmo Prem and Bottom’s head by Aryahna Tyree).

Stephen Bill’s Oberon is everything we would want the king of the Fairies to be, mysterious and with immaculate diction. He is the lynch pin to the production and carries the mantle of leading actor with ease.

Emily Burns’ Puck is mischievous, bold, and a worthy accomplice to Oberon. I loved her repetitive exit line, straight from Shakespeare.

Ben Todd’s Jack Warner is suitably boisterous and demanding and a great foil to his assistant Daryl and Max Reinhardt. He commands the stage in all of his scenes.

Sam Wiseman’s Max Reinhardt reminds us of the conflict in Germany during the 30s and strikes more than a comparison to the current head of the USA. I loved his scenes with Will Hays.

Adam Schultz’s Will Hays is narrow minded, pedantic and the enemy of Hollywood film of the time. His scene when becoming the ass from Pyramus and Thisbe is hysterical.

Leah Lowe’s Olivia Darnell is a character we can all sympathise with, a young star who is uncertain of her talent. Her scenes when she falls in love with Oberon are moving.

Jasmine Duggan’s Lydia Lansing steals anything not nailed down with her over the top performance as the blond actor with more determination than talent. She is a pleasure to watch.

Penni Hamilton-Smith’s Louella Parsons is suitably loud and pushy all wrapped in gorgeous gowns.

Malcolm Watson nails every laugh as Joe E. Brown/Groucho Marx and Harry Warner. His version of Thisbe brought the house down.

The cast is completed by Kieran Drost as the bumbling Daryl, Matthew Thompson as Dick Powell, Tom Adams as Jimmy Cagney/Sam Warner, Nicholas Elborough as Tarzan/Albert Warner/ensemble and Mike Leach, Esther Burnett and Wendy Peecock making up the hard-working ensemble.

My only slight reservation with this fun-filled production is the length of some of the blackouts of which there are many. Devising some business to cover the changes would have kept the pace at a consistent level.

Shakespeare in Hollywood is a welcome escape from the woes of modern day and makes Shakespeare easy to understand for the novice. This is a large cast play and a credit to Jude Hines, her cast and crew and the Adelaide Repertory!

Photo Credit – Richard Parkhill

To book tickets to Shakespeare In Hollywood, please visit https://adelaiderep.com/season-2025/shakespeare-in-hollywood.

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Querencia Calling

24/06/2025 Rob McKinnon🥉

Querencia Calling Rating

★★★★★

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For the first time PitchWhite Productions’ latest play is not written by PitchWhite’s founder Lochie Daniel but instead the company has embarked in a new direction of performing the works of other writers as well as Daniel’s plays and Querencia Calling is the launch of this change.

Querencia Calling is Writer Sharyn Henderson’s first full-length play. Her passion for theater began in 2023 writing and performing monologues and short plays in a “rehearsed reading” format with the Scratch Night writing program in Sale, Gippsland. During the writing Henderson collaborated with dramaturg Brooke Fairly through Melbourne Writers Theatre’s Page to Stage program and this partnership has produced this first-rate debut. With this splendid material local directorial stalwart Geoff Brittain (fresh from productions with the Therry Theatre, St Jude’s Players, The Adelaide Repertory Theatre and others) does a very good job in coordinating it with the outstanding cast in the space allowed at the Star Theatre.

The play draws forty-something long term friends Clare (Alicia Zorkovic), Belinda (Georgia Stockham), Meredith (Perrin Abbas) and Simon (L. A. Foale) back together in a bar after being separated for a period of time. Clare has just returned from nursing in England, Meredith has been promoting her latest novel, Belinda has been juggling the needs of four children and her husband and Simon is fresh from a relationship breakup. In their reunion the friends are missing Emma (Cheryl Douglas), who has been the glue of the group, helping each of them in many ways throughout the length of their friendships. They look to Emma’s closest friend in the group, Belinda, for an explanation for Emma’s absence but, with annoyance of Emma missing Belinda’s son’s eighteenth birthday party, she doesn’t know what has happened. Emma invites the friends to her family-owned cabin for the weekend which they accept to find out what has happened to their friend.

The limited space of the Star Theatre doesn’t hinder the flow of Querencia Calling, instead it brings the audience closer to the actors in a more intimate fashion. Sometimes productions of this nature can clank around the empty spaces of larger halls. Similarly, due to the confines of the space, the set is kept to a minimum however limits of the staging are overcome by the skills of the actors. Georgia Stockman is outstanding in her loud and bold portrayal of Belinda. L. A. Foale is also very good as Simon and the rest of the cast handles all of their roles well.

The songs used in addition adds to the reunion feel of the production incorporating REM’s Losing My Religion, Spice Girls, Shania Twain, Chumbawamba, Los del Rio’s Macarena and others.

Sharyn Henderson says her “play is about human connection. It urges us to listen – both with curiosity and kindness – to what is said and left unsaid.” Geoff Brittain says the play reminds “us of the power of connection to lighten even the heaviest of loads.” Querencia Calling is excellent and is definitely worth seeing before the end of its limited season.

Reviewed by Rob McKinnon

Rating; 8 out of 10

Querencia Calling runs to 28 June 2025; remaining session dates and times are as follows:-

– Thursday 26 June 2025 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
– Friday 27 June 2025 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
– Saturday 28 June 2025 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
– Saturday 28 June 2025 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

To book tickets to Querencia Calling, please visit https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1385333.

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The Penelopiad: The Untold Odyssey

26/05/202525/05/2025 Peta Williams🥉

The Penelopiad Rating

★★★★★

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The Penelopiad is a novella written by Margaret Atwood as a mythological reimagining of the classic Greek tale of Homer’s Odyssey. But, unlike Odyssey, The Penelopiad follows a linear structure, making the tale somewhat easier to follow. Atwood’s storytelling gives Odysseus’ wife, Penelope, a voice and allows the account to be told from her perspective. As such, Atwood has been accused of writing a feminist story, which she denies, but given her well-publicised views on feminism, this is an interesting consideration. What this storytelling does is highlight the difference a perspective can make.

From the Underworld, Penelope begins by telling of her childhood, at which time her father tried to drown her, but she survived, saved by a flock of ducks. Her twelve maids, who were later hanged by Penelope’s son, Telemachus and Odysseus, often interrupt her storytelling to voice their experiences, which contrast with Penelope’s privilege, as they recount their suffering. Penelope’s marriage to Odysseus is built on a lie as he cheats in a running race to win her hand, but ultimately she does fall in love with him and is not aware of the deception.

Odysseus spends 10 years in Troy defending the honour of King Menelaus and over this time Penelope is tasked with finding another suitor as Odysseus is not returning home. Following Penelope’s orders, The Maid’s plight ends horribly. When Odysseus eventually returns home, he engages his childhood nurse Eurycleia to tell him which of Penelope’s maids have been disloyal to him and he and his son Telemachus hang the disloyal twelve.

Penelope’s maids avoid her in the Underworld, and she still blames Helen (King Menelaus’ wife) for the Trojan War. She also continues to meet Odysseus whenever one of his new lives ends, as he consistently chooses to be reborn into the world of the living. However, the maids are tireless in their pursuit of Odysseus, haunting him on earth and in the Underworld.

The University of Adelaide Theatre Guild has taken on the mammoth task of bringing this story to life and, overall, the cast worked cohesively and were clearly committed to making the production a success. The Twelve Maids choral work was a welcome interlude as they executed Kristin Stefanoff’s original music beautifully, especially when considering their primary job was as dramatic performers. Costuming was effective and better utilised in the second half when the maids’ roles as both male and female characters were distinguished by the wearing of masks.

The moving of a seating prop was somewhat noisy and distracting – hopefully, this will not be the case in upcoming performances. The fight scene was well-choreographed but lacked intensity, although this may develop throughout the run of the production. Direction was imaginative in its use of the intimate space that the University’s Little Theatre provides.

Jane Ford portrayed Penelope with a convincing level of believability (a massive role full of lengthy monologues that this actor performed without one stumble – bravo), Theo Papazis did a credible job of his portrayal of Odysseus, but his Australian accent broke the characterisation on occasion. The Twelve Maids were committed to their roles; however, the wearing of modern nail polish, face piercings and modern jewellery felt out of place in this production. Kudos for a standout performance for this reviewer was Fredrick Pincombe as Telemachus – this is an actor to be watched!

The Penelopiad runs from 23 May to 1 June 2025; remaining session dates and times are as follows:-
– Wednesday 28 May at 6:30pm (with post-show Q&A)
– Thursday 29 May at 7:30pm
– Friday 30 May at 7:30pm
– Saturday 31 May at 3pm
– Sunday 1 June at 3pm

To book tickets to The Penelopiad, please visit https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1324503.

Photography: Maggie Morris of The Multimedia Emporium

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