Perth Theatre - Whats The Show

Hard Cheese: Rat in the City: One Last Bite

28/01/2026 Sarah Schmitt🥉

Hard Cheese: Rat in the City: One Last Bite Rating

★★★★★

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Hard Cheese: Rat in the City: One Last Bite is a delirious descent into the cracked psyche of its rodent anti-hero, and a gleefully unhinged love letter to neo-noir theatre. The rat. The myth. The legend. Harland “Hard Cheese” Cheese is dragged back into the underworld of hard-rind police work for his most maddening case yet, led by an old friend-turned-enemy, experience a cat-and-rat chase that feels less like a mystery and more like a hallucinatory spiral.

Trauma from three years earlier gnaws at our hero as he searches for his missing true love, Alison Brie, the real-life actress. Guided by his most trusted investigative tools – a Magic 8 Ball rattling around in his pocket and a set of bones, Harland “Hard Cheese” fumbles through the city searching for clues. Call it fate, destiny or celebrity obsession; every rat has its trap, and this one snaps hard.

Presented at the Blue Room Theatre as part of Fringe World Perth, this Dream Simulator production is a design-led hour of fun. Cardboard sets lend a scrappy, comic texture to a world that is otherwise shadowy and dark, while exaggerated movement, stark lighting and clever shadow play evoke classic detective cinema with a surreal twist. Puppets, masks and props are used inventively, allowing scenes to flow with cartoon logic.

Absurd, confusing, dark and hilarious, Hard Cheese leaves you scratching your head and wanting more. The talented cast made up of Lachlan Ives, Tash Pearson, Ellien Warden, Natalia Myślińska and James Brooks, delivers committed, fearless performances. With this creativity and talent, it’s clear this crew have exciting futures ahead of them. Hard Cheese: Rat in the City is strange, lurid, and utterly compelling theatre. What great fun it was.

Hard Cheese: Rat in the City: One Last Bite is showing at The Blue Room Theatre until Jan 31st as part of Fringe World Perth.

To book tickets to Hard Cheese: Rat in the City: One Last Bite, please visit https://blueroom.org.au/events/hard-cheese-rat-in-the-city-one-last-bite/.

Photographer: Sean Breadsell

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Carol: A Story of Strength, Spirit, and Sack Daddy

29/11/2025 Emma Basc ⭐

Carol Rating

★★★★★

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Andrea Gibbs’ Carol is pitched as following 60-year-old Carol as she fights to keep the Christmas spirit alive. While that’s certainly part of it, this five-actor show (with oh-so-many characters) delivers a timely and poignant social commentary on the reality faced by so many older women in Australia today. Even as Carol’s world unravels and is turned upside down, she continues to shoulder the mental load—something that resonated with many women in the audience.

The play’s themes of hope, resilience, and a woman’s ability to pivot shine through. Gibbs has been called a visionary playwright, and it’s clear this work was written by a woman. No matter what life throws at Carol, not once does she turn to a man and ask, “What’ll we do now?” She simply gets on with making the best of a bad lot.

The cast is exceptional. Sally-Anne Upton embodies the title role with heart and honesty, and the remaining ensemble (and backstage crew) switch roles with astonishing ease. At one point, Isaac Diamond morphs from therapist to son right before our eyes—I must have blinked, because the transformation was total but somehow I missed it actually happen.

The show itself is delightfully hard to categorise. Woven through its heart-wrenching, resilience-filled narrative is the most Aussie humour, including the antics of Santa—aka Sack Daddy—who opens the show with some enthusiastic audience participation (I’ve never been more relieved not to be in the first few rows). There’s plenty of laughter, and a healthy serve of colourful Aussie descriptors that rightly earn the production its explicit-language warning. Musical Director and Composer Jackson Harper Griggs sets the tone beautifully with original compositions; the music is a genuine highlight.

I can’t go past the set design. Bruce McKinven has outdone himself as set and costume designer, crafting a series of spectacular visuals. Walking into the Heath Ledger Theatre felt like stepping straight into the Australian landscape—each painted curtain backdrop richer and more evocative than the last.

Carol sits perfectly in that sweet spot between light and dark, humour and heartbreak. Congratulations to everyone involved.

Shows: For more information, visit the Black Swan website https://blackswantheatre.com.au/season-2025/carol. The season runs until 14 December and includes accessible sessions—audio description with tactile tour, Auslan-interpreted performances, and captioned sessions.

To book tickets to Carol, please visit https://blackswantheatre.com.au/season-2025/carol.

Photographer: Daniel J Grant

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Final Two

02/01/202626/11/2025 Breanna Redhead🌟🦉

Final Two Rating

★★★★★

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Small theatre is always such a joy. Seeing stories created with such a deep passion across all facets of production is so unique and a far more touching experience than say a large national tour. Final Two from Reprise Theatre is no exception to this.

Written by Arthur Brown, the play follows the journey of the last remaining contestants on a Bachelor-type reality TV show who, naturally, summon a ghost of a prior contestant the night before their season finale.

Stepping into the Hayman Theatre (shoutout to all the directions and signage on the way in!) was like reverting back to the 2000s – it was pink, sparkly, and Katy Perry was blaring. While a defining era of ‘when’ the play took place was never stated, I appreciated this nostalgic tone to the show and its consistency throughout.

The five-man cast all gave committed performances earning great reactions for the small but reception audience. Phoebe Eames is well-grounded as Chloe; the unlikely reality show contestant. She bounces well off Maia Whitelaw’s Shaz, the pretty-in-pink, ditsy blonde whose every life choice has led to being on the show. Together the pair are a great yin and yang, working well to propel the story.

Marquis Tajaran was fierce as the hard-done-by Vanessa, dominating the stage with great flair and attitude. While I would’ve loved to see more of Jarrad Whitehurst’s Declan who offered who’s endearing performance (and life) was short-lived.

My personal stand out was Zachary Borthwick as Matt Maker, garnering plenty of laughs with his sass and verve. His portrayal felt quite candid comparatively to his castmates. If I was to offer any feedback, I’d be mindful of projection in such a small venue. It at times felt actors were equating emotion to volume which at times came across a little harsh.

The set was fairly simplistic with two differing room locales on opposite sides of the stage, and a turning truck inviting audiences to a third setting. Designed by Setare Mogharebin it was effective in placing scenes while still leaving the actors space to do the heavy lifting. I do however feel Chloe’s room (in part to the pink walls/bedding etc.) felt more reflective of Shaz’ character than her own, but that’s neither here nor there.

I enjoyed Adrijan Teddy Levis’ direction, particularly the use of the TV style projections/cutaways to showcase the characters’ inner monologues throughout. Pay attention to closing off the audience, as there were a few moments where actors were entirely cut off with their backs to us, losing some of the scene. His slew of masking tape props also did not go unnoticed, a small testament to the clear amount of time, preparation and love put into this production.

The 2025 Curtin Alumni have come together to present a loud, camp and fun production – with Final Two a celebratory display of the cohort’s hard work throughout their studies. Well done to all involved.

To book tickets to Final Two, please visit https://reprisetheatre.com/shows/final-two/.

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The Chairs

26/11/2025 Manuela Kacomanolis🥈🦉🎭

The Chairs Rating

★★★★★

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The Chairs is a creative vaudeville, circus style play about an elderly couple, simply known as the Old Man and the Old Woman presented by The Melville Theatre Company and directed by Virginia Moore Price.

Written by Eugene Ionesco in the 1950s, it is quite an absurd tale in which the elderly couple reflect on their life over the 70 years they’ve been married. This indicated that they would be in their 90s. At the beginning I struggled to understand what was happening and their conversations seemed nonsensical. A sign of the deterioration of their memories and their minds.

The couple prepare to receive guests for a lecture of some sort which never eventuates and their guest of honour, the Orator. They frantically gather chairs for the guests and dump them onto the rotating floor in a comedic fashion. The guests, however, are invisible to the audience. Whether the old couple are imagining them or whether they are actually real to the couple, left me unsure.

The couple’s fragmented recollections and contradictory chronologies evoke signs of dementia. This is particularly evident when the Old Woman recalls having a son who died when he was a child and reflecting on the grief of losing a child but the Old Man recalls the couple not being able to have any children and instead reflecting on the grief of his mother’s death.

Although it is clear they both deeply care for each other, there are moments of regret and a sense now that their lives are very soon coming to an end. Throughout the play the Old Woman continuously reminds the Old Man how he could’ve been a head general or a head comedian much to both of their despair. The Orator Raven who whilst is visible to the audience throughout the entire play as he sits on the rotating floor, is only visible to the couple towards the end perhaps signifying death.

Ionesco gives plays into the delusional state of mind of the elderly couple by having them set in a circus ring with both dressed as clowns and the Old Man performing as a mime artist.

Zane Alexander and Solanje Burns deliver a phenomenal performance as the Old Man and Old Woman holding the attention of audience for the entire play without an interval. There were moments of interaction with the audience when they both tumble off the stage and weave themselves into the audience while they continue their nonsensical dialogue.

At the heart of The Chairs is two people longing to be seen and heard, trying to make sense of the lives they have lived.

To book tickets to The Chairs, please visit https://melvilletheatrecompany.au/current-production.

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