Theatre - Whats The Show

Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett

29/04/202629/04/2026 Annie Zeleznikow🥉

Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett Rating

★★★★★

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Bernie Dieter returned to Melbourne with a troupe of talented and sexy performers in Club Kabarett. Housed by the Meat Market, Bernie created a bold environment in a beautiful space. Club Kabarett was atmospheric, with audience members dressed up like it was East Berlin in the early 30’s. The band began playing while the audience found their seats, creating a rowdy and excitable environment. The performers welcomed audience members to the cabaret with some preshow shenanigans.

Bernie and her whole team were dressed in interesting and beautiful costumes. The costumes both made a political statement and peaked my curiosity. Often the performers were scantily clad, or in the case of the drag queen, completely nude except for Chanel. The costumes teased the audience as much as the performances themselves, becoming progressively more risqué.

Bernie was bold and brave when she spoke to the audience. She emphasised that Club Kabarett was a place for the sexually free and open to let our freak flag fly. Bernie utilised the unique large space to create a wonderfully intimate moments engaging directly with audience members. Bernie’s punk attitude and punk music suited the distinctly alternative nature of the cabaret. Bernie hoped to create a space where we could all “let go and get intimate,” and she was successful in that endeavour! Bernie encouraged and asked the audience to touch her, in an attempted to break down barriers.

Bernie’s talented team of alternative performers included a scantily clad pole dancer, a fabulous drag queen, a trapeze artist and many more. Bernie sang with her live band while the different artists performed spectacles. The pole dancer had the audience engrossed by her wild athleticism and flexibility. The tap dancer embodied punk, breaking down expectations of the art form, as he continued to tap with a cigarette in his mouth and an oversized fur coat over his shoulders. The contortionist was impressive to watch. Her muscle and strength control was spectacular. The entire ensemble was serving sexy circus realness.

Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett awoke things in me, and made me proud of Bernie. Bernie was unapologetic in her opinions and her radical acceptance of others. Her choice to be so open about her beliefs created a safe and inviting space for the audience to enjoy the remarkable performances she had curated. The live band provided a soundtrack to every performer and act apart of the cabaret, and made sure the atmosphere remained engaging and interesting.

To book tickets to Bernie Dieter’s Club Kabarett, please visit https://meatmarket.org.au/event/club-kabarett/.

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I Can See You, I Can Hear You – But You Are Not Real

26/04/2026 Virginia Gray🥉

Anthropology by Lauren Gunderson Rating

★★★★★

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What happens when AI and humans combine, who/what is controlling the other.

Anthropology is an ancient science that investigates human diversity, evolution, and social life to understand the “big picture” of what it means to be human.

While theoretical foundations and ideas regarding “thinking machines” existed earlier, the term “Artificial Intelligence” was coined and adopted during a workshop at Dartmouth College in the summer of 1956.

Lauren Gunderson’s Anthropology first premiered September 2023 in Hampstead, England. The American Playwright has a string of popular plays doing the rounds including comedies The Book of Will and The Revolutionists. This however is not a comedy.

When we think of AI we are all familiar with the imagery we can create, and chatbots that interact with us (some even make sense). We watch CSI and Bones; we marvel at the technology they expose us to.

But what about creating a program to mimic loved ones so you can still talk to them and they talk back. Even when they are gone.

This is a play about a tech genius, a missing presumed dead sister, an ex-girlfriend and an emotionally absent mother. It is full of twists and turns, teetering on the brink of despair and then a landslide back to reality.

Firstly, let me say the set was tremendous and deserves the Matilda this year – designed by Freddy Komp who also brought the computer screens to life. The surreal set had a large corner desk with “working screens” and a functional living room space. The giant screen that seemed to dominate over the room played an important role in bringing the character Angie to life. Simple entrances via the black curtains at the side allowed the actors to enter and exit as if a doorway did exist.

Caroline Sparrow played the tech savvy older sister Merril, of missing teen Angie played by Rose Traynor-Boyland. A tense, distraught character whose grip on reality was slipping. Caroline was able to make this character both vulnerable and strong. The interaction between the onscreen Angie and the distraught Merril was heartbreaking to watch. Angie taunted Merril playing on her emotions while presenting as an AI Chatbot. The switching of characterizations by Rose was seamless. The ex-girlfriend, Raquel played by Vivien Whittle was a perfect choice as the warm voice of reason and human touch to ease Merril away from technology and back to a type of normality and this interplay also gave the audience a break from the tension. Sherri Smith, as the mother gave a believable version of an erratic reformed addict who was emotionally unstable.

The director Nicky Whichelow has brought together an excellent cast and certainly created an excellent piece of theatre. The production was slick, with a marvellous set that complemented the talented cast.

The crew of Zoe Power- sound, Geoff Squires- lights and Hazel Evans as SM, are also to be congratulated for the behind scenes work that helped give this show polish.

While this drama/mystery will appeal to a wide audience if you are a fan of any of the American Missing person/Crime TV shows you will certainly appreciate this work of live theatre.

Running at PIP Theatre, Milton until 2nd May, tickets https://piptheatre.org/2026-anthropology

To book tickets to Anthropology by Lauren Gunderson, please visit https://piptheatre.org/2026-anthropology/.

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Mara

26/04/2026 Liv Carlisle🆕

Mara Rating

★★★★★

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Last night, I had the pleasure of attending the opening night of the newest production at Theatre Works. ‘Mara’ is a triumph of re-imagining, cleverly talking and twisting is audience through the story of Cinderella, from the perspective of the so called evil step-mother.

Upon entry to the theatre, audience members are greeted by low lighting and haunting live music (courtesy of Asia Reynolds) that instantly sets the tone for the show to follow: a tactile exploration of words and visuals that transports you into the inner mind of a woman very much on the edge.

It would be remiss to review this show without applauding the massive efforts of actress Aurora Kurth. Aurora steps on the stage and does not simply act, she becomes. Babe, daughter, mother, lover, maid, footman, friend, martyr, baddie and even daddy. She becomes all of them right in front of your eyes, through accent, tone and physicality, talking and singing her way through rhythmic lines filled with repetition, onomatopoeias, metaphors and double entendres (“You have put a step between us” made me literally gasp out loud, I apologise to the gentleman sitting next to me).

The other standout moments of the show were the visuals and soundscape. On a beautiful designed set with carousel horses and doll houses (thank you Jacques Cooney Adlard), every choice felt incredibly deliberate from the colours of Mara’s dresses to the clinking of her teacups. All choices designed to surround the audience and draw them into the mindset of Mara, a woman desperately trying to bring security into her world, against all odds.

And yet, this show does not shy away from the more brutal elements of Cinderella. After delicately toeing the line between whimsical and gruesome, the show takes a direct turn into the macabre with one of the best representations of foot mutilation I have ever seen onstage (and I’ve seen surprisingly many).

Did I come away from the show on the step mother’s side? Not quite but I don’t think I was supposed to. Instead I came away from Mara with a deep appreciation for the journey she has gone through and an understanding of her character. She is desperate, she is a mother, she is alone, she is unloved, she is lost. She has struggled and climbed, she has made mistakes and paid for some of them. She has loved and lost, she has envied, she has feared. She is so much more than a caricature of ‘The Evil Stepmother.’

To book tickets to Mara, please visit https://www.theatreworks.org.au/2026/mara.

Photographer: Sarah Clarke

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We Are Not Wagging Our Finger At You… Yet

24/04/2026 Virginia Gray🥉

‘Scenes from the Climate Era’ by David Finnigan Rating

★★★★★

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Last night I attended Underground Theatre Co’s production of “Scenes from the Climate Era”, written by climate activist and theatre maker David Finnigan.

I went in cold; I didn’t know anything about it. I recognized a few of the actors, I knew the venue and I expected it to be heavy and probably depressing.

It was heavy and intense. Most I agreed with, some scenarios just annoyed me, but the important and impressive thing is I was invested and reacting with my thoughts and emotions.

This play is about past climate crises and possible future crises. Giving scenarios in first person from actual events or possible events. Cyclones, fires, heat waves and human reactions. Climate change is complex, chaotic and not a quick fix.

The Geoffrey Rush Studio is under the old Schonell Theatre – closed since 2021 while UQ work out what they do with it. But luckily for UTC the studio is available to them and is an intimate space with tiered seating and ample room for a flat or raised stage.

The set was kept simple – white and black chairs lined up at the edge of the stage, a white and black table to be both table and raised podium, a backdrop that was back lit to create imagery from the actors and atmospheric conditions.

The lighting was simple but used well to set up different scenarios, as was the use of sound. With such a simple set and no costume changes the use of these could have been even more predominant without overpowering the actors or storyline.
You could tell the creatives were all passionate about this play and all gave an emotive performance.

The 8-member cast of Cullyn Beckton, Ava Kozlovskis, Lara-Kate Anderson, Abigail Thomas, Loretta Melit, Miller Braithwaite, Ruby Gleeson and Georgie Falting are all to be congratulated along with 12 creatives led by director Jai Bofinger rehearsed and brought this to production in only 7 weeks. There are 65 scenes to cover a range of human emotions and experiences.

This is a journey that invites you to listen to the danger of climate change from sharing and witnessing experiences with the actors on stage.

It runs for 90 minutes, and an interval would have given the audience a reprieve from the intensity and a chance to catch up with all the information. In saying that the actors were totally committed and an interval may have derailed the emotions and pace of the play.

Did I enjoy it you may ask. I often question my choices when thinking of the effects on the climate. My recent Shein purchases, takeaway plastic containers – this play set out to remind me that we are all part of the solution. But did I enjoy it.
YES – because I like being challenged and i was entertained. This play would not have been on my radar but as I had never seen or heard of it or the playwright, i was curious, and i was not disappointed. For further research and information look up the writer, David Finnigan, he is an interesting character himself.

It runs until the 25 April, tickets on Trybooking.com $20-$35

To book tickets to ‘Scenes from the Climate Era’ by David Finnigan, please visit https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1560499.

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