Observer

OBSERVER: Teddy Bear’s Picnic

Friday, November 21, 2025

Melbourne Shakespeare Company’s new family musical brings mystery, music and magic to the St Kilda Botanical Gardens with The Teddy Bears’ Picnic being presented from December 6-21.Melbourne families are invited to pack their picnic baskets and enjoy this unique, interactive theatrical adventure designed especially for children aged 3 to 10.Unlike a traditional theatre show, The…

OBSERVER: Adrift – liberated, not lost

The National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) presents the graduate showcase, titled Adrift. Curated by Tegan Carmichael and devised by NICA’s third-year students, from December 9-13 at the NICA National Circus Centre in Prahran.To be cast adrift is not to be lost, but to be liberated. It is an allegory for the end of one…

OBSERVER: Phryne Fisher

The literary world in Melbourne and across the world went into collective mourning with the death of the beloved creator of the Phryne Fisher stories, Kerry Greenwood.But even as the multitude of Greenwood fans mourned, they were grateful that Kerry managed to finish one last book before she left them, and her partner, David Greagg,…

OBSERVER: Local Theatre Report

ShowsThe 1812 Theatre: Rhinestone Rex and Miss Monica, Until December 6 at The 1812 Theatre, 3 Rose St., Upper Ferntree Gully. Director: Chris and Libby Procter. Bookings: 1812theatre.com.au 9758 3964.Heidelberg Theatre Company: The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Until November 29 at 36 Turnham Ave., Rosanna. Director: Tim Scott. Bookings: htc.org.auFrankston Theatre Group: The…

OBSERVER: La Mama Theatre in 2026

Returning in 2026 after lying fallow in 2025, La Mama Theatre’s season next year has an exciting new structure consisting of three themes introduced at the season’s launch by Caitlin Dullard, La Mama’s CEO and Artistic Director.All three themes seek to embody La Mama’s key principles of community, freedom, pathways and new Australian work.The first…

OBSERVER: Blanc de Blanc Encore

Monday, November 17, 2025

Dwarfed by the office and retail towers of Lonsdale St, the Spiegel Haus Melbourne is a festive little nook — and the perfect setting for the riotous debauchery of Blanc de Blanc Encore. Boasting a mix of international and home-grown talent, the show is an intoxicating blend of bawdy comedy, lip-sync, cabaret, burlesque, and a…

OBSERVER: Bladderwrack

Innovation and risk-taking in the theatre are always welcome and Bladderwrack at Theatre Works had both in spades.Unfortunately, risk-taking is, well, risky and while the play certainly had several commendable features, the evening overall was one of disappointment.The plot followed the travails of two ancient pirates who had lived in a sunken galleon for decades.They…

OBSERVER: Two Prosecutors

Sunday, November 16, 2025

Set in Stalin’s Russia in 1937, Two Prosecutors is based on a story by dissident writer and gulag survivor Georgy Demidov and is written and directed by Sergei Loznitsa. A chance discovery of a blood-written note, rescued from a mountain of others headed for the incinerator, is diverted to the prosecutor’s office.A secret act of…

OBSERVER: Meow Meow’s The Red Shoes

International cabaret star Meow Meow returns to Melbourne this month with Meow Meow’s The Red Shoes, described as ‘a wildly inventive, darkly funny and achingly beautiful reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairytale,’ playing from November 19 – December 6 at the Merlyn Theatre, Malthouse.Drawing on the myth of a young girl who cannot stop…

OBSERVER: Local Theatre Report

ShowsWilliamstown Little Theatre: Jeeves and Wooster in ‘Perfect Nonsense’ (by The Goodale Brothers and PG Wodehouse) Until November 22 at 2-4 Albert St., Williamstown. Director: Keith Hutton. Bookings: wlt.org.auBeaumaris Theatre: Blackaddder II (Based on the original BBC Television Series created by Richard Curtis, Rowan Atkinson, Ben Elton and John Lloyd and adapted for the stage…