Observer

OBSERVER: Hair

Friday, September 19, 2025

Hair, a brand-new production of the Grammy and Tony Award-winning tribal rock show comes to the Athenaeum Theatre from October 25 for a strictly limited season.When Hair first exploded onto the Australian stage in the early 1970s, it not only shocked and thrilled audiences, but also launched the careers of some of the country’s leading…

OBSERVER: Trio of Showtimes

Many would not know that the eastern side of Melbourne is home to three of Victorian Scouting and Guiding’s vibrant showcases titled Showtime.It has been the season where some 350 budding young thespians have hit the stage to perform their original works to the general community and to their peer groups.Why review the three very…

OBSERVER: Othello

Director Tanya Gerstle provides us with a judiciously pared down version of Othello with just five actors in Melbourne Shakespeare Company’s offering.There is an unflinching intensity afforded by this approach. While the foundational explanation of the relationship between Othello (Christopher Kirby) and Desdemona (Tanya Schneider) has been excised, the unravelling of the relationship and Iago’s…

OBSERVER: Local Theatre Report

ShowsLilydale Athenaeum Theatre Company: The Importance of Being Earnest (by Oscar Wilde) Until September 27 at the Lilydale Mechanics’ Institute, Castella St., Lilydale. Director: Katie-Jane Amery. Bookings: lilydaleatc.comFrankston Theatre Group: Emma (by Jane Austen, adapted by Michael Bloom) September 25 – October 5 at Frankston High School Performing Arts Theatre97 Foot Street, Frankston. Director: Candice…

OBSERVER: Other Gods

The fantasy genre has seen a leap in popularity in recent years, thanks to being embraced by the Tik Tok generation.But it is rare that it translates to the stage, so playwright Simon Farley has decided to rectify this by staging his latest play, Other Gods, at the Motley Bauhaus next month as part of…

OBSERVER: Job

A dramatic immediacy opens Max Wolf Friedlich’s Job at Red Stitch Theatre.Short, sharp vignettes reveal Jane (Jessica Clarke) pointing a gun at Loyd (Darren Gilshenan), Loyd berating an imaginary individual, and a dynamic that the audience must interpret.We discover Jane is seeing Loyd in his professional capacity as a therapist who will determine if she…

OBSERVER: Rourke’s Reviews

Spinal Tap II : The End Continues(M). 83 minutes. Opens in cinemas September 25.Blessedly not as bad as one might have been expecting, this belated sequel to the 1984 cult classic doesn’t come close to hitting the heights of the original.The main players are back; band members David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean), Nigel Tufnel (Christopher…

OBSERVER: The 39 Steps

Friday, September 12, 2025

The timing is immaculate, the immersion immediate and the story almost immaterial which all speaks to the physically chaotic fun of Patrick Barlow’s adaption of John Buchan’s The 39 Steps.Richard Hannnay (Ian Stenlake) must foil a spy ring. Lisa McCune plays the femme fatale, the dour Scotsman’s wife and Pamela, the love interest that Hannay…

OBSERVER: The Mutineers

Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Monash Uni Student Theatre (MUST MSA) presents The Mutineers, written by emerging playwright Tavisshi Dhawan in The MUST Space at Monash University Clayton from September 18-27.Co-directed by Tiara Pires and Tavisshi Dhawan, The Mutineers is set in the 1990s at the prestigious Bellview Academy. We follow the journey of two scholarship students as they navigate…

OBSERVER: Local Theatre

ShowsWilliamstown Little Theatre: The Hollow Crown (by John Barton) Until September 20 at 3-4 Albert St., Williamstown. Director: Peter Newling. Bookings:  wlt.org.au/book-ticketsHeidelberg Theatre Company: Other Desert Cities (Jon Robin Baitz) Until September 20 at Heidelberg Theatre, 36 Turnham Ave., Rosanna. Director: Gaetano Santo. Bookings: email boxoffice@htc.org.auEltham Little Theatre: The Addams Family, a new musical (Marshall…