Observer

OBSERVER: Journeys

Saturday, October 18, 2025

The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Chorus celebrated its 60th anniversary in a splendid concert honouring Tomas Luis de Victoria (1548-1611), a great Spanish composer, in the Iwaki Auditorium.Conductor, Warren Trevelyan-Jones skilfully led the singers in Missa pro Victoria, (Victoria), Versa est in luctum, (Joe Twist), O quam gloriosum (Victoria) and To the Field of Stars (Gabriel…

OBSERVER: Haunting of Spook Mansion

Producer/writer Michael Ward has announced the cast for the premiere season of The Haunting of Spook Mansion (by Ghosts), to be presented at Chapel off Chapel from November 12-23.Writer/director/actor Peter Houghton is Adrian Chambers, Emily Taheny (core cast member of Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell) is Beth Jackson and Ben Russell (international renowned comedian) is…

OBSERVER: Local Theatre Report

Shows The 1812 Theatre: Speaking in Tongues (by Andrew Bovell) Until October 25 at 3 Rose St., Upper Ferntree Gully. Director: Dexter Bourke. Bookings: 1812theatre.com.auCLOC Musical Theatre: &Juliet Until October 25 at the National Theatre, St Kilda. Director: Karl McNamara; Musical Director: Dan Heskett; Choreographer: Felicity Bender. Bookings: cloc.org.auCPP Community Theatre: Urinetown Until October 24…

OBSERVER: Dead On Target

Being a journalist leads you up all sorts of highways and byways, and most journalists have a pretty wide knowledge of what’s happening on their patch.Former Australian journalist Stephen Johnson has taken the knowledge from his decades of journalism in Australia and New Zealand and poured it into his latest crime thriller, Dead on Target.The…

OBSERVER: Flesh Mirror

In a wonderful example of abled and disabled artists and performers creating and performing together, Arts House and Melbourne Fringe presented the premiere of Weave Movement Theatre’s latest production Flesh Mirror.Multi-disciplinary in nature, six performers were in a large space dominated by a projection screen. Also in the space were several mobile video cameras which…

OBSERVER: Sisters In Crime

Australian women crime writers continue in the tradition of using police procedurals for writing crime novels, but are adding new elements – women detectives, deadly small-town secrets, and different takes on violence against women.A stolen baby, a stolen corpse, and a missing woman are at the centre of the novels by Vikki Petraitis, Sarah Bailey…

OBSERVER: Chimp

There is a certain simian similitude to Conor Lynch’s contribution to the Fringe Festival. Given there is no dialogue, Lynch, in the appropriately titled production Chimp, must convey the desires of his alter ego in mime from captivity to an almost civilised entity.While the anthropological mimicry may not be sufficient to distinguish a capuchin monkey…

OBSERVER: Grease

Thursday, October 16, 2025

The iconic musical Grease first opened on Broadway in 1972. Since then, I have seen many versions, professional and amateur, including the Melbourne premiere also staged in 1972.Babirra Music Theatre’s production of Grease presented at The Round in Nuna-wading was a first-class, all-round standout interpretation.The exuberant opening set the show’s tone, featuring musical director Vicki…

OBSERVER: The Lucky Country

Musicals, as you’d expect, are all about the music — and in that regard, The Lucky Country delivers in spades.It’s filled with memorable melodies, a deft balance of heart and humour, strong storytelling, emotional depth, and marvellous voices.Billed as a story about what it means to be Australian, The Lucky Country explores familiar themes of…

OBSERVER: Sarahtonin

Fresh from a successful season at the Perth Fringe Festival earlier this year, Sarah Bower’s one-woman cabaret show Sarahtonin was a joyous celebration of the small things in life.The show was simplicity itself as Bowers, accompanied by John Packer on acoustic guitar, sang a variety of songs and shared personal stories about love, life and…