Observer

OBSERVER: Advent Brass Band

Friday, September 19, 2025

What an amazing afternoon of big band music at Hamer Hall. The one hundred year celebration of Advent Brass Band had everything including aerials, tap dancing, amazing soloists, inspiring duets , comedy, visuals along with three plus hours of music, ranging from the Flinstones theme song to musical theatre to gospel.There were many warm, humorous…

OBSERVER: Fringe Focus Taiwan

Fringe Focus Taiwan 2025 is set for Melbourne with ‘boundary-pushing works for audiences and participants of all ages, celebrating the full cycle of life through bold contemporary art’ from September 30 – October 19 at various venues.Now in its sixth year, Fringe Focus Taiwan features three works by Taiwanese artists that embody the 2025 Festival…

OBSERVER: Tomas Clifford Got Stood Up

After smash hit seasons earlier this year at Fringeworld and Perth Comedy Festival, the multi-award winning production Tomas Clifford Got Stood Up is being presented in Melbourne from October 1-5 at Solidarity Hall at Trades hall Festival Hub.Tomas Clifford Got Stood Up is an original musical comedy cabaret, inviting audiences to join Tomas as he…

OBSERVER: Hair

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…