Observer

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…

OBSERVER: Are You There?

Theatre Works and Wild Boar Theatre’s premiere season of Are You There? was a beautiful piece of masterful storytelling, a timely dark comedy that gave a bittersweet insight into life in an aged care home.The home in question was the fictional Autumn Dale Village. There we met three women – Colleen, Pia and Lauren –…

OBSERVER: Other Desert Cities

In 2011, American playwright Jon Robin Baitz wrote Other Desert Cities around the lives of an affluent Republican family in Palm Springs, California, during the Presidency of Republican Geoge W Bush, in 2003.It is Christmas Eve and the Wyeths – Lyman and Polly – are committed Republicans and have invited their son and daughter to…

OBSERVER: Common Knowledge

Comedian, television host and film star Rosie O’Donnell will make her Australian debut with her new, critically acclaimed show Common Knowledge.After its debut in Dublin and direct from the Edinburgh Fringe, the one-woman show will play in Hamer Hall on Sunday October 19 at 2pm.This show marks the first time Rosie has ever performed in…

OBSERVER: Melbourne Fringe Festival

The Melbourne Fringe Festival runs from September 30 to October 19, bringing 500 events over more than 130 venues, and turning the city itself into a stage.Fed Square, Elizabeth Street, Queen Victoria Market, and more will be transformed into free, interactive, and immersive artworks that invite the public to play, move, and connect at this…

OBSERVER: Sincere Apologies

Alternative Facts brings their quietly subversive participatory performance Sincere Apologies to the 2025 Melbourne Fringe, from October 8-19 at Trades Hall, The Square.Created by award-winning artists Dan Koop, Jamie Lewis and David Williams, Sincere Apologies is a show about how we say ‘sorry’.Part theatrical ritual, part social experiment, Sincere Apologies explores what it means to…

OBSERVER: The Anarchy

Friday, September 5, 2025

There haven’t been too many shows that I’ve walked out of as a reviewer but Doppelgangster’s The Anarchy (1138-53) was one of them.Presumably trying to appeal to the historical period of the same name when England and Normandy were at war, the oral stream of indecipherable verbiage from one performer and then the other (Tobias…

OBSERVER: Hidden Times

Thursday, September 4, 2025

The scourge that is sexual harassment was the theme of Small Ripple Theatre’s original production Hidden Tunes, performed at the Clayton Community Centre. It was an earnest, well-intentioned musical delivered by an energetic troupe of actors and musicians that, while engaging, could labour the point at times.Set in a prestigious musical academy, the show tells…