Observer

OBSERVER: Ron and Isobel

Friday, May 16, 2025

Following a sold-out season at La Mama in 2019, the comedy Ron and Isobel returns for a season at the Motley Bauhaus, Carlton from June 11-22.Written by award-winning playwright Anna Lall and directed by Elizabeth Walley and produced by Double Garage Productions, Ron and Isobel is set in 1975 on Saturday, November 15, just four…

OBSERVER: Local Theatre Report

Shows Bairnsdale Production Line Theatre Company: Come From Away (by Irene Sankolff and David Hein) Until May 25 at the Forge Theatre and Arts Hub, Bairnsdale. Director: Peter Martignoles. Bookings: eastgippsland.vic.gov.au/leisure/whats-on-and-buy-ticketsBeaumaris Theatre: Knife’s Edge (by Alison Campbell Rate) Until May 24 at 82 Wells Rd., Beaumaris. Director: Deborah Fabbro. Bookings: TrybookingThe Mount Players: The Girl…

OBSERVER: Nice Work If You Can Get It

CLOC Musical Theatre presents the razzle dazzle musical comedy Nice Work If You Can Get It until May 31 at the National Theatre, St Kilda. Directed by Mark Taylor, with musical direction by David Clausen-Wisken and choreography by Susan Lewis, the show is set in the roaring 1920s and features the timeless music of George…

OBSERVER: Humans 2.0 – Review

Humans 2.0 merges contemporary dance with circus, creating a work where risk, excitement, and danger are ever-presentThe performance opens with prone bodies stretched out onstageAs the music begins to soar, the bodies roll and spin from side to side.Before long, they are upright, and their bodies fling from one performer to another.Ori Lichtik’s original score,…

OBSERVER: Les Miserables

The world’s longest running musical celebrates its 40th birthday with a grand concert version titled Les Misérables, the Arena Spectacular, touring globally and performing at the Rod Laver Arena until May 25.Presented by Cameron Mackintosh, the show is indeed spectacular – often breathtaking – performed by a multi-talented cast and fabulous orchestra of over 65,…

OBSERVER: St Kilda Film Festival

Friday, May 9, 2025

Australia’s longest-running film festival, the St Kilda Film Festival, returns to the big screen from June 5-15.Presented by the City of Port Phillip, this year’s festival will screen over 150 films across 34 curated sessions, taking place at iconic venues including South Melbourne Market, the Astor Theatre, and for the first time since 2019, the…

OBSERVER: Femme Play

Attitude Production and Cracked Actors Theatre present Femme Play [ungrateful slut], at The Butterfly Club from May 21-31 as part of the Drama Queen Festival 2025.Written by feminist playwright Judy Doubas and directed by Susan Rundle, the play is described as a ‘sharp, provocative production which blends humour and biting social commentary with an urgent…

OBSERVER: Circa

Circa returns to Arts Centre Melbourne with their global acrobatic smash hit Humans 2.0 from May 14 – 24 in the Playhouse, fresh from celebrating their 20-year anniversary last year.Circa’s reputation precedes itself for being at the forefront of the new wave of contemporary Australian circus, redefining the art form by showcasing how extreme physicality…

OBSERVER: Away

Monash Uni Student Theatre (MUST, MSA) presents Away by Australian playwright Michael Gow, from May 15 – 24 in The MUST Space, Monash University, Clayton.Directed by Max Pickering, Away is set against the backdrop of mid 1960s social upheaval, as three families travel to Queensland to celebrate their Christmas holidays, striving to escape the troubled…

OBSERVER: At Kew Court House

Lovers of jazz are in for a treat over the next few weeks at Kew Courthouse.Jazz diva Fem Belling has planned an interesting series of different jazz events in a special series of concerts at Kew Courthouse.Coning up on Friday 23 May is The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which celebrates in music the well-known novel.Pianist-composer…