Tag Archives: 4 stars

Review: A Model Murder (Sydney Festival)

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Venue: Darlinghurst Courthouse (Darlinghurst NSW), Jan 4 – 25, 2025
Playwright: Sheridan Harbridge
Director: Sheridan Harbridge
Cast: Blazey Best, Marco Chiappi, Amber McMahon, Ryan Morgan, Maverick Newman, Sofia Nolan, Anthony Taufa 
Images by Neil Bennett

Theatre review
It was 1954 when Shirley Beiger shot and killed her boyfriend in Sydney. The story quickly became a media sensation, with the trial attracting inordinate amounts of public attention and scrutiny. In Sheridan Harbridge’s theatrical retelling A Model Murder, named after the perpetrator’s profession, the simple open and shut case is expanded to provide a nostalgic perspective of the celebrity criminal, a phenomenon which has only increased in prominence through the years.

The show is immensely entertaining, made captivating at every juncture by Harbridge’s imaginative renderings of a brief moment in time. There may not be substantive explorations into Beiger’s psychology leading up to the catastrophic incident, but A Model Murder proves a charming and approachable examination of an intriguing morsel of our city’s history.

Staged within an actual courthouse, with production design by Michael Hankin taking care to accentuate the authenticity of the surrounds, and enhanced by striking costuming that adds considerable visual flair. Lights by Phoebe Pilcher are thoroughly considered, not only to deliver dramatic effect, but also a sense of sumptuousness to this biography about someone renowned for her physicality. Sounds by Zac Saric and music by Glenn Moorhouse, fill the space not only with tension, but also an unmistakeable glamour befitting the subject matter. Also elevating proceedings is Vi Lam’s alluring movement direction, for the many musical interludes that pay tribute to our city’s nightlife and entertainment industry.

Actor Sofia Nolan is appropriately enigmatic as Beiger, with an inscrutability that only makes her presence more compelling. The supporting cast is highly endearing, especially Blazey Best and Amber McMahon who bring magnetism along with wonderful idiosyncrasies, to their meticulous embodiments of some very colourful characters.

We are shaped by endless tales of this city. Whether remembered or forgotten, we live in the midst of the countless infinitesimal narratives that have made Sydney and Gadigal what it is, connected through time that is cyclic yet amorphic. Human skin provides the illusion of our disconnectedness, but the truth is that this place determines so much of who we become. The stuff that we make manifest, seeps into one another. Our decisions will always be born out of culture, much as the current epoch exalts notions of individuality. The truth remains that humans can only survive through care, even though our natural inclinations so often seem to push us the other way.

www.sydneyfestival.org.au | www.lpdprod.com

Review: Hamlet Camp (Carriageworks)

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Venue: Carriageworks (Eveleigh NSW), Jan 14 – 25, 2025
Playwrights: Brendan Cowell, Ewen Leslie, Toby Schmitz
Cast: Brendan Cowell, Ewen Leslie, Toby Schmitz, with Claudia Haines-Cappeau
Images by Daniel Boud

Theatre review
Three actors are in a therapeutic facility, seeking help for their obsession with Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Each had previously embodied that role and for years after, find themselves unable to shake off that experience. Brendan Cowell, Ewen Leslie and Toby Schmitz too had performed Hamlet in previous years, so it is understandable that we may regard their collaborative work Hamlet Camp a semi-autobiographical account of their relationship with the Danish prince.

It may be a highly exaggerated iteration, but more than a few kernels of truth can be found in this confessional manifestation of these artists’ entanglements, with one of the Bard’s most beloved creations. Hamlet Camp deals with artistic conundrums, in particular the troubles associated with acting. We see characters unable to extricate themselves from a world infinitely more appealing than the realities we all have to tolerate, even if it is a literal Shakespearean tragedy that they find themselves trapped within. In their art, they can revel in a truth so immense, that everything else in daily life can only pale by comparison.

The show’s concerns may be insular, with observations too granular for most, but Hamlet Camp is nonetheless highly enjoyable, with Cowell, Leslie and Schmitz orchestrating theatrical chemistry that proves irresistibly amusing. They may not convince us to join in their infatuation, but watching them depict that manic and compulsive enthusiasm, in exquisite harmony and unison, is an unequivocal delight. Supported by lighting designer Jimi Rawlings and sound designer Steve Francis, who bring just enough embellishment to the presentation, Hamlet Camp demonstrates itself to be the kind of theatre about theatre, so full of passion that we can only respond with enchantment.

www.carriageworks.com.au | www.modernconvictfilms.com

Review: Siegfried & Roy: The Unauthorised Opera (Wharf 1 Theatre)

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Venue: Wharf 1 Sydney Theatre Company (Walsh Bay NSW), Jan 8 – 25, 2025
Composer: Luke Di Somma
Libretto: Luke Di Somma, Constantine Costi
Director: Constantine Costi
Cast: Christopher Tonkin, Kanen Breen, Cathy-Di Zhang, Simon Lobelson, Louis Hurley, Danielle Bavli, Russell Harcourt, Thomas Remali, Kirby Myers 
Images by 

Theatre review
Siegfried & Roy: The Unauthorised Opera by Luke Di Somma and Constantine Costi chronicles, with both reverence and sardonicism, the life and times of the infamous Las Vegas stalwarts from Bavaria. Icons of magic and of queer culture, Siegfried & Roy have left an indelible mark with almost half a century in showbusiness. Their signature aesthetic, characterised by unmitigated flamboyance and camp, thoroughly inform Di Somma and Costi’s work, that we discover to be a sincere tribute to the trailblazers, albeit replete with comedic irony.

Directed by Costi, the show is a remarkably enjoyable look into the condensed history of the couple, not only as stars of entertainment, but also as covert figureheads of gay identities from a time before liberation. There is a wonderful tenderness to the portrayal of the pair, with performers Christopher Tonkin and Kanen Breen (as Siegfried and Roy respectively), delivering palpable chemistry alongside their individually brilliant interpretations of these enigmatic characters. We perceive the superficiality that is characteristic of these pop luminaries, but also feel invested in their humanity without requiring the storytelling to delve into exploitative renderings of their biography.

Set design by Pip Runciman provide just enough visual cues for imagery that recalls the excess of both Las Vegas and of Siegfried & Roy, but it is Damien Cooper’s lights that imbue a sense of opulence that transports us to that space of farcical extravagance. Costumes by Tim Chappel too are appropriately outlandish in style, with an unmistakeable wit that really makes an impression. All of this grandiosity is perhaps most effectively epitomised in the music, conducted by Di Somma to bring an immense spiritedness that has us absolutely riveted.

Siegfried & Roy never wanted to give us more than the surface, but it is the persistence and the longevity of that obsession with artificiality, that ultimately forms something paradoxically meaningful. They have become unwitting symbols of kitsch, of escapism, of dedication and of defiance. Their story is one of personal triumph, a rare example of queer forebears attaining stratospheric success with seemingly little compromise on authenticity. Perhaps their legacy can now contribute to their rainbow community, in ways they were unable during the cruelly oppressive epoch of the previous century.

www.sydneyfestival.org.au