Tag Archives: shake & stir theatre co

Review: The Lovers (Theatre Royal)

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Venue: Theatre Royal (Sydney NSW), Oct 31 – Nov 16, 2025
Book, Music & Lyrics: Laura Murphy
Director: Nick Skubu
Cast: Natalie Abbott, Jason Arrow, Jayme-Lee Hanekom, Loren Hunter, Stellar Perry, Mat Verevis
Images by Joel Devereux

Theatre review
Helena loves Demetrius, who only has eyes for Hermia, who happens to fancy Lysander—who, luckily, fancies her back. Into this romantic tangle stumble Oberon and Puck, whose antics send the entire affair spiralling into chaos. In The Lovers, Laura Murphy reimagines Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream as a pop-fuelled rom-com, and it proves a stroke of brilliance. Murphy’s songs are crafted with such wit and precision that an otherwise frivolous love polygon becomes something exuberant and uplifting—a celebration of desire, confusion, and the sheer delight of losing oneself in both.

Nick Skubij’s direction leans into the work’s pop sensibilities, resulting in a production that feels consistently sweet and effervescent. At times, his approach may lack a certain inventiveness or sense of play, yet there is an undeniable momentum that keeps the show engaging throughout. Isabel Hudson’s set and costumes are tasteful but somewhat pared back for a story so gleefully fantastical. Fortunately, Trent Suidgeest’s lavish lighting design and David Bergman’s refined video projections lend the staging a grandeur that transforms it into something visually majestic and memorable.

We meet a superbly cohesive cast of six, each performer brimming with talent and conviction. Natalie Abbott’s Helena and Stellar Perry’s Oberon prove especially magnetic—both returning from the 2022 production with a mastery that infuses every scene with confidence and flair. The vocal work throughout is first-rate, and under Heidi Maguire’s deft musical direction, the show achieves a gleam of polish that ensures it is the songs, above all, that continue to echo long after the curtain falls.

www.theloversmusical.com.au

Review: Frankenstein (Theatre Royal)

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Venue: Theatre Royal (Sydney NSW), 28 Sep – 13 Oct, 2024
Playwright: Nelle Lee (from the novel by Mary Shelley)
Director: Nick Skubij
Cast: Darcy Brown, Tony Cogin, Nick James, Anna Lise Phillips, Jeremiah Wray, Chloé Zuel
Images by Joel Devereux

Theatre review
It is with the most obsessive passion, that the scientist sets out to build his creature. It seems Mary Shelley had intuited that technology would simply march forward, whether the consequences are good or bad. Nelle Lee’s adaptation of Frankenstein provides a rich narrative, for an eventful piece of theatre. Unlike the original, it tends not to inspire much philosophical rumination, but there is certainly a lot of room for drama and spectacle.

Dynamic direction by Nick Skubij’s aims to provide a thrilling experience, and the production is indeed impressive with its unrelenting kineticism. It however neglects our need for emotional involvement until late in the piece, and when we begin to feel for the story,  it may be too little, too late.

Ambitious set design by Josh McIntosh keeps our senses enthralled, with Craig Wilkinson’s intensive video projections sometimes adding to the extravagance, but at other times making things look less than elegant. McIntosh’s work on costumes proves accomplished, and along with makeup by Steven Boyle, especially memorable for their combined rendering of the notorious Frankensteinian creature. Lights by Trent Suidgeest are striking, with a consistent flamboyance that really dazzles. Sounds and music by Guy Webster are wonderfully grand, always imbued with a sense of opulence that greatly enhances the show.

Actor Darcy Brown plays a very eccentric Victor Frankenstein, perhaps slightly too unrestrained on occasion, but nonetheless marvellous with the intensity being delivered. Jeremiah Wray is remarkable as the creature, astonishing with the physicality he brings to the role, and disarming with the sentimentality he delivers quite unsuspectingly, just when we begin to tire of the inexorable theatrical hullabaloo.

There is a karmic lesson fundamental to the meanings of Frankenstein; it appears that monsters can only be created by other monsters. It may also seem that monstrous behaviour can be unintentional, although it is infinitely more human, to cling to the belief that it is our resolve that means everything, that we must endeavour to do good, and that our vigilance is key to thwarting destructive aspects of our nature. 

www.frankensteinlive.com.au

Review: Green Day’s American Idiot (Sydney Opera House)

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Venue: Sydney Opera House (Sydney NSW), Jan 11 – 14, 2018
Music: Green Day
Lyrics: Billie Joe Armstrong
Book: Billie Joe Armstrong, Michael Mayer
Director: Craig Ilot
Cast: Kaylah Attard, Kyla Bartholemeusz, Erin Clare, Connor Crawford, Linden Furnell, Phil Jamieson, Alex Jeans, Nicholas Kyriacou, Vidya Makan, Phoenix Mendoza, Phoebe Panaretos, Christopher Scalzo, Maxwell Simon, Ashleigh Taylor, Kuki Tipoki
Image by Ken Leanfore

Theatre review
Comprising songs by American punk rock band Green Day, American Idiot is a musical, or a rock opera to be slightly more precise, that showcases the band’s unquestionably popular songwriting talents. Billie Joe Armstrong, Tré Cool and Mike Dirnt are Gen X’ers who have found an audience with their brash but commercial sound, and like many successful music artists today, exploring a jukebox musical with their pre-existing catalogue is now par for the course.

While it is somewhat refreshing to have the punk genre incorporated into this almost always contrived genre of show, a stronger book is required for American Idiot to speak to those who are less than fanatic about the band’s oeuvre. We see characters go through the semblance of a plot, but glean no detail from any of their stories. Cheesy choreography and unimaginative use of projections, cause the show to further alienate.

The adaptation of music is however, fairly effective, with dramatic arrangements helping to sustain interest. It is a committed cast of varying abilities, most memorable of whom is Linden Furnell in the central role of Johnny, exquisitely confident in his multidisciplinary approach to the production’s quite exacting requirements. His effortless blend of rock and broadway, along with a physical agility, provide us with a sense of impressive polish and professionalism. Much less comfortable on the musical stage is Phil Jamieson, who although exhibits good presence from his years as a rock musician, is visibly disoriented in this switch in performance style.

It is certainly one for the fans, but there is no reason for the bar not being raised higher. There is excellent energy and poignant intent in each of the songs being sung in American Idiot, and when presented appropriately, there is plentiful opportunity for a wider crowd to connect. The talent here is evident, but greater diligence is necessary for a show that could speak to more, with better clarity and at a more affecting depth.

www.americanidiotlive.com.au