Witness Performance | Site-Wide Activity https://witnessperformance.com/activity/ Activity feed for the entire site. Tue, 09 Jan 2024 00:24:08 +1100 https://buddypress.org/?v= en-AU 30 hourly 2 4a9123208c913d36a326a33218399d98 Ben Keene wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=8188 Wed, 30 Jun 2021 01:22:04 +1000 So long and thanks for all the fish Team Witness – Alison Croggon, Carissa Lee, Robert Reid and Ben Keene – got together for a final podcast yarn […]

]]> 378adf1e2ccbc747f28e96df0bbd16ea Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=8178 Tue, 29 Jun 2021 23:57:52 +1000 Theatre isn’t in trouble in this country because of the pandemic. As Robert Reid explains, the problems are much deeper – and older – than the Covid-19 crisis.

People are going to blame the pandemic. Peopl […]

]]> f3457d06242d7a6201d2fd7ab923d6cf Monique Grbec wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=8130 Mon, 28 Jun 2021 07:02:13 +1000 La Mama’s Cactus is a sweet coming-of-age tale that addresses the agony of infertility, says Monique Grbec

Cactus at La Mama is a coming-of-age tragi-comedy that brims with laugh-out-loud moments. Written by e […]

]]> 02c9c0bb549bec625eb8f1f6055e3c04 Alison Croggon wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=8125 Sun, 27 Jun 2021 01:01:18 +1000 Childrens performance critic Gully Thompson says that Parrwang Lifts the Sky is a thrilling example of performance for young people

Children’s theatre is often at its best when it takes risks. As a child, I r […]

]]> 32233ec2c94297f4d5296f45c57568b8 Emilie Collyer wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=8110 Sun, 20 Jun 2021 00:34:00 +1000 Emilie Collyer traces the multiple collaborations behind Chamber Made’s bold new work SYSTEM_ERROR

I’m sitting in the semi-dark in the main hall at Arts House in North Melbourne, watching a development day of […]

]]> 444aa60171c717fe16cb5dee7c943d9a Ben Keene wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=8089 Tue, 08 Jun 2021 04:52:57 +1000 The Witness Interview: Stephen Armstrong and Dan Koerner ‘The experience of 2020 really needs to be celebrated and used as a platform for diving into the future … we mus […]

]]> 74ddd2387513b4c8d3b31dd7572791f3 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=8076 Sat, 29 May 2021 00:48:10 +1000 Robert Reid attends The Wilds on the opening night of Rising, and finds that it’s a mixed experience

Described as a “supernatural forest of ice, art, sound and moonlight”, The Wilds at Rising is colle […]

]]> 35be856eb6a17f6663338f414d8351f3 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=8070 Sun, 23 May 2021 05:42:34 +1000 The feminist scifi Mara Korper is challenging, enjoyable and possibly the smartest theatre you’ll see this year, says Robert Reid

We’re shown to our seats in the plastic boxes and told to select a card from o […]

]]> c3e1ed389f417ef1d344db7252256db8 Monique Grbec wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=8064 Sat, 15 May 2021 03:35:28 +1000 Maryanne Sam’s comedy of cultural errors leaves you wanting more, says Monique Grbec

To mark the 1871 arrival of Christian missionaries in the Torres Strait Islands, every year on July 1 there is a holiday t […]

]]> b27aad0c03ff95b227467815b7bd89a3 Monique Grbec wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=8060 Wed, 12 May 2021 23:44:12 +1000 This deep-listening show summons connection with the seven seasons of Country, says Monique Grbec

Seasons in Blak Box is an Urban Theatre Projects deep-listening experience curated by Daniel Browning that […]

]]> 84200a85de22cb39d13e85a16ada5df5 Monique Grbec wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=8056 Sun, 09 May 2021 01:27:35 +1000 Confronting the reality of Black deaths in custody, Big House Dreaming is a powerful work that invites us to question what is wrong with our justice systems, says Monique Grbec

In a month when three First […]

]]> 01aa132f33a0500848536ef003b480f8 Anne-Marie Peard wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=8048 Sun, 25 Apr 2021 02:58:12 +1000 Midsumma show F*ck Fabulous is exhilarating variety that celebrates every kind of queerness, says Anne-Marie Peard

The Fairfax stage is piled with a ceiling-high pyramid of coloured clothes. As an exquisite […]

]]> c0af27e381fd77730dd93104bdca6f71 BEN BROOKER wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=8041 Wed, 21 Apr 2021 22:38:01 +1000 Jonathan Biggins’ new show serves up Keating’s greatest hits, but never quite escapes its sketch show origins, says Ben Brooker

More than any other recent Labor leader, Paul Keating is most like the pro […]

]]> a169a252ae2283d451d164930c021313 Anne-Marie Peard changed their profile picture https://witnessperformance.com/activity/p/1255/ Tue, 20 Apr 2021 23:08:49 +1000 0 1c5a1e17b60b453cca919d1e5fb203ab Gully Thompson wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=8028 Sun, 18 Apr 2021 04:58:37 +1000 Alan Brough’s new musical for children suffers from thoughtless stereotyping, says youth critic Gully Thompson

Children’s theatre is important. It acts as a doorway into adult theatre and it shapes how you […]

]]> 4deaf20edf181c415cb3855f6a6ed89c Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=8019 Sat, 17 Apr 2021 22:22:14 +1000 After more than a decade apart, comedy duo Lano and Woodley have lost none of their charm, says Robert Reid

The most remarkable thing about comedy duo Lano and Woodley – the alter egos of Colin Lane and F […]

]]> bfe30e8893524786e1e5cb828cf8c015 Monique Grbec wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=8013 Thu, 15 Apr 2021 08:35:19 +1000 Shiralee Hood brings a cracking wit to her Kulin-centric tour of Naarm for her Comedy Festival Show, says Monique Grbec

Naarm is a regular top five on the world’s most liveable cities because of people like t […]

]]> c27d44673aa56b666b5c35051d79b5f4 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=8001 Wed, 14 Apr 2021 23:02:55 +1000 Malthouse Theatre’s Because the Night is impressive in many ways, but it’s only a first step in realising what immersive theatre can be, says Robert Reid

I walk from Flinders St Station to the Malthouse, b […]

]]> 5951845501ec996c7f65b616b88ebb87 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7995 Wed, 14 Apr 2021 00:45:12 +1000 Insider jokes on classic horror tropes and vaudeville clowning make Innes Lloyd’s latest show a fun ride, says Robert Reid

The newest work from comedy duo Innes Lloyd – briefly at The Butterfly Club for the […]

]]> 0c45022fa1974ceebd6edd6e0279d00a Ben Keene wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7980 Thu, 08 Apr 2021 02:28:28 +1000 The Witness Interview: Daniel Schlusser ‘I’m absolutely one for watching a performance that is held by a beautifully written play … but if it’s the onl […]

]]> cc6935abf37f9ff0b608865ead3bd384 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7970 Wed, 17 Mar 2021 22:47:24 +1100 Elbow Room’s joyous production of Enlightenment shows the strengths of Melbourne’s indie theatre scene, says Robert Reid

Elbow Room are a magnificent independent theatre company. Driven by fierce int […]

]]> 9670bef1ae6a5ef746db89ea95b67c0d Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7965 Fri, 12 Mar 2021 23:19:24 +1100 An irresistible musical with a dark heart, Fangirls summons the chaos of adolescence, says Robert Reid

Fangirls – a multi-award-winning explosion of youthful exuberance in musical theatre form from Belvoir T […]

]]> 1d89391e7a0aaf4ac772729e07f0fc12 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7958 Thu, 11 Mar 2021 00:15:54 +1100 Branch Nebula’s High Performance Packing Tape pushes cheap material – and Robert Reid’s patience – to the limits

Branch Nebula are a physical theatre and live art company renowned for their rethinking of urba […]

]]> ad379d22a1b37d8b49764aafd02a5445 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7954 Tue, 09 Mar 2021 22:02:13 +1100 In A German Life, Robyn Nevin gives a masterly performance of complicity as she recounts the life of Goebbels’ stenographer, says Robert Reid

In 2017 Brunhilde Pomsel, stenographer to the Nazi Minister of P […]

]]> 5186b8d01d7f6bd188ae6dfaf7ed15c8 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7934 Sat, 06 Mar 2021 22:48:37 +1100 In his production of Medea, Simon Stone brings his contemporary approach to classic Greek tragedy, and strips it of much of its power, says Robert Reid

It’s been at least a decade since I last saw a work by S […]

]]> 7549b09a5d48b444945cd60aa7394a1f Monique Grbec wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7929 Wed, 03 Mar 2021 23:59:41 +1100 A dynamic look at the work of 10 emerging artists, Let’s Take Over 2021 at Darebin Arts leaves an enlivening sense of possibility, says Monique Grbec

Let’s Take Over 2021 is guided tour of 10 artworks cre […]

]]> 6c178b5192e1f1529e1e4db0843e2d94 Gully Thompson wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7925 Wed, 03 Mar 2021 02:42:08 +1100 An experiment that doesn’t quite deliver, We’re Probably Really Really Happy Right Now at Theatre Works is nevertheless a deeply interesting work of queer performance, says Gully Thompson

Experimental the […]

]]> 01622bfdacfea4fdeb046969b9dd53fa Gully Thompson wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7918 Wed, 24 Feb 2021 23:34:59 +1100 Victorian Opera’s interpretation of the classic opera The Sleeping Beauty – written originally in the wake of the Spanish Flu pandemic – has fresh power in the age of Covid, says Gully Thompson

Sleeping Beaut […]

]]> f4cd3e3551d9db7522c5ccc9fcab1e18 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7913 Wed, 24 Feb 2021 06:33:38 +1100 Coming out of last year’s pandemic, two clowning shows – The Anniversary and Jofus and the Whale – show very different aspects of the art, says Robert Reid

It’s perhaps fitting that the return of live theat […]

]]> 372a97ed3e0325dae347ff5012a4db56 Gully Thompson wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7907 Sun, 14 Feb 2021 00:04:08 +1100 The evocation of the child within animates the charm of La Mama’s Jofus and the Whale, writes youth critic Gully Thompson

It may be unnecessary to say, but I haven’t been to the theatre for a very long tim […]

]]> 0737681e329675b98d1c3c32dad193a7 Ruby Hamad changed their profile picture https://witnessperformance.com/activity/p/1236/ Wed, 27 Jan 2021 23:11:03 +1100 0 519d6049525bf4332c0a8b7e690e5b09 Ruby Hamad wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7897 Wed, 27 Jan 2021 22:41:30 +1100 Produced, written and performed by people of colour, Sex, Drugs & Pork Rolls signals a new wave of Australian storytelling, says Ruby Hamad

Sex, Drugs & Pork Rolls, an unflinching new production that premiered […]

]]> 69b6ce52852fa31191b6fde251df4662 Ruby Hamad changed their profile picture https://witnessperformance.com/activity/p/1234/ Wed, 27 Jan 2021 22:39:47 +1100 0 add3160fc9e69557ae9fa7c95210fcbb Carissa Lee wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7885 Mon, 25 Jan 2021 20:21:14 +1100 January 26 is always a hard day for First Nations peoples, says Carissa Lee. And as the ‘Cheesegate’ scandal at Queensland Theatre reveals, our theatre spaces are still unsafe

Content warning for First Nat […]

]]> 870556062ff00806470fe283f4a6325e Kimberley Twiner wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7879 Thu, 21 Jan 2021 00:45:56 +1100 Theatre Works’ new Covid-safe seating frames the audience rather than the performance. And what’s with the coffee table? Kimberley Twiner reports

I am in a private audience of three, even though there are 25 […]

]]> cbaee6874b7b659f14947aac303f5ea4 Caitlin Doyle-Markwick wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7867 Sun, 17 Jan 2021 05:19:38 +1100 Eternal, DARKFIELD RADIO’s foray into an immersive form of horror, is deliciously effective, says Caitlin Doyle-Markwick

“I want to put your mind at rest,” a voice whispers in your ear, before it goes on to pr […]

]]> 076209523d815f45378d970a7a33f1e2 Alison Croggon wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7854 Wed, 16 Dec 2020 22:55:28 +1100 The Picture of Dorian Gray is spectacular, yet somehow never succumbs to the seductions of spectacle, says Alison Croggon

It’s commonly said that western society is in an age of narcissism, an age in which t […]

]]> 29597d600134f7de816a8fd51d62c627 BEN BROOKER wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7846 Wed, 16 Dec 2020 02:17:30 +1100 Angus Cerini’s The Bleeding Tree reveals the brutalising and disfiguring reality of male violence, says Ben Brooker

“History is full of people who just didn’t,” writes Anne Boyer in her essay “No”, whi […]

]]> b9dd0df5235a3c8d499cb825b7c8a29d Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7839 Sun, 13 Dec 2020 20:20:30 +1100 Michele Lee’s accomplished play Broth Bitch uses a podcast format to follow the life of a “vegan soup goddess”, says Robert Reid

Using the podcast format to tell a story that spans several decades, Broth Bitch […]

]]> 97afdf62e88fd28edde67f3aa7da9b22 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7835 Fri, 11 Dec 2020 23:26:19 +1100 ‘People ignore it. Children play tag in spite of it. Teenagers dare each other to punch it.’ Robert Reid on Federation Square’s public artwork Sky Castle

Because it caught my eye – and because apparen […]

]]> d5a180a53cae3cca34f5655d0b818c88 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7827 Tue, 08 Dec 2020 21:30:11 +1100 The Bloomshed’s audio adaptation of Paradise Lost is a delightfully self aware, satirical take on Milton’s classic epic poem

The Bloomshed is exactly the kind of indie theatre company Melbourne specialises in: […]

]]> 7ab735cd55211d8e05a68055785ee3c1 Emilie Collyer wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7818 Wed, 02 Dec 2020 01:30:29 +1100 Emilie Collyer finds her way back to the magic of theatre through four Melbourne Fringe shows

I’ve become quite comfortable with the routine. Hours on end in this mess-piled study, logging onto Zoom, c […]

]]> fa2c4d2e23d2ab7a1361564ee62099f0 Monique Grbec wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7815 Sun, 29 Nov 2020 02:10:04 +1100 In exploring homelessness in Melbourne, Crash With Me skirts uncomfortably close to trauma porn, says Monique Grbec

Verbatim theatre in this country has a proud history. The critically acclaimed work of […]

]]> 07e368f47fa9d7bdfbbd1152e632c025 Monique Grbec wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7811 Sat, 28 Nov 2020 01:26:51 +1100 A glimpse into everyday family tensions, the intimacy of Source Amnesia is compromised by its video format, says Monique Grbec

Source amnesia is the ability to retain factual knowledge while forgetting where, […]

]]> 02fe5c38263f904e9b32e0b84a00ae9f Monique Grbec wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7802 Wed, 25 Nov 2020 01:09:22 +1100 A new digital take on Wonderland, Alice2 picks up how Lewis Carroll used popular games as narrative structures, says Monique Grbec

Lewis Carroll’s 1865 and 1872 fairytales Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and […]

]]> b421697c3471a24292d990ab2726a28f Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7798 Sat, 21 Nov 2020 22:43:12 +1100 The Agency of Coney’s Telephone is a playful invitation into a communal online space, says Robert Reid

The Agency of Coney has been a playful shadowy presence in British theatre and live art communities s […]

]]> 840f38d4aa66bd69f78cc591757428b6 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7787 Sat, 21 Nov 2020 02:52:23 +1100 The Powerpoint adventures of a red square invite Robert Reid into a bizarre alternative world

There has been a square red envelope on my desk for a few days now: bright and insistent, urgent, even. My name is […]

]]> d2f42d8ca17957f19d0745215fb390c8 Jana Perković wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7781 Wed, 18 Nov 2020 23:35:21 +1100 ‘Left with Netflix, I realise that art may indeed be as crucial as food and shelter’: Jana Perković on watching European performance through the pandemic

In a normal year – between my various jobs as a critic […]

]]> 3d05296fbe189b80afaec930898cf3b4 Jana Perković changed their profile picture https://witnessperformance.com/activity/p/1207/ Wed, 18 Nov 2020 23:07:51 +1100 0 d169510bb89db5693e4804f8a96bd116 Harriet Cunningham wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7774 Fri, 06 Nov 2020 22:26:35 +1100 Gertrude Opera’s online lockdown festival explores new ways of telling stories with music, says Harriet Cunningham

How do you do opera during a stage four lockdown? In transforming their Yarra Valley Opera F […]

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