Witness Performance | Robert Reid | Activity https://witnessperformance.com/members/robertr/activity/ Activity feed for Robert Reid. Tue, 09 Jan 2024 00:24:08 +1100 https://buddypress.org/?v= en-AU 30 hourly 2 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 […]

]]> 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 […]

]]> 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 […]

]]> 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 […]

]]> 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 […]

]]> 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 […]

]]> 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: […]

]]> 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 […]

]]> 6e2e68532ed2848b2e13d992f397984e Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7762 Wed, 04 Nov 2020 21:54:47 +1100 Witness critics preview this year’s Melbourne Fringe program, here despite everything

Melbourne Fringe is now creeping up on its 40th anniversary – counting from the establishment of the Melbourne Fringe Art […]

]]> 47d0499e2f8fdc055517a0699450b8c1 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7755 Wed, 21 Oct 2020 22:16:50 +1100 Darkfield Radio’s Visitors, an audio ghost story in which the set is your own home, leaves Robert Reid hungry for more

UK-based company Darkfield Radio specialises in immersive audio works that are intended t […]

]]> 33a4ee4cb50afe23a23784a2a7d58e43 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7734 Sat, 17 Oct 2020 01:42:37 +1100 Holesp@ce, from multi-disciplinary collective STRANGEkit, is a surreal tour through our hyperconnected present, says Robert Reid

A few people have commented on some of my recent articles and reviews about […]

]]> af8de2d3f7e534a2c783cbb362714ad3 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7681 Wed, 23 Sep 2020 08:08:28 +1000 Critical Stages’ Come to Where I Am is illuminating the potential of performance online, says Robert Reid

With its remit to take theatre to “enable regional communities to have the same access to high qua […]

]]> e21bd675e719f3d32537bc2e5e3fc393 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7649 Thu, 17 Sep 2020 21:55:31 +1000 The proposed closure of Monash University’s CTP is a devastating blow to Australian theatre culture, says Robert Reid

As I sat waiting for my next zoom class to start, the news emerged via Twitter – from Pro […]

]]> f2117d34e5b170831c28a72d58bc203d Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7597 Sat, 29 Aug 2020 00:00:31 +1000 The present crisis in Australian theatre offers a unique opportunity. Robert Reid explains why we musn’t blow it

This is a crucial moment for Australian theatre, a moment when it is vital that we don’t r […]

]]> aa2eb85129b3e7936b36b953fdf3a799 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7490 Sun, 16 Aug 2020 08:20:15 +1000 If some real thought were applied to the MTC’s audio treatment of The Turn of the Screw, says Robert Reid, it could have been amazing

Ugh… and I thought that the Audio Lab’s Great Australian Speeches lacke […]

]]> 56437f4f71e2ce4c7fc0bc551284c309 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7485 Wed, 05 Aug 2020 00:06:50 +1000 Caitlin Beresford Ord embodies a forgotten Australian vaudeville star in Black Swan’s The Perfect Boy. Robert Reid checks it out

On stage is an upright piano, dimly lit sheet music laid out on its face. A h […]

]]> 3c6cdf2b9aada64416061653ad848499 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7434 Wed, 22 Jul 2020 23:53:31 +1000 Audio drama has a long and luminous history. So why does the MTC’s Audio Lab turn away from…theatre? Robert Reid reports

For Australian theatre, the turn to online performance has been a long time coming. I […]

]]> ccfadafccce41a5ce195f17db1ea0699 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7430 Mon, 20 Jul 2020 22:28:58 +1000 Robert Reid relishes the chance to finally watch Ilbijerri’s classic, Jack Charles V The Crown

One of the very, very few good things to have come out of lockdown is that a work like Jack Charles V The Crown is […]

]]> ccac78550925f2949d7da4a2754939de Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7323 Wed, 01 Jul 2020 00:50:54 +1000 It’s not the same as being there but, says Robert Reid, Redline Productions’ live streamed Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) offers something else

There is something mesmerising about the combination of Will Eno […]

]]> 11f3a01dbc8fd652d45db998a8c46962 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7285 Sun, 21 Jun 2020 22:24:36 +1000 Maybe traditional performing arts could learn a lot from YouTube vloggers and online games. For the launch of BLEED 2020, Robert Reid investigates live digital performance

Now, stop me if you’ve heard t […]

]]> 4c9a539741f23ff6c795d1e58d385827 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7129 Tue, 19 May 2020 00:06:42 +1000 Robert Reid continues his exploration of the hidden corners of Australian playwriting with a story of colonial Tasmania, Catherine Shepherd’s 1938 play Daybreak

Catherine Shepherd (1901-1976) was born in […]

]]> db543c6d4bd70c68b6c7e0749dc0a362 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7050 Tue, 28 Apr 2020 22:24:26 +1000 Now we’re all extras in a disaster movie, Robert Reid thinks through the dramaturgy of pandemic

It is too much. The writing, the thinking, the caring… it is too much. I cannot make, move, think under the wei […]

]]> fa85db68a20dd17c64ef96e6a177612a Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7040 Sun, 26 Apr 2020 02:06:55 +1000 Robert Reid continues his isolation reviews of Australian plays with Angela Fewster’s Black Crysanthemums

According to John McCallum, Adelaide playwright Angela Fewster play Black Chrysanthemums “roused some […]

]]> 83569435d6eee18c83188875704022ad Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=7007 Tue, 14 Apr 2020 02:18:27 +1000 In the first of a new video series focusing on lesser known works in the Australian canon, Robert Reid reviews Dorothy Blewett’s 1941 play Quiet Night

Plays have always been strange literary animals, half way […]

]]> 4b4c713a2b31dc7f6e7733accf01ca66 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=6846 Fri, 13 Mar 2020 02:18:23 +1100 A surprisingly gentle and empathic play that leaves a
haunting sadness: Robert Reid on Daniel Keene’s The Curtain

Daniel Keene’s The Curtain at fortyfive downstairs is a play of surprising
gentleness, deep sad […]

]]> 3714f5840cc1313f267d0f9e9bc3267f Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=6813 Sun, 08 Mar 2020 22:44:01 +1100 Robert Reid encounters an exuberant masculinity in Between Tiny Cities

We stand in a circle. A wide, broken white outline drawn on
the floor delineates the performance space from the audience. The inside of […]

]]> 7bd3aa866c1d73a937a25389849e0d76 Robert Reid posted a new activity comment https://witnessperformance.com/adelaide-festival-the-doctor/#comment-7360 Sun, 08 Mar 2020 18:39:45 +1100 Oh, James, excellent critique,thank you!
You’re much more generous with the audience than i’m prepared to be. I think you’re analysis of the text and the dramaturgy of it is spot on. I can’t say i’m swayed to think any better of the audience’s laughter though. Sure, its posible that each of them was enjoying the cleverness of the drafting…[Read more]

In reply to - Robert Reid wrote a new post ‘This is some of the best writing I’ve seen in a long time’: Robert Icke’s production of The Doctor at the Adelaide Festival leaves Robert Reid transfixed and enthr […] ]]> 20ab814acd3d785bdfba82d46b1f7f8d Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=6806 Thu, 05 Mar 2020 06:44:05 +1100 NONOTAK’S Shiro is a hypnotic encounter with pure aesthetic, says Robert Reid

It’s not often – at least for me – that one has a purely
aesthetic encounter. NONOTAK’s Shiro is
just such an experience. No possib […]

]]> b27a94318089c9dc30b55fe90bf0b78c Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=6801 Tue, 03 Mar 2020 08:08:27 +1100 The virtual reality experience Eight leaves Robert Reid spellbound

This is a remarkable experience. I’ve often found VR to be a
somewhat underwhelming phenomenon, demanding you stay in place and only l […]

]]> dd2e687bb5b9059156957376d4bc6bdf Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=6781 Sun, 01 Mar 2020 04:14:38 +1100 ‘I keep wanting to close my eyes and just listen to the music’: Mozart’s Requiem is magnificent, but Romeo Castelluci’s visuals leave Robert Reid cold

I should preface this by saying I’m no real fan of Caste […]

]]> f4b98b13b3b7445b7049a7a1edce76e8 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=6778 Sun, 01 Mar 2020 03:35:23 +1100 ‘This is some of the best writing I’ve seen in a long time’: Robert Icke’s production of The Doctor at the Adelaide Festival leaves Robert Reid transfixed and enthralled

Warning: spoilers abound

In the g […]

]]> 2fadd4a87fa5e9eece143df469208793 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=6775 Thu, 27 Feb 2020 02:33:35 +1100 Sipat Lawin’s latest work at
AsiaTOPA is a dazzlingly intelligent pop culture tour that carries a dark
subtext, says Robert Reid

Sipat Lawin ensemble are a
site-specific experimental theatre company from the P […]

]]> 7dbd4311e038ef63ee6d26db1bfb450b Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=6750 Wed, 26 Feb 2020 01:27:34 +1100 Kim Ho’s The Great Australian
Play at Theatre Works is a post dramatic swing at some of Australia’s
favourite colonial tropes. Historian and playwright Robert Reid unpicks some of
its threads

Spoilers fol […]

]]> bdd1fba8490c949f902ca56c3a93738c Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=6715 Wed, 19 Feb 2020 00:59:21 +1100 Is it enough to re-create a myth? Robert Reid on Marlene Dietrich Perfect Illusion at the Butterfly Club

Written and performed by Uschi Felix, Marlene Dietrich Perfect Illusion presents a 74 year old Dietrich […]

]]> 6f6bb5c543bdfb1f6d50b57f4dcf768e Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=6393 Mon, 03 Feb 2020 00:25:29 +1100 ‘It’s awkward, it’s rough, it’s messy, it’s hit-and-miss; but there are glints of something really great here’: Robert Reid on Po Po Mo Co’s Summer of the Seventeenth Doll at Midsumma

It probably goes withou […]

]]> 3194265be2eab2d1f5535d110fc6224f Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=6306 Tue, 26 Nov 2019 02:27:55 +1100 The subtleties of grieving are beautifully evoked in Lemony S Puppet Theatre’s Taking the Waters, says Robert Reid
Presented at Northcote Town Hall, whose Speakeasy program has been the showcase for some e […]

]]> d04767de1ea1784bf670990d7cc9ce9e Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=6285 Wed, 20 Nov 2019 22:14:31 +1100 Despite stellar artists, The Audition at La Mama thins out and ultimately goes nowhere, says Robert Reid
Given the calibre of some of the artists involved, The Audition is a surprisingly lacklustre outcome. […]

]]> 3392fd84ed40d88dbc19a9cfcb5174cd Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=6245 Mon, 11 Nov 2019 23:17:17 +1100 Thigh Gap at La Mama tracks how the demands of patriarchy turn us into monsters, says Robert Reid
Jamaica Zuanatti’s new play, Thigh Gap, is an increasingly breathless sit-com romp. What begins as a kind of r […]

]]> 2b8ba6073788ca70f429980927dc5a80 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=6240 Fri, 08 Nov 2019 00:49:17 +1100 A Normal Child evokes the ‘awkwardness, contradiction and messy humanity’ around artistic representation, says Robert Reid
A Normal Child, presented at the Speakeasy at Northcote Town Hall by Slapstick Disability […]

]]> a4af62cdfc259f265ba7eb4b15f96e04 Robert Reid wrote a new post https://witnessperformance.com/?p=6115 Thu, 03 Oct 2019 03:03:30 +1000 Ellen Grimshaw’s polyvocal Just Us Girls – What’s a Girl? reminds Robert Reid of Samuel Beckett. And Blondie
Something about Just Us Girls, What’s A Girl? reminds me of Mork and Mindy. There’s a quality in Elle […]

]]> 2b61092a80a75792e774c36d02f49db8 Robert Reid posted a new activity comment https://witnessperformance.com/melbourne-fringe-waistd/#comment-5116 Thu, 26 Sep 2019 00:15:46 +1000 Hi William, I’m really pleased you found so much to like in it. Immersive and participatory work is, of course, a deeply subjective experience and so I can only reflect on my own pathway through the work. It’s really great to have a counterpoint here from you, so thank you. Sounds like you had the experience I was hoping to have. I’ll try and…[Read more]

In reply to - Robert Reid wrote a new post An immersive work that tackles our inaction on the climate crisis, What Am I Supposed To Do (WAISTD) is inventive but politically underwhelming, says Robert Reid Developed as part of […] ]]>