It was a joyful, demanding, emotionally churning play that doesn’t go away at its end but leaves so much to think about afterwards.
The Adelaide Repertory Theatre can be relied on at all times and when it promises “an evening of high drama and musical interludes” it means high jinks are on the way - and so it proved to be.
Robyn Archer AO is a warm and natural performer; approachable and unpretentious. At the Arts Centre the other night she performed Que Reste T’il?, enjoying attention and loudly expressed moments of devotion from the loyal fans who have been following her for decades.
Audiences all let us rejoice for plays like Australia Day; the script is golden soil that gives wealth for toil by labourers in the playground of the New Theatre.
Music has the capacity to bring everyone together under the same flag; the same nation of appreciation: yes – we are all linked when the first strum of the guitar, banjo, ukelele, bass, fiddle (get the drift?) reaches our ears.
Every so often a show comes along that defies your preconceptions and exceeds your expectations to such an extent that it leaves your head spinning.
Twenty one years ago, Split Enz keyboardist Eddie Rayner rearranged some of his former band’s music and presented them in a collaboration with the NZ Symphony Orchestra. This week Rayner marked the anniversary of that show with a performance in Melbourne.