Theatre First

Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly). Wakey, Wakey (Red Stitch Theatre, Melbourne, Australia) (review)Will Eno’s evocative imagery and preoccupation with the nature of being has been compared to that of Samuel Beckett and Edward Albee. His latest play is both a celebration and a meditation on life; a stand-up style provocation that prompts us to re-examine our re...

Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly). La Traviata stripped and dressed in Jazz and Blues ((The Mens Gallery, Melbourne, Australia) (review)Emotionworks Cut Opera performs ‘La Traviata stripped and dressed in Jazz and Blues’ at Melbourne's iconic and sumptuous table top dancing club – The Men’s Gallery. This is opera fusion - cut down to 90 minutes and fused with...

Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly). Slaughterhouse Five ((Monash Uni Student Theatre, Theatre Works Melbourne, Australia) (review)A theatrical adaptation of one of the most loved, important novels of the 20th Century. This all happened, more or less. The war parts, anyway, are pretty much true. The aliens, spaceships, human zoo and assassination, perhaps less s...

Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly). A-List Comedy Sampler Melbourne Comedy Festival (Melbourne, Australia) (a review)Hosted by Triple M’s Lawrence Mooney, this event features the hottest rising stars of the comedy world (and a secret special guest or two), lovingly hand-picked to provide you with the ultimate comedy sampler. If you're not sure what to see this...

Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly). Alphabet Soup (Theatre Works, Melbourne, Australia) (a review)Who says that mime is daggy, clowns are scary and only boys can beatbox? Dive into this surreal adventure with this beatboxing clown (as seen in the smash-hit family show Ruby’s Wish) as she uses her magic looping jacket and your imagination to take you on a journe...

Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly). The Ultimate Vegas Show (Crown Theatre, Perth, Australia) (review)The Ultimate Vegas Show is coming to Crown Theatre, Perth. If you've never been to Vegas, this is your chance to witness all the sizzle and spectacle of a true sequin-studded Las Vegas show. Featuring world-class illusionists and circus acts, Australia's best p...

Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly). West Side Story (Arts Centre, Melbourne, Australia) (review)The moment the curtain went up on the original West Side Story on Broadway, musical theatre changed forever. Hailed as the greatest Broadway musical of all time, the genius of West Side Story's creators is unquestioned. The remarkable collaboration between Leonard Be...

Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly). The Merger (Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Australia) (review)Now an acclaimed feature film adaptation starring Damian Callinan, Kate Mulvany, and John Howard, Callinan returns to the stage with the one-man tour-de-force that inspired the Cinefest OZ Prize nominated ‘instant classic’ (Film Blerg).The dysfunctional Bodgy Creek...

Robot Song (Theatre Works, Melbourne, Australia) (review)When eleven-year-old Juniper May receives a petition signed by her entire class stating that she is ‘the most hated person in the school’ her life is thrown into complete meltdown. Juniper stops eating, she refuses to return to school and her parents become increasingly desperate. Finally, after exhausting all other avenues her parents resor...

Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly). Muriel’s Wedding: The Musical (Theatre Works, Melbourne, Australia) (review)Experience one of the most iconic and loved Australian films of all time in this big, brash and very cheeky new musicalStuck in a dead-end life in Porpoise Spit, Muriel dreams of the perfect wedding – the dress, the church, the attention. Unfortunatel...

Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly). Bin Laden: The One-Man Show (Theatre Works, Melbourne, Australia) (review)“My name is Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Aboud bin Laden al Qatani and tonight, ladies and gentleman, I am going to show you how to change the world”The world’s most notorious terrorist tells his remarkable, provocative, multi-award-winning story. Fo...

50 Shades! The Musical Parody (Alex Theatre, Melbourne, Australia) (review)50 Shades! The Musical Parody explores the steamy relationship between our well known characters (the naive hardware store employee and the handsome business man with unconventional sexual practices), as seen through the eyes of three women in a book club. As they devour the novel, the characters affair comes to life around...

Dance Nation (Red Stitch Theatre, Melbourne, Australia) (review)Dance Nation follows a troupe of pre-teens as they navigate the hyper-sexualised, ultra-competitive world of competitive dance. In this world of sequinned leotards and six-foot trophies, the dancers themselves – their needs, their hopes, their fears – matter least. Dance Nation is a comical and excruciating look at the moment when gir...

A View From A Bridge (MTC Melbourne, Australia) (review)Brooklyn dockworker Eddie Carbone and his wife Beatrice agree to take in two Sicilian relatives – illegal immigrants trying to find work. Hardworking Marco is sending money home to his wife and sick children. Rodolpho is chasing the American dream, but finds being different makes him an outsider. When Rodolpho falls for Eddie’s niece Catherin...

33 Variations (The Comedy Theatre Melbourne, Australia) (review)An obsession, a love story, family dysfunction and a two century-old mystery combine in the witty and deeply moving play 33 Variations, a theatrical event that brings together the most prestigious cast ever assembled on an Australian stage. Dr Katherine Brandt is a musicologist trying to solve the riddle of why one of the world’s grea...

Jersey Boys (Regent Theatre Melbourne, Australia) (review)JERSEY BOYS is the story of how a group of blue-collar boys from the wrong side of the tracks became one of the biggest American pop music sensations of all time. They wrote their own songs, invented their own sounds and sold 175 million records worldwide – all before they were thirty!  Worldwide hits include Big Girls Don’t Cry, Sherry, Wa...

Arbus & West (Melbourne Theatre Company) (review)Hollywood bombshell Mae West built her career on lookin’ good – walkin’ the walk and talkin’ the talk – while legendary photographer Diane Arbus was famous for finding beauty in the everyday. When Diane turns up at Mae’s glistening LA apartment in 1964 to take her portrait, tensions quickly flare. Mae’s version of herself is very different to the on...

Mr Burns, A Post Electric Play (fortyfive downstairs, Melbourne Australia) (review)In the aftermath of an untold apocalyptic event, a group of strangers huddle around a makeshift campfire, distracting themselves by piecing together a half-forgotten episode of their favourite show, The Simpsons. But will pop culture survive in a world without electricity? Astonishing and disturbing in equal measure...

Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly).Barbara and the Camp Dogs (Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne Australia) (review)Roar in on a motorbike, pull up a seat at the bar and settle in for an unforgettable rock musical. Barbara fronts a pub rock band, captivating crowds with cutting wit, diabolical rage and unrepentant sexuality. She may be fun, she may be dangerous, and...

Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly).Sweet Phoebe (Red Stitch, Melbourne Australia) (review)Helen and Frazer have worked it all out. Together. Supportive of one another, they’re taking all the steps towards great mutual success. So surely they can deal with dog-sitting Phoebe — even if they’d rather not. For more information visit  https://www.mtc.com.au/plays-an...

The Lady in the Van (MTC, Melbourne Australia) (review)The Lady in the Van is a mostly true story of the fascinating relationship between the award-winning British writer and his long-term guest. Was she a fugitive on the run? A talented pianist? A nun? Or just an old lady struggling with mental health and homelessness? Touching, uplifting and heartbreakingly honest, The Lady in the Van is classic...

Underground Railroad Game (Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne, Australia) (review)Underground Railroad Game is a darkly comedic take on how the post-colonial world has become jaundiced by its racially-charged backstory. With repartee, acuity, and nudity, creators and performers Jennifer Kidwell and Scott R. Sheppard interrogate the confusion of arguments and stereotypes that have arisen from the shadows...

Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly).Peter Pan Goes Wrong (Arts Centre, Melbourne, Australia) (review)Following hot on the wobbly heels of the box office hit The Play That Goes Wrong, Mischief Theatre brings its triumphant disaster Peter Pan Goes Wrong from London’s West End to Australia. Nominated for an Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, Peter Pan Goes Wrong tu...

Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly).Evita (Arts Centre, Melbourne, Australia) (review)With more than 20 major awards to its credit, the original Broadway and West End production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s iconic musical EVITA is now playing at Arts Centre Melbourne. EVITA charts the story of Eva Perón, wife of Argentine dictator Juan Perón, from her h...

Stream podcast episodes on demand from www.bitesz.com (mobile friendly).Perpetual Frustration Machine (Theatre Works, Melbourne, Australia) (review)PERPETUAL FRUSTRATION MACHINE is a raw thrust into the human drives of our desires, combining text and the physical discipline of circus. Co-creators, Stephen Sewell and Zebastian Hunter, have imagined a circus drama that explores desire for the unatta...