2004
Murray Bramwell

A Number
by Caryl Churchill

State Theatre of South Australia
Festival Centre Space.
Until 29 May. 2004
Bookings – BASS 131 246
Tickets $17 – $ 45.

Queensland Theatre Company
Powerhouse Theatre, Brisbane Powerhouse.
17 June – 3 July
Bookings –
Tickets $ 20 – $ 35

Whenever the subject of cloning human beings is raised, images from cinema science fiction are never far behind. With herds of mindless, robotic replicants – whether the smooth limbed Aryans …

2004

Murray Bramwell previews the State Theatre program for 2004.

There has never been a more important time for the State Theatre Company, and the responsibilities on Artistic Director Rosalba Clemente, now in her fourth year, are greater than ever. Much has been said in the past about flagship companies. Some have even speculated that we don’t need them any more. But that was in more buoyant times than these. Adelaide needs its flagship company – to show artistic leadership, …

2003

Moliere’s Scapin
adapted by Scott Witt

State Theatre Company
with Queensland Theatre Company
Dunstan Playhouse, November 2003.

Murray Bramwell

It is said that Moliere wrote The Rascalities of Scapin to beat the competition. The Italian Commedia dell’Arte troupes were all the rage in Paris in the 1670s and the famous French playwright was looking to win back support for his own theatre. He had borrowed heavily from Commedia in many of his plays, dispensing with masks but keeping much …

31 October, 2003
Murray Bramwell

Moliere’s Scapin
Adapted by Scott Witt

State Theatre Company of South Australia
with Queensland Theatre Company
Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre
until 15 November, 2003. Bookings at Bass 131 246
Tickets $ 16.50 – $ 42
Brisbane season Optus Playhouse, Queensland Performing Arts Centre
24 November – 13 December. Bookings QTIX 136 246

Moliere’s Les Fourberies de Scapin – The Rascalities of Scapin – first presented in 1671, is rarely performed now. And that may …

2003

drowning in my ocean of You
by Fiona Sprott

State Theatre Company
Queen’s Theatre

Murray Bramwell

It must be many years since a red velvet curtain has been seen in the appealingly dilapidated Queen’s Theatre, but it suits the mannered theatrics of Fiona Sprott’s drowning in my ocean of You, a play for voices and crooners set at the edge of a pier and, at times, at the edge of the wits as well. In this commissioned work for …

3 October, 2003
Murray Bramwell

drowning in my ocean of You
by Fiona Sprott

State Theatre Company
Adelaide, Queen’s Theatre
until 18 October, 2003 Bookings at BASS 131 246
Tickets $ 16.50 – $ 42

Being at the end of a pier is not the same as being as at the end of your tether, but it is very close. In Fiona Sprott’s drowning in my ocean of You, her characters, known generically as Heroine and Hero, Mother and Handsome …

2003

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
by Edward Albee

State Theatre Company
Space, October 2003.

Murray Bramwell

Poor Virginia Woolf. She is almost as famous for belonging in the quirky title of Edward Albee’s play as she is for To The Lighthouse and Mrs Dalloway . A whole generation has wondered how she could be so scary, when, in fact, she has been commandeered only for the sake of a literary joke. Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf ? …

2003

Proof
by David Auburn

State Theatre Company
The Space, August, 2003.

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell

Things have moved very fast for David Auburn since his play Proof first opened in May 2000. Not only did it transfer successfully to Broadway but Auburn also picked up a number of prestigious awards including the Pulitzer Prize. Since then Proof has been widely performed – including in Australia, with separately mounted productions in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, as well as the State …

29 August, 2003.
Murray Bramwell

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
by Edward Albee

State Theatre Company
Adelaide Festival Centre, The Space
Until 13 September, 2003. Bookings at BASS 131 246
Tickets $16.50 – $ 42.

Poor Virginia Woolf. She is almost as famous for belonging in the quirky title of Edward Albee’s play as she is for To The Lighthouse and Mrs Dalloway . A whole generation has wondered how she could be so scary, when, in fact, she has …

2003
Murray Bramwell

The Mystery of Irma Vep by Charles Ludlam
State Theatre Company of South Australia
Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre
Until 31 May, 2003. Tickets $28 -42
Bookings BASS 131 246.

If you were to feed the plot lines of Wuthering Heights, The Wolf Man, The Mummy’s Curse and Rebecca into a blender and spin at high speed, the result might well be The Mystery of Irma Vep. This theatrical tour de force for two was first performed …