2003

The Crucible
by Arthur Miller
State Theatre Company
with Urban Myth Theatre Company
Dunstan Playhouse
March, 2003.

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell

In his memoirs Arthur Miller describes driving back from Salem, Massachusetts and hearing on the radio that Elia Kazan, his close friend and the director of his famous play Death of a Salesman, had agreed to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee. It is 1952 and Miller is in Salem researching the witch trials which had enveloped …

2003
Murray Bramwell

The Crucible by Arthur Miller
State Theatre Company of South Australia
Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre
Until 29 March, 2003. Tickets $28- $42
Bookings BASS 131 246

When, a year ago, Rosalba Clemente listed Arthur Miller’s The Crucible for inclusion in the 2003 State Theatre Company season, she cannot have imagined it would speak so vividly in such difficult times as these . Miller’s play, written in 1952, uses the analogy of the Salem Witch trials of …

2002

Salt
by Peta Murray
State Theatre Company
The Space

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell

The State Theatre slogan for 2003 promises to spice up our lives. In fact the culinary metaphor already applies. For their final production this year the company has chosen Salt, a work by Peta Murray about mothers, daughters, and food, food and more food.

This play has enjoyed seasons around the country, originating at Playbox in Melbourne, after which it has been served in WA, Queensland …

State Theatre Company 2003 Season
Previewed by Murray Bramwell

The cat is out of the bag. Well, seven cats actually. While the Latin band plays, the Queen’s Theatre is up to its tiara in subscribers, theatre artists and the rest of the State Theatre faithful – all gathered to hear Artistic Director, Rosalba Clemente announce the company’s season for 2003.

Since taking charge of the company three years ago, Clemente has worked hard to rebuild and re-energise the team at …

7 October, 2002
Murray Bramwell

Scenes From an Execution
by Howard Barker
State Theatre Company of South Australia
Dunstan Playhouse, Adelaide Festival Centre.
Until 19 October, 2002. Tickets $ 42. Conc. $ 37. CLUB26 $16.50
Bookings: BASS 131 246

The execution referred to in Howard Barker’s play, written for radio in 1983 and first fully staged in 1989, is not a death, but the creation of a painting. But the painting is about death, the slaughter in the Battle of …

19 July 2002
Murray Bramwell

Dealer’s Choice by Patrick Marber
State Theatre Company of South Australia
The Space, Adelaide Festival Centre.
Until 3 August, 2002 Tickets $13.50 – $42.
Bookings BASS 131 246

Of all the addictions, poker is right up there with the swiftest and the deadliest. Someone even invented a machine so you could lose your money, not only more efficiently, but in total isolation. For the initiated, though, poker is not like a spin of a wheel …

24 October, 2001
Murray Bramwell

The Dying Gaul
by Craig Lucas

State Theatre Company of South Australia,
Festival Centre Space, Adelaide, ends 10 November, 2001.

The Dying Gaul referred to in the title of State Theatre’s current production is an ancient Roman statue depicting a young, naked man from an opposing army, represented in all his vulnerable humanity. In Craig Lucas’s play-about-a-script, Robert is a screen writer who uses the Dying Gaul as a metaphor for a work of art …

Murray Bramwell

The Dying Gaul
by Craig Lucas

State Theatre Company of South Australia,
Festival Centre Space, Adelaide, ends 10 November.

The Dying Gaul referred to in the title of State Theatre’s current production is an ancient Roman statue depicting a young, naked man from an opposing army, represented in all his vulnerable humanity. In Craig Lucas’s play-about-a-script, Robert is a screen writer who uses the Dying Gaul as a metaphor for a work of art that creates compassion even …

2001

Art
by Yasmina Reza

State Theatre Company
Space, July, 2001.

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell

Plenty of people have bought paintings, and paid more than they could afford, but few have become as well known as Serge, the first-name-only character in Yasmina Reza’s hit play Art. First the French heard about him in Paris back in 1994. Then Sean Connery decided to back an English language version – scintillatingly provided by ace translator Christopher Hampton. After that, it was a …

2001

Killer Joe
by Tracy Letts

Brink Productions
with State Theatre Company
Space, June 2001

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell

Brink Productions are back, this time in co-production with State Theatre, for Tracy Letts’s Killer Joe, a grim little dog-eat-rottweiler saga about the Smith family.

Buried alive in a trailer park on the margins of Dallas, Texas, are Ansel and his second wife Sharla, and, from a previous marriage, son Chris and twelve year old daughter Dottie. Chris, in deep to …