Blog

April 2104 It wasn’t a full house, far from it, but QTC’s latest main stage production Brisbane—a commissioned work by local playwright Matthew Ryan—still opened to a warm reception on Saturday night. The play is set as the title suggests in Brisbane. It’s 1942: the year thousands of American troops arrived as part of the war effort in the Pacific, turning Queensland’s capital into virtual garrison town. Now remembered as Brisbane’s ‘over-paid, over-sexed and over here’ momen

August 16, 2011 Among amateur theatre companies Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is something of a staple – the Brisbane Arts Theatre, for example, staged two productions within 10 years of each other. And with good reason, the roles – by virtue of Tennessee William’s exquisite writing – are virtually actor proof (providing the southern accent is mastered) and it is considered a perfect example of a classic three-act play. With the professionals – QTC and WA’s Black Swan State Theatre C

May, 2015 And that’s a wrap. Cruise Control pulled up anchor last night after 14 sold out performances at the Noosa Arts Theatre. It’s with much sadness that I say goodbye to my fellow cruisers on the Queen Mary II. I loved every moment playing Fiona Manton in the Queensland premier of David Williamson's Cruise Control, and working with all the crew and cast members -- Andrew Moon (as my stage husband, Richard Manton), Frank Wilkie, Linda Gefken, Stephen Lawrence, Kay Ellsum,

July 2015 After finishing Cruise Control, I was given the opportunity to direct one of the three finalist-plays chosen for the Noosa Arts Theatre One-Act Play Festival. As soon as I read Drowning, I knew it was the play I wanted to direct. Written by Ian Robinson, and billed as a ‘farce to make you cry’, Drowning is a two-hander between a Sri Lankan refugee and an immigration officer. The play begins after the refugee has arrived on Christmas Island by boat when he is thrust

October, 2017 Here's a review of Muse -- in which I played the put-upon-wife Gemma -- by Xanthe Coward (XS Entertainment)... Muse is the best new Australian indie work we’ve seen this year. Written and directed on the Sunshine Coast by Simon Denver after XS Entertainment’s Sam Coward challenged the playwright at the poker table one night to write something new and irresistibly real, this darkly comical piece dives deeply and unapologetically into human nature, hook-ups, marri

October 18, 2016 We (my partner and I) saw La Boite’s 2016 production of Streetcar the night after opening, which I think is a better night to get a feel for a production. Opening night nerves have dissipated, which can sometimes throw out the rhythm of a show, and you’re left with the production that was devised and nurtured in the rehearsal room. It was also a ‘schools night’, so the theatre was packed with the dewy-faced adults of tomorrow, and what’s nice about that is yo