The theatrical highs were very high this year.
Like last year, I saw a lot of great work in Melbourne in 2024, but my favourite shows of the year really stayed with me. I sang their praises and wanted to tell the world about them.
Red Stitch had an incredible year - both in their little theatre and out of it.
Melbourne Theatre Company's season picked up steam and it was all hits in the second half of the year.
And both Fortyfive Downstairs and Theatre Works continued to showcase the indelible creations of great indie theatremakers.
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As always,
shows in productions I’ve seen before will not appear on my list this year.
Wicked and Chicago and Sweeney Todd were all great again, but I’ve seen them
all before. Some multiple times.
One big
caveat – I missed all of Melbourne Fringe this year, so if there were great
things there that I didn't see, I’m sorry.
My reviews
this year were published here on my blog, at Australian Arts Review and in The
Saturday Paper.
As always, my lists are in alphabetical order.
Here we go!
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TOP TEN
A Case
for the Existence of God – Red Stitch (my review)
Samuel D. Hunter’s play is simple but extraordinary. Red
Stitch’s production is one of their all-time best.
The Hate
Race – Malthouse Theatre (my review)
Co-directors Tariro Mavondo and Courtney Stewart have
crafted an exquisite piece of biographical theatre – two strong hands helping
to guide an extraordinary group of theatremakers.
Homo
Pentecostus – Malthouse Theatre (my review)
There are moments in this show that touched me, moments that
shook me and moments that sing and dance and shout so loudly, the show leaps
from the stage and becomes sublime.
The
Inheritance – Fortyfive Downstairs (my review)
It’s director Kitan Petkovski who keeps the entire show
singing from one act to the next. His work is nothing short of phenomenal.
Keeping this freight train moving with the right blend of comedy and drama is
no mean feat, but it’s also enhanced by varied and inventive staging.
Iphigenia
in Splott – Red Stitch (my review)
Every time I walk into a show, I want the show to be great.
It’s such a blessing when it’s this extraordinary.
My
Brilliant Career – Melbourne Theatre Company (my review)
MTC’s My
Brilliant Career embraces how far we’ve come, knowing there’s still some way to
go. It’s a joy to see an Australian musical that is fully formed in its first
production.
A
Streetcar Named Desire - Melbourne Theatre Company (my review)
This is a
Streetcar for 2024 without struggling to update or shave off its edges. It is a
contemporary reckoning with an eighty-year-old text that makes the old seem new
again.
It is what
Blanche wants. It’s magic.
Topdog/Underdog
- Melbourne Theatre Company (my review)
Parks’ play
is a masterful experience of rhythm and conflict. It’s a modern-day classic of
the American stage and the MTC production is muscular and energetic, tense and
devastating.
Who’s
Afraid of Virginia Woolf – Red Stitch/Comedy Theatre (my review)
This is a
remarkable achievement, with a first-rate cast in a production that will stay
with me for a long time.
Yentl –
Malthouse Theatre
(my review)
Abrahams
and the whole cast and crew are at the top of their game – breathing new life
into a story you might have heard before, but have never seen like this.
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THE NEXT EIGHT
Altar –
Midsumma (my review)
I was
really thrilled by this play and its tight, thoughtful production. Director Kat
Yates keeps things fresh in the open-air space and allows the actors to truly
shine in moments of physicality and stillness.
English
– Melbourne Theatre Company (my review)
This is an exquisite production, full of humour and heart,
trading in some pretty universal ideas, while opening up a whole new world to
us.
Hamlet –
Fortyfive Downstairs
(my review)
This production wrings the emotion out of people losing loved ones. The tragedy of watching the pieces fall into place is one thing. Actually feeling devastated in the theatre watching Hamlet? Not something I’ve ever experienced as much as here.
Lou
Wall: A Bisexual’s Lament – Melbourne Comedy Festival (my review)
I love Lou’s work and The Bisexual’s Lament is
one of their finest hours.
Milk/Blood
- Fortyfive Downstairs (my review)
This is top notch theatre making. Every element working hand-in-hand. The writing is exquisite. The performers are at the top of their game.
Peacemongers
– Darebin Arts Centre
(my review)
Peacemongers is thoughtful and generous with its ideas and offers.
Things I
Know to be True – Theatre Works (my review)
At this home of independent theatre, Theatre Works is proving they are the match of any mainstage company with this striking production of Bovell’s latest work.
Your
Name Means Dream – Red Stitch (my review)
Your Name Means Dream made me laugh and cry and at one particularly piercing moment of insight, I audibly gasped “fuck”. Not sure I’ve ever been moved to do that in a theatre before.
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SHOUT-OUTS AND HONORABLE MENTIONS
Fuck Christmas - Malthouse Theatre (my review)
Murder for Two – Arts Centre Melbourne (my review)
Recollection
- Fortyfive Downstairs (my review)
Shrapnel
- Fortyfive Downstairs (my review)
We’re Banking on It - Fortyfive Downstairs (my review)
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