Friday Five: Top Theatre from 2019

Christopher Samuel Carroll performs Icarus 

As I state every time this year, this list can only represent the theatre that I have seen. I have heard good things of lots of other productions that I didn't get the chance to attend, but here are my top five productions of 2019.

5 Top Theatre Productions of 2019:

1. Icarus (produced by The Street at Street 2) - Written and performed by Christopher Samuel Carroll, this is an amazing piece of physical theatre. It is wordless but with a rich soundscape and highly effective lighting that scales the heights and plumbs the depths of human nature and our relations with each other. The crafty re-imagining of the myth is both epic and domestic with moments of humour and great pathos that kept me spellbound for the hour-long duration. 
2. The Miser (produced by Bell Shakespeare at The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre) - Frothy, frivolous and farcical, this adaptation of Moliere's The Miser is an utter delight. The fresh translation sparkles with witty rhyming couplets and cutting dialogue. Set and costumes are exquisite, and the scene changes are seamless and a part of the plot. Some of the deeper nuances and themes are missed in the superficial fast-paced treatment of the text, but overall it is a lot of fun. 
3. Shakespeare in Love (produced by The Melbourne Theatre Company at The Canberra Theatre Centre) - Sumptuous production values combine with an earthy, bawdy to make this one of the best non-Shakespeare-written Shakespeare plays on stage. I enjoyed the film from which it is adapted, but the theatre is its natural home. There are actors acting actors; there are beautiful lines of the bard's which are sublime even out of context; there are lovers and duels and taverns and playhouses; and there is a dog. What more could you want?



Claire van der Boom and Michael Wahr in MTC's Shakespeare in Love

4. The Irresistible (produced by Side Pony Productions/ The Last Great Hunt, The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre) - If I had to sum this up in one word, it would be 'odd'. Nominated for the 2018 Helpmann Award for best play, it combines parallel narratives and voice modulations to tell a multi-layered, somewhat disturbing futuristic narrative with roots firmly set in reality and tendrils reaching into the realms of the surreal. Two performers embody a number of different characters across a wide range of ages and temperaments. If you want to challenge your perceptions of traditional narrative drama, this is one for you. 
5. A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (produced by Trafalgar Entertainment, Trafalgar Studios) - Inspired by the author (Peter Nichols)'s own experience of raising his daughter who has severe cerebal palsy, the play, which was written over 50 years ago, bears up in this brilliant new production. Actors talk to each other but frequently break the fourth wall to explain their actions to the audience and reveal details of the past which have led to this point. The daughter, Josephine, is played by Storme Toolis, with the same disability as the titular character and the first time an actor with a disability has played this role. It's funny and moving in the way that black humour can be when done well - it makes us uncomfortable; and so it should.

Storme Toolis, Claire Skinner, Clarence Smith, Toby Stephens and Lucy Eaton in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg