 reviewed by Sian Robertson 11 Sep 2010 |
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Enthralling I usually attend children’s shows with some trepidation – is the music going to be unbearably cheesy ...? Is it going to put me to sleep with laboured repetition ...? This one lives up to the claim ‘for all ages’ more than any children’s play I’ve seen in a long time. [more] |
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reviewed by Deb Meldrum 10 Sep 2010 |
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Delightful, charming, totally entertaining Adults who would like 50 minutes of escapism should take themselves off to The Gruffalo. You don’t need an accompanying child to enjoy this delightful tale of a hungry mouse in search of a nice hazelnut who has to use imagination and fast thinking to ward off predators. [more] |
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reviewed by Lexie Matheson 14 Aug 2011 |
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Your kids will have a blast The dilemma for anyone staging such a well-known story, particularly one with such evocative illustrations, is to fulfil the expectations of an audience deeply entrenched in the lyricism of the text and the extraordinary imagery of the book. Either that or they must enable us to suspend our disbelief and simply accept what is being presented for what it is. [more] |
 THE GUILT SNIFFER at The Basement, Lower Greys Ave reviewed by Glen Pickering 9 Mar 2013 |
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Enjoyable silliness Mark Prebble and Marion Short have written a witty and wonderfully ridiculous script that plays on all the Detective drama stereotypes and pokes fun at Police clairvoyant reality TV shows. It has all the usual characters, is full of puns, one-liners and never takes itself too seriously. [more] |
 reviewed by John Smythe 9 Mar 2010 |
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Bitter-sweet tale draws universal truths from its very particular blend According to Kutisar – Jacob Rajan’s latest wondrous creation – the Festival called him in because it realised its audiences felt their lives were meaningless. Apparently we know only “emptiness, loneliness and painful urination” and we need enlightenment. [more] |
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reviewed by Laurie Atkinson 17 Sep 2010 |
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Many parts played by one gifted actor Storytelling is as old as mankind and its art and techniques are on display in three very different theatrical productions at the moment. At Circa there are short anecdotal stories in My First Time and a very tall story told with bravura in Shipwrecked!, and now at Downstage we have The Guru of Chai, an updated version ofa traditional Indian folk/fairy story ... [more] |
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reviewed by Lynn Freeman (Capital Times) 22 Sep 2010 |
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Persuasive and powerful play of life The Guru of Indian Ink’s play is the kind of incorrigible salesman that you would expect to come across in an Indian railway station. In fact he would probably end up selling, as well as a cup of sweet chai, a car and insurance policies, such is the power of his persuasion. [more] |
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reviewed by Kate Ward-Smythe 13 Feb 2010 |
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Captivating and moving The story leans heavily on Indian folklore with customary hero, villain, and trickster, but Guru is also a universal tale of unrequited love. Of course Indian Ink have integrateed all the hallmarks that their audiences have come to expect: mask, employed here in its broadest sense; puppetry, in the form of a cute stuffed parrot; live music ... [more] |
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reviewed by Stephen Austin 30 Jun 2011 |
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A spice-layered chai worth savouring Rajan in full flight is an incredible solo performer – his character work is richly detailed, with beautiful broad range and rich textures in every moment. Not even a minor character (there are many) is allowed to slip by with any degree of vagueness and they all get the story-arc necessary within the lean 80 minute run time. [more] |
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reviewed by Nik Smythe 12 Jul 2012 |
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Small triumphs, unlikely alliances and unfortunate choices Inspired by an eccentric puppeteer and mask-dancer Rajan and co-writer/director Justin Lewis had met in Bali’s thriving arts scene Bali, Rajan’s Kusitar is a fully formed character; gregarious and flawed, cowardly yet compassionate. [more] |
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