This wrap of reviews for shows around Melbourne includes a production of Traps, beabadoobee at the Forum, and a show by John Bell that’s a “gift to audiences”.
This wrap of reviews for shows around Melbourne includes a production of Traps, beabadoobee at the Forum, and a show by John Bell that’s a “gift to audiences”.
Theatre/ “One Man in His Time”, Bell Shakespeare. Canberra Theatre till 15 April. Reviewed by
SIMONE PENKETHMAN.
JOHN Bell’s one-man show was intended for another time, the year 2020, when the COVID-19 plague forced theatres around the world to close.
In Shakespeare’s own time, periodic waves of bubonic plague closed theatres in London, forcing the bard and his company to hit the road. On April 14, an audience filled Canberra’s Playhouse Theatre to capacity for the first time in more than a year.
The show’s title, “One Man in His Time” refers equally to Shakespeare and to Bell. John Bell discovered Shakespeare as a high-school student, 65 years ago. His teenage fascination became his life’s work.
The refurbished Rusten House today. Photo: Helen Musa
IT’s UNESCO World Art Day tomorrow (April 15) and members of the Queanbeyan arts community will have a sneak peek at exhibitions being hung for the official opening of the Rusten House Arts Centre next Thursday (April 22). The galleries will include a history of the historic Rusten House, now refurbished to become a home for the arts. At Collett Street, Queanbeyan (located on the grounds of the hospital).
“‘TO be or not to be’ means something entirely different when you’re 20 to when you’re 80,” says John Bell, who’ll be at the Playhouse until tomorrow, April 15, in “One Man In His Time: John Bell and Shakespeare”. Bookings here canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.