Theatre Round Up: Eamon Flack and Paige Rattray

Mikhail Bulgakov’s Master and Margarita adapted and directed by Cameron’s client Eamon Flack recently opened at Belvoir’s Upstairs Theatre to glowing reviews. An actor enters with a battered copy of Mikhail Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, and begins to read aloud from the opening chapter…We’re in a city run by fools and mediocrities. And sitting on a park bench in this city is the Devil himself. Why is he here? The tale unfurls from ancient Galilee to Stalin’s Moscow, via a giant talking cat, a mad novelist, a ruthless officer of the secret police…At its centre is Margarita, who has to become a witch in order to save a lost manuscript – and us all.

“Were adaptor/director Eamon Flack to fall under a tram tomorrow – as happens to poor Berlioz in the play – he can go knowing he’s made something to live in the annals of theatre.” ★★★★★ – Sydney Morning Herald

“Leave your cares at home and savour what feels like a game-changer in Sydney theatre. Recommended without reservation.” ★★★★★ – Stage Noise

Ella Hickson’s Oil directed by Cameron’s client Paige Rattray recently opened at STC’s Wharf 1 Theatre, starring AACTA award-winning actor Brooke Satchwell (The Twelve, Mr Inbetween) in her STC debut. Oil explores the deeply relatable bond between a mother and daughter, mapped against the rise and fall of two of modernity’s most powerful players: crude oil and the British Empire. Hickson sends her protagonists on a gripping quest from the Industrial Age in Europe, to the Middle East at the turn of the century, through to our present moment and into the future, as she asks the question: how much is too much?

“Directed with maturity and panache by Paige Rattray, Oil is presented ‘in the round’ at the newly configured Wharf 1 Theatre...and with a rather slick takeaway from Hickson about how predictable us humans are – both theatre space and story are circular.” ★★★★ - Timeout

“Oil is a complex play to stage, but brilliantly managed by the director, Paige Rattray.” ★★★★ – The Guardian

Master and Margarita is running at Belvoir’s Upstairs Theatre till 10 December 2023. Oil is running at STC’s Wharf 1 Theatre till 16 December 2023.