Review | BLUEY'S BIG PLAY: THE STAGE SHOW

It's not everyday that you get to go to the opening night of a debut Queensland production at QPAC, featuring a creative team and cast made of Queenslanders. So that in itself, was a quite a wonderful feeling. With an original story by Joe Brumm, set by Rockhampton born designer, Jonathon Oxlade and new music by Joff Bush, this brand-new play of the worldwide tv hit sensation of the same name is all that I imagine a child's definition of heaven would look like. There's multiple dance parties, a very thorough game of hide and seek, there's glowing balloons and there's been bubbles.

I feel like a few hundred words in a review is inadequate to fully capture how brilliant and clever this production is. The puppetry designed by Joe Blank truly brings the unimaginable to life, including vibrating pillows underneath which Bluey hides her father's phone, exquisite rainbow lorikeets and the characters themselves who appear exactly like they do in the television screen and the story books. From the arching of their eyebrows to their dancing feet, it was so divine to watch and we, the audience, felt like we were watching magic unfold right in front of our eyes.

Jonathan Oxlade's design of Bluey's world on stage replicated that of a the inside, exterior and backyard of a typical Queenslander, with some added Bluey touches of course. I loved the mix and match of the colour palettes, especially the purple hue of Bluey and Bingo's bedroom and the gorgeous silhouette of the tree on the white backdrop. Additionally, I loved the way each element in the set was there for a reason and complimented the story, rather than detracting from it which I think further supports what an extraordinary job Rose Myers did as director.

The story was a beautiful slice of life, as all Bluey stories are, for not just the young and the old. Through his work, Joe Brumm provided a subtle social commentary on the amount of time we spend on our phones, the give and take relationship between siblings, childhood naivety and family dynamics, all bundled into a neat bow. The puppeteers were excellent, mirroring the puppets expressions, mannerisms and movements from behind them.

This show has to be one of the best, if not the best, pieces of children's theatre and family theatre that I've ever seen. I'm never seen a world from a storybook created so beautifully and with such precision on stage. I've also never seen kids so excited in the audience nor so engaged with the story. Shows like this make me so unbelievably proud to be a Queenslander and it further highlights how much home-grown talent, whether it be storytellers, designers, composers, actors etc we have that all have a story to shape, tell and create if only we had more market and opportunities to do so. So please, come and support this show so that we can hopefully make this one of many more debut Queensland shows.

Rating: 5 Stars

SHOW: Bluey's Big Play The Stage Show

WHEN: 22 December 2020 to 10 January 2021

WHERE: Playhouse QPAC, Queensland Cultural

Centre, South Bank, Brisbane

TICKETS: Refer qpac.com.au for current pricing

BOOKINGS: qpac.com.au or phone 136-246

EVENT DURATION: Approximately 45 minutes no interval

RECOMMENDED AGE: Suitable all ages, recommended 2+ years

Director | Rose Myers

Written | by Joe Brumm

Designer | Jonathon Oxlade

Music by | Joff Bush

Puppetry Director | Jacob Williams

For national enquiries for Bluey's Big Play The Stage Show contact Brooke Davies mob: 0419-359-401 or email: brooke@blueylive.com.au

Photos by Darren Thomas

To post a comment, you must register and login.