Suspense and satire on at outer east theatres

By Peter Kemp Eltham Little Theatre Dancing at Lughnasa Widely regarded as Brian Friel's award-winning masterpiece, this poignant vibrant story is set in an Irish village in 1936, and is told from the perspective of an adult Michael as he recalls his five unforgettable aunts, The Mundy sisters, whose lives were transformed over the course of o one extraordinary summer when he was ten years old. Filled with music, memory, laughter, and longing, Dancing at Lughnasa captures the fragile magic of a family-and moments that stay with us long after the music fades. Season: 4 – 9 September. Victorian Opera The Turn of the Screw Henry James's gothic novella has spooked generations of readers with his chilling tale of a governess, the children in her ward and sinister forces that may – or may not – be torturing them. Benjamin Britten's 1954 adaptation dials up the suspense and leaves you questioning everything you have just witnessed. In this haunting production, the scale of the chamber opera is both intimate and immense. Nothing is what it seems in the eerie setting of an English manor home. Season: 29 September – 1 October. Venue: Palais Theatre, St Kilda. The 1812 Theatre Switzerland – Joanna Murray-Smith It's 1995 in the Swiss Alps and the ailing reclusive crime writer Patricia Highsmith is visited by a genial young man from her New York publisher, sent to convince her to write the final instalment of her best-selling Mr Ripley series. What first appears to be a standard cat-and-mouse game of wit and wiles soon becomes a dance to the death. Who is the cat and who is the mouse? And who will make it out of Switzerland alive? A chilling and sometimes hilarious two-hander, with Murray-Smith's signature lucid-lettered prose. Season: 1 – 24 October. Venue: The Bakery at The 1812 Theatre. Karralyka Theatre The End of the World (A feel-good comedy) – Friendljordies. At long last I'm unveiling my meticulously researched, scientifically flawless, and definitely not panic-panic-induced prediction on how the world will end. If you disagree, congratulations – you're part of the problem. Enjoy your echo chamber while the rest of us prepare for the grand finale. Join me as I bring down the political incompetence, corporate buffoonery, and garden-variety stupidity that will bring civilisation to a face-planting halt. It's satire, it's prophecy, and it's disturbingly plausible. Season: Wednesday, 6 September at 7.30pm. Gemco Players Open Stage Nights Welcome one and all to Gemco's ongoing Open Stage Night. Hosted by Carol, our popular open stage has been running for many decades. Held in the cosy hall, you are welcome to perform anything you like or just come for the lovely entertainment. Enjoy music, poetry, singing, monologues or anything. Next session is 5 September at 7pm to 7.30 pm.