THE LOVERS - A MUSICAL
THE LOVERS A MUSICAL, Shake & Stir, John Frost for Crossroads Live, and QPAC, 5 November 2025 at the Theatre Royal Sydney
In October 2022, The Lovers opened at the Playhouse in the Sydney Opera House as a pathbreaking inclusion in the Bell Shakespeare season. At the time I wrote …
“First, there was Kiss Me Kate (The Taming of the Shrew), then there was West Side Story (Romeo and Juliet); and later came Rent (La Boheme). And now – bursting onto the stage like an NYE Sydney fireworks display – come the four young lovers from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, re-imagined simply as The Lovers.
The quartet, plus Oberon and Puck, is all Laura Murphy’s doing, and the two-hour, including 20-minute interval show, confirms her as the most gifted and remarkable talent to emerge in Australian musical theatre since Enright and Clarke and The Venetian Twins.
“The Lovers brilliantly catapults Bell Shakespeare into the 21st century with an up-to-the-minute take on popular culture and music, while at the same time revealing love and respect for the original. Murphy says, in her program notes, that she’s loved the play and the Bard since childhood and has always wanted other kids to feel likewise.”
And all of that remains true. Now, after some tinkering and quite a lot of money thrown at it by the producers, as well as a successful season in Brisbane at QPAC, The Lovers is back in Sydney for a wickedly limited season and has to be on everyone’s Must See list. Somehow it’s New! Improved! With Extra Pizazz! And, forgive the term, but it’s true, it’s World Class!
First time around, I was bowled over by the show and gave it the rare and maximum five stars. Now, even more so. Crucially, Natalie Abbott reprises Helena, and Stellar Perry is back as Oberon. And they’re joined by Jason (Hamilton) Arrow as Demetrius, Jayme-Lee Hanekon as Puck, Loren Hunter as Hermia, and Matt Verevis as Lysander.
Hidden behind them is a huge (four-piece) band: musical director Heidi Maguire on keyboards, her associate Ben Kiehne also on keys; guitarist Danielle Colligan, whose post-show solo was breathtaking, plus the driving powerhouse of Sam Blackburn on bass and Alysa Portelli on drums.
Although numbering just six performers, the company, through director Nick Skubij, choreographer Yvette Lee, and fight director Nigel Poulton, somehow fills the cavernous Theatre Royal to bursting. It’s astonishing. Of course, there’s also Laura Murphy’s book, lyrics and music – as scintillating as ever – plus the dazzling spectacle of Isabel Hudson’s deceptively simple set design and witty, eye candy costumes, Trent Suidgeest’s lighting (too much lighting is never enough), and David Bergman’s luscious video and sound designs.
As well as a visual and musical extravaganza, The Lovers is – as befits its original author – a feast of words. Laura Murphy is in the Lin-Manuel Miranda mould as a lyricist and, to Australians, brought up on Shakespeare rather than American history, her light touch with the Bard and our vernacular makes it familiar as well as innovative and exciting.
Trying hard to think of a negative, but failing, so do yourself, best buds, and all loved ones a favour: see The Lovers. They’re all fabulous. And yes, it’s five and a half stars.
