CASANOVA (Ensemble)

“Disappointed by the Sydney Festival's flaccid Giacomo Variations? Take heart: there's life in the Casanova story yet ... Mark Kilmurry's romping production seamlessly segues the framing narrative with the main thrust of Casanova's adventures and the entire cast looks to be having a thoroughly good time, which is infectious.” The Sydney Morning Herald

ABIGAIL’S PARTY (Ensemble)

"This rewarding, pacy production - think Who's Afraid

of Virginia Woolf's George and Martha crossed with

the Brit sitcom George and Mildred - is well worth

the RSVP." The Sydney Morning Herald

“Status anxiety in its rawest, most brutal form comes

to life in a satire that still bites some 30 years since it

appeared.” (full review) Time Out

“This fine production, directed by Mark Kilmurry,

goes past the swirling colours and captures the style

of Leigh with its dark undercurrent as the characters

come unstuck...” The Sun-Herald

TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE (Ensemble)

“This production is beautifully directed by Mark Kilmurry and simply constructed...

The performances are beautifully subtle, beautifully balanced.” Australian Stage Online (full review)

MARY STUART (Ensemble)

“Mark Kilmurry's direction is clear and has a splendid urgency, turning the play into something like a thriller... Schiller's tragedy is grand, complex and full of argument. This is a version that deserves to be popular.” The Australian (full review)

“Mark Kilmurry’s production of Mary Stuart is performed in Renaissance costume, with no set, but with torches flaring from slate walls. It is vigorous, variable in the precision of its characterisation, but with a bite and an edge of technique, even classical technique, that leaves most Australian productions of pre-20th-century theatre in the shade. There is no hackneyed Ocker naturalism and the ‘high’ diction is positively refreshing.”          The Spectator

KING LEAR (Studio Co/Riverside)

“Director Mark Kilmurry is a master of interpreting Shakespeare with beautiful simplicity... It is the clarity of staging, design and performance which make this a delight to watch. Kilmurry’s seamless scene changes, sound design and scenographic skills are breath-taking. He has an eye for strong imagery and you grasp that the fall of Lear is mirrored in all the characters.” Daily Telegraph (full review)

HAMLET (Studio Co/Riverside)

“There is so much to admire in this Hamlet and yet it is presented with so little fuss. In a small studio space, in the round, with minimal stage properties, simple costumes and well-considered cuts to the text, Mark Kilmurry leads a finely tuned ensemble in delivering an engagingly paced, imaginatively staged and strikingly clear performance. Kilmurry's own performance as Hamlet reflects many of the strengths of this remounted co- production ... This is a Hamlet of great nuance and sensitivity, where contradiction and indecision coexist with clarity of purpose, as instinct proves impossible to reconcile with action.” Sydney Morning Herald (full review)

THE YALTA GAME/AFTERPLAY (Ensemble)

“Complementing Downing's restraint, Kilmurry sustains the busy detail of Andrey. He captures this character's inherent disappointment in life, masking it in buoyant pretence before tentatively seeking new hope in honest communication. Skilfully realised in writing, performance, direction and design, Afterplay is an unassuming theatrical treat.” Sydney Morning Herald

AUNTY AND ME (Ensemble)

“Kemp is a difficult part, a monster who must retain some audience sympathy to prevent the character toppling into caricature. Kilmurry dances through the role with lovely assurance. His comic timing is superb, and it's a pleasure to watch such a confident and thoughtful performance.” Sydney Morning Herald

JAPES (Ensemble)

“Doake, Kilmurry and Mitchell take this funny and corrosive play and use it as a springboard for a trio of memorably rich and gutsy performances.” Sun-Herald

MERCY THIEVES (Studio Co)

"Kilmurry has written and directed an entertaining and darkly comic piece of Australian noir with a slight English accent …The cast is excellent … It's a well-acted and well-paced noir night out. Very entertaining." Sydney Morning Herald

"A couple of hired thugs are on a mission: to find Harry. Go with them, because this is a production as tense and ruthlessly spare as the professional killers portrayed by Mark Kilmurry and John Trutwin … The set is as black as the film noir overtones, and the only props are a chair and a coffee table, but the performances from the cast of four are tremendously evocative." Sunday Telegraph

"The multi-talented Mark Kilmurry wrote, directed and acted in this terrific comedy-thriller … the story is inspired by Shakespeare, the telling of it pays homage to the conventions of film noir, the road movie and anti-hero buddy flicks such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Performed with superb physicality, one could almost feel - ouch! - those ribs breaking." The Sun-Herald

(reviews for Mercy Thieves in New York)

THE DUMB WAITER (Studio Co)

“Kilmurry and Trutwin are assured, disciplined actors. They persuasively manifest the simple potency of Pinter's theatre of menace - not just the fear of the unknown, but the nightmare of an unidentifiable, unstoppable terror ripping comfort and certainty apart.” Sydney Morning Herald

HAPPY AS LARRY AND VIV (Susie Parker Productions)

“The performances are fascinating. Kilmurry, having written

and directed the show, gives a fine, mannered portrayal of

Olivier.” The Australian

“Kilmurry and Lindeman deserve credit for taking on such

risky roles (playing the famous and recognisable) and

presenting triumphant and originally conceived

performances.” Sydney Morning Herald

“The light from Kilmurry’s high-wattage Larry is dazzling.”

Sun-Herald

THE LOVER (Sheebang Productions)

“Actors Felicity Price and Richard Sydenham own this warped and irresistible play. With her crisp summer dress, her arch manner and a kind of balletic agility with words and movement, Price is captivating. Sydenham is not far behind. Director Mark Kilmurry has created a darkly comic and mesmeric journey through the problems of coupledom.” Sydney Morning Herald

“Director Mark Kilmurry makes a marvellously comic and sustained set piece of their foreplay, as they work through several variations of a naff, bodice-ripping fantasy.”

Sun-Herald

HAMMERKLAVIER (Susie Parker Productions)

“When combined with elegant simplicity, as it is in Mark Kilmurry's lovingly crafted staging, the wit and universal truths of Reza's words are made illuminating - both painful and pleasurable.” Sydney Morning Herald

WHAT A PIECE OF WORK (Griffin)

"Mark Kilmurry's adaptation of Porter's verse novel, What A Piece Of Work, into a one-man show in which he takes the sole role, is wonderful … There is great power in the writing, sinew in Kilmurry's performance … The result is arresting theatre - measured, inventive, passionate and richly provocative. See it." Sydney Morning Herald

"A master solo performer, Kilmurry as Cyren swirls an imaginary brandy glass … the piece comes together perfectly." Sunday Telegraph

"Kilmurry is a specialist at the solo show and he is never less than compelling. A superbly physical actor, he gives an object lesson in how to convert a text into a performance where every word is lived in." Sun-Herald

"Mark Kilmurry, who adapted poet Dorothy Porter's verse novel for the stage in collaboration with director Ros Horin, keeps us spellbound as his arrogant yet witty and irresistibly charming Cyren reveals his all-too-human flaws." The Daily Telegraph