Animal Farm (Bloomshed), at Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne – theatre review
It starts with a spoken quote from a voice that sounds like German filmmaker Werner…
Cleopatra & Antony (Melbourne Shakespeare Company), at fortyfivedownstairs – theatre review
Scheming and passion abound in Melbourne Shakespeare Company’s Cleopatra & Antony. Based on the Shakespearean tragedy Antony and Cleopatra, written about 1606, it concerns power and politics, but is a deeply personal story. Set during the final years of the Roman Republic, the 13-strong cast throws itself headlong into the desire and subterfuge that drive…
Spa Weekend (M) – 97 minutes – movie review
Isla Fisher has ample opportunity to show off her comedic acting chops in the girls’ buddy comedy Spa Weekend. Realised in the spirit of Bad Moms and The Hangover, she plays Mel, the most outrageous of a foursome who became firm friends at middle school. Gifted some choice lines and visual gags, Fisher is all…
12 Angry Actors (Asamina Theatre Company), at Meat Market Stables – theatre review
Inspired by fact, a significant moral dilemma confronts actors in a small amateur theatre company five days before opening night. While the performers must decide whether to proceed with the show, they are not the only ones with a difficult choice to make. In a juicy twist, we, the audience, too, become heavily invested in…
Insidious: Out of the Further (M) – 106 minutes – movie review
Pure evil threatens to bring the dead back into the world of the living in this sixth instalment of the supernatural horror franchise, which started in 2010. They are trapped in purgatory, an astral dimension known as The Further, and a young Pittsburgh mother and dentist, Gemma (Amelia Eve) holds the key. A malevolent entity,…
The Jungle and the Sea (MTC in collaboration with Lingalayam Dance Company), at Southbank Theatre, The Sumner – theatre review
The massive impact of the Sri Lankan Civil War (1983 – 2009) on one family is brought into sharp focus in the incendiary play The Jungle and the Sea. It is a moving follow up to S. Shakthidharan and Eamon Flack’s highly acclaimed Counting and Cracking, which played at Union Theatre in June 2024. It…
Victorian College of the Arts Music Theatre Showcase – Echoes of Broadway (Morning Melodies), at Hamer Hall – concert review
Show Boat (1927) was probably the starting point for what is known as the Golden Age of Broadway. That was when the narrative and the music in musicals first came together cohesively. But it took a further decade for that style of show to really take off. I speak of song and dance integrated into…
Do Not Go Gentle (Queensland Theatre) – theatre review
There’s one inevitability we all share. We will die. The thought-provoking Do Not Go Gentle, by the much-lauded Patricia Cornelius (My Sister Jill, Runt), juxtaposes two realities – one where the Antarctic explorers in Captain Robert Falcon’s Scott’s ill-fated expedition go through their adventurous ordeal, and the other where the residents of an aged care…
Cut Chilli (Darebin Arts Speakeasy), at Northcote Town Hall Arts Centre – theatre review
Displacement, cultural identity, colonisation and shifty adoption practices are in the firing line in Chenturan Aran’s compelling dramatic comedy Cut Chilli. The writer himself was culturally displaced with his parents by the Sri Lankan Civil War (1983-2009) and subsequent research and interviews informed the script. Cut Chilli was inspired by pervasive adoption fraud in Sri…
Animal Farm (Bloomshed), at Fairfax Studio, Arts Centre Melbourne – theatre review
It starts with a spoken quote from a voice that sounds like German filmmaker Werner Herzog about how stupid chickens are and how easy they are to hypnotise. Thereafter follows an actor walking down the middle stairs at Fairfax Studio with a serious expression on his face carrying a rubber chicken. When he reaches the…
The Ballad of Dan O’Malley: A Football Tragedy (Monstrous Theatre), at Theatre Works’ Explosives Factory – theatre review
As a proud, passionate and paid-up member of the Essendon Football Club, I do not want to win another match this season. Why? Because I would like access to the very best draft capital. So, does tanking exist in the glorious game of AFL football? Despite what the AFL would like you to believe, blood…
