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…
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…
The Nightline, in the Bagging Room, at Malthouse Theatre – theatre review
The call went out to those who were needy, lonely, lovelorn and sleepless to leave messages between midnight and 6am and it was answered emphatically. The result is a compelling aural experience, which provides an insight into Melbourne after hours. The work of renowned documentary specialist Roslyn Oades, who directs, and ARIA-award winning sound artist…
Death of a Salesman, at Her Majesty’s Theatre and touring – 175 minutes, plus a 20-minute interval – theatre review
They have gone back to the well and the result is every bit as impressive as it was first time around (which was three years ago). I speak of Anthony Lapaglia, Alison Whyte and Josh Helman in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman, one of the finest plays of the 20th century. It won the…
Case 137 (M) – 116 minutes – movie review
Protests in the heart of Paris are rife. We are talking 2018. Society is on the precipice and people are struggling, so they pour their anger and dissatisfaction into verbal and violent demonstrations. Many are from the regions – first time protestors, families even, some who haven’t had cause to come to Paris before. Police…
Break of Day, at Merlyn Theatre, at Malthouse Theatre – theatre review
A mother’s desire to see her daughter escape from a good for nothing, small-town, working-class existence drives the fierce drama Break of Day. She (Pam – Kat Stewart) had aspirations too when she was her daughter, Rae’s (Sherry-Lee Watson) age – 17. But that was the year she gave birth to Rae and the die…
Artefact (or, Repatriation: The Musical), at Chapel Off Chapel – concert review3
Imagine turning a break-in at the British Museum in London into a compelling rock musical. Well – it has happened. And, I am not just talking about any run of the mill heist either. Rather, it is about stealing back stuff that didn’t belong there in the first instance. So it is that Artefact (or,…
Marginalia (Pummel Squad), at fortyfivedownstairs – theatre review
If theatre of the absurd tickles your fancy, you will have a field day with theatre company Pummel Squad’s Marginalia. It is a new play adapted from Nikolai Gogol’s 1936 satirical short story ‘The Nose’. That was about a St Petersburg official who awakens to find his proboscis has disappeared and taken on a life…
Ride the Cyclone (Entr’acte Theatre Company), at Cube 37, at Frankston Arts Centre – musical theatre review
Imagine making an occult-driven musical from the misfortune of a group of high school children losing their lives in a tragic Big Dipper incident. Your first reaction would surely be how dreadfully inappropriate, downright maudlin and an act of moral turpitude. And yet that is what Canadian writers and composers Jacob Richmond and Brooke Maxwell…
