Corporare: Evan Task in Outer Space (The Thursday Group), at Theatre Works’ Explosives Factory – theatre review
Do tech bros, that is entrepreneurs in the tech industry, rule the modern world without…
Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of), at Athenaeum Theatre and touring Australia – theatre review
A glorious spoken and sung hoot, this is an audacious retelling of Pride & Prejudice. Just what would author Jane Austen have thought of it? I dare say she would be figuratively rolling around the aisles, just like the rest of us. Scottish playwright Isobel McArthur simply goes “bang” and wows us, time and again…
Lightscape, at Royal Botanic Gardens – outdoor visual arts review
Lightscape, the highly creative, after dark, lighting cavalcade at Royal Botanic Gardens, complete with a most appealing soundtrack, is a sensory sensation. It started in 2022 and the “exhibits” this year are the best yet. Following a curved two-kilometre trail, the installations have been created by leading artists from Australia and around the world. For…
Between the Lines: The James Joyce/Groucho Marx Letters (Bloomsday in Melbourne), at fortyfivedownstairs – theatre review
What a fascinating, intriguing, thrilling premise this James Joyce actioner has! Imagine if the Irish writer of Ulysses, one of the most lauded books ever published, exchanged correspondence with one of the world’s most famous comedians. Yes, Joyce and Groucho Marx in regular communication, after Groucho reached out to Joyce having acquired a first edition…
Corporare: Evan Task in Outer Space (The Thursday Group), at Theatre Works’ Explosives Factory – theatre review
Do tech bros, that is entrepreneurs in the tech industry, rule the modern world without taking personal accountability for their missteps? You need not think too hard to come up with names that roll off virtually everyone’s tongues. That is a concept explored in this horror sci-fi about such a man who sets about trying…
House of Rot (Green Door Theatre Company), at Malthouse Theatre and Hayes Theatre – musical and theatre review
A sensational, largely musical tribute to Grey Gardens, House of Rot resonates … and how, from the first note. Grey Gardens was a derelict 14-room mansion in the wealthy neighbourhood of East Hampton in New York. It was populated by two reclusive, upper-class women – a mother and daughter. Their names were Edith Ewing Bouvier…
The Wolves (Theatre Works) – theatre review
A finalist for the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, American playwright Sarah Delappe has crafted a portrait of female adolescence through a girls’ soccer team. The story unfolds as a group of 16 and 17-year-olds has regular work out sessions to prepare for upcoming games. As the nine youngsters warm up, their discussions are many,…
STELLA, at Alexander Theatre, Monash University – musical theatre review
A prolific, iconic writer and feminist who lived life on her terms, Miles Franklin (14th October, 1879 – 19th September, 1954) is best known for her auspicious debut, My Brilliant Career. Her legacy lives on through her published works and with the announcement of the annual Miles Franklin Literary Award to a novel of literary…
GRIMM (Shake & Stir Theatre Co.), at QPAC and touring – theatre review
While growing up, I was captivated by subversive stories in a classical cartoon segment known as Fractured Fairy Tales. That aired as part of the TV series The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends. It turned familiar yarns about the likes of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel and many others on their head. All these…
Disclosure Day (M) – 145 minutes – movie review
Nearly five decades ago, it was a close encounter with a UFO that resonated with audiences (Close Encounters of the Third Kind, 1977). Five years on, it was all about helping a friendly alien return home (ET: the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982). Next, an alien invasion threatened the future of humanity (War of the Worlds, 2005). And…
Sydney Film Festival – movie reviews
Colony Korean director Yeon sang-ho (Train To Busan, 2016) returns to the zombie genre with the entertaining Colony. Here he replaces the train setting with the claustrophobic confines of a multi-storey business tower that houses a mix of retail and commercial spaces, and even a convention centre. Bitter scientist Seo Young-chui (Koo Kyo-hwan) unleashes a…
