Harry Potter on stage rocks. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child re-writes the rule book when it comes to what’s possible in a play and is set for a long run in Melbourne. Two years is guaranteed. Beyond that, we shall see. This is the eighth story in Harry Potter the series and the first official…
Using harsh reality and pop culture as its backbone, Vox Lux is a hard-hitting drama about the price of fame. The film takes place between 1999 and 2017. After tragedy strikes at a US high school, Celeste (Raffey Cassidy) sings at a subsequent memorial service, which touches the hearts of mourners and Americans in general….
If you’re a Simpsons fan, you’ll find immense enjoyment in Mr Burns, a novel adaptation of the iconic cartoon legacy. Split into three acts, the production gives you almost two hours of snippets from the series, skits and even a superb a cappella song bracket. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic world. Clearly the world is…
A deeply distressing reality piece, Capharnaum pulls at the heart strings. The title translates to chaos and that’s what this film is about – surviving amid chaos. Zain (Zain Al Raffa) is a mistreated 12-year-old Lebanese boy. After being jailed for committing a violent crime, Zain sues his parents – mother Souad (Kawthar Al Bankole)…
Clever, zany and funny, Happy Death Day 2U ticks all the boxes for a sequel. I loved the creativity in the original and feared that any follow-up would be a disappointment. Fortunately though that’s not the case because the writer and director Christopher Landon has taken the finest elements of the initial offering and twisted…
James Cameron’s fingerprints are evident on the cyborg action romance Alita: Battle Angel; although Robert Rodriguez (Machete) directs and co-wrote the screenplay with Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island). The film is based on a manga series by Japanese comic book artist Yukito Kishiro. Originally announced in 2003, production on and release of the film were repeatedly…
Barbara and the Camp Dogs pulls no punches. This is independent theatre with attitude. The two key figures in this play with music are Indigenous first cousins, Barbara and Renee. They’ve been brought up as sisters. Barbara’s mother left her and her brother Joseph when Barbara was just seven years old. Their father later came…
In the late 1960s, an elderly woman took up residence in a London street where many famous names lived. Nothing unusual about that, you might be thinking. But she lived in a decrepit, hand-painted yellow van crammed with old shopping bags and bits of carpet. She was a well-known “character” around Camden Town, sometimes mocked…
Red Stitch’s 25th anniversary production of Michael Gow’s Sweet Phoebe turns the tables on the platitude that “a dog is a man’s best friend”. Helen (Olivia Monticciolo) and Frazer (Marcus McKenzie) are an uptight couple – both personally and professionally – who look to be going places. She’s a home designer, involved in her first…
Racism and lust are on the menu in the Malthouse Theatre’s production of Underground Railroad Game. The Underground Railroad was a network of secret routes and safe houses established in the United States during the early 19th Century. African-Americans used it to escape slavery in the South by travelling to free states and what’s now…
