It was 9th October 2012 when Prime Minister Julia Gillard drew a line in the sand … when she refused to stay silent any longer. To that point she had effectively put up with personal attacks and insults from her political adversaries and the media. Those related to her spartan home environment, her looks, her choice of…
Tom Holloway’s 100 Reasons for War (2015) has been updated to reflect present day conflict in Calamity Practice’s uproarious, disturbing production of the work. At one point, all eight actors that form the ensemble detail the multitude of unending fighting that has taken place since the Great War (WWI). It doesn’t make for pretty watching (not that…
Call it searching for creativity or a descent into madness. That is a matter of interpretation. Carpet and Sand is a fanciful re-telling of a trip that English theatre and film director Peter Brook took with a group of actors through the Sahara Desert in 1972. Among their number was Helen Mirren. According to the presentation in…
Just what are people capable of? Can we exist in harmony? Is symbiosis even possible? Those questions are explored in the darkly comedic, at times disturbing, strikingly original theatrical work Multiple Bad Things. The actors are physically and mentally challenged, and diverse. They are in a warehouse trying to erect the skeleton of a house (I admire Anna…
Spectacular, colourful and creative headdresses, feathers and finery are front and centre as performers from Club Vegas hit the stage. Broad smiles, popular song and dance numbers, athletic, dare-devil acrobatics and comic interludes are the order of the day. It is a show that is dynamic, bold and brassy, and has the enthusiastic audience cheering throughout. For…
To bastardise a popular expression, those flying closest to the sun shine brightest before they burn up. That set of words could be the starting point for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical (with book and lyrics by Don Black and Christopher Hampton) Sunset Boulevard. Set in Los Angeles in 1949 and 1950, the villain is Norma…
A diligent young teacher is caught up in a seemingly never-ending downward spiral in Ilker Catak’s film The Teacher’s Lounge. Try as she might, whichever way she manoeuvres seems to make matters worse. Carla Nowak (Leonie Benesch) is in her first job at a German school. She teaches 12-year-olds (sixth-graders) and cares a great deal….
Power, passion and subterfuge make for a heady cocktail. And so it is in Opera Australia’s Tosca. It is a compelling thriller with a great deal of bite, being staged at Margaret Court Arena because the State Theatre is closed, while undergoing a three-year upgrade. Amidst the unrelenting drama, stirring arias and evocative set design predominate. With…
Devastating bushfires and a baby koala and miner in peril. These are just two of the interwoven threads that run through the excellent, interactive solo work KOAL, in which sound, music and lighting play a critically important role. The piece was conceived by performer Jacinta Yelland. In 2019, she was sitting in her living room in the United…
In New York, two separated guys – best mates – move in together. They are like chalk and cheese … polar opposites in terms of their approach to life. One – news writer Felix Ungar – is uptight, angst riddled, awkward and “anal” about cleanliness and cooking. The other – sportswriter Oscar Madison – is laid back…
