Tough, gritty and uncompromising. That is the incendiary combination that marks the work of co-creators Patricia Cornelius (also writer), Susie Dee (also director) and Nicci Wilks (also performer). They have done it before with RUNT, a study of the underdog, and now Bad Boy, which tackles misogyny and domestic violence. A female actor, Wilks, get…
Francis Ford Coppola (The Godfather) brings a re-imagined Roman Empire into modern times in his passion project Megalopolis. He proposes that the American Republic is not all that different from old Rome and then asks whether it will fall victim to the appetite for power of a few? Coppola began developing Megalopolis in the early…
Imagine your older self visiting to give guidance on how to live your best life. Writer-director Megan Park (The Fallout) tries it out in the quirky comedy My Old Ass. And it works a treat. Elliott Labrant (Maisy Stella) has just turned 18 and is full of life. She can’t wait to leave behind her…
Blend drag, burlesque, circus, irreverence and the sensational sound of songstress Sahara Beck and you have the ingredients for a top night of fun and frivolity. That is Bite Club: 2nd Serve from cult cabaret-style mischief makers Briefs Factory. There are eight Briefs’ performers, alongside Beck on guitar and vocals, and the other members of…
The price of fame drives one of the most intense and remarkable films of the year. The Substance is about physical beauty, adoration, self-love and loathing. It explores the lengths someone will go to remain relevant. Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) used to be a movie star, before transitioning to hosting a successful workout show on…
What you read into and see in dance is very much about interpretation. Here is a piece where the mood is constantly shifting. What starts out as beautiful, gentle, caring and nurturing, turns into something frenetic and disturbing. So, what is at play? Why do we transition from calm to calamitous? Needs, wants and desires…
If you are after something that is mighty special, you shouldn’t go past Melbourne Opera’s stunning rendition of La Bohème. It is simply sensational. The story. The music. The voices. The realisation. It is so lively and emotional. It is cheeky and sexy and fraught. Giacomo Puccini composed the opera in four acts between 1893…
In the same way that Spider-Man transposed from live action back to animation so successfully, now Transformers has done the same. Transformers One is a high-octane adventure with umpteen twists and turns, and extremely well-realised. I’d also like to think that as with Spider-Man, the same will be the case for Transformers moving forward. This…
Stirring solos, captivating duets and soaring ensemble numbers are the hallmarks of a stunning world premiere concert production of an age-old story. The work, which is based around the tale of the Hunchback of Notre Dame, has been a labour of love for composer and librettist Samuel Kristy. With original orchestrations by Hamish Ander, under…
Survival is at stake when three young men find themselves lost in the middle of the ocean with no food and very little water and no way back to dry land. When they set off in Isaac’s 81-year-old grandfather’s small fishing boat, his grandad was with them, but now he is nowhere to be seen….
