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Alex First

Alex First is the editor of The Blurb. Alex is a Melbourne based journalist and communications specialist. He also contributes to The Blurb on film and theatre.

TANZ – dance review

WARNING – FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY Ten naked women cavorting on stage in a comic book reality is the wild work of 37-year-old Austrian choreographer and performance artist Florentina Holzinger. A live back piercing in close-up, dancers being elevated off the stage by their scalp and a rat birthing from an elderly woman (complete with…

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Death of a Salesman (Chapel Off Chapel) – theatre review

Almost three quarters of a century after it was written, the power, passion and desolation intrinsic to Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman (1949) remains intact. It is a devastating and iconic piece of work, magnificently performed by the 11-strong cast from Hearth Theatre at Chapel Off Chapel. The three-hour production explores themes of change, isolation, depression,…

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Euphoria (Melbourne Town Hall)

As Gordon Gekko, in the 1987 Oliver Stone-directed hit film Wall Street, Michael Douglas said “greed, for lack of a better word, is good”. I venture to suggest that Berlin-based artist Julian Rosefeldt, who has created the impressive multiscreen installation Euphoria, would vehemently disagree. Using the musings of more than 100 economists, business magnates, writers and celebrities,…

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Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – movie review

Mesmerising graphics and non-stop, often helter-skelter, action mark the thrilling new Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, which has no shortage of dark edges. The animated adventure takes off after the events of the Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018). It centres around 15-year-old Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore). Miles’ parents – police officer Jefferson Davis (Brian…

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Moth (Theatre Works) – theatre review

What is truth and what is fantasy? The lines are blurred in the dramatic play Moth, which speaks to teen angst and mental health. Superbly executed with a minimalist darkened set and striking lighting and sound, the actors impress in their realisation of playwright Declan Greene’s work. Fifteen-year-old Sebastian (Adam Noviello) isn’t exactly the most popular…

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Jacky (MTC) – theatre review

Racism, disadvantage, “the mob” and money collide in the incendiary new work from Declan Furber Gillick, five years in the making. Commissioned through MTC’s NEXT STAGE Writers’ Program, the cumulative impact of the 100 minutes is devastating. Indigenous man Jacky (Guy Simon) is on the road to “making it”, or so it seems. He is renting a…

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