A searing feminist work about a woman far ahead of her time, British playwright Morgan Lloyd Malcolm was inspired by the life of 16th and 17th century poet Emilia Bassano. Feisty and fiery, Emilia stood up for women’s rights and couldn’t see why they should subjugate themselves to men. By various accounts, she was Shakespeare’s muse and…
It is Melbourne 1991. Recession grips the country. A couple of outcasts are in love but out of work. They are going nowhere and make do by robbing small retail outlets, stabbing some victims and causing mayhem. Emma (Veronica Thomas) is the talker, someone who would like Jay (Matthew Connell) to express himself more. The pair drinks too…
The rough lot of an impoverished farming clan is front and centre in Gundog, a dramatic and confronting play with lashes of humour. Although written by Simon Longman from the West Midlands and set on a remote, rundown property in the UK, it fits comfortably into the Australian milieu. The introduction makes quite the impression, courtesy…
A New Zealand fundamentalist church is under the spotlight in Gloriavale. The Christian community, located at Haupiri, north-west of Christchurch, is home to about 600 people from 70 families. Neville Cooper, who changed his name to Hopeful Christian, founded it in 1969. It stands accused of using slave labour and exploiting women and children. The…
For those – like me – who haven’t seen the popular Netflix series on which Stranger Sings! is based, Stranger Things is hugely successful. Set in the 1980s, primarily in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, it is an American science fiction horror drama featuring, among others, Winona Ryder. It centres on mysteries and supernatural events…
Enthusiasm, expectation and excitement in the first half give way to drama and raw emotion in the second act in Titanic The Musical In Concert. 1,517 people, more than two thirds of those that boarded the world’s largest moving object, died after the RMS Titanic hit an iceberg at 11:40pm on 14th April, 1912 and…
Cecilia – known as Sissy – is a charming, good natured influencer relaying messages of positivity to her 200,000 followers. It’s a far cry from her days as a pre-teen when she and her BFF Emma vowed to grow old together. They even buried a time capsule containing video footage of their shared affection. Now…
The church, religion and medical science have a lot to answer for in The Wonder. This is acclaimed director Sebastián Lelio’s first feature since Gloria Bell (2018). In 1862, nurse Lib Wright (Florence Pugh) travels from England to small-town Ireland to watch an 11-year-old girl Anna O’Donnell (Kila Lord Cassidy). The reason soon becomes clear….
Interactive theatre can be stimulating. In the case of Day After Terrible Day, while creative, I found it totally perplexing. Upon arrival, patrons are divided into groups and led to the double doors of what turns out to be an unfinished mansion. Once ushered inside, perched on a 10-rung ladder at the back of the theatre…
Cameron Mackintosh’s new production of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s masterful work The Phantom of the Opera sizzles. Everything about the production works a treat. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music, a cavalcade of riches, still stirs the soul 36 years after the musical debuted in London. In this case, plaudits to Orchestra Victoria for bringing it to life, with Anthony…
