Jana Wendt was a highly accomplished TV current and public affairs presenter and journalist, who dominated our screens from the eighties to the mid noughties. Think programs such as Sixty Minutes, A Current Affair and Sunday, all of which she fronted. Although her name is in the title of this darkly comedic play, she only…
He’s rude, crude, remarkably observant and lightning quick with one liners. In short, a force of nature. I speak of the indomitable Reuben Kaye, who wears his heart on his sleeve and totally owns his audience like few others I have come across. His stage presence is remarkable. He walks, talks and warbles like an…
What a mess – a script that lurches one way, then the other, around and around, that simply ends up feeling tortuous. It is also oh so obvious. It feels forced – all the way. Sure, I can find praise for the choreographed dance numbers and the musicality, although I could also argue that the…
He (The Man, as he is called in this drama cum romance, as played by Ewen Leslie) loves deeply. His first love is trout fishing, which he has been consumed by since he caught his first fish with his uncle at the age of seven. His favourite spot is a remote cabin in the woods….
Poise, precision and humour are the hallmarks of this latest Circus Oz production to hit the main stage at Melbourne Town Hall. It is all about acrobatic artistry and clownishness, melded into a family friendly, hour-long show. Gold and frilly costuming seems to be the order of the day as 11 performers, including a lively…
Masterful and highly imaginative comes this trans-formative piece of theatre making. From the get go, I was intrigued and stimulated. Entering the theatre space felt like stepping onto the set of a high budget science fiction movie. It was visually arresting. Eerie, otherworldly music was playing. Tinged in green was shiny black scaffolding that constituted…
Bullying, teenage angst, toxic relationships and murder hardly seem material conducive to a cult following, but if you think that, you don’t know Heathers. First came the original 1988 film starring Winona Ryder and then the musical that debuted in 2009, hitting off Broadway in 2014 and the West End in 2018. It has developed…
What does it feel like to be in chemically induced love? And what does it feel like to be depressed? British playwright Lucy Prebble, a writer on the acclaimed TV drama Succession, interrogates that in a study of love and neuroscience. The play premiered at the National Theatre in London in 2012 and won the…
If you want to see something extra special before it leaves Australian shores, I suggest you head straight to the Art Gallery of NSW. That is where, until only next Sunday (12th April, 2026), you can view the remarkable work of renowned Melbourne-born sculptor Ron Mueck. His is an art form known as hyperrealism, which…
The Stranger is a mesmerising portrait of young man different to any other. We are in French controlled Algiers in 1938. It is where Meursault (Benjamin Voisin), who is in his early 30s, works as a clerk. He is quiet, unassuming, has little to say and lacks drive. One day he receives a telegram indicating…
