Set in New York City in 1980, Armageddon Time is a coming-of-age story highlighting African-American and Jewish experiences. And it’s the vehicle to propel two bright young actors onto the world stage. Fourteen year-old Banks Repeta plays sixth-grader Paul Graff, a boy from a middle class Jewish family. Jaylin Webb, 16, portrays Johnny Davis, a…
A proud, potent and poignant piece of artistry that combines dance, song, monologue and athleticism with projections is the highlight of DanceX Part III. I speak of Gudirr Gudirr by Marrugeku, which contains truth-telling about the history of indigenous Australians from the Kimberley region of Western Australia. To say what is acted out is not pretty is…
A 20-year drought has led to blatant exploitation of the underprivileged. That is the basis of the satirical musical comedy Urinetown. The narrator who sets the scene is also the town’s crooked cop Officer Lockstock (Dom Hennequin), as he is joined by street urchin Little Sally (Chloe Halley). The terrible water shortage has meant that it costs to…
Inspired by events that took place in a powerful African state in the 19th century, The Woman King is the story of a battalion of female warriors. Known as the Agojie, their job was to protect the Kingdom of Dahomey, and its ruler King Ghezo (John Boyega). The narrative focuses primarily on two figures –…
A sharp and witty British woman unpicks her life before our eyes and what a life it has been. It has included the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. She explains how she met her one true love, her husband, in a queue at an Italian airport and what came before him, not all of…
The Australian premiere of Johan Inger’s comic, romantic dance theatre piece I New Then, set to songs by Van Morrison, is superb. I was delighted to experience it for a second time in a few days when watching DanceX Part II. It opened the program, just as it had DanceX Part I. Inger, a Swedish choreographer, danced with…
The United Ukrainian Ballet’s stunning production of Swan Lake is only trumped by the spine-tingling moments after the final bars of Tchaikovsky’s majestic score ring out. That is when the company takes to the stage to rapturous applause. They carry with them the bicolour blue and yellow Ukrainian flag, which bares the line “make dance not war”…
Barbarian is a genuinely creepy horror movie with bite. It opens with the power of suggestion, but morphs into something far more sinister. Tess (Georgina Campbell) has driven herself to a very shady part of Detroit, where she intends to stay for the night ahead of a job interview. But with rain falling, when she…
The Australian premiere of Johan Inger’s comic, romantic dance theatre piece I New Then, set to songs by Van Morrison, is the undoubted highlight of DanceX Part I. Inger, a Swedish choreographer, danced with Nederlands Dans Theater and has made works for leading companies all over Europe. The feel-good 28-minute dance experience is energetic and humorous. The music…
A film for fanboys, Black Adam is mired in mythology, which will be far more meaningful if you’ve read the DC comics. The film tells the story of Teth Adam, the slave who became champion, who becomes Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson). The action starts in the ancient city of Kahndaq, where Adam is enslaved before…
