Even with the best will in the world, the path to finding and sustaining the love of one’s life is often paved with potholes. With two younger sisters, 29-year-old Sahar (Celine Khoury) is smart and gregarious. She studied medicine, but dropped out after two years (the reason becomes a pivotal plot point) and now works as a…
Unless you have context (and I didn’t before entering the theatre), this play will make little sense. By context, I am referring to the notes playwright Laura Collins has in the electronic program. I never read a program before watching a production. I do so afterwards and, even then, only after I have written down my thoughts. That…
The historical drama Chevalier pulls no punches. Director Stephen Williams sets out to push buttons – and push buttons he does. Set in France, it is the story of Joseph Bologne, who was born in 1745 on the island of Guadeloupe in the Caribbean. He was the son of 16-year-old Sengalese slave Nanon and a…
A superbly nuanced performance by Izabella Yena elevates an outstanding piece of writing from Benjamin Nichol, who directs kerosene with Yena. She plays Melbourne-based Millie, brought up by her grandfather, known as Gramps, who was raised in Coober Pedy. Yena weaves a tale of love, loss, loneliness and obsession. So convincing is she that I was immediately transported to…
Morality and money are at the heart of the acerbic Telethon Kid. Inspired by his own medical experiences, Melbourne-based writer Alistair Baldwin’s play has two interconnecting threads. One concerns overstepping the mark in a doctor/patient relationship and the other Big Pharma’s bluff and bluster. We’re at the annual global healthcare conference held by fictious pharmaceutical company Geneuris. Each year,…
Based on a true story, injustice and antisemitism are at the core of the powerful musical Parade. It is 1913 and we are in Atlanta, Georgia. That is where Leo Frank (Aaron Robuck) has moved from Brooklyn to be with his wife Lucille (Montana Sharp) after her uncle offered him a good job. Leo is a hard-working, conservative…
In the vein of the TV sitcom Seinfeld (1989-1998) and perhaps best summed up as “much ado about nothing”, Untitled Three-Hander deals with several inconsequential issues. Mind you, at the heart of this new work by Hayden Hayes is human connection and a desire to be wanted and needed. The title is a deliberate misnomer. Untitled Three-Hander…
A blood curdling scream at 2:22am sets the scene for a ghost story with a twist. Eleven months ago Jenny (Gemma Ward) gave birth to daughter, Phoebe. She and her astronomer husband Sam (Remy Hii) have also moved into a large, old home, which they bought from an Italian widow. They are in the throes of painting the…
Bloodlust features prominently in Sisu, an anarchic actioner, set towards the end of WWII. It is 1944. Finland has signed an armistice with the Soviet Union and the Germans are in full retreat. However, the Nazis have adopted a scorched-Earth policy, destroying everything in their wake. A legendary Finnish warrior – Aatami (Jorma Tommila) –…
Caroline Lee takes the stage as June, a woman of a certain age who hasn’t spoken to another person in more than a year. So, over that period – apart from accidentally speaking out aloud – she has lived in silence. Now June is taking us, the audience, into her confidence to break the drought and explain…
