By their very nature, human relationships are often messy. The vast majority don’t hit the headlines, but public figures are considered “fair game”. So, it is that 44-year-old television anchor Anna Kay (Caroline Craig) starts trending and is “slut shamed” when she takes up with 27-year-old SAS soldier Lexie (Callan Colley). Their relationship began after she interviewed…
The spark burns brightly in Hairspray, a delightfully breezy musical with discrimination as its theme. It is colourful and dynamic, with toe-tapping tunes, smooth moves and a stellar cast, with talent to burn. The show positively sizzles, bringing frenzied acclamation from an appreciative audience. We’re in Baltimore in 1962. Teenager Tracy Turnblad (Carmel Rodrigues) is small of stature…
What’s the truism? Behind every great man there is a woman. There would be few arguments that the greatest writer of all time was William Shakespeare. But what if Shakespeare, who is credited with writing at least 37 plays (and collaborated on several more), didn’t actually do so? I mean, what if it wasn’t Shakespeare who wrote them,…
The Conference is a fictionalised account of what is unquestionably the most horrific conference in history. On 20 January 1942, high ranking Nazi officials met at a mansion southwest of Berlin to plot the Holocaust, referred to as the “Final Solution to the Jewish question”. It involved 90 minutes discussing how to rid Europe of…
A superb, creative staging of the Greek tragedy Medea, knowledge of the story before entering the theatre would be a distinct advantage. To say I was excited by what I saw is an understatement. I was ecstatic. Medea: Out of the Mouths of Babes is one of the most remarkable productions I have had the privilege…
A pianist from an ice cream parlour (Connor Dariol), a psychologist (Shamita Siva) and a physicist (El Kiley) get together. No, that’s not the beginning of a bad joke, not even when I tell you the three come from different time zones. The pianist was born 148 years ago … and is, not surprisingly, dead. The psychologist believes…
A romp, The Importance of Being Jewish showcases playwright Rob Selzer’s insight and wit. For the past 30 years, architect Ray (Joe Tigel) has been happily married to couples’ therapist Rosh (Natalie Shostak). They are social Jews (as distinct from religious), but are delighted their strong-willed lawyer daughter Tara (Romi Freedman) is about to marry a fellow…
Vincent Peltier’s (Jerome Commandeur) life is on the line in the often-hilarious French comedy Employee of the Month. When travelling through the Ecuadorian jungle, he’s captured by a hostile tribe. It is up to the chief of the tribe (Jean-Louis Loca) – who doesn’t trust white people – to decide his fate and it looks…
She’s rude, belligerent and overbearing, and proud of it. She’s crippled and ailing, drinks like a fish and has been a war photographer. She’s Ruth (Charlotte Rampling), a straight-talking English woman, and the central character in Matthew Saville’s film Juniper. It’s 1992. Ruth is visiting her son Robert (Martin Csokas) and grandson Sam (George Ferrier)…
The title Murder Party has both sinister and fun overtones. In reality, what you get with this movie is a highly orchestrated game, in which death is the central component. Fear of being knocked off drives the action. Jeanne Chardon-Spitzer (Alice Pol) is a highly stressed, 35-year-old architect. While successful, she frets about each potential…
