Catholic guilt and US conservative politics are given a whack in the Australian premiere of Will Arbery’s Heroes of the Fourth Turning. The play was a finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It is late at night in Wyoming. Seven years after they graduated from a small Catholic college former students have gathered at…
Dramatic, emotional, evocative. Electrifying. Triumphant. That is Hamilton, as good a musical as has appeared on stage. That’s right. Nothing yet seen can or has bettered it. The story is woven into the music, often delivered at breakneck speed and we are taken on a journey of discovery. Hip hop predominates, but everything from R&B to pop, soul and…
Slapstick humour characterises a little staged and decidedly different style of saints and sinners musical. Victorian Opera’s Happy End is set in America in 1919. The storyline sees the Salvation Army come face to face with gangsters. The hoodlums gather in Bill’s Beerhall, named after the man who strikes fear into others’ hearts. Bill Cracker (Adam Murphy) arrives…
A film to put you off eating meat forever, Fresh on Disney+ is a twisted tale of depravity with some humorous moments. Noa (Daisy Edgar-Jones) is an attractive, bright everyday young woman who can’t seem to find a decent guy. Her online dating is nothing short of disastrous and her latest dinner companion has been…
Once you learn that Robbie Fairchild was a principal dancer at the New York City Ballet you can understand why he glides so effortlessly across the stage in a stellar display as the centrepiece of An American in Paris. He’s a wonderful talent and he pairs that magnificently with acting and singing. Mind you, his leading lady,…
Next to Normal is one of the finest and most profound musicals to hit the stage. It is not for naught that it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was nominated for 11 Tony Awards, collecting – among others – the gong for Best Original Score. Diana Goodman (Queenie van de Zandt) is a wife…
In Dog, a traumatised veteran, Riley Rodriguez (Eric Urbiztondo), has died. His parents want the specially-trained dog that worked alongside him to take pride of place at his funeral. That means a 2,400 kilometre road trip with the canine – a Belgian Malinois named Lulu. But through eight tours and seven years on the front…
Pushing the boundaries and then some is a bizarre piece of theatre conceived and performed by Carly Sheppard in the guise of a character known as Chase. It is a persona she has worked with for a decade. The 70-minute production has anything but a straightforward narrative arc. Chase is a larger-than-life character who wants to make…
An original English and Yiddish adaptation of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s short story Yentl, the Yeshiva Boy, Kadimah’s full length play is a lively representation of the spiritual and moral dilemma at the heart of the tale. Co-developed, co-written and directed by Gary Abrahams, it is based upon the religious tenet that women cannot study the Torah…
Growing and maturing get a twist in the animated feature Turning Red. Meilin (the voice of Rosalie Chiang) is a very bright and dutiful 13-year-old. She diligently follows her overprotective – and, at times, overbearing – mother’s lead and always does the right thing by her. But one night the totally unexpected happens. Meilin turns…
