A fascinating, at times most humorous insight into a dystopian future, what is in play here is a power struggle. Ultimately, Control is about attempting to subvert a dehumanising system and allowing natural instincts to dictate the way forward. The play – a world premiere work written by Keziah Warner – is divided into three…
Melbourne International Arts Festival was first staged in 1986 under a different name – Spoleto Melbourne – and has carried several other names since. Covering dance, theatre, music, visual arts and multimedia, as well as free and outdoor events, it is held every October. The 2019 Festival runs from the 2nd to the 20th of…
Black is the New White, not to be confused with the television series Orange is the New Black, is about racism, class and identity. Humour is the principle vehicle used to highlight inequity, but perhaps not as you might have expected it. Charlotte Gibson (Miranda Tapsell) is a hot shot young aboriginal lawyer who has…
What does it mean to be Australian … to live in this country? What expectations do you have of others’ behaviour towards you … and what is the harsh reality? Who is exploiting who? Who is taking advantage and how significant is the social, class, gender, racial and cultural divide? These are some of the…
In 2009, Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for his remarkable performance as the Joker in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. Now, Joaquin Phoenix is destined for the 2020 Academy Awards in a similar guise, as the lead in Todd Phillips’ crime-thriller Joker. This is an unusual origin story set in the early 1980s. Joker…
Life can be cruel at any age, but especially when it comes to the elderly. How does one grow old with dignity? What happens when your mind starts going or when you can no longer take care of yourself?What about the burden that places on those nearest and dearest to you? The subject is ripe for evocative…
The Goldfinch spends a great deal of time working out how the puzzle fits together. Theodore “Theo” Decker was 13 years old when his mother was killed in a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Not surprisingly, it changed the course of his life. Moments before Theo’s attention was taken by a pretty, young…
Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark is a tween horror set in small town America in 1968. It points back to a girl from the late 19th century who’s out for revenge. It all starts on Halloween night when Stella Nicholls (Zoe Margaret Colletti) isn’t keen to go trick-or-treating. Talked into doing so by…
I got a lump in my throat when I watched Teresa Palmer – as Michelle Payne – cross the line to become the first female jockey to win the Melbourne Cup. That’s despite remembering a great deal about that fateful day on the first Tuesday in November 2015. I was concerned that knowledge might detract…
Set at the height of The Troubles in Belfast, The Beautiful Game is a powerful and affecting musical that reveals the impact of the turmoil on members of an Under 21 soccer team and their partners. We’re talking the years 1969 through to the early ‘70s when political and religious violence has engulfed the community….
