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Alex First

Alex First is the editor of The Blurb. Alex is a Melbourne based journalist and communications specialist. He also contributes to The Blurb on film and theatre.

Perfumes – movie review

Perfumes is a gently paced, delightfully nuanced French comedy about a woman with a nose for fragrances. Anne Walberg (Emmanuelle Devos) was employed by Dior, where she created some of the world’s most popular perfumes. But now she works for an assortment of contract clients, often trying to find ways to mask undesirable smells. She…

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Trash Talk

To state the bleedin’ obvious, COVID-19 has had a massive impact on the world … and comedian and songstress Tash York throws many well-chosen barbs regarding coronavirus into a powerhouse show. She’s sassy and saucy and altogether supreme as she and her two flaming red-haired drag artist sidekicks Matthew Hadgraft and Vivian Fonteyn – one on piano and the…

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Grant Busé: SentiMENTAL!

Nostalgia is very much alive and kicking … and Grant Busé has made a thoroughly entertaining, hour-long show about it. He sings, dances, plays instruments (guitar and piano) and chats up a storm. He is funny, clever, risqué and endearing. He pokes fun at the fact that the world seems to be all about remakes, reboots and remixes. He bemoans that “nostalgia just…

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The Broken Mill (Chapel off Chapel)

The bizarre meets the macabre and the maudlin in The Broken Mill. Through original song, storytelling and mime, six performers and four band members tell the tale of the manipulative and murderous Mama (Sarah Wall). She has taken in the destitute and disenfranchised and pulled together a cabaret involving misfits and mould breakers. Some are convinced she…

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The Truth (MTC)

A six-month affair with a best mate’s wife is the starting point for a French comedy about deceit, which has been translated into English. The central focus is businessman Michel (Stephen Curry). His bestie Paul (Bert LaBonté), with whom he plays tennis, was unceremoniously dumped from his job three weeks ago. Michel has been with his wife…

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Cactus (La Mama)

A time of change, discovery and shock. That is what confronts Abbie (Ayesha Harris-Westman), a high school student who meets her bff in the most unlikely place. Abbie is in the bathroom at school when she has her first period and doesn’t have the necessary female hygiene product with her to deal with the situation in which she finds…

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