What a delightful turn of phrase Oscar Wilde had. His wit and playfulness are there for all to see in the verbiage-dense An Ideal Husband. In case you’re not familiar, the play deals with blackmail and corruption in high society. And doesn’t this sterling 11-string cast do it justice! They have loads of fun with…
You might have seen Lars Von Trier’s film Melancholia. This world premiere stage production is based on it. But if you enter the theatre knowing nothing about it, I dare say you’re likely to find much perplexing. Suffice to say that like the film, events unfold in two distinct chapters. Underpinning both is depression that…
Good Muslim Boy is a tale of procrastination, bureaucratic somnambulance and frustration, but it’s brilliantly told at a breakneck pace. It’s fast, funny and powerful and had me fretting for the hero and so much relating to his predicament of being stuck in a foreign place where no one really cared about your predicament. It…
Denzel Washington has certainly starred in his fair share of remakes; with Man on Fire, The Manchurian Candidate, The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 and The Magnificent Seven to name a few. But in his storied career he’s never appeared in a sequel – until now. The Equalizer 2 is, of course, a follow-up to his…
If you’ve ever wondered about the value of a feature film editor, then you need to discover the work of Jill Bilcock. Alex Grigor’s documentary, Jill Bilcock: Dancing the Invisible, is a good place to start. Bilcock is one of the world’s most sought-after film editors. While millions of people have been moved by her…
A troubling mind-puzzle in English, French (often without translation) and a touch of German, Polygraph takes concentration to follow. I did finally make sense of it, I’m pleased to say, near the end. For much of the play the disparate elements appear like a jigsaw, where try as you do, you simply cannot connect the…
Both a prequel and a sequel to Mamma Mia! from 2008 , Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is a lightweight, fun-filled romp. In 1979, high-spirited Donna, Tanya and Rosie – aka Donna and the Dynamos – graduate from Oxford University. Donna joyfully embarks on her adventures through Europe to fulfil her destiny on the…
Britain’s Supergrass ran their course in the 90’s and 00’s. They were popular throughout the UK and Europe, but never quite got the attention they deserved elsewhere. Part of another wave of Brit-pop around the same time as Blur and Oasis, Supergrass, led by singer/guitarist/songwriter Gaz Coombes, they combined the energy of post-punk alternative, but…
I’m a sucker for a good spy drama – and Killing Eve is an exceptional spy drama. This BBC production (available here on the ABC) is a taut psychological thriller as you might expect. But its insight and its determination not to treat the viewer as an idiot are remarkable. If any TV series is…
A group of writers sit around a boardroom table trying to come up with a compelling story in Annie Baker’s latest play, The Antipodes, now showing at Red Stitch in Melbourne. Under the watchful eyes of their older mentor in Sandy (Jim Daly) the group of seven – though only one woman, Eleanor (Ngaire Dawn Fair)…
