Intergenerational trauma characterises the incendiary play Anatomy of a Suicide, which sees three family stories set in different timeframes play out in unison. Carol (Ashleigh Coleman) has had suicidal ideation since her school days. Now married to train driver, John (Stephen Whiley), who cares deeply, she has just made another attempt on her life by…
Kate Bush – what did I know about the English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer before I attended An Evening Without Kate Bush? Very little, apart from appreciating her high-pitched tone, having listened repeatedly to her hits, such as Wuthering Heights, Babooshka and Running Up That Hill. And, of course, I had noted her…
Live theatre can throw up curve balls, but this – the 61st iteration of Truth to Power Café globally and its Melbourne premiere – significantly deviated from the script. Some might say it became a train wreck, as a number of the community participants called out the show’s creator for his alleged insensitivity. As a…
Ah, don’t we just love the Irish … and with good reason. You don’t have to look too far to appreciate their sense of humour. That is reinforced when erudite, evocative and entertaining yarn spinner Panti Bliss takes to the stage in a blonde wig and glittering dress and heels. The 56-year-old drag queen and…
A couple of fraught relationships and bygone days are at the heart of Stephen Sondheim’s pointed Tony Award-winning musical, Follies. Each year, between the world wars, Dimitri Weismann (Grant Piro) used to stage Follies, which featured beautiful chorus girls, in a Broadway theatre. It is now 1971. The theatre is in disrepair and facing demolition…
Life hasn’t turned out the way 42-year-old Liverpool housewife Shirley Valentine had envisaged. Married with two adult children – a boy and a girl – routine and boredom see her literally speaking to the wall for company and imbibing in more than the odd tipple. Her husband Joe (who we never get to meet) takes…
Writer and performer Frankie van kan came from a liberal family and, for the most part, was comfortable in her own skin. Now she pulls back the curtain to reveal her life as a stripper and sex worker … and she doesn’t hold back. In fact, Frankie is bold and bodacious, and we – the…
When I first saw 37 almost a year ago, I was suitably impressed by the authenticity, grit, vitriol and humour involved in the production. In fact, it was another MTC triumph. With only one cast change, the second helping is just as satisfying. It gets to the essence of why football is much more than…
Magicians, comedians and crowd pleasers extraordinaire with the Midas touch … and they have been doing it for 50 years. Oh my! In a nutshell, the statuesque and demonstrative Penn Jillet with the sharp patter and the diminutive, usually silent Teller are magnificent entertainers. From humble beginnings in the 1970s to becoming the longest-running resident…
In a comic tour de force, Samuel Barnett has the audience in the palms of his hands. We hang on his every word, as he changes tack, time and again. It is a triumphant monologue, written by Marcelo Dos Santos and directed by Matthew Xia. The said performer, who assumes multiple character voices with aplomb,…
