I swear I close my eyes and I can hear the late, great John Denver. When I open them and see Darren Coggan performing in front of me, he bears a striking similarity to the world-renowned acoustic folk musician, born Henry John Deutschendorf Jr. (December 31st, 1943 – October 12th, 1997). For well over an hour,…
Having closely watched all 75 minutes of Pear-Shaped, I remain utterly confused about what I just saw. It is a semi-autobiographical work (it contains both real and imagined experiences), written by Miranda Middleton and Ziggy Resnick, starring the latter and Luisa Scrofani. It concerns an eating disorder overlaid with Alice in Wonderland. What the? From what I…
Rolling Thunder Vietnam is a deeply emotional, richly rewarding musical and narrative experience that takes you to the heart of the highly divisive Vietnam War. Featuring 20 of the most affecting songs of the era, Rolling Thunder Vietnam prizes open the hopes and fears of the young soldiers who went into battle. It also looks at the…
Brilliantly performed by Justine Clarke who, as the 27th Australian Prime Minister, displays determination, indignance and frustration, I would suggest one’s political predilection will have a fair say in how Joanna Murray-Smith’s words go down. As the writer, the latter has combined fact and fiction. She has taken incendiary language from shock jocks, political opponents and…
We’re among African Americans in a working-class suburb in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the 1950s. Although affable when it suits him, Troy Maxon (Bert Labonte) can be a hard man to stomach. A garbage collector, he has a “my way or the highway approach” and sometimes the choices he makes are decidedly ordinary. His upbringing was far from desirable….
The word ‘Rhinestone’ immediately makes me think of ‘Cowboy’. So, when I saw the title of the current play at Ensemble Theatre Rhinestone Rex and Miss Monica, I thought that David Williamson had delved into the great ‘Western’ genre. Well, he does a little bit. Set mostly in the living room of Monica in Sydney’s…
What a hoot! Featured performer Jay James-Moody, the artistic director of Squabbalogic Independent Music Theatre, has adapted (to the present day) and directs the musical play by Alan Jay Lerner to great effect. Dr Mark Bruckner (Blake Bowden) is a strictly evidence-based psychiatrist who has recently lost his wife. Returning to practice, he has a chance meeting…
Opera Australia’s Handa Opera Madama Butterfly sears with emotion. It is a splendid and spectacular offering, with surprises, against the backdrop of the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House. The story concerns a US navy lieutenant named Benjamin Franklin Pinkerton who takes advantage of a beguiling former Japanese geisha, Cio-Cio-San, in Nagasaki. While she – nicknamed…
Intelligent couple Stevie (Claudia Karvan) and Martin Gray (Nathan Page) have been happily married for 22 years. They have a 17-year-old gay son, Billy (Yazeed Daher) and all live a good life. Martin, who has just turned 50, has had, arguably, the finest week of his professional life. He has just been awarded the premiere prize for architecture,…
Based on a memoir by the late Timothy Conigrave, playwright Tommy Murphy has given us an up close and personal look at a 15-year gay relationship. It starts in the teen years and works its way through to the HIV/AIDS crisis of the ‘80s and ‘90s. Tim (Declan Clifford) has his eyes on the school football…
