Identity and family are the key ingredients in the incendiary world premiere comedic drama Flake, written by Dan Lee and co-created by Chi Nguyen. With fine direction from Ella Caldwell, the cast does a mighty job bringing to life the story of two 68-year-old Aussie mates and a young Vietnamese woman. Surly and sickly, Bob (Robert…
It’s not often that a dramatic play comes along that so generously pays out the trifecta to the audience. The New Theatre’s production of The Removalists does this in spades. With an outstanding script, flawless acting and incisive direction, the audience virtually has no choice but to return home fully satisfied! Written by David Williamson…
Approximately twelve men have walked on the surface of the moon, but only one man has walked a tightrope between the two towers of the World Trade Center in New York. In 1974 Frenchman Phillippe Petit spent some 45 minutes 100 floors above the street, without a safety harness, enthralling New Yorkers who had gathered…
The straightforward plot of Baltasar Kormakur’s Beast sees big game poachers wipe out a pride of lions, only for one to get away and go rogue. To elaborate, Dr Nate Samuels (Idris Elba) has taken his two daughters from New York to visit his old friend Martin Battles (Sharlto Copley) in South Africa. Tension is…
Sensory deprivation, in particular that of sight, results in acuity of sound in the four-part immersive experience that is Darkfield. The venue is four purpose-fitted white shipping containers at 138 Little Bourke Street – a vacant lot transformed – each with the name of the show on the outside. I speak of Séance and Flight, both of…
The atmosphere of the era is set the moment one enters The Chapel at Chapel Off Chapel, which has been transformed into a den of iniquity. The band is playing and the mood is raucous and raunchy, with gamblers, showgirls and puritans mixing freely with the audience. Particular attention is paid to those seated at the two…
The moral dilemma. Juicy. Delicious. Ideal for the stage. It is at the heart of Only Child, a new play from Leah Annetta. Divorced, uptight Veronika (Sarah Hallam) runs a wedding planning business. She lives with her mother Barbara (Michele Stayner) and her high achieving, 18-year-old daughter Anika (Alessandra Alessio). Anika, in her final year…
Even though Love the Coopers is a holiday comedy about one dysfunctional family, it immediately reminded me of the ensemble comedy romance Valentine’s Day, that was released in 2010. Christmas may come but once a year, but that is more than enough for the Cooper family. It is a question of bracing yourself for their…
This is a Wilde/wild night all right – oh so deliciously wacky, in fact. Bloomshed has taken the essence of Oscar Wilde’s original farce, first performed in 1895 and given it an even more ribald and rambunctious twist. Who plays whom at any given moment appears to be somewhat of a lucky dip. Suffice to…
Shahn Devendran is the Creative Director at LadBible and series producer of a new six-part documentary series Unheard that focuses on racial injustice throughout Australia. From Indigenous Australians to asylum seekers, and a diaspora of ethnic and marginalised communities, the series offers a raw and frank insight into the racial inequalities the nation has perpetuated…
