Rural noir is a thing at the moment, which means some stellar entries in the category, and some not so good ones. Makes opening each new novel and settling in for the experience a bit of rollercoaster ride. So did 55 live up to the hype? Well yes, yes it did. It’s an intriguing premise…
Some of the most intoxicating circus acts I have had the good fortune to see are among the highlights of Santa’s Magical Kingdom, which has reappeared in Melbourne in the lead up to the festive season for an eighth time. The word “wow” doesn’t do them justice – they are that good. The experience is…
Oscar winning filmmaker Hal Ashby was something of an uncompromising maverick who preferred to work outside the studio system because he believed they valued commerce over art. “Studios are the enemy of the artist,” his friend and mentor Norman Jewison told him rather frankly. Ashby won an Oscar for his work on editing Jewison’s In…
The wellness industry gets a well-deserved dressing down in Marieke Hardy’s uproarious comedy with a dark underbelly, Losing Face. Jo (Michala Banas), Lauren (Christie Whelan Browne) and Simone (Madeleine Sami) have been besties since … forever. Only these days they don’t see much of each other because, well, life has gotten in the way. In…
Smile is a genuinely scary and engaging psychological horror movie. It centres around a hard-working therapist in an emergency psychiatric unit, named Dr Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon). As Dr Cotter is about to leave the facility after a particularly long shift, a young graduate student Laura Weaver (Caitlin Stasey) enters shaking and clearly traumatised. In…
Barbara and the Camp Dogs pulls no punches. This is independent theatre with attitude. The two key figures in this play with music are Indigenous first cousins, Barbara and Renee. They’ve been brought up as sisters. Barbara’s mother left her and her brother Joseph when Barbara was just seven years old. Their father later came…
Perhaps the most anticipated opening of Queensland Ballet’s 2024 season, Coco Chanel: the Life of a Fashion Icon was sold out before the curtain even went up. It is fantastic news for the arts in Brisbane, and well-deserved, as this production delivered everything a theatre-going fashionista could dream of. The ballet is a co-production between…
Worst Little Warehouse is a funny, risqué and frenzied ode to housemates. Based on a true story, the cabaret’s inspiration was what happened to real-life couple – writer/performers Lala Barlow and Robbie Smith – while living in a converted warehouse in North London. Struggling with exorbitant rents and the city’s ongoing housing crisis, the pair…
“Before Arthur the King, the Sword of Power chose a Queen.” If Cursed piqued your interest as you have a thing for the Arthurian legends, then hail young fellow or lass, well met, dive right in. Park your cynicism at the door and enjoy the lush scenery. Touched by darkness and shunned by her people,…
Start with the facts and lace it with fiction. That is what screenwriter Nathalie Leuthreau and director Guillaume Nicloux have done with French stage star Sarah Bernhardt (22nd October, 1844 – 26th March, 1923). She became a global sensation. Bernhardt was spirited, determined, heavily opinionated and charismatic. Lovers of both sexes and admirers were plentiful….
