The Rules of Backyard Croquet by Sunni Overend captivated me with its fresh and sassy take on a familiar theme – a woman shaking off past baggage to shine bright. And shine bright Apple March did, as she emerges from a self-imposed cocoon to find new friendships, love, and her zest for what she’s best…
Strong socially progressive views, music and poetry distinguish Neil Cole’s new play An Audience with Don Dunstan. It shines a light on the South Australia’s premier, who served in the role from 1967 to 1968 and again from 1970 to 1979. The flamboyant and eclectic Dunstan (21st September, 1926 – 6th February, 1999) was born…
“It’s a little bit harder as a woman to get a film financed in this country as a director,” says filmmaker Kim Farrant who has just made her feature film debut with the taut new Australian psychological drama Strangerland. In the film Farrant explores how people cope with crises. In this case, the Parker family…
Michael Moore (Bowling for Columbine) is back as he turns his attention to examining Donald Trump’s election win on November 9, 2016 (that’s 11/9 in American parlance). Moore travels across America to get a sense of the social, economic and political impact of the Trump presidency amidst the chaos of the new administration’s provocative tweets,…
Good People, by David Lindsay-Abaire was first performed in 2013 for the Manhattan Theatre Club, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, on Broadway, New York and was awarded the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play, The Horton Foote Prize, The Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award, and two Tony nominations. It follows…
Just how good are you at keeping secrets? If you hear something juicy, do you immediately rush off to tell your partner or best friend, or do you keep it to yourself? Let’s face it, secrets by their very nature are tantalising and, at times, it feels good to share them with someone. The five actors in…
Writer and director JT Mollner (Outlaws and Angels) crafts a tightly wound, stylish, horror-thriller with Strange Darling. Shot entirely on 35 mm, it’s one of the most compelling movies I’ve seen in a long time. It concerns a serial killer with a kink who operated in the US between 2018 and 2020. More specifically, it…
There have been a few great films about heroic firefighters, and the best of them is, arguably, Ron Howard’s Backdraft. Others include Irwin Allen’s star-studded disaster movie The Towering Inferno and the 1968 Hellfighters, which starred John Wayne as fictitious version of the legendary Red Adair. And while Only the Brave is a moving homage…
With overtures of Tomorrow When the War Began and the love triangle in The Hunger Games, yet another dystopian film franchise kicks off, this time starring Chloe Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass). Earth has been invaded by what are termed The Others; aliens whose mother ship hovers menacingly over the United States. At first that is all…
“I had the greatest time!” said one young patron after seeing Age of Stephen. Hear, hear. What an entertainer. What a sense of comic timing. What a romp – a jam-packed, fun-filled hour of entertainment with big audience appeal as Stephen Valeri’s soaring vocals channel John Farnham. A large easel sits on the stage before…
