For someone who unashamedly struggles with Shakespeare (I never studied the Bard at school and find his language challenging), I was invested in Othello. I should add that my practice is never to read anything about a play before I see it. The reason – it must speak to me on its own merits. So,…
Charles Dickens’ Ebenezer Scrooge has never seen the likes of it. Take the classic tale A Christmas Carol and put a Jewish twist on it. That is what writer Elise Esther Hearst has done with Phillip Kavanagh … and they have absolutely nailed this world premiere. Oy Humbug! Channel Seth Cohen (Adam Brody) on the US TV series…
Speed-the-Plow, by David Mamet was written in 1988 and starred Madonna in its first outing. It concerns two lowly-runged ‘goers’ in the Hollywood hierarchy trying to get further up the ladder with the power to ‘green light’ the production of films. Charlie Fox (Lachy Hulme) brings to his ambitious friend/ally, the corporation favoured Bobby Gould…
A pushy tennis dad or a man on a mission? Or both? You can be the judge with Reinaldo Marcus Green’s biopic King Richard. The film follows Richard Williams’ (Will Smith) journey to bring child tennis prodigies Venus (Saniyya Sidney) and Serena Williams (Demi Singleton) to the world stage. The focus of the film is Richard’s…
A wonderful theatrical experience awaits in a little-known theatre by a little-known theatre troupe, with the Broadway hit Parade being given a stellar run by Bump In Productions. Tucked away in the Brisbane suburb of Seven Hills is the Ron Hurley Theatre, with a modest capacity of about 160 seats. There, magic is happening. What…
Andrew Bird has been busily carving out a unique place for himself among the indie/folk & rock movement as an artist in his own right ever since departing from work as an instrumentalist in the Squirrel Nut Zippers, for three albums in the late 90’s. Best known as a violinist, as a solo artist Bird…
A look at a way of life that’s all but gone, Honeyland focuses on a pragmatic and resilient woman who faces an unexpected challenge. Nestled in an isolated mountain region deep within the Balkans, Hatidze Muratova – a woman who has never married and is in her mid 50s – lives with her ailing 85-year-old…
The latest film from Mia Hansen-Love (the semi-autobiographical Goodbye, First Love) is a character study that looks at the early development of garage and house dance music in Paris in the 90s, and will probably appeal more to people who love that kind of thing. I found it something of a bore. Paul (played by…
How can you stand up to a bully? That’s the question at the centre of the crime drama Dogman. Timid dog groomer Marcello is separated from the mother of his young daughter, whom he adores … and vice versa. He lives in a barren, downtrodden Italian neighbourhood and gets on well with everyone. To make…
Joanne (Jessica Meyer), Gillian (Babette Bellini), Lulu (Hayley Fielding), Beezus (Elizabeth Horrowitz) and Penny (Lauren Evans) are the equally loved and feared glamourous Real Housewives of Brisbane. One by one they introduce themselves at the start of the Brisbane Arts Theatre musical of the same name, in parody of the US media franchise of shows…
