This is the third feature length documentary from Oscar winning director Asif Kapadia, who previously gave us the superb, well-researched and insightful documentaries Amy (2015), about the late singer Amy Winehouse, and Senna (2010), about the late Formula 1 race driver Ayrton Senna, which were two of the finest documentaries of the past decade. For…
Marriage is hard work. How often have you heard that? Well, the subject is given a working-over in American playwright Michael Weller’s drama Fifty Words. Adam (Daniel Schepisi) is an architect who works a long way from home. Jan (Katharine Innes) is a former dancer turned businesswoman. They have a love/hate relationship. Their child (who…
“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that.”: Bill Shankly. The one-time Liverpool manager’s quip plays out on a far more profound level in The Keeper. And while football plays a significant role in Marcus H. Rosenmüller’s drama, it’s certainly not its sole…
Slingsby’s production of Oscar Wilde’s The Young King (adapted for the stage by Nicki Bloom) is a deceptively simple but lusciously layered show. That is once the acclaimed Adelaide theatre company’s show actually starts as before the audience makes it into the theatre space, things begin with an immersive entry process through the Cremorne Theatre…
The advance word on Western Stars, the nineteenth studio album from Bruce Springsteen was a major change of direction for the singer/songwriting rock star. He’s fresh a year or so back from his sold-out solo stand performing an autobiographical monologue with songs for “Springsteen on Broadway” show, that was filmed for Netflix before it shuttered….
Anger was my overwhelming emotion while watching this passionate, moving documentary about the barbaric Japanese practice of slaying defenceless whales in Antarctica. Four vessels of the marine wildlife conservation organisation Sea Shepherd set out on their ninth campaign to police the waters of the Antarctic. The location is the world’s only international whale sanctuary, where…
The Curators’ homage to great Norwegian playwright Henrick Ibsen’s controversial Ghosts is innovative from even the initial moments. Smoke haze meets the audience on entering the Vintage Pop-Up Theatre in Red Hill’s St Barnabas Hall. In opening, characters emerge to move forward towards us from behind a makeshift plastic scrim screen. A menacing soundtrack signals…
This Wide Night deals with the trials and tribulations of a couple of ex-cons – former cell mates – from English playwright Chloë Moss. Marie (Claire Sara) looks to have it all together. She’s finally extracted herself from an abusive relationship with a bloke who is still on the gear. She has a job at…
Too often, when we think of rock music, we think of angst-filled youths filled with passion, anger and yearning. What’s missing in that equation is that this organic music has always been as much fun to listen to and play as it was liberating and cathartic. Often what gets lost is something that The Black…
Slapstick humour and pantomime feature in MTC’s version of Shakespeare in Love. Adapted for the stage by Lee Hall, with music by Paddy Cunneen, this Australian premiere is based on the 1998 film of the same name. More specifically, it’s based Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard’s screenplay for that movie. In the MTC’s production, laughs…
