The life and troubled times of pop diva Britney Spears make for compelling and scintillating entertainment in the hands of one of Australia’s finest musical theatre performers, whose comic timing is impeccable. Christie Whelan-Browne (The Drowsy Chaperone) is dynamite. Britney Spears: The Cabaret, by award-winning writer/director Dean Bryant (Sweet Charity), is a satirical look at…
Japanese novelist Kotaro Isaka hit on a great formula with his last book, Bullet Train. That was a fast paced, violent and weird battle between a group of idiosyncratic assassins on a train. Bullet Train was influenced by more than a little manga, plenty of early Tarantino and a whole lot of swagger. And while…
Paddington (the voice of Ben Whishaw) gets back to his roots in a rollicking adventure with the Brown family in Paddington in Peru. The intelligent bear remains living comfortably with the clan, although there is now little connection between the parents and their two children. Judy (Madeleine Harris) is applying for university entrance and mum…
The sense of touch is put under the microscope in the Victorian premiere of Suzie Miller’s searing drama Caress/Ache. Five actors play out a series of scenarios, all but one filling multiple roles. Mark (Sorab Kaikobad) is a skilled surgeon operating on an infant girl when things go horribly wrong. There is no way for him…
Unsolicited Male Savvy, funny and shocking, Unsolicited Male gains momentum as the stakes are ratcheted up. Wendy (Kym Valentine) is a hard worker who regularly puts in 12-hour days. She was in a long-term relationship but it ended abruptly. Now she’s single and her closest thing to a companion is a goldfish. Wendy’s boss Zeke…
Every now and then we meet a literary villain who is both villain and victim. Meet Bella, a young woman who does not take kindly to being sidelined or left behind. You might recognize her. Someone who once worked in your office. Someone who once dated one of your friends. Someone you’d like never to…
In the vein of the TV sitcom Seinfeld (1989-1998) and perhaps best summed up as “much ado about nothing”, Untitled Three-Hander deals with several inconsequential issues. Mind you, at the heart of this new work by Hayden Hayes is human connection and a desire to be wanted and needed. The title is a deliberate misnomer. Untitled Three-Hander…
Recently a lot of books have passed my way that have, as their central theme, white Australians’ mistreatment of Aboriginal Australians. This is, in my humble opinion, not a bad thing. In the case of Bordertown, however, it’s not a book that is written from an Aboriginal perspective, rather it’s the viewpoint of a white…
Sydney’s favourite four part harmony folk powerhouse All Our Exes Live In Texas have announced plans for a massive national tour this October after an appearance at the Lorne Festival in Victoria. All Our Exes Live In Texas have been putting the finishing touches on their upcoming debut album When We Fall so are promising…
Queensland Ballet’s 2024 season has kicked off with Shakespeare’s whimsical masterpiece A Midsummer Night’s Dream, an enchanting tale of love, magic, mischief and mayhem. A co-production with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream was first performed in 2015 in Wellington and has since toured China and Australia. The late Liam Scarlett’s choreography…
