Imagine a sensitive drag queen – a gay man – falling for a bisexual man who has trouble with commitment and you have the starting point for Torch Song. It is a shortened, two act reimagining of the four hour plus, three act play, Torch Song Trilogy, which won the Tony Award for Best Play in…
Paranormal Activity, created on a shoestring budget of $15,000, made a massive splash when it first landed in the late noughties. For writer-director Oren Peli, home was where the horror was … literally. As in, his suburban San Diego home, which is where the film was shot in a seven-day sprint in 2006 with a…
This colourful but corny reboot of the iconic Charlie’s Angels TV series has been kicked up a gear for a contemporary audience. It retains the basics of the original, but has a whole lot more attitude. Charlie’s Angels was a huge hit when it first aired on TV in 1976. It lasted five seasons and…
Emily is a fictitionalised story about lauded 19th century writer and poet Emily Brontë (Wuthering Heights). Australian actor-turned-writer/director Frances O’Connor has woven a compelling tale. As a youngster, Emily (Emma Mackey) enjoyed making up stories. Considered odd and deviating from the norm, her mind worked differently to others. While comfortable in the company of family,…
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…
It’s been fifty years since the horror classic The Exorcist hit screens and scared the bejesus out of audiences. Since then there have been many other films that have delved into the demonic possession genre. The Pope’s Exorcist is the latest in a long line of such films and it ticks off all the usual…
Joanna Murray-Smith’s remarkable insight, attention to detail and writing prowess are front and centre in a captivating production of Berlin at The MC Showroom. Australian Tom (Lachlan Hamill) has just landed in the German capital, keen to get to know the real city, not the tourist offering. He’s directed to a small watering hole, where he meets…
Buzz has been building around Wolf Alice for a few years now. With several singles and two EP’s already under their belt, the London band has put in a lot of legwork prior to the release of their debut full-length. My Love is Cool is an album full of soaring moments from a band with…
One of the truisms of gambling says the house always wins. However, with The House – a supposed comedy about an ordinary family that set up an illegal underground casino in the leafy streets of suburbia – it’s the audience who are the losers. Let’s face it – when was the last time Will Ferrell made…
Tennessee Williams’ one-act piece Suddenly Last Summer is intense and evocative. Vindictiveness is in play for an elderly mother who has lost her son. The year is 1936, and the place the garden district of New Orleans. The woman is Violet Venable (Jennifer Vuletic), who adored her son, Sebastian, a poet. Until the previous summer,…
