The Australian Ballet’s glorious production of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is a fitting tribute to the splendid State Theatre before it undergoes a three-year refurbishment. It is a colourful, highly creative, whimsical work – a sensory sensation. The winner of the 2018 Helpmann Award for Best Ballet, Christopher Wheeldon choreographs the translation of Lewis Carroll’s beloved book. The…
If you think Thelma & Louise and step it up several notches, you may get to Love Lies Bleeding. This is a seriously wild and dangerous ride. It’s 1989 and Lou (Kristen Stewart) is a surly gym manager in New Mexico who’s trying to quit smoking. Into her facility walks bi body builder Jackie (Katy…
PIP Theatre’s first offering for 2024 is the hilarious Banging Denmark, written by Van Badham and directed by Heidi Gledhill. Badham wrote the play as a way to cope with the horrendous online trolling she faced as a journalist for The Guardian. Banging Denmark was shortlisted for the 2020 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Nick Enright…
A bravura showing from Andre De Vanny distinguishes the incendiary play Swansong by Conor McDermottroe. Set in the 1960s and ‘70s, it focuses on the thoughts and actions of a man whose head isn’t quite right. He attributes that to an incident during his childhood, the result of bullying. Austin ‘Occi’ Byrne (Andre De Vanny) is the…
Chaos and trauma are at play in Every Lovely Terrible Thing. A highly dysfunctional family implodes and picks apart its innards. They are the Colemans who live a rundown weatherboard house on the outskirts of a country town. Cooper, the unemployed, gay, clothing designer grandson in his early 20s, likes dressing in women’s attire and flouncing about. He…
Has there ever been a creative intellect greater than Leonardo da Vinci? I dare say that question could spark animated discussion. Where would Albert Einstein fare in that debate? Or Isaac Newton? Regardless, I put it to you that it is impossible not to be awestruck by just what da Vinci tackled and achieved in 67 years (15th…
Grandaddy’s new studio album Blu Wav marks Jason Lytle’s return after a 7-year hiatus. Released via Dangerbird Records, it embraces themes ranging from the beauty of nature to the poignant moments that shape lasting memories. Inspired by a fusion of bluegrass and new wave, the album delivers a new and unexpected sound from Grandaddy, featuring…
Elizabeth Gonzalez James has crafted a fascinating historical tale out of stories from her own ancestry. The Bullet Swallower follows different generations of the Sonoro family linked across time from outlaw Antonio in the late nineteenth century to movie star Jaime in the mid-1960s. And in doing so asks the question as to whether family…
Consent is at the core of the coming-of-age drama How to Have Sex. Frankly, this is a film that needs to be seen by teenagers and their parents and grandparents. Everything seems to be going as it does when youngsters let their hair down, until a line is crossed. After that, there’s no coming back….
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 8 March 2024. Cuckoo Storm – the new album from Marry Waterson & Adrian Crowley – might never have been, were it not for a social media post Crowley wrote on a wintery late-night walk in a quiet neighbourhood…
