A distressing story about intimidation and forced relocation, Aboriginal playwright and performer Brodie Murray dug into his own family history to bring it to life. The Whisper is a reimagining of his grandmother’s journey on horse and cart in the 1940s. When she was just a little girl, under cover of darkness she travelled with her family…
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 31 March 2023. Having broken off work on a second violin concerto in 2012, the prolific Finnish composer Kalevi Aho only returned to the project after being contacted by the violinist Elina Vähälä. While aware of the weight of…
Family connections drive Tim Brown’s Australian-set drama Buckley’s Chance. Following the death of his beloved father, New York teen Ridley (Milan Burch) and his mother Gloria (Victoria Hill) travel across the world to spend time with the grandfather he has never known. Gloria hopes that the change of scenery and the new environment will help…
All work and no play makes Christopher Robin a dull boy. AA Milne’s world is brought to life in this combination of live action and animation. Christopher Robin (Ewan McGregor), the young boy who shared countless adventures with his stuffed animal friends in the Hundred Acre Wood, is now grown up. He lives in London…
Slow to ignite, The Witches is an uneven adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel of the same name. It’s 1967. Eight year-old Hero Boy (newcomer Jahzir Bruno) loses his parents in a car accident and goes to live with his Grandma (Octavia Spencer) in rural Alabama. Clearly hit hard by their passing, he says little and…
Seriously Red is a cautionary tale about obsession, fandom, and discovering who you are. This Australian jukebox musical draws from the songbook of iconic singer Dolly Parton, and in style and look is something of a throwback to the 90s. The film is the brainchild of star and writer Krew Boylan (from TV series A…
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 21 May 2021. Fly Pan Am have composed some of their most direct, visceral and immediately satisfying for the acclaimed contemporary dance piece FRONTERA. Juxtaposing stern foreboding electronics and minimalist motorik avant-rock, the Frontera studio album superbly captures the…
Our selection of the best new music across a range of genres from the week ending 23 August 2024. With his 2021 self-titled debut, Andy Pastalaniec’s Chime School became one of the defining acts of the seemingly never-ending, prolific and multifaceted Bay Area pop scene. His sophomore LP, The Boy Who Ran the Paisley Hotel,…
Australian playwright Finegan Kruckemeyer’s debut novel The End and Everything Before It is a swirling, interconnected tale about a place and the community that formed around that place. But it is much more than this. The deeper meanings and connections between characters only come clear slowly and are both enlightening and quietly devastating. The first…
Violet is a Musical based on a short story, “The Ugliest Pilgrim”, by Doris Betts. It first appeared Off-Broadway in 1997, but was produced on Broadway in 2014. The book and lyrics are by Brian Crawley. The music is by Jeanine Tesori. Some of Ms Tesori’s other work includes: Thoroughly Modern Millie (2000), Caroline, or…
