A murder mystery with a difference, Transwoman Kills Influencer pits four colourful and flawed characters against each other. This hardly has the niceties of the world’s longest running staged whodunnit, Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap. Rather, it is audacious in its extreme characterisations. Gender politics and prejudice play a part in proceedings. Transwoman Kills Influencer combines live action with pre-recorded…
Magic done well remains as perplexing, as mind bending as it ever has … and so it is here. The Illusionists 1903 transports us back to a time when these entertainers were the rock stars of their day. As the program notes attest, the art of magic enjoyed a Golden Age that spanned roughly 60…
Almost wordless, Robot Dreams is an unexpected delight. This quite charming animated film that captures the spirit of those silent films of yesteryear. It becomes a touching ode to friendship, connection, the pain of loss, and the need to move on in life. It’s not surprising that the film was nominated for an Oscar. The…
It’s been a long time since I have read George Johnston’s 1964 Miles Franklin Award-winning My Brother Jack. However, through the lens of undergraduate literary-study nostalgia, I still recognise the seminal Australian novel’s place as part of our country’s canon, despite its challenge to our comfortable assumptions of national character. Still, like many I imagine,…
Angie Kim’s second novel Happiness Falls is a mystery novel revolving around a missing father but it tries to be much more than that. But by doing a kind of bait and switch and also going down a few too many expository rabbit holes, Kim sometimes loses the thread of the actual mystery. Mia Parkson…
If you haven’t heard of Kill Climate Deniers you probably should have. The hyperbolically titled play’s controversial take on the contentious climate change debate in Australia saw it hit the headlines in 2014 when its playwright David Finnigan received $19 000 from Arts ACT to write a play exploring climate change and Australian politics. The…
Talk about playing mind games with words. Seventeen years after MTC staged this Tony Award winning musical comedy, Saltpillar Theatre has brought it back to tickle our funny bones again. It is, indeed, hilarious, more than a touch silly and really fun, but not without pathos. All the young contestants in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling…
A loving but dysfunctional family is put through the wringer in Andrew Bovell’s Things I Know To Be True. Bob Price (Ben Grant) has worked from the age of 16. Now 63, he spent 30 years at a car manufacturing plant before he accepted a redundancy package four years ago. A keen gardener, he is generally empathetic…
Given the way they’re heralded around the world as an exciting and innovative physical theatre company, Circa is surely one of Queensland’s great cultural exports. And it’s always wonderful to have them perform to a home-town crowd. They will now be part of a multi-year partnership with QPAC, which begins with their show Humans, an…
Going to a movie is an important choice. So as many people do with important choices, let’s get into a pros-and-cons analysis of Michael Bay’s new movie, Ambulance. Pro: It looks great! Kudos to DOP Roberto De Angelis. Con: The plot is so simple, it could have been written in crayon. Pro: Jake Gyllenhaal. I…
