Take 21 of Tom Lehrer’s most irreverent songs and put them into a one-hour revue and you have the makings of a delightful evening with Tomfoolery at Gasworks in Albert Park, part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival. An American singer-songwriter and satirist, Lehrer’s turn of phrase is spectacular; his satire twisted. Cameron Mackintosh and Robin…
Every Secret Thing is a meagre attempt to create a thriller full of suspense. The inspiration came from a book written by Laura Lippman. Usually a story about missing children makes you feel uncomfortable and tells about the most terrible thing that can happen to you as a parent. However, I would recommend to watch…
The shake&stir team has created magic yet again. I have been reviewing the company for the past ten years and amazingly each of their show seemed better than the previous one. A Christmas Carol was no exception. And what exactly is the magic they make? For me it’s the creation of a perfect atmosphere for…
A delightful, poignant, funny, uplifting play with music, The Heartbreak Choir charms its way into our hearts. It features a bunch of quintessential country town Aussies and a Zimbabwean-born immigrant. Barbara (Maude Davey) is the leader of the local choir, which has just had an acrimonious spilt, the reason for which is only revealed as the play…
Shahn Devendran is the Creative Director at LadBible and series producer of a new six-part documentary series Unheard that focuses on racial injustice throughout Australia. From Indigenous Australians to asylum seekers, and a diaspora of ethnic and marginalised communities, the series offers a raw and frank insight into the racial inequalities the nation has perpetuated…
Push The Book of Mormon over a cliff and mix in an unhealthy dose of Avenue Q and you go some way to describing the irreverence that is Hand to God. A puppet practice workshop in a church gets shanghaied by the devil and it’s only a matter of time before proceedings spiral totally out…
In a plentiful year for Australian film, Ladies in Black is the latest local story to grace our screens. Directed by iconic storyteller Bruce Beresford, Ladies in Black has the makings of the next Australian classic. Adapted from a book by Madeline St John (and subsequent successful musical, with music by Tim Finn), the story…
First we had Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (released in 2012) and now this piffle. Written and directed by Burr Steers (Igby Goes Down), based upon the best- selling novel by Seth Grahame-Smith, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a fresh twist on Jane Austen’s classic novel Pride and Prejudice. A mysterious plague has badly affected…
Comedy movies are hard work. Time travel movies are even harder. So combining the two is a big ask. But Australian actor turned director Josh Lawson does a good job with the time-travelling rom-com Long Story Short. This agreeable film zips along – literally – to a crowd pleasing conclusion. The film’s clever title tells…
