If you’re looking for a book that entertains and is thought-provoking at the same time, The One-in-a-Million Boy by Monica Wood has that wrapped up in a bright red package. Here’s the blurb: Miss Ona Vitkus has – aside from three months in the summer of 1914 – lived unobtrusively, her secrets fiercely protected. The boy,…
If you’re a crime fiction fan, especially of the hard-edged variety, and you haven’t read anything by Tony Cavanaugh yet, let me suggest you rectify that quick-smart. I was introduced to Cavanaugh’s writing with The Train Rider last year, and while I found it “a disturbing read” with “violent, sickening crime”, it was still a cracker. His latest…
Although billed in some quarters as “Hamilton: The Movie”, the Hamilton now streaming on Disney + is more of a filmed version of the stage production. Director Thomas Kail (Fosse/Verdon) captures a 2016 performance of the groundbreaking musical at the Richard Rodgers Theater in New York. The performance features the original Broadway cast, including Lin…
A divertimento is a light piece of music, written just to amuse. But it’s a slightly incongruous title for Marie-Castille Mention-Schaar’s portrait of the conductor and composer Zahia Ziouani, because the film tackles some pretty heavy themes. To use a current term, this is an “origin story”; telling how a teenage Ziouani went from the…
In an age of political correctness, this is one film that well and truly breaks the mould … and then some. Hotel Coolgardie is a warts-and-all look at Australia’s ugly drinking culture and its impact. Walk into any bar across outback Australia and there’s a good chance your beer will be poured by a young female…
Australian author Hugh Mackay is very clear about his intentions in his latest book The Question of Love. The book’s subtitle is “Variations on a Theme” and even before the book opens, Mackay lets the reader know that the musical form of “variations on a theme” is his favourite and that this novel is his…
A whip smart script, pacey dialogue and a couple of stellar performances distinguish this pulsating drama. Molly’s Game is based on the true story of Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain), an Olympic-level skier who was forced to abandon her sport after a devastating injury. With law school on hold, Molly takes a job that introduces her…
Devastating bushfires and a baby koala and miner in peril. These are just two of the interwoven threads that run through the excellent, interactive solo work KOAL, in which sound, music and lighting play a critically important role. The piece was conceived by performer Jacinta Yelland. In 2019, she was sitting in her living room in the United…
Fremantle singer-songwriter Stella Donnelly is definitely the current darling of the indie singer-songwriter scene in Australia. After a successful tilt at this year’s BIGSOUND conference, winning the inaugural Levis Music Prize, Donnelly has just announced plans to head out on a bunch of tour dates around the country. Stella Donnelly has already been announced on…
