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American Song (Red Stitch) – theatre review

Fifty-eight people died and more than 520 were injured in the Las Vegas slaughter. Joanna Murray-Smith wrote her powerful and affecting one-man play American Song long before that tragedy unfolded. Unfortunately mass shootings in the land of the free have become all too common. American Song was commissioned in the US and first produced there last year…

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Daddy’s Home 2 – movie review

Not only do recent Christmas movies tend to be more narky and mean spirited, but they also seem to be hitting cinemas earlier. Even though it is only November we have three Christmas themed films in our multiplexes. There’s Bad Moms 2, the home invasion black comedy Better Watch Out, and now we get Daddy’s…

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Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Her Majesty’s Theatre) – musical theatre review

Superlatives hardly do justice to the magnificent staging of one of Disney’s all-time favourites, Beauty and the Beast, which has been revised and enhanced. The striking sets and glorious costuming set the scene for a joyful celebration of song and dance … and the Hollywood ending that everyone wants to see play out. Fast-moving advances in technology…

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Michael Shafar 110% (Melbourne International Comedy Festival) – stand-up comedy review

A lightning-fast wit, smart one liners and political incorrectness distinguish my pick at the 2021 Melbourne International Comedy Festival. The 50-minute set is crammed full of contemporary references and personal stories. No subject is off limits and Shafar makes that clear from close to the get go, when he starts talking about his second battle with…

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Away (Theatre Works) – theatre review

It is the summer of 1967 and the Vietnam War remains troubling. Young Australians are being drafted to serve. Back home, life continues. Tom (Rupert Bevan) and Meg (Cait Spiker) are in a high school production of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Tom takes a fancy to Meg and engages her in awkward conversation. When their respective parents…

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