Sunday Reed is a firecracker. She is a woman unlike any other. She is instinctive … a free spirit. Although she has some mental health issues, Sunday doesn’t hold back. She says what she thinks and feels. Married to John, he surprises her when – on a whim – he purchases a farm in Heidelberg (in Melbourne’s northeast) in the…
Dominique Wilson’s first novel The Yellow Papers was an outstanding read, and the same can be said of That Devil’s Madness. Her writing is finely crafted, her prose poetic and subtle, and a joy to read. That Devil’s Madness takes readers from Australia to Algeria, following the dual and interconnected stories of Nicolette, an Australian photojournalist in the 1970s, and…
Going Down gives cultural identity a good old-fashioned pounding. A stellar lead performance provides the highlight of this 90-minute play (no interval). Hmong-Australian playwright Michele Lee (winner of the 2018 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Rice) provides the source material. Going Down is one for the “me” generation; the hedonists who would rebel against their past. The…
Think outrageous, absurd and hilarious and you have the starting point for Le Freak. It is show that sets out to shock and delight, and that it most certainly does. The talent incorporates trans, queer, disabled and indigenous performers. They execute a series of outlandish sketches, interspersed with video content. The show also features a beloved puppet ferret who…
One of the most extraordinary, engaging and intriguing documentaries I have seen, I couldn’t seem to get enough of this erudite American politician who appears to be a slave to his sexual fantasies. Not surprisingly, Weiner claimed the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Anthony Weiner (born in Brooklyn, New York on…
It is bold, esoteric and highly creative. Set in isolated territory, it is Wild West storytelling at its finest. It is tale within a tale of a feeling that overtakes one that can’t be readily explained, but needs to be acted upon. Let me try to give you some context. A trucker in the middle…
La Boite holds a unique place in the hearts and minds of artists and audiences in Brisbane. For the past nine decades La Boite has represented the adventurous and alternative. There has always been a strong focus on the development of new work and artists, and next year is no different. Todd MacDonald, CEO &…
William Boyd is one of the many authors to write a James Bond novel (Solo) and he did so very much in the classic mode. So it might be no surprise that he has set his new venture into the world of espionage, Gabriel’s Moon, in the 1960s. Much of the enjoyment here comes from…
Maria Altmann (Helen Mirren) is an elderly former refugee who, with the help of her tyro lawyer, takes on the intractable might of the Austrian Government in a protracted legal battle to regain possession of a valuable painting and family heirloom that was confiscated by the Nazis during WWII. The painting in question is Gustav…
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…
