Helen Garner’s semi-autobiographical 2008 novel about the hell of offering a spare room to a good friend with stage four cancer resonated strongly. It collected a series of gongs, including Victorian and Queensland Premiers’ Literary Awards and the Barbara Jefferis Award. And now, following five years of work, composer Dr Jane Hammond and librettist Theresa…
It was a stunning night of song and ceremony that will long remain with me for its richness and redolence. I speak of First Peoples’ stories woven into Country. Gugu Dindi Gunyah. Many Rivers. One Home. marked the opening of the newly refurbished Ian Potter State Theatre at Arts Centre Melbourne. That includes fresh, acoustically…
Integrated dance, light and sound at their mesmerising finest. That, in a nutshell, is Triptych. While the definition of the title refers to a work of art divided into three sections, there are – in fact – four works on show. They are described as an epilogue, acts 1 and 2 and a prologue. The…
What an electrifying showcase of talent up close and personal. That is what is in store when you set foot inside Fairfax Studio at Arts Centre Melbourne to witness Zerial. It is a slick, enticing and highly entertaining program of fluid movement, breathtaking aerial acrobatics, dance par excellence and ear pleasing music and song. Eight…
While growing up, I was captivated by subversive stories in a classic cartoon segment known as Fractured Fairy Tales. That aired as part of the TV series The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends. It turned familiar yarns about the likes of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Rapunzel and many others on their head. All these…
It starts with a spoken quote from a voice that sounds like German filmmaker Werner Herzog about how stupid chickens are and how easy they are to hypnotise. Thereafter follows an actor walking down the middle stairs at Fairfax Studio with a serious expression on his face carrying a rubber chicken. When he reaches the…
They are largely Indigenous children whose future is looking decidedly shaky. From a young age they are in trouble with the law for a variety of offences. Breaking into homes and stealing money and valuables, they play the system. Often, they are immediately bailed, only to rinse and repeat. Then, in many cases, incarceration follows….
A delicious, nightmarish hoot, Mackenzie asks what price child fame? This is a dark, camp and satirical reimagining of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, featuring four original songs – bangers all – from creator Yve Blake. She says the idea for the show came to her like a fever dream. It is about the dark side of child…
Set in Russia, and focusing on the bourgeoisie, Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya is one of the great plays about the human condition. The tragicomedy, first published in 1897, continues to resonate. Now it has received a delightful makeover to bring the language into the present day by one of Australia’s finest playwrights, Joanna Murray-Smith. The…
Breaking up is hard to do. So it goes, as Karin McCracken and Simon Leary put on a most entertaining sketch comedy show, peppered with science and some musical numbers. In so doing, they unpack the angst associated with broken relationships. In character, she struggles big time to put the past in the past. It…
