As her show reveals, Gillian Cosgriff is a born worrier who Googles just about everything. But, of course, she is not the only stress head, which makes her immediately relatable. Before we enter The Show Room at Arts Centre Melbourne, we are invited to note what we are worried about on a small slip of…
There is nothing comedian Geraldine Hickey likes more to clear her mind than a bit of a wander – a walk or a run – or so she tells us. Against a backdrop of six bush panels, that reminded me of Frederick McCubbin paintings, she opens up about some of her experiences. She starts by…
Twenty-one-year-old Leo Joseph-Connell (Shiv Palekar) values his independence. He’s fallen out with his mother Jane and is on a cross-country bike trip. The family hasn’t heard from him in weeks and they are worried. Leo lands on the doorstep of his 91-year-old grandmother Vera Joseph’s (Nancye Hayes) apartment in Greenwich Village, dirty and smelly. He’s…
Strong socially progressive views, music and poetry distinguish Neil Cole’s new play An Audience with Don Dunstan. It shines a light on the South Australia’s premier, who served in the role from 1967 to 1968 and again from 1970 to 1979. The flamboyant and eclectic Dunstan (21st September, 1926 – 6th February, 1999) was born…
The filmmakers have dipped back into the well and reprised an iconic Australian character. I speak of Johnny Spitieri (aka Johnny Spit), played by David Wenham in Getting’ Square (2003). With a new story, Spit brings together several of the actors and key behind the scenes creatives from the movie released in the early noughties….
If you have money, just how far are you prepared to go and at what price? That is the question at the centre of the devilishly clever Never Have I Ever. Bisexual Jacq (Katie Robertson) and Kas (Sunny S Walia) is a couple. Together, they run a London restaurant named Masada, or at least they…
Revolutionary back in the day, The Boys in the Band still packs punch 57 years later. In 1968, when the play premiered Off-Broadway, homosexuality and illegality were inextricably linked. The Boys in the Band put the joys and fears of being a homosexual into the public domain. Comedic, dramatic and angst riddled, it centres on…
Few, if any, would question how revolutionary the preschool educational television program Sesame Street has been since it first aired in 1969. It has, of course, bred familiarity with the characters, leading to merchandising and campaign leadership. And then there is the acclaimed Sesame Street parody with adult themes, Avenue Q, which received gongs for…
So much raucous fun, POTUS pushes all the right buttons when it comes to political incorrectness and scandal. In short, the President’s nearest and dearest are barely hanging on by their fingertips, as it is mayhem in the White House. I speak of his Chief of Staff Harriet (Carolyn Bock), Press Secretary Jean (Tilly Legge…
Families – you can’t live with them and you can’t live without them. In short, that is what playwright David Williamson is playing with here … and it gets mighty hot in the kitchen. Well-to-do, widowed family matriarch Monique (Tracy Mann) is looking forward to celebrating her three sons’ birthdays, all of which happen to…
