Mike Leigh continues his gritty filmmaking endeavours with his 23rd film, the tragicomedy Hard Truths. Middle aged Pansy (Marianne Jean-Baptiste – Secrets & Lies) is a perpetually angry and desperately unhappy woman. With a series of claimed ailments, she pays out regularly on her plumber husband Curtley (David Webber) and their 22-year-old son, Moses (Tuwaine…
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…
It is such a cliché, but trust the magnificent wordsmith in Joanna Murray-Smith to give it so much edge and polish. I speak of an older man leaving his long-term wife for a younger woman. In this case, it is a feted journalist married to a writer – a poet, no less. She gave up…
Passion, intellect, history and legacy explode on stage in the masterfully written, acted, directed and produced romantic, dramatic, thriller Berlin. Australian Tom (Lachlan Hamill) has just landed in the German capital, keen to get to know the real city, not the tourist offering. He’s directed to a small watering hole, where he meets and is…
Is he a hero or a villain, a revolutionary or a zealot? Fair questions to pose about a man who spent seven years in exile and a further five in prison. Of course, I speak of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, the subject of a powerhouse new play from Patricia Cornelius, directed by Susie Dee. In…
Life is about sliding door moments. The decisions we make … the directions we choose have consequences. And so it is with matters of the heart. British playwright Nick Payne’s two hander Constellations, which premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London in 2012, tackles this conceit. It starts with a decidedly left of centre…
Intergenerational trauma characterises the incendiary play Anatomy of a Suicide, which sees three family stories set in different timeframes play out in unison. Carol (Ashleigh Coleman) has had suicidal ideation since her school days. Now married to train driver, John (Stephen Whiley), who cares deeply, she has just made another attempt on her life by…
It was the day live sports coverage became live news coverage of the most heinous kind. That was September 5, 1972. The setting: the athletes’ village in Munich at the 20th summer Olympics. Terrorists affiliated with militant organisation Black September captured and killed 11 Israeli athletes and coaches. September 5, the movie, tells the story…
Lauded American born Greek opera singer Maria Callas’ (2nd December 1923 – 16th September 1977), final days are captured in Maria. By then her famed soprano voice has gone and she hasn’t performed in years. As played by Angelina Jolie, she is holed up in her luxury Paris apartment. With her are her two loyal…
Be careful what you wish for. That is one of the takeaways from the psychological thriller Companion. It is a decidedly awkward first meeting at the supermarket for Iris (Sophie Thatcher) and Josh (Jack Quaid), but their connection is immediate. Iris falls hard for Josh and they become a couple. Sometime later, they take a…
