Brutality, cynicism and tongue-in-cheek humour mark Mortal Kombat – a video game franchise turned big screen fight night. The story thread begins with an ancient fight to the death. It is 1617 in Japan. A warrior and father of two carries a tattoo of a dragon. He confronts an opponent who can literally freeze people…
In Harry Macqueen’s Supernova, Sam (Colin Firth) is a classical pianist, and his partner Tusker (Stanley Tucci) is a writer. Now middle-aged, the couple have been together for decades. They know how to press each other’s buttons, but are still very much in love. One day they decide to dust off the old camper van…
Power and control shift constantly in the drama The Cane, which is set in England. On the verge of retirement after 45 years in the job, Edward (Dion Mills) is a deputy school head. It is Sunday and his wife, Maureen (Caroline Lee) – who also used to be a teacher – has been busily preparing for his…
It is the 1980s. King Hamlet has died suddenly. A month later, his sister – Claudia – is crowned monarch and the divided kingdom of Elsinore is in upheaval. That is the contention in an immersive theatrical experience at Malthouse Theatre, which draws inspiration from Shakespeare’s explosive Hamlet. We – the audience – are theatrically masked…
If you want to see basically every space-movie trope collected in one neat package, Neil Burger’s highly derivative Voyagers could be it. This outwardly beautiful but shallow film tries hard, but ultimately falls short. The obvious starting point – as it often tends to be – is Stanley Kubrick’s seminal 2001: A Space Odyssey. From…
Amanda Muggleton has the room in the palms of her hands as she assumes the role of actress and femme fatale Coral Browne (23rd July, 1913 – 29th May, 1991), who won the 1984 TV BAFTA for An Englishman Abroad. At just over an hour, this one person play, written by Maureen Sherlock, is the story…
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is front and centre in a searing and poignant new play from Walkley Award-winning ABC journalist and author Sally Sara. Semi-autobiographical, the world premiere of Stop Girl starts in 2011 when Suzie (Sheridan Harbridge) is in the final weeks of reporting from the Afghan capital, Kabul. There to catch up with her…
The Cuban Missile Crisis looms in the tense spy thriller The Courier. Based on fact, it tells the story of America’s most valuable source of information about Russia during this tumultuous period. With nuclear war a real possibility, a high stakes cat-and-mouse game plays out. Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) is a high-ranking Russian official. But…
The Father showcases the horrors of dementia with standout performances by its lead actors. First-time director Florian Zeller adapts his own stage play with limited settings and cast, but powerfully wrenches at the heart with the psychological turmoil felt by the eponymous character Anthony. Anthony, played by his namesake Anthony Hopkins, has lived in his…
Come from Away opened in Brisbane this week to rapturous standing ovations. This unique production tells the true stories of the people of Gander, Newfoundland (CA) and some of the passengers of the 38 planes that were diverted there during the day of September 11, 2001. As the small town’s population more than doubled with…
