Two new and very different works, each lasting just under an hour, constitute the opening of the 2023 ballet season in Melbourne for The Australian Ballet. Named Identity, in a nutshell it is contemporary dance versus traditional ballet. While there were elements of both that I admired, I felt there was too much repetition in the first,…
Like Sex and the City, Tiddas is a frank and warm look at female friendship. Far from the hustle and bustle of New York City, however, the story is set under the blooming jacarandas of 2022 Brisbane, which makes its world premiere as part of this year’s Brisbane Festival, especially appropriate. The page-to-stage adaptation of…
Sometimes a book knocks you off your feet and into a completely alien environment – no, I’m not talking sci-fi, but Michael Mohammed Ahmad’s The Lebs. I grew up in Sydney in the same timeframe as this book, but Ahmad’s Sydney is like nothing I’ve ever experienced. ‘Bani Adam thinks he’s better than us!’ they…
Three Cs describe Hir: confronting, colourful and comedic. By the way, the title is a gender-neutral pronoun. One character also likes being addressed as “ze”, as distinct from “she” or “he”. After three years in the Marines picking up shattered body parts on the battlefield, Isaac is looking forward to coming home and sleeping in his own bed….
