Loneliness. Pain. Emotional connection. Desire. Sexual kinks. Consent. That is US writer Clare Barron’s Shhhh, which has its Australian premiere at Red Stitch Theatre. Bold, confronting and, on occasions, perplexing, it is a play that concerns itself with sexual assault, rape culture, mental and physical wellbeing, and the sisterhood. Playwright Shareen (Jessica Clarke), who suffers from a…
What an ordeal! If Iphigenia in Splott is tough to watch because of the material it covers, just imagine what it would be like for the lone actor on stage who gives one of the greatest performances I have seen. It is 90 minutes of dense verbiage, accented and delivered at a mighty healthy clip. Effie (Jessica…
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…
How often do you hear about a good girl being attracted to a bad boy? So frequently, that it has all but become a truism. And that is the case in Lanford Wilson’s (who won the 1980 Pulitzer Prize for Drama) Burn This, which opened off Broadway in 1987. Set in the summer of 1983 against the…
