Three generations of women come together for a heartfelt story in Love and Other Battles by Tess Woods: Jess, the free-spirited hippie, her reserved daughter Jamie, and Jamie’s vulnerable teenage daughter, CJ. This is the blurb: Three generations of women. Three heartbreaking choices. One unforgettable story. 1969: Free-spirited hippie Jess James has no intention of…
Gloria Bell is a deliberately awkward film about the difficulties of making your way in the world. Especially if you’re a divorced middle-aged woman yearning for something more. Julianne Moore embraces the title role in yet another stellar performance. She finds Gloria’s vulnerability and, conversely, her strength and resilience. Gloria is a free-spirited divorcée who…
I must admit to a little trepidation when I started this book as erotica is not my preferred genre. But Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows, while undeniably erotic in parts, was not erotica. Rather, it was a thought-provoking story of community, love, sex and intimacy that swept me to the Punjabi community in Southall, London,…
This laboured, overlong comedy inverts the premise behind What Women Want, the 2000 rom-com starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt. In What Men Want, Taraji P Henson plays Ali, a self-absorbed and ambitious agent working in the male-dominated world of sports management. While she represents a number of Olympic athletes, she hasn’t got an NBA,…
Watching Boy Erased is hard work. It’s a downbeat look at a religious doctrine absolutely committed to outlawing homosexuality. You pity the poor souls who face indoctrination aimed at exorcising what is regarded as a vile sin. Boy Erased tells the true story of Jared Eamons (Lucas Hedges), the son of a Baptist pastor in…
Neon Tiger is billed as the ‘adult gap year you never knew you needed’. Set to the beat of Bangkok, the musical love story promises karaoke, travel and romance. Rather than presenting a hustle-and-bustle travel tale of the tourist mecca, however, the two-hander tells an intimate account of an arduous and relatable relationship. Brisbane girl…
Poignant. Deeply moving. Brilliantly conceived and executed. A life story rich and redolent. That’s what awaits you when you enter Red Stitch Theatre to experience multi award-winning British playwright Abi Morgan’s Lovesong. Billy and Maggie are a young English couple who have migrated to Australia. He practices as a dentist and she’s a librarian. They…
King of Pigs is a new Australian play by Steve Rodgers. This play targets domestic violence for discussion. Says director, Blazey Best: I’ve been hearing a lot about the ‘Epidemic’ of Family Violence and – faced with the statistics and the sheer relentless regularity of horrific stories in the news – it’s hard to dismiss…
On Chesil Beach introduces elements of theatre into a period drama about the relationship between two sensitive high-achievers. It’s summer 1962, and England is still a year away from the huge social changes of the Swinging Sixties. Florence Ponting (Saoirse Ronan) and Edward Mayhew (Billy Howle), are a couple in their early twenties. Florence is…
The old saying goes that behind every great man stands a great woman. But what if the woman is doing a lot more than just “standing” there? What does a “supporter” deliver to a celebrity? And what should that “supporter” expect in return? Swedish director Björn Runge explores these questions in his thoughtful drama, The…
