What does it feel like to be in chemically induced love? And what does it feel like to be depressed? British playwright Lucy Prebble, a writer on the acclaimed TV drama Succession, interrogates that in a study of love and neuroscience. The play premiered at the National Theatre in London in 2012 and won the…
A comedic drama romance, Colours of Time is intriguing tale about the past and how it can help inform the future. A developer is expanding a shopping centre and a countryside home in Normandy –abandoned for decades and suspended in time – stands in the way. A meeting is called of 30 ancestors of the…
Start with the facts and lace it with fiction. That is what screenwriter Nathalie Leuthreau and director Guillaume Nicloux have done with French stage star Sarah Bernhardt (22nd October, 1844 – 26th March, 1923). She became a global sensation. Bernhardt was spirited, determined, heavily opinionated and charismatic. Lovers of both sexes and admirers were plentiful….
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…
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…
What a joy laden movie. This could just be the best of the four Bridget Jones films, that date back to 2001 and we have had to wait nine years since the last one. Mad About the Boy, which Jones also narrates, is filled with laughter, romance and reverence. Best of all, she (Renee Zellweger)…
We Live in Time may well be renamed The Cruel Price of Love, for this is a bittersweet romance, featuring striking performances. Set in London, Almut (Florence Pugh) is a 34-year-old master chef, highly dedicated to her profession. She used to be a champion figure skater. In short, Almut is not afraid to speak her…
Co-written by Marie Drucker and director Stephane Brize, Out of Season is a sensitive, slow-moving romance. Mathieu (Guillaume Canet) is a famous Parisian movie star, married to a prime-time news anchor. Four weeks before making his stage debut, Mathieu gets cold feet and pulls out, leaving everyone in the lurch. While he knows his withdrawal…
Imagine your older self visiting to give guidance on how to live your best life. Writer-director Megan Park (The Fallout) tries it out in the quirky comedy My Old Ass. And it works a treat. Elliott Labrant (Maisy Stella) has just turned 18 and is full of life. She can’t wait to leave behind her…
Inspired by real life events, Take My Hand is a heart-wrenching love story that spans decades. Laura (Meg Fraser) is still a schoolgirl – whose father teaches history – when she meets and falls for Michael (Xavier Molyneux), the football-playing son of a Greek greengrocer. She loves riding horses on the family’s country property, but…
