The rise and fall and spectacular comeback of Tina Turner is one of the great stories from the annals of rock n roll, and it all makes for a fantastic stage drama. Turner, known as the Queen of Rock has won eight Grammy Awards, sold over 200 million records and has twice been inducted into…
It has been said that the first casualty of war is the truth. Unfortunately, as human casualties escalate, the task of knowing what the truth is becomes murkier. All My Sons looks into this issue at a family level, where grief, hurt and anger is matched by lies and cover up. Written by Arthur Miller…
La Boite Theatre’s first mainstage presentation of 2023, the world premiere co-production of The Poison of Polygamy comes with an array of content advisories. The work, which is recommended for audiences aged 15+ contains descriptions of murder, violence, drug use, sexual activities and references to suicide. The production also contains loud noises and the use…
One of America’s most influential twentieth century plays A Streetcar Named Desire’ is now on at Sydney’s Genesian Theatre. Written in the 1940’s by Tennessee Williams, its content is as relevant today as it was then. Dramatic from start to finish, there is plenty to digest and take home from this finely crafted production. Over…
The word ‘Rhinestone’ immediately makes me think of ‘Cowboy’. So, when I saw the title of the current play at Ensemble Theatre Rhinestone Rex and Miss Monica, I thought that David Williamson had delved into the great ‘Western’ genre. Well, he does a little bit. Set mostly in the living room of Monica in Sydney’s…
It is a joy of gargantuan proportions to witness Handa Opera’s La Traviata in all its passionate glory on Sydney Harbour, with the Harbour Bridge and Opera House and Sydney skyline as a spectacular backdrop. A massive chandelier – frequently lit up in many a hue – hovers above the stage throughout, held fast by…
Since their formation in 2016, Sydney’s psych-rock band Kimono Drag Queens have released a string of singles, and have been slowly leading up to finally releasing their debut, Songs of Worship. It’s taken the seven-piece two years to record but I believe it was worth the wait as Songs of Worship is full of surprising…
King Henry VIII certainly had a way with the ladies! After all, he had six marriages, all to varying degrees of success. But it was his last wife, Catherine Parr (Kate), who had a way with the king. The Last Wife by Kate Hennig is a faintly historical drama/comedy set in a contemporary context. The…
Caroline, or Change is a work, an autobiographical work from Tony Kushner. He is famous for Angels in America (1993). Born in Manhattan, his family moved to Lake Charles, Louisiana, when he was a young boy. He wanted to write about race relations, the civil rights movement, and African Americans and southern Jews in the…
West Side Story debuted in 1957 on Broadway. Four genius artists somehow subdued their egos to collaborate as an ensemble to produce one of the great works in the musical theatre canon: Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Arthur Laurents and Jerome Robbins. A motion picture version arrived in 1961 winning 10 Academy Awards – it created…
