Good Cook. Friendly. Clean. is a new Australian play by newcomer, Brooke Robinson. It was short listed for the 2017 Griffin Award. Sandra, a 58 year old finds herself with a two week deadline to find new rental sharehouse accommodation in Sydney. Over nine scenes we travel with Sandra to a series of meetings –…
Some people should not see this play – the squeamish, religious zealots and those who don’t have a sense of humour! Everyone else, line up for two hours of enthralling entertainment thanks to Deborah Mulhall’s successfully creative directorship. The New Theatre is a small, intimate venue and the audience had a great experience from any…
Going Down by Michelle Lee is a new Australian play. Last year, the Griffin Theatre presented her play, Rice. Natalie Yang (Catherine Davies), a Chinese-Australian, has written her first book, “Banana Girl”, a no-holds-barred sex memoir. No-one is really interested. On the other hand Lu Lu Jayadi (Jenny Wu), an Muslim-Australian from Indonesia, has written…
In the Heights is an American musical that first saw the light of day in 2005. It arrived on Broadway in 2008. Nominated for 13 Tony Awards, it won 4, including best musical. This work was conceived by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also wrote the lyrics and music. The show centres on a corner of shops…
What a legacy the Swedish pop group ABBA has left the world! That was my overwhelming sentiment while watching the fun of Mamma Mia! unfold at Capitol Theatre in Sydney. It’s a heartwarming romp that gets better until the final three crowd-pleasing numbers. The whole audience is on its feet clapping its hands and dancing to…
Single Asian Female by Michelle Law, was first produced by the La Boîte Theatre Company in Brisbane in 2017. It’s been revived for this Sydney season at the invitation of the Belvoir Company. The work was developed with the assistance of the Lotus Playwriting Project, an initiative of Playwriting Australia and Contemporary Asian Australian Performance (formerly…
The director of this project, Matt Scholten, had found an artistic compatibility with actor, Noni Hazlehurst, while working on The Heretic for the Melbourne Theatre Company and, as their friendship developed, decided to work together again. The challenge that the actor wanted was that of a one person show. Together they approached the Melbourne writer,…
The Wizard of Oz is a classic Hollywood film of 1939, based on a book by L. Frank Baum. Everybody must have seen it. I saw it at the cinema (in Bondi Junction) as a child and never got over the Flying Monkeys – they terrified me – and the ‘creepy’ munchkins. Of course, then…
Jimi Bani is an actor/artist of big heart and attractive personality exuding a charisma that is all enveloping. His welcome and invitation to hear his story, My Name is Jimi, is irresistible . Jimi was born on a remote island: Mabuiag (Jervis Island) in the western part of Torres Strait to the north of the…
The Alan Ayckbourn play Taking Steps, written in 1979, is the 24th opus from his ‘genius’. He’s now completed some 79 plays, the last one – so far – called Roundelay, in 2014. Taking Steps is part of a faithful commitment by The Ensemble Theatre to his work and underlines the entertainment value that he inevitably…
