May, 2012

Dylan Thomas died of pneumonia, not drinking. Oh sure, the popular jury adheres to the other, tragically poetic end, but, nay. Just thought I’d clear that up. In fact, if he’d had better medical attention at the time, we might have even more to celebrate, through a more extensive body of work. Not that we need [...]

It’s hard to believe the prince of polyester has been reigning for a quarter-century. Then again, it’s probably going on 20 years since I first saw him, at North Ryde rissole. The most delirious thing about that performance was I’m sure many of the patrons thought he was just another polished club entertainer-in-earnest. It could’ve [...]

To beat with every muscle, bone and sinew in our bodies, with an open and joyous spirit. That, it appears, is TaikOz’s mission statement. The wonder is that the group would seem to achieve that objective for its audiences, as well as itself, with every powerful, passing performance. The outfit has certainly proved, beyond all [...]

Despite the flurry of publicity around the opening, Melbourne Theatre Company’s The Heretic is not actually about climate change. The debate just provides the set-up for a peculiarly domestic comedy. The first act of British writer Richard Bean’s play is a tough slog for the audience. Scientist Dr Diane Cassell (Noni Hazlehurst) has found some [...]

Lucy Miller is in her prime, at the peak of her powers. Which is mostly what carries Crushed. Sure, her co-stars (Sean Barker and Jeremy Waters) are good, too. But Miller is who and what keeps you watching, waiting and listening. Playwright Melita Rowston has apparently invested years in this play, in its world premiere season [...]

Opera has been in the public eye recently with the discussions around the drafting of a National Cultural Policy and structural changes at the Australia Council. There has been vigorous debate over the relevance of an artform that is attended by so few. This contemporary opera by Victorian Opera does little to help opera’s cause. [...]

I’m reminded of Python’s “and now for something completely different”. Theatrically, Keep Smiling! The Housewife’s Guide, is that. No, it’s not a backhanded compliment: this is a truly distinctive work. On entering the refitted Bondi Pavilion Theatre, a veritable, if not venerable, beachside institution (and now home ground number two of the parochial-sounding, if anything [...]

A confession: I’ve never seen An Officer and a Gentleman. As in the 1982 film, starring Richard Gere, Debra Winger and Lousi Gossett Jr., directed by Taylor Hackford. You’ll, of course, make up your own minds as to whether this is a good, bad, or neutral thing, in terms of my qualification to review the [...]

Anne Wilson premiered cabaret act What I Did For Love at the 2010 Sydney Fringe Festival. That was at Notes, a rather expansive, impersonal setting for an intimate show, so, dingy and dilapidated as Kings Cross’ El Rocco now is, it was arguably a more conducive space for such. Frankly, it still deserves better, but finding a [...]