Adelaide

The Questions

The Questions

The Questions Rating

★★★★★

Click if you liked this article

State Theatre Company SA proudly unveils the world premiere of the latest collaboration between playwright Van Badham and composer Richard Wise—a modern and heartwarming rom-com that elegantly explores how simple, honest questions can cultivate profound connections and lead to love.

Set against the unique backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, “The Questions” tells the engaging story of a couple whose initial blind date is indefinitely extended due to a lockdown announced just as the visitor is about to make her emergency exit.

As their time together stretches into weeks, and in the absence of any internet or mobile phone coverage, the couple turns to Arthur Aron’s renowned intimacy-building questionnaire, featuring 36 questions designed to pass the time and, in an effort to foster a deeper understanding and acceptance of each other.

Van Badham’s script masterfully combines humour with genuine emotion, delivering dialogue that feels both authentic and relatable. The narrative captures the essence of emotional exploration and connection, with each musical number and piece of dialogue peeling back the layers of the characters, revealing traumas and fostering empathy.

The performances by Chaya Ocampo (Visitor) and Charles Wu (Resident) are compelling and dynamic, and their chemistry illuminates the stage. Their portrayal of a seemingly mismatched couple is both engaging and heartfelt, drawing audiences into their evolving relationship.

The inclusion of the neighbouring rock band adds an additional layer of charm and humour. Their role as observers of the couple’s journey provides a witty counterpoint, while their lively musical contributions enrich the production.

The Questions
The Questions

Jeremy Allen’s set design is exemplary, capturing the essence of modern, minimalist living. The compact lounge and kitchenette evoke a sense of social claustrophobia that heightens the intimacy of the narrative. Gavin Norris’s lighting design is particularly effective, creating the illusion of different settings and cleverly adding an urban chic touch with its cityscape backdrop.

Director Mitchell Butel demonstrates remarkable skill, seamlessly blending theatrical and musical elements to bring this vibrant and heartwarming production to life. Even those who are not typically fans of rom-coms or musicals will find themselves captivated by the production’s witty dialogue, clever lyrics, and the powerful message about connection despite differences.

The audience’s response was overwhelmingly positive, with laughter resonating throughout and a standing ovation for the cast. “The Questions” stands as a thoughtful and humorous exploration of human connection in an era dominated by digital facades. It eloquently demonstrates that true beauty lies in the courage to share our authentic selves—flaws and all.

Buy your tickets @ https://statetheatrecompany.com.au/shows/the-questions/ for one of these upcoming performances:-
Mon 5 Aug 2024, 6:30 pm
Tue 6 Aug 2024, 6:30 pm
Wed 7 Aug 2024, 6:30 pm
Thu 8 Aug 2024, 7:30 pm
Fri 9 Aug 2024, 7:30 pm
Sat 10 Aug 2024, 2:00 pm
Sat 10 Aug 2024, 7:30 pm
Mon 12 Aug 2024, 6:30 pm
Tue 13 Aug 2024, 6:30 pm
Wed 14 Aug 2024, 11:00 am
Wed 14 Aug 2024, 6:30 pm
Thu 15 Aug 2024, 7:30 pm
Fri 16 Aug 2024, 7:30 pm
Sat 17 Aug 2024, 2:00 pm
Sat 17 Aug 2024, 7:30 pm

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Sleeping Dogs (2024)

Sleeping Dogs (2024) Rating

★★★★★

Click if you liked this article

Adam Cooper’s directorial debut Sleeping Dogs tries to reckon with jealousy, power, perception, and memory but never reaches the heights of genre classics like Se7en or Memento, which are clear inspirations.

Crowe plays Roy Freeman, an almost aggressively broken man whose recent brain surgery scars dice his scalp, his home littered with masking tape with notes to himself.

It is partially a sobering drama about a broken man suffering a debilitating illness and partially a gritty crime thriller, but never enough of either to satisfy fully. The Alzheimer’s diagnosis that bookends the film is under treatment effectively enough that Freeman is able to solve enough of the mystery for the plot to move forward. Despite this, whilst the final reveal hits more with a whimper than a bang, the story has spent so long focusing elsewhere that it never built the alternatives.

Sleeping Dogs (2024)

The story takes an extended detour into a flashback based on a manuscript that tells a compelling story of the corrupting power of influence, but it struggles to translate it back into the main plot, making it no more impactful on the plot than Freeman’s diagnosis.

Where this film does shine is in tone. The almost drained composition of shots when Freeman is our focal point is starkly contrasted to the vivid manuscript flashback, as author Richard Finn reckons with his perception of the murder and his relationships with Laura Gaines (Karen Gillan), a flighty yet brilliant researcher, and Joseph Wieder (Marton Csokas), a murder victim and manipulative psychologist.

These sections are awash with colour and vibrancy, a comment as to how each of our unreliable narrators is coming to the story and how they are analysing events with their own limited knowledge. Unfortunately, this sequence is front-loaded, and we lose this contrast from that point.

There is enough to satisfy a genre fan, but viewers may be baffled by the leaps it takes to justify a conclusion that didn’t reach the heights it was aiming for.

Sleeping Dogs is now playing in cinemas starting August 1st. Catch it at a cinema near you!

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Spanish Film Festival: A Ravaging Wind

Spanish Film Festival: A Ravaging Wind

Spanish Film Festival: A Ravaging Wind Rating

★★★★★

Click if you liked this article

‘A Ravaging Wind’ is the story of a young girl, Leni, who travels with her preacher father, Reverend Pearson, around towns in rural Argentina.

He is an evangelical preacher spreading the word of God and healing sinners. It is a coming-of-age film about Leni as she is trapped in a lifestyle not of her choosing. Argentine director Paula Hernández starts the film as a road movie as we follow them from one church to another.

As they are heading to their next sermon, we start to see more of the character of Leni, played by Almudena González. As she runs errands for her preacher dad, Alfredo Castro, you start to see the doubt in her mind about the direction of her life. On the road, their aging car breaks down, and they are taken, car and all, to a local mechanic out in the middle of nowhere.

Spanish Film Festival: A Ravaging Wind

Here they met Gringo the Mechanic, played by Sergi López, who is opposed to faith and his son Tapioca, played by Joaquín Acebo. Here, we have a similarity between the two families, both being teenagers brought up by their fathers.

As the car is repaired, Reverend Pearson decides he wants to save Tapioca; in fact, he becomes obsessed with trying to save the lad. This echoes with Lenis in the story.

The quality of the acting really makes this movie stand out. Without it, the film would have been a slow-moving road movie. The cast seems to understand the characters and what the director requires of them. It’s a really nice ensemble piece and worth watching. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

The Spanish Film Festival runs through June-July, 2024 in Adelaide, Brisbane, Byron Bay, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney.

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Spanish Film Festival: Un Amor

Spanish Film Festival: Un Amor

Spanish Film Festival: Un Amor Rating

★★★★★

Click if you liked this article

Un Amor is a delirious dive into the torment experienced by a young woman who walked away from the stress of her work interpreting the tragic stories of refugees and moved to La Escapa, a small village deep in the Spanish countryside, only to be thrust into a story almost as horrible as the ones she was running away from.

Multi-award-winning and multi-lingual Spanish director Isabel Coixet co-wrote and directed this searing drama, told with interspersed flashbacks to the horrors of her previous work, paralleling her descent into indecency.

The cinematography is often breathtaking, showing the scope and beauty of the region and vividly bringing life to Nat’s mixed emotions. The villagers’ characterisations, foibles, intrigues, and veiled love triangles are all treated with gusto. There’s a delightful smorgasbord of humanity on display.

In a dilapidated house with an abused dog thrust into her care, thirty-year-old Natalia, or Nat (Laia Costa), faces overt hostility and sexist micro-aggressions from her landlord and covert hostility from nearly all her neighbours. Initially wooed by a slightly older man who demonstrates an artistic sensitivity with stained glass, she demurely dismisses his overtures.

Spanish Film Festival: Un Amor

Then after an extraordinary encounter, Natalia reluctantly gives in to an awkward illicit proposal from her brutish neighbour Andreas (Hovik Keuchkerian) so as to have her dwelling refurbished somewhat and made into a more liveable space. In so doing, she succumbs to a passion that punishes her and causes her to see who she really is.

The film is based on Sara Mesa’s bestselling novel of the same name. The Spanish newspaper El País named it Spain’s 2020 book of the year. Un Amor has been described as a bittersweet and striking exploration of gender roles, love, obsession, and desire.

It deftly deals with some eternally fundamental and gripping questions that have plagued humanity. What is love? Are we sexual in nature? It’s a disturbingly frank look at the dynamics of gender politics and sex as a commodity.

John Holland of Screen Daily, a website providing a real-time view of the film industry, said the film was sometimes “redolent of Coixet’s very best work.” Guy Lodge of Variety, a website featuring entertainment news and reviews, considered the film to be a return to form for Coixet.

In two top ten lists of Spanish films, it ranked 2nd (El Español) and 10th (Mondosonoro).

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Spread the word on your favourite platform!

Connect Online

© 2025 Dark Stories Pty Ltd     ♦     Whats The Show