Aliens, lesbians and eighties music: three surefire ways of getting me in a room. All threeâŠtogether? Letâs just say I was first in line to catch the opening performance of âBev & Myrt and the Scrolling of Doomâ at the Motley last night.
Presented by How Delightful Theatre, âBev & Myrtâ follows a secret society of alien investigators defending the Hoddle Grid from extraterrestrial terrors: galactic parasites, sentient robots, conservative real estate agents. When AI threatens to absorb the minds of Melburnians, Bev (Jenny Lovel), Myrt (Amanda Owen) and their son Jamie (Jackson Eather) must take down evil tech conglomerates all the while navigating their own growing pains at home.
Writer and producer David Innes, producer and dramaturg Dr Stayci Taylor, and director Cale Dennis clearly had a distinct vision for the show. With a razor-sharp script and just enough fourth-wall stroking to keep things perfectly meta, âBev & Myrtâ was an unapologetically nerdy and hilariously queer little slice of theatre. Think Douglas Adams meets âGhostbustersâ: irreverent, witty, weird, and so on the nose. It was quintessentially Melburnian too, so full of in-jokes the crowd spent more time laughing than not. With a runtime of an hour, âBev & Myrtâ is a masterclass in short-form playwriting and I only wish it ran longer for my own selfish reasons.
Jenny Lovel, Amanda Owen and Jackson Eather were outstanding to watch as a unit, with brilliant chemistry on stage and some unforgettable physical comedy. Liliana Braumberger, Kitt Forbes, Alex Joy and Donna Prince effortlessly navigated several roles all the while puppeteering tentacled robots and throwing around props left right and centre. The sound and lighting design never missed a beat either, which is a testament to just how much work was put into this show by the entire cast and crew.
It would be easy to fall into all shenanigans and no substance in a show like this (especially given the short runtime) but Iâm happy to report that wasnât the case. âBev & Myrtâ was fun all the way through, but it was the moments of queer love that resonated so personally in an otherwise unworldly story. It was at heart a celebration of our elder queer heroes: the people who loved and fought for us and the people we can hope to become ourselvesâaliens or no.
You can catch âBev & Myrt and the Scrolling of Doomâ at the Motley Bauhaus until the 8th of February!
Africa Film Fest Australia (AFFA), curated by Mumbi Hinga and Safia Amadou and presented in partnership with Arts & Cultural Exchange (ACE), today announces its national expansion in 2026, arriving in Melbourne Friday 27 to Sunday 29 March at Cinema Nova, following two successful years of festivals in Sydney.
Festival Co-Director Safia Amadou said, âAfter multiple sold-out screenings in Sydney in 2025, AFFA is bringing bold, joyful and thought-provoking African films to Melbourne audiences. Featuring award-winning work from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Algeria and Guinea-Bissau, the program reflects a growing appetite for African cinema, placing African voices at the centre of Australian screens.â
The Festival opens with The Fisherman, the first Ghanaian film officially selected for the Venice International Film Festival, where it was awarded UNESCOâs Fellini Medal (Enrico Fulchignoni Prize) in recognition of its message of peace, tolerance and intercultural dialogue.
The Melbourne program includes: Opening Night Film – The Fisherman (Ghana | Melbourne Premiere) – A whimsical, politically astute film that follows a retired coastal fisherman whose quiet life is disrupted when he forms an unlikely friendship with a talking fish, resonating with audiences across the globe.
Nawi (Kenya | Melbourne Premiere) – Winner of Best International Feature and Best Debut Performance at the 2025 Raindance Film Festival in London. A young girl sold for livestock escapes an arranged child marriage to pursue an education. An urgent, hopeful story of resistance in rural Kenya. Nawi will be co-presented with Kenya Community Victoria.
Fanon (France/Algeria | Melbourne Premiere) – A political drama following psychiatrist and philosopher Frantz Fanon in colonial Algeria, as his radical approach to mental health care intersects with the countryâs growing independence movement. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with the filmâs director, Jean-Claude Flamand-Barny.
Nteregu (Guinea-Bissau | Melbourne Premiere) – Winner of Best Documentary (Audience Award) at FestIN 2025 (Festival de Cinema Itinerante da LĂngua Portuguesa). A lyrical documentary tracing the origins and global influence of Guinean music, centring womenâs voices and ancestral instruments in the formation of national identity. Nteregu will be co-presented with African Music and Cultural Festival.
This Jungo Life (Sudan | Melbourne Premiere) – Winner of Best Documentary at the 2025 Bantu Film Festival (Botswana, 2025) and Best International Documentary at Festiwal Filmowy NNW 2025. An unflinching documentary portrait of young Sudanese men living on the margins, capturing daily survival, friendship and resilience amid displacement, poverty and ongoing conflict. This Jungo Life is co-presented with SmartFone Flick Fest Pty Ltd (SF3) and the screening will be followed by a Q&A with the Melbourne-based film Director David Fedele.
Festival Co-Director Mumbi Hinga said, âBringing the Festival to the Cinema Nova allows us to share these powerful stories with new communities and continue building space for African voices on Australian screens. It cements our role as a national platform for African cinema, cultural exchange and diverse storytelling.â
AFFA Melbourne is presented by Arts & Cultural Exchange (ACE) and Cinema Nova, with support from Weir Anderson Foundation, Ubuntu Project, Kenya Community Victoria, SF3, and the African Music and Cultural Festival.
FESTIVAL DETAILS Cinema Nova, Melbourne Friday 27 – Sunday 29 March 2026 Full program and ticket details are available at: https://aceinc.org.au/whats-on/affa-melbourne/
âTalent, Tenacity, Teamwork!â titles the program to the annual STARBOUND MUSICAL THEATRE production. In its 22nd year, those three words really do sum up the high standard and work ethic of everyone involved.
Founded by Jason and Georgina Parker, experienced teachers in the world of drama and all things associated with the stage, they run a tight ship and ask for no less than complete commitment for two weeks from each and every performer, but this well-known husband/wife team along with a myriad of mentors and creatives are also very welcoming, friendly and encouraging.
Every January their annual show âSTARBOUNDâ is a delightful, funny, energetic, thought provoking and outright entertaining mix of musical theatre songs perfected by the strong young cast of students aged 14 – 21 (this year there were over 100!). Each individual song performance could be dropped straight into the musical it came from no questions asked. These young people on stage are all out of the box and they are, without doubt, potential future stars!
Having had my own eldest just leave to live overseas and take up a professional performing contract, I know what these kids on stage are going through and what many are hoping for: to work as a professional performer. Anywhere, but in Australia especially, this is a tough ride, a tough ask and a tough goal to achieve. Participating in STARBOUND MUSICAL THEATRE gives every single person on stage that opportunity – to experience what its actually like to be in a professional show and have the support of a creative team to learn from. The best in the business join Jason and Georgina each year to offer helpful tips and guidance. Putting on the show is just part of this intensive course. Over long rehearsal days, friendships are made and belief is built.
They open spectacularly with TWENTY MILLION PEOPLE (âMy Favorite Yearâ), followed by OPENING NIGHT (âThe Producersâ) and WHATâS INSIDE/OPENING UP (âWaitressâ). Eagerly awaiting seeing âWaitressâ myself to come to Melbourne I absolutely enjoyed a little sneak-peak of the main character and all going on around her.
Following was my âpre-decidedâ favourite number of the program I NEVER MET A WOLF WHO DIDNâT LOVE TO HOWL (âSmashâ). I watched the Smash series with my daughter after she received it on DVD as a gift years ago and we both squealed with excitement when we heard it was actually becoming a musical. Again, thank you Starbounders for showing off this new work – I have to remind myself that everyone on stage is under the age of 22. So much talent!!!
Lots more favourites continue on with pizzazz and enviable costuming. Who doesnât love a chance to BEND AND SNAP (âLegally Blondeâ) or completely flip emotion and cry with ONE MORE DAY (âLes Miserablesâ) bringing the house down prior to interval.
The fact they’ve done this in two weeks is unbelievable and something lots of the audience are talking about whilst perusing over the ‘Company 26’ names in the program waiting for the curtain to go up again.
An equally fantastic second act included colourful interpretations of ONE SHORT DAY (plus others from âWickedâ). Brilliant pink v. green lighting helped make these outstanding and in fact no props were needed in the show, the lighting guys throughout are to be commended.
We finish the two hour production on another of my all-time faves, CONFIDENT (â&Julietâ – happy to be hearing it again after my last review) and CANâT STOP THE FEELING (â&Julietâ) gives an entire cast party atmosphere with the audience and stairs full of smiles, claps and waves to their loved ones watching on proudly. The theatre is packed!!!
On a side note, I took my Mum to this show and I always ask what my accompanying guest likes best – she loved THE MARCH (âSuffsâ) and said it was extremely powerful! She had not seen or heard of it before but truly understood the message of equality sought and portrayed by the strong presence coming through a young female ensemble. To have given such presentiment deserves recognition. There are still parts of the world where standing strong for equal rights is more than relevant. I am sure the audience felt that final stance in the row of black dresses.
And hereâs a few more side notes Iâd like to applaud:
The Heathers group with CANDY STORE, I havenât seen this show, but now I want to!
The jump splits line (Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders inspired?) and all the choreography – NAILED
The âCry-Babyâ transition from THE ANTI-POLIO PICNIC to WATCH YOUR ASS – two completely different songs but seamless, exceptionally well done (also loved the costuming and jiving here)
The guy playing Fiyero in DANCING THROUGH LIFE, exactly!
The tiny little girl who belted out CONFIDENT as confident as Demi L herself
I could go on and on⊠CONGRATULATIONS EVERYONE!
If you have children or young adults you know interested in pursuing a career in Musical Theatre, STARBOUND MUSICAL THEATRE is definitely one to check out – see âhow to auditionâ on their website:
https://starboundmusicaltheatre.com.au
âThe best two weeks of the yearâ would be in agreeance I imagine for hundreds of young people over more than two decades, and yes, some have even seen success not only securing roles in professional shows in Australia, but on Broadway too!
This annual show isnât just for those families who know someone in it, its for anyone and everyone who love Musical Theatre so follow their Instagram @starboundmusicaltheatre
The Alexander Theatre is easy to get to, free parking on weekends, lovely to sit in comfy seats, a lift for anyone needing it and I think the only thing missing is the mandatory âchoc topâ on the menu, will have to suggest that to them haha.
How can the internet be depicted in other art forms? Many directors and writers across various mediums have tried to showcase the intangible world that most of us live our lives in. Unfortunately, thereâs a lot of ways in which these kinds of stories can go wrong; a lack of empathy for particular communities, overly complicated visual metaphors, a reliance on outdated memes and references â the list goes on.
Blackpill: Redux avoids all these pitfalls. This remounting of the 2025 Theatreworks/Paracosm show, written and directed by Chris Patrick Hansen, combines razor-sharp writing, bleak stage design and intricately unnerving performances to create a scintillating dissection of incel culture and the men who fall into its black holes.
Eli (Oliver Tapp) is a self-admitted loser whoâs been fired from his job for reasons he is suspiciously cagey about. Heâs stuck with no money, no family or friends he can confide in, a desire to make something of his life and a lot of time to spend on his phone. If youâre familiar with stories about âthe alt-right pipelineâ, âthe manosphereâ and âincelsâ, you can probably see where this train is going. If you arenât, you can witness his journey from fitness gurus to âedgyâ Instagram group chats to voice calls discussing sexual fantasies and male loneliness, down and down and down. Either way, just like a trainwreck, you wonât be able to look away.
It’s clear that Hansen has done an unenviable amount of research into these corners of the internet. Itâs all very well to gawk at and shame the flagrant misogyny on display, but Blackpill: Redux goes several steps further by showing in detail how an âeverymanâ can be seduced by promises of community, justice and self-improvement. Thereâs a looming loneliness in almost every character, and the grooming mechanisms they practice and fall for (often at the same time) are so clear yet well-paced enough to be believably enticing. The ending (without spoiling it) in particular guides the audience into understanding these men and empathizing with their emotions, without excusing his actions and the damage theyâve caused.
The set is a grey box of platforms dominated by a hexagonal screen and LED-lit wire fragments hanging from the ceiling. It looks like an abandoned spacecraft, and when text and images are shown on the screen, they are devoured by glitchy rotting. The sound design is booming and abrasive, creating a frightening, gloomy and expansive world. At the same time, one of the best things about Blackpill: Redux is that it doesnât take itself too seriously. The dozen-strong cast are all incredible physical actors and this is often played for laughs, with ridiculous movement sequences depicting common internet memes, cliches in Hugh Grant movies and the stereotypes Eli learns to project onto the people in his life. This show has a very dark sense of humour and knows exactly how to wield it, often making references to internet culture that feel âof a timeâ but not stuck in an outdated moment.
Iâm fascinated that a show about something as nebulous and complicated as online indoctrination could be this physical and raw. The amount of heart, intelligence, wit and pathos in it is incredible to behold, and I couldn’t recommend it more. Check it out while you still can â youâll be thinking and talking about it for a long time afterwards.
