Show Reviews

The Italian Film Festival is in its 23rd year after its founding at the turn of the millennium in 2000.  Since then, the festival has grown in popularity to become the most significant public celebration of Italian cinema outside Italy. A feature of this year’s festival is a special presentation of New Italian Cinema’s – Burning Hearts – which takes place in the picturesque region of Puglia. This gripping crime tale reignited an age-old feud between two rival families as a forbidden love story unfolds. Burning Hearts is directed by Pippo Mezzapesa and was the Best Cinematography winner at the…

The Observatory Theatre’s latest production, Picnic at Hanging Rock brings Joan Lindsay’s haunting and iconic novel to life through Tom Wright’s reimagining of this dark, uniquely Australian tale.  Emerging artistic talent Lachlan Driscoll has created an impressive theatrical experience that successfully captures the essence of mystery and intrigue central to Lindsay’s story.  The laser focus of Driscoll and his team in delivering a high-quality production is evident in the attention to detail accorded to the set and sound design which transports the audience straight into country Victoria in 1900 and Appleyard College, a private school for girls where we meet…

Pip Theatre’s latest production, produced by Moonspark Productions, of David Eldridge’s play, Beginning, is a poignant musing about two lonely people in our present day, seeking some sort of connection in inner-city London. A real-time examination of two damaged people reaching out at the end of a party, with the woman taking the initiative. This two-hander movingly reminds us that, even in the age of social media and internet dating, creating a connection with another person remains as problematic as ever. Laura is a 38-year-old managing director whose new north London home is where the housewarming party happened. Danny is…

If you’re looking for a hauntingly beautiful Australian classic, Angela Betzien’s Children of the Black Skirt is an absolute must-see. This production was first performed 20 years ago by a group of young art graduates after approaching the Queensland Art Council, proposing a way to tell real Australian stories. Time has not aged this piece as it’s just as relevant today. It’s being performed at The Curators Theatre at Milton’s Christ Church, by the Lost Child Ensemble, right under the wing of Suncorp Stadium. The team has fought pandemics, fires, and floods to put this performance together. It runs for…

A Singular Crime / Un Crimen Argentino is a 2022 thriller based on the 2002 Reynaldo Sietecasebook of the same name. It’s inspired by a true story occurring in 1980 Rosario, Argentina during the “Dirty War” military dictatorship. The book was a best seller, and now the film leaves audiences just as intrigued as they try to solve the crime alongside the protagonists. It is airing at the 2023 Spanish Film Festival and is a must-watch for any who love a mystery. Unlike the book, A Singular Crime primarily follows around two court clerks, Antonio González Rivas (Nicolás Francella) and Carlos Torres (Matías Mayer), alongside the judge’s secretary, Maria Bussato (Malena Sanchez), as…

The Spanish Film Festival is back this June and July and celebrating it’s 25th year! Presented by Palace, the film festival is accessible online, or in person, in major cities Adelaide, Brisbane, Byron Bay, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. There are plentiful films to choose from with helpful category groupings such as ‘New Spanish Cinema’, ‘Spotlight on Argentina’, ‘Focus on Female Filmmakers’ and more. I had the pleasure of viewing ‘Cork’ (‘Suro’), a Drama/Thriller feature film debut from Director Mikel Gurrea, that is creating a lot of excitement in its New Spanish Cinema category. It has already won a slew…

The Spanish Film Festival returns and is celebrating its 25th year! This time, the festival will be heading to Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Byron Bay, bringing with it a selection of films from across Spanish-speaking cultures. With subdivisions of New Spanish Cinema and Cine Latino and a range of genres available, there will be something for everyone in the festival program this year. The preview film for the 2023 Spanish Film Festival was Alberto Rodriguez’s Prison 77 (In Spanish, Modelo 77). Prison 77 is a prison drama film set in the late 70s that follows the fictional…

The Poison of Polygamy is a new work adapted for the stage by Thai-Australian playwright Anchuli Felicia King from a novella by Wong Shee Ping.  Inspired by true events, this morality tale of the Chinese diaspora is set during the Australian Gold Rush and sees debt-ridden opium addict, Sleep-Sick (Shan-Ree Tan) leave his home and his long-suffering wife, Ma (Merlynn Tong) in China to journey to the Australian Goldfields, seeking his fortune.  We spend Act 1 with Sleep-Sick our unlikable protagonist, exploring the poison of opium and his travels to the Gold Fields, however the story comes into its own…

Can you imagine a comedy play about divorce? And could you imagine that a theatre company could pull such a feat off? Happily, the answer is yes. Located at the lovely rooftop Pip Theatre in Milton, the comedy Grand Horizons is leaving guests in stitches. The Tony-nominated play written by Bess Wohl has been hugely successful, being awarded the best play on Broadway three years ago.   The journey begins at the dinner table when Nancy French (Deirdre Grace) decides to end her fifty-year-long marriage to Bill (Steven Tandy). Bill appears apathetic to her divorce proposal, but their adult children, Ben (Brad McMurray)…

Adapting a novel with a storied history, such as Agatha Christie’s “And Then There Were None,” is no small feat. The novel has sold over 100 million copies and has been adapted countless times for visual media. Pleasingly, the Sunnybank Theatre Group’s current production of this classic story is a very successful interpretation. Director Chris O’Leary has adeptly led his team of actors and crew to bring what is a faithful and engaging rendition of one of Agatha Christie’s most famous works to the stage. Opening night provided a few nerves for the cast and crew who had unfortunately been…