Whats The Show – Show Reviews of all kinds from around the nation.
First Things First
First Things First…. I loved the play. Maitland Repertory Theatre have brought to the stage an enthralling comedic performance with a group of very talente…
The Wolves present: Marooned
The lights go up to illuminate a minimalistic stage with clouds floating on a screen behind, as we are introduced to our cast of characters.
We are in a…
Blur: A Home in the Country
Blur: To the End is a documentary that takes fans behind the scenes of Blur’s long-awaited return to the studio to record their first album in over a decad…
Crimson Gully
Powerful and engrossing, Crimson Gully is the brilliantly written play by Sreekanth Gopalakrishnan.
Set in the 1990s, the story centres on a brothel wi…
Scandalous Cabaret
Scandalous Cabaret is a fusion of Circus, Comedy and Cabaret all rolled into one travelling act in a tent. With a larger cast of twelve performers they adv…
Grand Horizons
The name “Grand Horizons” evokes an image of expansive possibilities, a bright future, and a world of untapped potential. It suggests a place where grand t…
Put Some ‘DO RE MI’ Into Your Life!
The Sound of Music at the Melville Theatre Company revisits the famous story of a novice sent to work for a widowed naval captain and his seven children. I…
The 39 Steps – Tugun Theatre
The 39 Steps is a comedic and farcical adventure that follows an ordinary man thrown in the throes of a spy action thriller.
The unique thing about the…
Verona Takes Centre Stage in Shakespeare-In-Between: Romeo & Juliet
Romeo and Juliet, famously, only had eyes for each other. But what about the rest of poor old Verona? Enter ‘Shakespeare-In-Between: Romeo & Juliet’. In a …
Peter And The Starcatcher
Ever wonder how Peter Pan came to be in Neverland? Or how he got his name? Or the exact means by which Captain Hook ‘acquired’ (or perhaps I should more ac…
Madwoman Monologues
The Butterfly Club has once again been set alight by brilliantly talented performers as part of the final season of Madwoman Monologues.
The show is pro…
St Judes Players Presents: A Hard God
The St Judes Players give a very honest and touching performance of Peter Kenna’s ‘A Hard God’.
Set in the 1940s the play meanders through the lives of…
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie
Adam Cooper’s directorial debut Sleeping Dogs tries to reckon with jealousy, power, perception, and memory, but never reaches the heights of genre classics…
Spanish Film Festival: A Ravaging Wind
‘A Ravaging Wind’ is the story of a young girl, Leni, who travels with her preacher father, Reverend Pearson, around towns in rural Argentina…
The Promised Land Film Review
The inimitable Mads Mikkelsen heads the cast of this epic drama, set in 18th Century Jutland, Denmark. The main narrative revolves around one Captain Ludvi…
Spanish Film Festival: Un Amor
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 re…
Spanish Film Festival: Upon Open Sky
Upon Open Sky is a Mexican crime drama set in the 90s, mainly in the Coahuila desert, an arid expanse covering much of the border between Mexico and the US…
Spanish Film Festival: Artificial Justice
Artificial Justice is an offering from Spanish filmmaker Simon Casal as part of the HBSC Spanish Film Festival. The film poses an important ethical questio…
Moonlight and Magnolias
Margaret Mitchell’s Civil War epic, Gone With the Wind, was published in 1936 and became an international bestseller. It was adapted into a movie in 1939, …
Spanish Film Festival: Jokes and Cigarettes
Director David Trueba says of his film Jokes and Cigarettes – “This is a film about humour, and about survival. Eugenio was one of the most popular comedia…
Symphonie of the Bicycle
Step into the captivating realm of “The Symphonie of the Bicycle,” where the stage comes alive with the stories of two captivating characters, both embodie…
Potted Potter – The Unauthorised Harry Experience
Every now and again a show comes along that is simply just good fun. Potted Potter is one of these shows. It is child-like (in the best possible way), hyst…
The Addams Family
There is so much to love about the Addams Family Musical comedy presented by the Metropolitan Theatre Company of SA Inc., which was originally formed in 19…
Living Together
Celebrating its 75th year in community theatre, St. Jude’s Players present a lively rendition of “Living Together”, the second play in Sir Alan Ayckbourn’s…
Lord Of The Flies: Presented by the Gold Coast Little Theatre
Due to budget cuts or in an effort to shield the students from the harrows of castaway life, my school decided to remove Lord of the Flies from the English…
Film Review: Trust (2024)
Trust emerges as a standout film for this year’s St ALi’s Italian Film Festival, running nationwide at Palace Cinemas from September 18 to October 23. It i…
Javeenbah Theatre Presents: Kimberly Akimbo
To be honest I am struggling to write this review. Not because it wasn’t an amazing show, but because I wasn’t properly prepared for the emotional rollerco…
Aerialicious UP LATE
Aerialicious Up Late is a delicious adults only sexy circus with a madcap minx as the mistress of ceremonies who won’t mince words combining comic catchphr…
Anywhere Festival: Set Me On Fire
Samara Louise’s play, SET ME ON FIRE, is a deeply moving play about the ugly side of family ties, the angst of artistic temperament, and the longing for a …
Film Review: Mr Blake At Your Service!
2023 French comedy-drama directed by de Gilles Legardinier in his directorial debut, Mr. Blake At Your Service! stars John Malkovich, Fanny Ardant, Émilie …
Spanish Film Festival: A Ravaging Wind
‘A Ravaging Wind’ is the story of a young girl, Leni, who travels with her preacher father, Reverend Pearson, around towns in rural Argentina…
The Promised Land Film Review
The inimitable Mads Mikkelsen heads the cast of this epic drama, set in 18th Century Jutland, Denmark. The main narrative revolves around one Captain Ludvi…
Spanish Film Festival: Un Amor
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 re…
Spanish Film Festival: Upon Open Sky
Upon Open Sky is a Mexican crime drama set in the 90s, mainly in the Coahuila desert, an arid expanse covering much of the border between Mexico and the US…
Spanish Film Festival: Artificial Justice
Artificial Justice is an offering from Spanish filmmaker Simon Casal as part of the HBSC Spanish Film Festival. The film poses an important ethical questio…
Spanish Film Festival: Jokes and Cigarettes
Director David Trueba says of his film Jokes and Cigarettes – “This is a film about humour, and about survival. Eugenio was one of the most popular comedia…
The Circle – The World Through Children’s Eyes
The Italian Film Festival is 23 years young and kicking off in your town. And it’s not just films with a dramatic flair but several documentaries will feature this year, including Il Cerchio – The Circle. Directed by Sophie Chiarello, The Circle chronicles the journey of Italian primary school students over a five-year period, capturing their unique outlook on the world. The Circle is the winner of best documentary at the 2023 David di Donatello and screening at this year’s Italian Film Festival. Over five years, students share their thoughts and feelings on a range of topics during circle time.…
Burning Hearts – Italian Film Festival
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…
A Singular Crime – Spanish Film Festival
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…
Cork Pops into the Spanish Film Festival
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…
Celebrating 25 Years of the Spanish Film Festival
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…
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Commandante: Nice Cinematography
The opening of Comandante felt like a perfume ad for one of the big Italian fashion houses; a Dolce & Gabbana or Prada. A young woman in 1940’s dress, loo…
The True Cost of Living at the Melbourne Theatre Company
The phrase “cost of living” has been in the headlines for months, typically evoking the daily grind of bills and inflation. However, Cost of Living, staged…
Lizard People
“Lizard People” is a light-hearted comedy by writer-director-producer Laura McKenzie that pokes fun at just about anything in pop culture. The interplaneta…
Eucalyptus: The Opera
A beautifully fluid and enchanting story is what first comes to my mind in sitting to write this review on the new EUCALYPTUS: THE OPERA
I must mention…
The Milky Way Film Review
The Milky Way, the creation of multi-talented Israeli director, writer and editor Maya Kenig is a thought-provoking story with a hint of dystopia surroundi…
Diane Warren Relentless: Eccentric Honest and Real
“Diane Warren: Relentless” is a documentary that portrays the making of one of the world’s most successful songwriters. A Golden Globe, Oscar and Grammy wi…
All About the Levkoviches Film Review
All About the Levkoviches is about love, inclusion, and the need to be accepted especially by your family.
It tells the story of a well-meaning but tena…
Colin Ebsworth – Me, My Cult & I: Bold Storytelling
Colin Ebsworth’s show at the Melbourne Fringe Festival was held at the Trades Hall, the festival’s bustling hub. The show, titled Colin Ebsworth – Me, My C…
Fuhrer and Seducer Film Review
‘Fake news’ is a term we are all too familiar with. However, it was not invented by one of the candidates in the current USA elections. Joseph Goebbels, th…
Beowulf: Reforged – A Mastery of Spoken Fantasy
Have you ever yearned for a trip back in time to old fireside chats with the town bard? Perhaps with some mulled wine in hand and the outside world left fo…
KINDER Surprises: Where Drag Show Meets Storytime
‘The library is open. So sit down, be quiet, and listen up.’
Just around the corner from Melbourne’s Fringe hotspot, Trades Hall, producer and actor Rya…
Welcome to Yiddishland: Reviving A Dying Language
Ros Horin’s Welcome to Yiddishland is a charming and lighthearted exploration of modern art and the Yiddish language. We are introduced to a host of chara…
Maria Montessori Film Review
Léa Todorov’s directorial debut feature film ‘Maria Montessori’ offers a biopic of the Italian doctor’s journey in revolutionising children’s pedagogy. Mar…
The Beautiful Summer
Adapted from Cesare Pavese’s 1949 novel, ‘The Beautiful Summer’ written and directed by Laura Luchetti offers an evocative portrayal of self-discovery, lon…
Bleak Expectations: Presented by Limelight Theatre
Adapted from a series of BBC radio plays – ‘Bleak Expectations’ puts a fun twist on Charles Dickens’ classic tale that is well staged, and performed by the…
The Guy Who Didn’t Like Musicals
Picture this, a meteor has crashed landed into your peaceful town and a horrible illness is slowly infecting the townsfolk causing them to face one of life…
Film Review: Trust (2024)
Trust emerges as a standout film for this year’s St ALi’s Italian Film Festival, running nationwide at Palace Cinemas from September 18 to October 23. It i…
Same Time Next Week
Every time I see a show with puppets, I’m reminded just how much I love puppets, and how there should be more shows with puppets – and Same Time Next Week …
Lost In Yonkers
Neil Simon’s Tony Award and Pulitzer prize-winning comedy Lost in Yonkers is an absolute delight.
Presented by the Roxy Lane Theatre in Maylands, who p…
Garrick Theatre: Steel Magnolias
The “Steel Magnolias” performance at the Garrick Theatre was a touching and emotional experience that highlighted the strength of female friendship, resili…
Film Review: Mr Blake At Your Service!
2023 French comedy-drama directed by de Gilles Legardinier in his directorial debut, Mr. Blake At Your Service! stars John Malkovich, Fanny Ardant, Émilie …
The Tundra Within Me
The Tundra Within Me is part of the Scandinavian Film Festival, Freedom From Fear stories. The film is set on the snowy plateaus of Northern Norway and rev…
Prima Facie: An Intense and Thought-Provoking Journey
Prima facie—a Latin phrase meaning “at first sight” or “based on first impression”—is used in both civil and criminal law to denote that a legal claim has s…
Hands On A Hardbody
It’s always a pleasure when theatre companies step away from big-name shows to bring more unique (and often fantastic) shows to local audiences.
Limelig…
Diane Warren Relentless: Eccentric Honest and Real
“Diane Warren: Relentless” is a documentary that portrays the making of one of the world’s most successful songwriters. A Golden Globe, Oscar and Grammy wi…
Wife – An Exploration
What is the meaning of the word Wife? Australian playwright Samuel Adamson’s script explores gender roles and expectations of marriage through four time ch…
All About the Levkoviches Film Review
All About the Levkoviches is about love, inclusion, and the need to be accepted especially by your family.
It tells the story of a well-meaning but tena…
Jane Eyre: Brings The House Down
Jane Eyre brings the house down
Genesian Theatre is going out with a bang with this endearing production of Jane Eyre. Like its titular character, the s…
Family Fun and Wonder: Michael Boyd’s Magical Spectacle
Mystique: where magic meets emotion, and the impossible becomes an unforgettable reality. In a dazzling display of sleight of hand and showmanship, Michael…
Fuhrer and Seducer Film Review
‘Fake news’ is a term we are all too familiar with. However, it was not invented by one of the candidates in the current USA elections. Joseph Goebbels, th…
Welcome to Yiddishland: Reviving A Dying Language
Ros Horin’s Welcome to Yiddishland is a charming and lighthearted exploration of modern art and the Yiddish language. We are introduced to a host of chara…
Kid Sister Film Review
Kid Sister: What a masterfully funny and refreshing television series.
Created and written by Simone Nathan, who also brilliantly portrayed the lead ro…
There’s Still Tomorrow Film Review
Let me set the scene for you.
Italy, post WWII. We are being introduced into what one assumes to be another black and white a run of the mill black and…
Green Day’s American Idiot – A Punk Rock Opera
It’s been twenty years this September 2024 since Green Day’s American Idiot album, dubbed a “punk rock opera” by their own band members was released. The t…
Maria Montessori Film Review
Léa Todorov’s directorial debut feature film ‘Maria Montessori’ offers a biopic of the Italian doctor’s journey in revolutionising children’s pedagogy. Mar…
The Beautiful Summer
Adapted from Cesare Pavese’s 1949 novel, ‘The Beautiful Summer’ written and directed by Laura Luchetti offers an evocative portrayal of self-discovery, lon…
