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22.01.2022 THEATRE: 12 SEPTEMBER 2018 | By GERALDINE WORTHINGTON | The Humans, by Stephen Karam | Directed by Anthea Williams | Red Line Productions (www.redlineproductions.com.au) | The Old Fitzroy Theatre, Woolloomooloo, Sydney | Until 6 October Stephen Karam, is an American playwright. His play The Humans was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2016, as well as winning the Tony Award for Best Play. Staged now at The Old Fitzroy, an impressive ensemble portray this struggli...ng middle-class family who are at the heart of this domestic drama: Di Adams, Madeline Jones, Diana McLean, Arky Michael, Reza Momenzada and Eloise Snape. All are equally splendid in their portrayal of the Blake Family who, like many others all over America, are sharing their Thanksgiving dinner. Eric (Arky Michael), a maintenance supervisor in a Catholic school, and Deidre (Di Adams), an office manager, believe that they have been good parents and therefore their adult children will and should have happy lives. However, it is struggle, especially for Deidre, to maintain family unity under the huge duty of caring for her own mother who is in the advanced stages dementia. Meanwhile, her two 20-something daughters struggle with their careers and relationships and after hours of being confined together in a small apartment, tensions begin to run high. Director Anthea Williams ties all these emotional threads together with deceptively simple ease and fluidity, balancing the characters’ obligations to workplace and career aspirations, whilst revealing secrets and thwarted designs. The overall result is a symphony of relationships which chaperons the audience from one perspective to another. As they reveal their secrets, we are privy to a fly-on-the-wall look at experiences facing many Western families today. Alzheimer’s disease, the struggle of finding full employment, the worry of retirement without any savings, professional disillusionment are all on display. Jonathan Hindmarsh creates all this drama on a small set but manages to expand the space to fit the grandeur themes of the drama, with places to hide and places to rest as well as places to fight. Family culture, religion and daily survival are the ingredients of the play which provides a non-judgemental insight into the kind of everyday scenario that can ignite fires of mistrust. This is a play for actors and this excellent cast and crew deliver a production that looks good and moves fast. Thumbs up.
20.01.2022 JOHN'S MOLONG BLOG: 24 September 2018 | What happened on this day in the Molong of yesteryear? And what's happening today and in the near future. From Molong on 24 September 1902, The Molong Argus reported: "A letter was recived from the PrincIpal Under Secretary asking if [Molong] Council had any objection to 23 October (date of Cumnock Hospital Sports) being proclaimed a public holiday in the Molong district. The Mayor said the Council agreed to the holiday being proclaimed...Continue reading
19.01.2022 THEATRE: 22 SEPTEMBER 2018 | By GERALDINE WORTHINGTON | Evita, by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber | Directed by Hal Prince | David Ian Productions | Sydney Opera House (www.sydneyoperahouse.com) | Until 3 November Images: Pat Bromilow-Dowling and Christian Kotze. The NSW Government is presenting the premiere of this new 40th-anniversary staging of the iconic musical Evita, by lyricist Tim Rice and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber.... As most baby boomers will know, this musical drama is set in Buenos Aires, the capital of Argentina, and spans the political events of the 1930s to Eva’s death in 1952. Varied aspects of the country’s historical events are canvassed using the platform of Eva Peron’s meteoric rise from rags to riches and power. It is a spectacular show that begins with the announcement of Eva’s (Tina Arena) death and its effect on the people, played by a talented 26-strong ensemble of dancers and singers. The staged dramatic events are accompanied by a montage of photographs of the events, reminding us that fact is often stranger than fiction. Guerrilla and revolutionary leader, Che Guevara (Kurt Kansley), is individually a Greek chorus, charismatically and critically narrating both the personal and political events from the sidelines. And Alexis Van Maanen, in a minor role as Peron’s mistress, sings, for my money, the best song in the musical, Another Suitcase in another Hall. Stealing the show, however, is Tina Arena, a most credible Eva Peron who perfectly delivers the familiar and classic songs that map her life. Arena also cleverly catches Evita’s internal contradictions as well as her passing painfully from cancer at just 33 years of age. It is a magnetic performance. The pace is occasionally slow and reflective, but Hal Prince’s intelligent direction and Opera Australia’s musical expertise ensure that the show retains all the poignant resonance and dark moments of social commentary that charts this political tale, whilst simultaneously celebrating the energy and excitement of the huge musical numbers. It’s expertly staged, and I found myself gripped by this historical musical. Thumbs up!
18.01.2022 TRAVEL: 02 NOVEMBER 2018 Mysterious kingdom of Bhutan added to Indian river-cruise package Adventure Resorts and Cruises, an Indian river cruise operator, and Australia’s Cruise Traveller have added a tour of the once-hidden kingdom of Bhutan to an exotic cruise in the rarely visited Indian state of Assam....Continue reading
17.01.2022 READING: 11 OCTOBER 2018 | The story of Jeanne Little In 1974 Jeanne Little burst into the living rooms of millions of households across Australia with her first appearance on The Mike Walsh Show audiences didn’t know what hit them! With incredible outfits, false eyelashes and a raucous voice that screamed ‘Hello Daaaaaaaahling!’ Jeanne was an instant sensation and won the Gold Logie for Most Popular TV Personality two years later. Pregnant with her only child Katie M Littl...e at the time of her first TV appearance, Catch A Falling Star takes you into the world of the little girl who grew up backstage amidst sequins and feathers. Describing a unique upbringing by an unconventional mother, it is a look at fame through innocent eyes. Go back to 1980s Australia, to the days of Betamax, Bob Hawke and shoulder pads, before smart phones and breathalysers, when Big Macs came in styrofoam boxes and the only environmental crisis was a hole in the ozone layer. Flash forward to 2010 and Jeanne’s name hits the headlines again this time with the shocking revelation that she has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, a disease affecting an estimated almost 50 million people worldwide. With her mother in fast decline and her family in crisis, it is up to Katie to take the reigns. Catch A Falling Star will take you on a journey that is both laugh-out-loud funny, heartbreakingly honest, and a rare glimpse into the personal life of one of Australia’s most beloved celebrity families. Based on media release issued by New Holland. DETAILS Catch a Falling Star: The True Story about Growing Up a Little, by Katie M Little New Holland, 312pp paperback, $29.99
16.01.2022 THEATRE: 29 OCTOBER 2018 | By GERALDINE WORTHINGTON | Julius Caesar, by William Shakespeare | Directed by James Evans | Bell Shakespeare Company (www.bellshakespeare.com.au) | Sydney Opera House | Until 25 November Images: Prudence Upton Julius Caesar, one of Shakespeare’s history plays, was penned around 1599 and is based on factual events from Roman classics which chart the decline of the Roman Republic.... It is a complicated power play one of dictatorship, coronation and assassination. Caesar (Kenneth Ransom) is politically ambitious, so much so that his former friends and country men, Cassius (Nick Simpson-Deeks) and Brutus (James Lugton) contrive to permanently eliminate him from the race. We have seen some ripping shows on TV that explore this theme Game of Thrones, House of Cards and West Wing to name just a few, and James Evan’s astute direction clearly competes in this prestigious league, allowing his audience to clearly see that assassinating Caesar is a flawed path for Brutus to take. It is all about conspiracy. Who will join in and what are their motivations. As we know it doesn’t end well and in the aftermath the deadly the conspirators attempt to convince the public and politicians that what they did was for the sake of the Republic. Anna Tregloan’s effective stripped-back set design, a portable steel construction, delivers a maze on and in which the characters can perform and scheme. Essentially this remains a complex play but it is worth the discomfort, floating as it does above contemporary important and still relevant questions about fate and freedom. Ultimately we are left with an historic and disturbing study of moral ambiguity, social decay and the corrupt antics of authority figures. Julius Caesar remains one as one of Shakespeare’s darkest histories, a disturbing study of moral ambiguity, social decay and the corrupt antics of authority figures. Superbly staged at the iconic Sydney Opera House, it remains vibrantly still relevant. Worth a look.
14.01.2022 READING: 30 OCTOBER 2018 | Anne Summers from journalist to policy maker to change-agent-at-large DETAILS Unfettered and Alive: A Memoir, by Anne Summers... Allen & Unwin, 478pp hardback, $39.99 ‘I was born into a world that expected very little of women like me. We were meant to tread lightly on the earth, influencing events through our husbands and children, if at all. We were meant to fade into invisibility as we aged. I defied all of these expectations and so have millions of women like me.’ This is the compelling story of Anne Summers’ extraordinary life. Her story has her travelling around the world as she moves from job to job, in newspapers and magazines, advising prime ministers, leading feminist debates, writing memorable and influential books. Anne has not been afraid to walk away from success and to satisfy her constant restlessness by charging down new and risky paths. Whatever position she has held, she has expanded what’s possible and helped us see things differently often at high personal cost. Anne shares revealing stories about the famous and powerful people she has worked with or reported on and is refreshingly frank about her own anxieties and mistakes. She shares a heart-breaking story of family violence and tells of her ultimate reconciliation with the father who had rejected her. Unfettered and Alive is a provocative and inspiring memoir from someone who broke through so many boundaries to show what women can do. Based on media release issued by Allen & Unwin.
12.01.2022 DESTINATION: Queensland | By JOHN ROZENTALS | TRAVEL: 06 OCTOBER 2018 | If he had one, JOHN ROZENTALS would tug his forelock to the Oatley family as he lapped up Hamilton Island. You won’t find too many of Hamilton Island’s nearly 1800 residents have anything but good feelings towards the Oatley family, which for the past 15 years or so has owned the island and done much to develop it into the magical tourist destination it is. Of those 1800, some 1200 are direct employees of...Continue reading
12.01.2022 THEATRE: 24 OCTOBER 2018 | By GERALDINE WORTHINGTON | Degenerate Art, by Toby Schmitz | Directed by Toby Schmitz | Red Line Productions (www.redlineproductions.com.au) | Old Fitzroy Theatre, Woolloomooloo, Sydney Strange as it may seem, there was a time when Adolf Hitler’s main ambition in life was to paint. However, he was rejected twice by the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, once in 1907 and again in 1908. Fast forward to Munich in 1937, where an exhibition entitled Degener...ate Art opened. It showcased a movement in visual art that significantly departed from the classical and tradition forms. It was viewed by the Nazis, who held political power, as offensive and fraudulent. Worst, they viewed the artists as potentially psychologically disturbed and, ergo, feared that society was at a serious risk of being corrupted. Those identified as degenerate artists were dismissed from teaching posts, forbidden to exhibit their art, or, in some cases, not approved to produce art. On the intimate stage at the Old Fitzroy this is the underbelly of the story that is told. Six uniformly suited men in black, sit on the blank stage and deliver, piece by piece, the tale of the rise of Nazism and its parallel preoccupation with art. The characters are Speer (Septimus Caton), Himmler (Guy Edmonds), Goering (Giles Gartrell-Mills), Hitler (Henry Nixon), Reinhard Heydrich (Rupert Reid) and Toby Schmitz. Only one woman (Megan O’Connell) appears on stage, meeting and greeting the audience and facilitating narration. This is very much a Toby Schmitz show. He has written the script, directed the play, and is as always the case, on stage, he is a magnetic presence. The dialogue is crisp and compelling, inviting the audience to follow the complex thoughts and events that led to this disturbingly bizarre period in modern history. We are privy to an exploration, not only of the era, but we are also invited to canvass the motives that drive people to power, ultimately leading to the big question, ‘How did this happen?’ Expertly staged and cleverly choreographed, pace and interest is at times hypnotic and mostly maintained. Worth a look.
11.01.2022 THEATRE: 16 SEPTEMBER 2018 | By GERALDINE WORTHINGTON | Accidental Death of an Anarchist, Dario Fo, adapted by Sarah Giles and Francis Greenslade | Directed by Sarah Giles | Sydney Theatre Company (www.sydneytheatre.com.au) | Sydney Opera House, Sydney | Until 27 October Dario Fo’s classic play is based on the true and very sombre events of 15 December 1969, when a man fell to his death from the fourth floor of the police headquarters in Milan. The deceased was a railway work...er detained in the aftershock of a bombing that had targeted a bank three days earlier. Sarah Giles and Francis Greenslade have adapted and updated the play for the STC, with Giles also directing an all-female cast who play the mostly male roles. The play opens with Inspector Bertozzo (Julie Forsyth) interrogating a clever, quick-witted and mischievous fraudster, simply known as the Maniac (Amber McMahon), in an office on the third floor of the police headquarters in Milan. The Maniac constantly outsmarts the blatantly stupid police force from her entrance, where she establishes herself as a compulsive impersonator, pretending to be a psychiatrist, judge, detective an amputee and even a bishop. This is a striking performance by McMahon who captivates the audience in a sharp, energetic and extremely funny performance playing the role of a clown, convincing the policemen to join him in a stirring song, or accidentally swallowing his glass eye. Indeed, all performances are such good fun, as they seamlessly blend memorable characters with politics and vaudeville, whilst sharply satirising men in power and keeping us thoroughly entertained throughout the many bizarre events. Journalist Maria Feletti (Annie Maynard) meets the Superintendent in an attempt to clear rumours about the interrogation and its aftermath. The constables (Annie Maynard and Susie Youssef) are foolish bystanders reminiscent of the bumbling, incompetent policemen of many detective stories. They follow orders immediately and agree with whatever anyone says and Giles’ astute direction cleverly catches all the characters’ varied internal contradictions. All this mayhem is crisply performed on Jonathon Oxlade’s exquisitely designed stage design which captivates us totally in the moment. Thumbs up!
11.01.2022 THEATRE: 14 OCTOBER 2018 | By GERALDINE WORTHINGTON | Nick Coyle, The Feather in the Web | Directed by Ben Winspear | Griffin Theatre Company (www.griffintheatre.com.au) | Stables Theatre, Darlinghurst, Sydney | Until 17 November 2018 has seen the Griffin Theatre Company showcasing cutting-edge Australian playwrights and Nick Coyle’s The Feather in the Web, a finalist at this year’s Lysicrates Prize, is yet another exemplar of impressive home-grown drama. Claire Lovering cha...rismatically plays the central character, a unique and quirky Kimberley, who is struggling to ‘find herself’. There are almost 20 characters who help/hinder Kimberley in her quest, played by three talented actors, Gareth Davies, Tina Bursill and Michelle Lim Davidson. We witness numerous trajectories involving inexperience and insecurities which evoke and embrace a contemporary coming-of-age story, and, as is often the case, involve romantic infatuation. Addressing themes of obsession and self-discovery, the talented cast, Tina Bursill, Gareth Davies, Michelle Lim Davidson and Claire Lovering, collectively and cleverly play the 18 characters that facilitate, or indeed block, self-discovery. This irregular but proficient narrative is carefully mapped out and directed with insightful humour and proficiency by Ben Winspear’s astute contribution as director. Focusing on Kimberley, the central character of the narrative, we chart her journey through the tempestuous world of young careers and relationships. As is vital in a lead role, Claire Lovering’s performance cleverly catches the character’s internal contradictions. Sophie Fletcher’s set design is minimalist, establishing and facilitating a fast-paced show where the cast rely mostly on their acting skills to vividly evoke place. Much of the play’s charm comes from its quirky perspective clearly articulated via the cinematic nature of the production and, as a result, we are exposed to a unique take on modern love, and the loss of perspective and identity that can at times ensue. The play proceeds at a rapid pace whilst delivering nuanced but full-bodied performances. By the time the metaphoric curtain comes down the characters and their stories have reached out and totally charmed you. Worth a look.
03.01.2022 Sex should be a joy ...
03.01.2022 TRAVEL: 11 OCTOBER 2018 | Summer holidays and 2019 escapes on sale with Mantra Hotels global sale A fantastic selection of summer holiday and 2019 accommodation deals at more than 130 Art Series, Peppers, Mantra and BreakFree properties is on sale until 14 October with Mantra Hotels’ annual Global Sale. With deals at some of Mantra Hotel’s most popular locations across Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii, the sale gives travellers the opportunity to save big on a wide variety o...Continue reading
01.01.2022 A very good question ...
