Philip Quast is musical theatre royalty. A frequent Sondheim collaborator and Olivier Award-winner, who has commanded the stages of Lincoln Center, the Royal Albert Hall, and the UK's National Theatre. Now he’s packing the relatively petite space of Sydney’s Ensemble Theatre for an autobiographical cabaret titled, The Road I Took. Quast is a towering figure,... Continue Reading →
Theresa Rebeck’s Bernhardt/Hamlet is probing gender politics and a brilliant showcase for Kate Mulvany in Melbourne Theatre Company’s rambunctious new production. Sarah Bernhardt (Mulvany), the Meryl Streep of the late 19th and early 20th century, is looking for a new challenge to suit her towering talents now that she's aging out playing ingénues. So she... Continue Reading →
Edward Albee’s pedigree as the chronicler of domestic dysfunction is well earned and the Sydney Theatre Company’s new production of The Goat or, Who is Sylvia revels in the nasty details. Dark comedies don’t get much darker than this, and when we say "the goat", we don't mean "the greatest of all time". Martin and... Continue Reading →
Opera Up Late takes opera's biggest hits and sprinkles them with some late night fairy dust. Stars of the Sydney Opera House's Dame Joan Sutherland theatre are dragging up, getting down and belting the high notes for an evening of delights that’s making an early claim to be the real highlight of Sydney WorldPride’s cultural... Continue Reading →
Georgian queer cinema is in the spotlight again with Elene Naveriani’s evocative Wet Sand, a heartbreaking look at the power of repression in a parochial community and the hate that lurks behind the faces we see everyday. Amnon (Gia Agumava) runs the local café, serving beers and meals to the locals. He’s a calm, stable... Continue Reading →
Situations spiral out of control and the classes clash in the juicy lesbian drama, The Origin of Evil (L'origine du mal). Money, murder, and the design choices of the nouveau riche fill the screen in this darkly comic-thriller. Stéphane (a wonderful performance by Call My Agent’s Laure Calamy) works in a factory, packaging anchovies all... Continue Reading →
Actor-turned-filmmaker Leonardo Brzezicki’s devastatingly impactful drama Wandering Heart (Errante corazón), is a stunning showcase for the talents of Leonardo Sbaraglia who fills every frame with a brokenness that transcends the screen. This is a fantastic performance that is worth the price of admission all on its own. Wandering Heart (Errante corazón). Courtesy of Queer Screen.... Continue Reading →
There’s a simple pleasure to be had in sitting back and watching everything on stage being done well. Belvoir’s new queer family dramedy, Blessed Union, is seamlessly terrific. Funny, emotive, and probing. Flawless. No notes. I could end the review here, but obviously I won't... Ruth (Danielle Cormack) and Judith (Maude Davey) have always upheld... Continue Reading →
Sydney’s glamour bug, Etcetera Etcetera, is expanding her field of drag with a new one-woman show that gets down to the humanity behind the mask in Big Screen, Small Queen (Everything I Didn’t Learn at Film School), presented during Sydney WorldPride. The night starts like an old school Sydney drag show, lip-syncing to classic film... Continue Reading →
A gigolo, a drag queen, and a porn star scheme their way to a motherload of cash in fashion photographer James Demitri’s feature debut as writer-director, The Winner Takes It All. This film is utter trash. That’s not a read, it’s the aesthetic. This is a deliberately, deliciously trashy comedy caper that won’t come anywhere... Continue Reading →
