We have recently been hit with the difficult news that arts funding for small to medium arts organisations, especially ones that help young people and emerging creatives, has been slashed. The already lacklustre monetary distribution to the arts in Australia is now seriously dwindling and in danger. So, what are we to do? We keep…
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What is the role of a mother? And how does the relationship between a mother and her child shape that child’s life and actions? What makes some children grow up to be like their mothers, while others are motivated to turn away and do something completely different? The new book Things My Mother Taught Me…
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Anton Chekhov is a well-known playwright in the theatre world because he has a knack for making you think outside the conventional box. Born in 1860 in Russia, Chekhov produced four infamously classic plays and a number of short stories. The Cherry Orchard is the last of his great works and has a heavy player…
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Sydney’s Kings Cross was once a happening party district, but with the lock-out laws still in place, late-night boozing just isn’t a thriving business any longer. Kings Cross is now almost a ghost town, and the city itself is in need of new and exciting ways to keep the party going. This is why, I…
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Lady Sings It Better is a four women cabaret group performing at this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival with their show Here to Save the World. Maeve Marsden, Libby Wood, Annaliese Szota and Fiona Pearson bring with it a fresh and raucously hilarious perspective on the way the current discussion of feminism is framed in…
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In the front window of Smith’s Alternative, a person is being eaten – or coughed out – by typewriters of varied vintage. I recognise the face of artist Nicci Haynes, eyes closed, contorted into expressions of fear or outrage. She spits binary code as she is rolled into existence by these machines. Uneasy indeed, these…
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The irony of the West’s close relationship with Saudi Arabia would be laughable, if it weren’t so troubling. When King Abdullah, of the ruling al-Saud family, died in January 2015, tributes gushed forth from world leaders. Prince Charles, David Cameron and Barack Obama, among others, flew to Riyadh to pay their respects to a man…
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It’s almost every little girl’s dream to dance the lead in Swan Lake. The chance to be the centre of attention amidst the grace and beauty of ballet at its most finest is just too enticing to resist. Admit it: even if you now couldn’t care less for ballet, there must have been some point in…
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In a recent article for Eureka Street, Ellena Savage wrote that perhaps one of the purposes of reading is to help ‘connect with feelings that don’t have words, that only have images like swirling sandstone’. Jennifer Down’s debut novel, Our Magic Hour, is concerned with these feelings that don’t have words—the inexpressible emotions and sensations…
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As a lifelong book nerd, I like to think I consume a balanced diet of fiction novels. I grew up reading books by Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl. I went through periods of reading books set in India (Vikram Seth, Arundhati Roy), America as seen by immigrants (Amy Lee) and the American south (Harper Lee,…
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Amy Stewart’s novel Girl Waits With Gun, based on the forgotten true story of one of the first American female deputy sheriffs, is every feminist’s dream read. Brimming with humour, sass, mystery, and delivered to the reader by a narrator so completely resistant to stereotype, Stewart’s novel is worthy of its acclaim from beginning to…
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Blancmange Productions has done it again with their 2016 season opener The Punter’s Siren, on now until March 5th at The World Bar in Sydney. The play is short, sweet, and to the point, and is accompanied by nothing more than simplistic staging, talented performances, and some of the most refreshing and wittiest play writing…
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We can all relate to the struggle that teachers go through when they try to teach history. Things that have happened in the past can often be a bore and leave students feeling uninspired. So, when you set out to create a “period piece” of sorts i.e. a history lesson presented on the live theatre…
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Darlinghurst Theatre Company has begun its 2016 season with the bold and relevant The Pride by British playwright Alexi Kaye Campbell. The script was first premiered in 2008 to critical acclaim and it’s no secret why that is. With poetic and life affirming language and an incredibly important message, The Pride is what theatre is meant to be. We…
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