The Brag

Angela’s Kitchen Until June 9 / SBW Stables **** In his autobiographical one-person show, cabaret diva Paul Capsis showcases his talent for storytelling, pulling us into his family history through a series of episodes that look at his relationship with his mother, his grandparents, and his family’s roots in Malta. It might not seem like [...]

Posted: May 30th, 2012 under Arts, Brag 464 (May 28), Theatre Reviews.
Tags: Angela's Kitchen, Arts, Dee Jefferson, Paul Capsis, SBW Stables, Theatre, Theatre Review

In his latest adaptation, Belvoir’s Resident Director Simon Stone takes tried and tested ingredients – a play by Eugene O’Neill, an assembly of individually acclaimed cast, and a well established design crew – and whips it into a new recipe; something less avant-garde than his deconstructed Thyestes (Sydney Festival, 2012) but just a touch more adventurous with form than, say, The Wild Duck (Belvoir, 2011).

Posted: May 23rd, 2012 under Arts, Brag 463 (May 21), Theatre Reviews.
Tags: Belvoir, Belvoir St Theatre, Dee Jefferson, Emily Barclay, Eugene O'Neill, Simon Stone, Strange Interlude, Theatre, Theatre Review

Melita Rowston began writing plays at art school. “I actually started out as a painter,” she tells me. “I went to the Victorian College of the Arts, and started hanging out with actors and seeing a lot of plays; I wanted to tell stories in my paintings, but I realised I could tell better, more detailed stories if I put them on stage.” Over a decade later, Rowston has carved out a reputation for writing theatre with a distinctly Australian voice – and Crushed, playing at New Theatre this month, is no exception.

Posted: May 23rd, 2012 under Arts, Brag 462 (May 14), Theatre Reviews.
Tags: Crushed, Melita Rowston, New Theatre, Roslyn Helper, Theatre, Theatre Review

Keep Smiling! A Housewife’s Guide is set in 1960s Australia during the Vietnam War, and explores the female role in the household and society at large, through a group of women who each represent a different feminine archetype. Mrs So-And-So (Josipa Draisma) is insecure and babbles a lot; Mrs Making-Ends-Meet (Christina Falsone) runs a grocery store while her husband is mysteriously absent; Mrs Worldly-Of-Great-Estates (Carla Nirella) possesses a snobby disposition, not to mention drinking and smoking habits that allude to a deeper unhappiness; Mrs Practical-And-True (Alyssan Russell) is devoutly raising four kids while her husband fights in the war; Mrs Newcomer (Naomi White) is the upstart new-kid-o-the-block, who rejects a marriage proposal for bigger dreams of going to London; and Mrs Eye-On-The-Prize (Stephanie Son) is a politician’s wife, struggling to conceive a child as she clings on to the rungs of the social ladder.

Posted: May 23rd, 2012 under Brag 462 (May 14), Theatre Reviews.
Tags: Bondi Pavilion, Keep Smiling A housewife's Guide, Roslyn Helper, Theatre, Theatre Review

I think it’s fair to say that we live in a food-obsessed society: conversations about weight or eating pervade almost any social situation, our television seems to be a constant stream of cooking and weight-loss shows, while we ourselves seesaw between planning the next meal and planning how to shed it. This conflict forms a key part of Food, the latest of ten new Australian works featured in this year’s Belvoir season.

Posted: May 15th, 2012 under Arts, Brag 461 (May 7), Theatre Reviews.
Tags: Belvoir Theatre, Food, Henry Florence, Kate Champion, Steve Rodgers, Theatre Review