Reviews

Anthem is a finely tuned and beautifully calibrated theatre work that captures the anxieties that plague Australian society, partly driven by a disconcerting global context and its own struggles with multiculturalism. In many ways the play also shows how the population is still grappling with the remnants of the culture and history wars. The residual effects of the gradual rise of right wing and populist movements since the 1990s, which later produced inglorious events such as the Cronulla riots, are palpable in this play.

This is the Ur-Fleabag, where it all began in 2013, the one woman 80-minute stage show performed at the Edinburgh Fringe by the woman who wrote it.  That first production led to a string of awards and then to her much amplified television adaptation Fleabag Series I & II.  Plus her adaptation of the Villanelle novels by Luke Jennings that became Killing Eve Series I, plus a punch-up draft on the latest Bond movie and now a contract with Amazon for more.  This ex-RADA student, who didn’t like the roles she was being offered and so

They say music communicates deeper than words. You’ll remember a tune before a speech or a name. The name Sam Cooke may not be one you remember but his songs are legendary. He was a prolific writer during his short life (died in his 30s) and made an impact so big that even now, some 50 years later, his music is still widely selling. It’s the sound of a very specific era in American music. From the first slow dance hit “You send me” in 1957, Cooke had 28 singles in the American Top 40 and Billboard Pop Singles.

Stray Cats Theatre’s Peter Pan gave an adventurous kick off to the school holidays, with its short run filling the smaller theatre at Manpac.

A particularly dark incarnation of this classic story, there were a few small audience members for whom it was a bit too much, with the movement sequences being quite frightening. Having said that, I sought the expert opinion of four year old ‘Jasper’ who declared the whole production “very good”, with a sage nod.