Reviews

Excerpts from Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto were on display this last weekend, accompanying live Noel Coward’s famous movie adaptation of his one-act playStill Life and directed by British veteran David Lean. With the distinguished and talented Konstantin Shamray in full flourish at the piano and popular conductor Benjamin Northey at the helm, this was a unique and moving alternative to view the romantic classic, bringing to the forefront the importance of how a musical score can add pace whilst enhancing the emotional makeup of the on-screen characters.

Broadway musicals don’t usually showcase iconic queer heroes and especially one like Hedwig. This conflicted victim of a botched gender change op back in East Berlin - leaving her with a one angry inch of penis - was developed in a New York punk drag bar in the 1990s.

When I was growing up there was a company called New Opera that presented smaller, more intimate operas that were not financially viable for larger companies.

These are precisely what Mopoke Theatre Productions stages. Artistic Director Nicholas Cannon founded the company in 2014 to support local new and emerging artists through the production of high-quality, small-scale performances which are accessible to the community.

Mopoke's productions feature local artists, offering progression opportunities for young and developing performers, musicians and directors.

Rumbleskin is an original play by Naarm/ Melbourne based writer and theatre-maker, Ames May Nunn. Their writing style in this text is very poetic and evocative. It conjures up the kind of vast and mysterious landscapes that characterise the western genre. The choice to explore queer identity via a genre that normally indulges hyperbolic masculinity is an interesting one. Nunn sees this as part of a queer impetus to reclaim this space as transformative and full of possibilities.