My last review of the year- I may very well squeeze a review of the year in theatre- but this is the last show I was needing to write up… which I will admit was a little tricky for a couple of reasons- the opening night being on the 23rd of December… also thinking alot about Verbatim theatre as a style/genre of theatre making, what it means for The Sydney Theatre Company to be so closely linked to an international community of filmmakers and yet seemingly so far away or disconnected from Sydney’s Theatre community. Read more

After a full year of heats and audience voting, Saturday night at The Metro was the culimation of hundreds of rehearsals, a huge amount of money- and musicians asking of their friends to pre-buy tickets to see them play (and to vote for their band). Harnessed by the impressive calm and cool talents of Bo Philips- the Australian Area Manager for Emergenza- bands from across Australia (and New Zealand) lined up for over 6 hours of battle. Read more

I think it’s safe to say that my relationship to fashion is like that between a brooding teenage boy and an over-eager teenage girl… me being the brooding teenage boy with my sleepy eyelids and “fashion” being the ever present teenage girl throwing herself at me despite my disengagement. I don’t think about clothes- I don’t and haven’t ever bought magazines… I am often found wearing black- because colour demands a high level of maintenance… Read more

It may be a little bit of a misnomer to label the upcoming Sydney Fringe the “inaugural” Sydney Fringe Festival. Some may remember a fringe festival based at the Bondi Pavillion which closed in 2001. Read more

Someone told me once that the reason why the name “Macbeth” is not to be uttered in the theatre is not because of its supernatural/bloody themes- but because it is the show that is produced to financially save a theatre on the verge of bankrupcy- and so “Macbeth” has become synonymous with a theatre in trouble. Also apart of this old theatre knowledge- which like all gossip doesn’t know its source nor author- is that A Midsummers Night’s Dream has the same function for a theatre in trouble- because it is a crowd pleaser. Read more

Parnassus Den is a script development forum which has been developing new Australian scripts and their writers since 1995. In that time they have invested time and resources in over 600 plays which have received feedback from an audience of industry and punters- with the aim of new works being made ready for production. Read more

Emergenza is the World’s biggest live band festival, providing unsigned bands the opportunity to play infront of hundreds of punters and a panel of industry executives. It is a trial by fire competition- with heats designed to push forward the bands voted by the audience as the best of the competition. Starting off at The Lair in The Metro- each band has 20 minutes of playing time to make their mark infront of a fairly well lit audience – whatever sounded good in your bedroom or loungeroom is now amplified and in front of strangers… Read more

With the wind up of the calendar year comes a few things- a time for reflection, Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas is you” blaring forth from tinsel festooned supermarkets, the inevitable staff Christmas parties, obligatory consumerism… and for theatre folk- a sense of what their coming year of work looks like… or for some where their year of study will be. Read more

When I enter the space- not through the usual entrance there is a steady dark drone that growls its throaty hum. Performers walk in the space- three walk slowly along the tops of antique pianos- another welcomes me at the door- another has a goldfish bowl with the sacred undergarment he asks me to respect- another asks me to show her my underwear- another is dragging bodies onto the floor and undressing the ensemble down to their underwear. Light spills lazilly over the bodies slumped in the semi-dark allowing each occasional detail to be amplified- the glint of a toe ring- the curl of a tattoo on a rested foot… Read more

And for those who weren’t there today at Belvoir Street to see the announcement of the Philip Parsons Young Playwright’s Award for 2009- you missed an interesting day…and an interesting announcement. Read more