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Published: Thursday, 23 February 2023 11:02

Written by Greg Letts

Thanks to Covid, alternative venues and the vagaries of modern life, it had been quite a while since my partner and I had had the pleasure of taking in a performance at the Heath Ledger Theatre. After all the doom and gloom of the past few years, it was an inspired choice by Artistic Director Kate Champion to choose Virginia Gay's adaptation of Cyrano de Bergerac (directed by Sarah Goodes) as the season opener by Black Swan State Theatre Company in 2023.

Most of us are passingly familiar with the theme of Cyrano, the warrior-poet with the large heart and even larger nose. But the original is a tragedy, while Gay's version is a modern-day rom-com which nods to the source material but forges its own path, with new spins on the tropes of the past.

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Published: Saturday, 18 February 2023 12:35

Written by Nita Teoh

Looking back in time, once we have lost a loved one – all we are left with are our precious memories.

That is the essence of the movie Aftersun, where young adult Sophie tries valiantly to piece together her memories of the last holiday that she had with her father in the late 1990’s in a Turkish seaside town – as seen through her collection of photos and video camera footage of her and her Dad.

The photos and video camera footage are hazy and distorted – just like the memories that she tries to restore of her father and what he was actually like.

Aftersun is a poignant coming of age movie about young Sophie and her relationship with her father. 

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Published: Tuesday, 14 February 2023 10:31

Written by Nita Teoh

On a warmish February evening, my brother and I headed to the lovely UWA Somerville to watch 7 Days at as part of the Perth Festival movie season.

It's boy meets girl….but with a difference.

Set up on a pre-arranged date by their parents who created their profiles for them on a dating website, Ravi (played by Karan Soni) and Rita (played by Geraldine Viswanathan) end up being stranded together in a house during covid times.

What starts out as a pre-arranged date turns into an uncomfortable situation as they get to know each other in close quarters.

They are like chalk and cheese – Ravi is conservative, traditional and his nerves are on edge as he tiptoes around Rita who is chilled out, relaxed and Westernised in her habits – she drinks alcohol, she eats meat...and that is where their adventures together begin.

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Published: Sunday, 12 February 2023 11:13

Written by Greg Letts

From the opening bars of P!nk's “Get the Party Started”, the audience at Dean Misdale's Life's a Drag knew that they were in for a good time. And party we did, with only a brief pause here and there for a costume change or two (of course!) and to let in a couple of apologetic latecomers to the show.

Having first caught Dean on stage at the covid-decimated Cabaret Festival at His Majesty in 2021, my partner and I were looking forward to a booster shot of Dean's fabulous vocals and glam style. We were not to be disappointed...

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Published: Saturday, 04 February 2023 08:14

Written by Greg Letts

On a fine Friday night my partner and I headed down to the Perth Cultural Centre to get a little bit of Aussie culture thanks to Love Slaps, an improvised romantic comedy performance.

The car parks were full, Northbridge was packed, and Rehearsal Room 1 at the State Theatre Centre of WA was also pretty busy as an upbeat crowd settled in to see Tamara Creasy and Elise Wilson, the piano accompanist Maddie Moulin and special guest performer (a different one each night - on this night it was Alicia Osyka) put together a fresh off the cuff performance about the ups and downs of love based on a handful of audience ideas.

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Published: Tuesday, 31 January 2023 11:33

Written by Nita Teoh

On a warm balmy evening, my friend and I headed to watch Broker at UWA Somerville as part of the Perth Festival movies.

A young woman abandons her baby in a baby box outside a church in Bhusan Korea on a wet rainy night... and so the story begins when two men try to broker a deal for someone to buy the stolen baby at the highest price that they can get.

Of the two men, one of them runs a laundry shop (Song Kang Ho as Ssang-hyun) while the other (Gang Dong Won as Dong-soo) grew up in an orphanage and works at the church manning the baby box service.

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