Perth Walkabout - The Insider's Guide to Perth Western Australia

Housekeeping for Beginners at Luna

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Published: 03 May 2024

The trailer for the movie Housekeeping for Beginners caught my attention – the life and times of a blended family living in Northern Macedonia. It sounded interesting.

Stories about blended families that come to mind include the two Korean movies Shoplifters and Broker by Director / Writer Kore-eda Hirokazu, both of which I have enjoyed in the past.

In Housekeeping for Beginners, the story revolves around the couple Dita (Anamaria Marinca) and Suada (Alina Serban) – with Suada passing from terminal cancer and leaving Dita to care for Suada's kids. Dita never wanted to be a mother and she is left looking after her girlfriend’s two daughters whilst confronting immense grief.

The story unfolds with lots of highs and lows as this newly formed blended family somehow gets it together.

Evil Does Not Exist at Perth Festival

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Published: 12 March 2024

On a warmish evening, my partner and I headed to the UWA Somerville to watch the Perth Festival movie Evil Does Not Exist.

I had been drawn to watch this movie – having watched the well known Oscar award winning film Drive my Car by the same Director Ryusuke Hamaguchi.

The story line revolves around Takumi (Hitoshi Omika) and his eight year daughter Hana (Ryo Nishikawa), who live in a small village in Japan where locals enjoy the tranquillity of nature and slower paced lifestyle, and reap the benefits of a small community where everyone knows each other and helps out where they can.

Then in come the developers with big plans to set up a glamping site for tourists, and hence the story unfolds as conflict and tensions arise due to community concerns about their water supply.

With gorgeous cinematography capturing nature, along with melancholic music by composer Eiko Ishibashi, this sets the tone for a reflective movie and an interesting story line that brings up the issue of what happens when we disrespect nature ?

The Pool by Black Swan State Theatre Company at Perth Festival

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Published: 12 February 2024

With soaring temperatures in Perth, many of us might be thinking about jumping straight into the pool at our local.

Being a member of my local pool, I know that visiting my local is more than just about going to the pool to enjoy the facilities. It’s about community and the life of the pool and the people that go there.

And that is the premise of The Pool - Black Swan State Theatre Company’s first play for the season.

The location for the venue is a unique first – the play being staged at Bold Park Aquatic Centre rather than inside a theatre. Donning headphones, we immersed ourselves in the play – listening in to conversations, sitting pool side observing all the action, and hearing internal monologues on daily life and its up and downs and all that goes with it.

Central themes include what is meaningful in life as we go through the different stages in life (growing up, the teenage years, the responsible adult, ageing) along with issues of identity (ethnicity, upbringing, self worth and the age old question of where are you from etc).

Our neighbouring theatre goers sitting next to us had a gorgeous service dog in attendance and she / he also watched in awe

Monster at Perth Festival

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Published: 06 February 2024

On a balmy evening, my friend and I chatted away and enjoyed the ambience of the canopy of pines at UWA Somerville, as we awaited the start of the Japanese film Monster.

Directed by Kore-eda Hirokazu (Broker and Shoplifters), the story revolves around 2 young boys Mugino Minato (Kurokawa Soya) and Hoshikawa Yori (Hiragi Hinata)

Minato starts to act strangely and his Mum is relentless in demanding answers from the school, but with little progress made in finding out what is actually happening to her teenage son.

Bullying seems to be at play, and the story is cleverly told from the perspective of each of the main characters. And as we all know and can relate to - reality is in fact based on our perceptions of what we thought happened as seen through our own lens.

Auteur Kore-eda Hirokazu expertly unravels the story and what is happening with a deft touch for the movie goer.

Riceboy Sleeps at Luna

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Published: 29 January 2024

Many of us can relate to the immigrant experience - perhaps having been through it oneself or had a friend relate their history to us.

I know I can – having migrated with my family from Singapore at a young age to live in Perth.

So the film “Riceboy Sleeps” caught my attention – the title itself also making me curious about the story line and what might unfold.

It is 1990s Canada and we follow the lives of Dong-Hyun (Ethan Hwang) (Dohyun Noel Hwang as child Dong-Hyun) and his Mum So-Young (Choi Seung-yong) – a single Mum with a young child who migrates to Canada from South Korea to escape her past.

She works hard in a factory to put food on the table and to give her son a good education so that he has the best chance of rising above her own circumstances in life.

Riceboy Sleeps is a rich movie about the immigrant journey - immersing the viewer in understanding the cross cultural experiences and challenges of the young Dong Hyu - from his younger years through to his teenage years.

The Oak Tree at Peninsula Farm by FiFi Productions

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Published: 28 January 2024

On a balmy Saturday evening, my partner and I headed to one of our favourite spots - Peninsula Farm (a National Heritage building) - along the Maylands foreshore to watch The Oak Tree.

We were greeted by the soothing sounds of the musician Travis on keyboard with a spectacular backdrop of the river as the sun went down.

The flyer that had been displayed around Maylands had caught my attention with its themes of love and grief and the appearance of a ghost from historical times around the old oak tree.

Luckily for the theatre group, Peninsula Farm has a very beautiful and old oak tree – its grandeur making for a very natural centrepiece for the play's story line.

Lenny (Matthew McKail) and Kate (Fiona Blakely) are having a sea change moving from Mt Hawthorn to their new dream place at Byford, trying to leave their tragic past behind them.

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Housekeeping for Beginners at Luna

Evil Does Not Exist at Perth Festival

The Pool by Black Swan State Theatre Company at Perth Festival

Monster at Perth Festival

Riceboy Sleeps at Luna

The Oak Tree at Peninsula Farm by FiFi Productions