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

Things I Know to be True by Black Swan State Theatre Company

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Published: 01 June 2023

My partner and I sat in the gorgeous Heath Ledger Theatre amidst a packed house for the opening night of Black Swan State Theatre Company’s Things I know to be True.

An Aussie family with 4 kids, living in the burbs of Booragoon, just going about their daily lives, the family members sometimes bickering – but more or less a happy family – with the young adult children busy with work and their love lives and the parents heading towards an empty nest.

That is the premise of Things I know to be True. Though as events start to unfurl we get swept into a storm cloud of seemingly unexpected and uncontrollable events. Each character cleverly narrates their unique perspective and inner thoughts and feelings on what is going on in their life.

Dramatic and poised to ignite like a lit fuse on a stick of dynamite ...

One Fine Morning at Luna

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Published: 31 May 2023

On a coolish Monday evening, my partner and I headed to Luna Leederville on Oxford Street to watch the much awaited movie One Fine Morning (Un Beau Batin) starring Léa Seydoux (as Sandra).

The plot follows the story of Sandra’s life – holding a career as a translator, a single Mum with a young daughter and visiting her ailing elderly father Georg (Pascal Greggory) on a regular basis. Her love life is non existent until she reconnects with old friend Clément (Melvil Poupaud) and a passionate affair blossoms, with the added complication that he is married with a young son.

Director Mia Hansen-Løve’s semi-autobiographical movie is reflective, portraying the fragilities of life and the passage of the generations through the cycle of birth and death.

Léa Seydoux is effervescent in this role

Sweet As at Luna

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Published: 24 May 2023

On a sunny Saturday morning, I walked down Oxford St to Luna Leederville to watch Sweet As - the debut feature film by Nyul Nyul / Yawuru Director Jub Clerc.

I was especially looking forward to watching this movie - being a locally made film and set within the spectacular and stunning landscape of the Kimberley region. I had missed catching it at the opening night of the WA Made Film Festival.

The movie revolves around the coming of age story of Murra (Shantae Barnes-Cowan) as she battles the challenges of young adult life – with her mother being constantly absent due to drugs and partying.

Her Uncle Tom (a policeman) sends her off reluctantly on a youth photography trip for at risk young adults, knowing her keen interest in photography.

Olivier Tarbaga - A Story of Migration by WA Indian Dancers

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Published: 22 May 2023

As I took off my shoes to step into the Saraswati Mahavidhayala Centre for Performing Arts & Education, I was struck by the colourful artwork on the walls - I felt like I was entering a special sacred space.

It brought me back to a time when I used to dine at the Annalakshmi restaurant (on The Esplanade) when the lifts would go up to the restaurant and you would be transported to a magical world of Indian artwork and pieces.

This evening I was to watch the showing of local young Indian classical dancers who had been working on new works with the renowned New York Based West African Dancer / Choreographer / storyteller Olivier Tarbaga.

The 8 young dancers up on stage were lithe and agile.

Bleeding Tree by Black Swan State Theatre Company

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Published: 03 May 2023

I was eagerly awaiting another visit to the State Theatre Centre of WA – one of my favourite places in Perth.

This time I was headed down to Studio Underground to watch The Bleeding Tree by Black Swan State Theatre Company.

The stark, minimalist set with white painted lattice work on all three sides from top to bottom was all that met the audience as we waited for the play to begin.

The shadowy effects of the lattice created a slightly eerie effect...exuding silence and nothingness. A small thought bubble came up in my mind – I wonder what is going to happen?

This was my first time seeing The Bleeding Tree – it was last performed back in 2021 at The Blue Room Theatre.

This adaptation by Black Swan State Theatre Company did not disappoint.

The Blue Caftan at Perth Festival

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Published: 21 March 2023

As the Perth Festival movie season comes to an end (there will be an encore season from the 3rd to 9th April), my better half and I headed to UWA Somerville to watch The Blue Caftan.

The Blue Caftan is set in a small Moroccan town where Mina (Lubna Azabal) and Halim (Saleh Bakri) run a store making beautifully embroidered caftans. Their days are spent manning the shop, dealing with customers, and keeping up with the workload of making caftans for sometimes demanding customers.

The middle aged couple decide to take on Youssef (Ayoub Missioui) as an apprentice. He is keen to learn embroidery and tailoring from Halim (the master tailor – also known as a maalem). And thereon as the story unfolds, an intimate love triangle develops between them.

The story is tender, the story is sensuous. It is exquisite in portraying the fragility of love that comes in many forms and the intimacy that goes with love.

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Things I Know to be True by Black Swan State Theatre Company

One Fine Morning at Luna

Sweet As at Luna

Olivier Tarbaga - A Story of Migration by WA Indian Dancers

Bleeding Tree by Black Swan State Theatre Company

The Blue Caftan at Perth Festival