Arts & Culture

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Category: Arts & Culture; 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.

Details: Written by: Greg Letts; Category: Arts & Culture; Published: 12 February 2023

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...

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Category: Arts & Culture; Published: 27 February 2023

Truth, beauty, freedom, love…..

I gazed thoughtfully at these empowering words which were emblazoned on the walls of the Crown Theatre as I waited for my better half to join me.

We entered the magical world of the theatre whose stage had been totally transformed for Moulin Rouge! The Musical.

The stage glittered with enormous throbbing patterned hearts, and as we gazed around with curiosity on our left was Moulin Rouge's trademark red windmill and to our right a wise elephant was looking down on us.

We were ready for the show to begin!

And it did – as the line up of star studded performers with their flashy sequined numbers and sexy alluring cabaret outfits made their languid grand entrance up on the stage.

The storyline starts simply enough - boy meets girl...and how complicated could it be to have a happily ever after ending ??!!

Details: Written by: Greg Letts; Category: Arts & Culture; Published: 23 February 2023

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.

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Category: Arts & Culture; Published: 13 March 2023

On a sunny Saturday morning, I had a leisurely walk down Oxford St, heading to Luna Leederville to watch Of an Age.

The teenage years can be rocky and turbulent times, let alone being a young gay man growing up in a Serbian immigrant family in a working class Northern suburb of Melbourne.

It is 1999 and Kol and Ebony are best of friends and dance partners when a distress call from Ebony after a big night out brings Kol and Ebony’s brother Adam together on a long drive to rescue Ebony.

From there, an unexpected romance blossoms between Kol and Adam. Kol is “fresh as” just out of school, experiencing love for the first time, unsure about himself and his place in the world, and tentative about his sexuality, whilst Adam is older and more settled about his place in the world.

Details: Written by: Nita Teoh; Category: Arts & Culture; Published: 28 February 2023

The title of this movie struck me as rather beautiful. I envisioned a light beam casting a warm glow on the Empire Theatre.

It is cognisant of the warm and fuzzy feeling that you get when you enter a movie theatre knowing that you can switch off for a couple of hours and immerse yourself in a good movie.

The trailer didn’t reveal much about the story line – so with this vague introduction to the film, my partner and I headed to Luna Leederville to watch it at Cinema 5 – one of their small cosy cinemas.

Empire of Light clocking in at around 2 hours is one of the most tender movies that I’ve watched recently. It strikes all the right chords.

Details: Written by: Greg Letts; Category: Arts & Culture; Published: 04 February 2023

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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GET THE PERTH WALKABOUT NEWSLETTER

Sweet As at Luna

Dean Misdale - Life's a Drag at Fringe Perth

Moulin Rouge! The Musical at Crown Theatre

Cyrano by Black Swan State Theatre Company

Of an Age at Luna

Empire of Light at Luna

Love Slaps: The Ultimate Improvised Comedy Romance at Fringe