Ultimately, Chef was not for me. I found it hard to sit through the show’s grim tone and violent subject matter. While Birbara’s performance has been widely praised, I struggled to connect with her character and her performance.
Tag: kings cross theatre
Review: Tongue Tied at KXT
Tongue Tied is an incisive representation of a media culture that often prioritises publishing ‘scandalous’ news over the wellbeing of victims (see: the EJ Norvill Geoffrey Rush case).
I loved the contemporary and urgent subject matter of the play, and it made me think deeply about the many real-world examples that parallel the events of the play.
The Monologue Collective Mini-Review
These monologues successfully captured the feeling of being 17, with all the angst and humour and romance that comes with it. These young writers are ambitious and in-tune with the concerns of their peers. The topics explored included young queer love, the pressures of high school, grappling with grief as a teenager, and young women’s relationships to their mothers.
Laneikka Denne and Parker Craig Talk About Why We Need Teenagers Writing Teen Stories
“I saw a lot of media that paraded around this expected idea of youth that was fun and good and rebellious, but in my life, I wasn’t having that… When I was coming out of high school, I was like “this sucked, and all of the media about it said it wouldn’t suck”. I was disappointed, and I wanted to write something that tells you the truth—that the teenage dream is such a lie!”
Review: Daddy Developed a Pill at KXT
Watching Daddy Develops a Pill felt a bit like experiencing all the emotions of a party in one sitting. At times, the show’s chaotic and fast-paced tone feels like you’ve taken a handful of illicit substances and they’re all hitting you at once. Where are you? What’s going on? You’re not entirely sure. But you think you’re having fun. Other times the high-energy frantic action all feels like too much, and you crave an intermission (or even a brief quiet moment in the party’s bathroom to collect your thoughts).
Hot Mess Review: A Love Letter to Drunk Girls in Bathrooms
Picture this: It’s 1AM on a Saturday Night. You’re at the women’s bathroom in some godforsaken Sydney nightclub. The floors are sticky, the music is pumping, and a crowd of girls are crammed into the small bathroom in a queue to use the one toilet that: A. Has Toilet Paper, and B. Actually Flushes. Someone…
Interview with Dead Skin Creators Laneikka Denne and Kim Hardwick
Earlier this month White Box Theatre Company and KXT Kings Cross Theatre hosted the world premiere of Dead Skin a new work by emerging playwright and actress Laneikka Denne. My review of the premiere can be found here. I recently sat down with writer and star Laneikka Denne, and director Kim Hardwick, to chat about developing new work, the importance of queer representation, and telling authentic stories about young people.
Dead Skin: Teen Writer Explores Young, Queer Love in Compelling But Scattered New Play
Denne’s story offers a painful look at two young women desperate to be loved but aching from the pain of choosing people who won’t love them back. At times Denne and Hardwick’s commitment to abstract storytelling confuses the story rather than helping it.
Review: A Girl In School Uniform (Walks Into A Bar)
Peter Brook once said, “I can take any empty space and call it a bare stage.” He claimed that for theatre to exists, one just needs a space and an actor. Pointing out the existence of radio theatre, he insisted that even light is not necessary for theatre. I’ve never seen Brook’s ideas demonstrated as…
Scribbles of Stage and Screen 