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: Sydney Theatre
Review: Blue at Upstairs Belvoir
Blue floored me. The past few days I’ve spent thinking about this play, I haven’t been able to find one flaw or thing I would do differently. The entire creative team, and particularly Weatherall and Brown, should feel incredibly proud of what they have achieved. They have set the bar extremely high for 2023 theatre, and I look forward to seeing if anyone else can top it.
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.
Review: The Dazzle at Meraki Arts Bar
I left the theatre unsure of what I was supposed to get out of The Dazzle.
Maybe this is a simple matter of personal taste, and maybe I’m just not amenable to Greenberg’s style, but this production didn’t click for me.
I struggle with writing reviews of plays I don’t like, especially when those plays are created by indie companies because I know how hard it is to be an indie artist, and I know how much love is poured into these productions. However, I can’t pretend to be objective as a reviewer, I can only interpret and critique art by drawing on my own experiences and tastes.
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: Fangirls (2022) at Sydney Opera House
I truly believe Fangirls has the potential to play on a Broadway stage one day, and hope it continues to grow and improve with each iteration. Fangirls is a joyful, hilarious show that demonstrates an incisive understanding of contemporary fandom culture in the internet age, and I can’t wait to see it staged again.
Filmmaker & Playwright, Bokkie Robertson, Talks about the Different Ways to Tell a Story
“I have a lot of opinions about things that film could learn from theatre and things that theatre could learn from film. And one of my opinions is that, oftentimes, the character in theatre is incredible. It is so far and beyond anything you see in film, but the structure and storytelling of theatre can sometimes be lacking.
I’m such a story person I’m such a structured person. If you’re wanting theatre that tells you a story, that takes you on a journey, that has a payoff at the end; come to this play.”
Aaron Cornelius Wants to Give More Opportunities to Asian-Australian Theatremakers
“There are 40 Asian-Australian emerging artists on this team. It’s important to us that the industry knows that they all exist.
Look—there are this many of them! They may not be experienced yet, but they exist!”
Amelia Pitcher Wants More Sex Workers to Write Their Own Stories
“I think that’s the beauty of theatre— instead of attacking people and saying “You need to support sex work” you can invite them to observe the reality of the world, instead of the media stereotype. And so, you start to break down that stigma that we have a society about the sex industry.
Theatre is a safe way to experience things without actually experiencing them.”
Softly, Surely Actress Claudia Shnier Talks Music, Life and Theatre
“The show is about the relationship between life and music. It’s about how life moves forward, just like music does. And it’s about how a song doesn’t exist without the notes that come before it
And no one listens to a song waiting for it to end, and that’s kind of like life.”
Please Hire Declan Dowling
For my third Sydney Fringe interview, I chatted to Declan Dowling, the writer and one of the performers of Please Hire Us, one of the shows in Little Triangle’s Musical Chairs: A Cabaret Series. We spoke about cabaret, A Chorus Line, and the plight of young artists trying to get hired. Please note, this interview…
Tori Bullard’s New Play THE SHIFT Seeks to Normalise Trans Stories in Theatre
“For so long growing up, I never saw myself represented on stage, and now having the opportunity to not only represent myself on stage, but to represent my partner who is trans, has really made the world of difference.
It’s given me so much of a greater understanding of why we write and why we create.”
Scribbles of Stage and Screen 