Printing at the Singapore Writer's Festival

Greetings from the Singapore Writer's Festival. In the foyer outside the official opening there are artists helping delegates print their own stencil onto reclaimed fabric.

New Theatre Sydney 2024 Season

In the Foyer at the New Theatre. 
Photo by Marghanita da Cruz 2023

The New Theatre launch was exciting, a theatrical performance in itself. I suggest starting a night out with an early meal in one of the cafes in King Street. Ask for a table overlooking the street and you can watch the passing parade of interesting characters. Then a drink in the foyer of the theatre.

For the launch we were each handed a colored plastic token. I wondered if there was going to be some form of audience participation, with all green tokens told to do something, and red something else. But these turned out to be free drink tokens for the opening. After some people watching in the foyer, we filled the seats in the theatre, wit the directors for next year on stage. The set was dressed for the last production of the year, THE BALLAD OF MARIA MARTEN BY BETH FLINTOFF, which finishes 16 DECEMBER and is suitably ethereal. The 2024 season opens with Homos, or Everyone in America by JORDAN SEAVEY (6 FEBRUARY,) then Atlantis by LALLY KATZ (19 MARCH), The Front Page by BEN HECHT AND CHARLES MACARTHUR (23 APRIL), Ink by JAMES GRAHAM (28 MAY), Sunset Strip by SUZIE MILLER (9 JULY), Hangmen by MARTIN MCDONAGH (13 AUGUST), Wife by SAMUEL ADAMSON (8 OCTOBER), Shakespeare in Love BASED ON THE SCREENPLAY BY MARC NORMAN & TOM STOPPARD ADAPTED FOR THE STAGE BY LEE HALL (12 NOVEMBER). That was a lot to take in. Each director was asked about the play and their approach. This is a little like asking a teacher what their star pupil is like. I wanted someone to say "It was the only play left, so I had to take it", but they didn't. Plays for the year go through a selection process, and the rights have to be available. Like looking at clouds, reading a pattern into the selection of plays says more about the viewer, than what is viewed. In this case there are two about the print media: The Front Page and Ink, which neatly bracket the golden age of newspapers from the 1920s to the 1970s. Similarly Everyone in America and Wife explore sexual identity. Normally I will try to find a movie or TV show to relate a play to, as an easy way to explain it to non-theater goers (those of us who are middle upper class but still use public transport, was we were categorized last night). This is going to be easy with the last of the season Shakespeare in Love, based on the film of the same name. That should provide the opportunity for the New Theatre to do what it does best, a big boisterous production.eet. Ask for a table overlooking the street and you can watch the passing parade of interesting characters. Then a drink in the foyer of the theatre.

The New Theatre launch was exciting, a theatrical performance in itself. I suggest starting a night out at the Net Theatre with an early meal in one of the cafes in King Street. Ask for a table overlooking the street and you can watch the passing parade of interesting characters. Then a drink in the foyer of the theatre. 

For the launch we were each handed a colored plastic token. I wondered if there was going to be some form of audience participation, with all green tokens told to do something, and red something else. But these turned out to be free drink tokens for the opening.

After some people watching in the foyer, we filled the seats in the theatre, wit the directors for next year on stage. The set was dressed for the last production of the year, THE BALLAD OF MARIA MARTEN

BY BETH FLINTOFF, which finishes 16 DECEMBER and is suitably ethereal. 

The 2024 season opens with Homos, or Everyone in America by  JORDAN SEAVEY (6 FEBRUARY,) then Atlantis by LALLY KATZ (19 MARCH), The Front Page by BEN HECHT AND CHARLES MACARTHUR (23 APRIL), Ink by JAMES GRAHAM (28 MAY),  

Sunset Strip by SUZIE MILLER (9 JULY), Hangmen by MARTIN MCDONAGH (13 AUGUST), Wife by SAMUEL ADAMSON (8 OCTOBER), Shakespeare in Love BASED ON THE SCREENPLAY BY MARC NORMAN & TOM STOPPARD ADAPTED FOR THE STAGE BY LEE HALL (12 NOVEMBER).

That was a lot to take in. Each director was asked about the play and their approach. This is a little like asking a teacher what their star pupil is like. I wanted someone to say "It was the only play left, so I had to take it", but they didn't. 

Plays for the year go through a selection process, and the rights have to be available. Like looking at clouds, reading a pattern into the selection of plays says more about the viewer, than what is viewed. In this case there are two about the print media: The Front Page and Ink, which neatly bracket the golden age of newspapers from the 1920s to the 1970s. Similarly Everyone in America and Wife explore sexual identity. 

Normally I will try to find a movie or TV show to relate a play to, as an easy way to explain it to non-theater goers (those of us who are middle upper class but still use public transport, was we were categorized last night). This is going to be easy with the last of the season Shakespeare in Love, based on the film of the same name. That should provide the opportunity for the New Theatre to do what it does best, a big boisterous production.

For the launch we were each handed a colored plastic token. I wondered if there was going to be some form of audience participation, with all green tokens told to do something, and red something else. But these turned out to be free drink tokens for the opening.

After some people watching in the foyer, we filled the seats in the theatre, wit the directors for next year on stage. The set was dressed for the last production of the year, THE BALLAD OF MARIA MARTEN
BY BETH FLINTOFF, which finishes 16 DECEMBER and is suitably ethereal.

The 2024 season opens with Homos, or Everyone in America by JORDAN SEAVEY (6 FEBRUARY,) then Atlantis by LALLY KATZ (19 MARCH), The Front Page by BEN HECHT AND CHARLES MACARTHUR (23 APRIL), Ink by JAMES GRAHAM (28 MAY),
Sunset Strip by SUZIE MILLER (9 JULY), Hangmen by MARTIN MCDONAGH (13 AUGUST), Wife by SAMUEL ADAMSON (8 OCTOBER), Shakespeare in Love BASED ON THE SCREENPLAY BY MARC NORMAN & TOM STOPPARD ADAPTED FOR THE STAGE BY LEE HALL (12 NOVEMBER).

That was a lot to take in. Each director was asked about the play and their approach. This is a little like asking a teacher what their star pupil is like. I wanted someone to say "It was the only play left, so I had to take it", but they didn't.

Plays for the year go through a selection process, and the rights have to be available. Like looking at clouds, reading a pattern into the selection of plays says more about the viewer, than what is viewed. In this case there are two about the print media: The Front Page and Ink, which neatly bracket the golden age of newspapers from the 1920s to the 1970s. Similarly Everyone in America and Wife explore sexual identity.

Normally I will try to find a movie or TV show to relate a play to, as an easy way to explain it to non-theater goers (those of us who are middle upper class but still use public transport, was we were categorized last night). This is going to be easy with the last of the season Shakespeare in Love, based on the film of the same name. That should provide the opportunity for the New Theatre to do what it does best, a big boisterous production.

New Plays Delve Deep into the Nature of Vanilla Slice

Greetings from the  Silver Gull awards at the New Theatre Sydney. We are getting readings.

The shortlist was:

1. Next To Godliness by Alastair Brown
2. Chicken In A Biscuit by Mary Rachel Brown and Jamie Oxenbould
3. Burning by Christopher Bryant
4. The Mews by Joanna Erskine
5. The Dragonfly by Simon Thomson

The winner is Next To Godliness by Alastair Brown. Two of the plays feature death, which is not unusual, but two mentioned vanilla slice, which is. We need more discussion of the merits, or otherwise of vanilla slice. 

Off the Record at New Theater Sydney

Enjoyed last night's performance of "Off the Record", by Chris Aronsten. This is a play of the MeToo era, & is topical with the BBC engulfed in another sex scandal. It took some work to understand how the play's disparate themes were being stitched together, but that was rewarding. I did not understand some of the English references, such as describing residential areas with numeric codes. As usual with New Theater, David Marshall-Martin's set design was minimal, but expressive. Suzanne James steals the show as the conspiracy theory loving whistle-blower, and reminding me of some of my New Theater going friends.

Walgett, Brewarrina, Bourke, Wilcannia and Menindee Lakes

Yaama Ngunna Baaka Corroboree
Tour 2019, Wilcannia.
Photo by - Mark Merritt,
courtesy of Earthling Studios P/L

I attended the Yaama Ngunna Baaka Corroboree Festival, from 28 September to 2 October, in western NSW. This was by bus from Sydney to Walgett, Brewarrina, Bourke, Wilcannia and Menindee Lakes, then train from Dubbo to Sydney. Mat Ward produced a detailed blog of the trip, there is the Water for the Rivers Facebook Page,
so I will just provide a few reflections of my own.

Sometimes you see a photo, and think: that is not real: it was staged: they added the smoke and colored lights.  Well
Mark Merritt's photo of the Corroboree at Wilcannia looks too magical to be real, but I am one of those dots around the circle: that is what it looked like. Leaving early, crossing the old lift bridge over the river to the campsite, I looked back and the moon had risen directly over the ring, the smoke hung low.

While I have written about the problems of telecommunications, and e-learning in regional Australia, this was an academic exercise conducted at a distance. There were two buses, two trucks for supplies, and a convoy of cars. It is rare for me to travel long distances with a large party, and at times voices were raised. But mostly it all worked out.

One highlight were the Brewarrina Fish Traps (Baiame’s Ngunnhu), with a tour by staff from the Brewarrina Aboriginal Cultural Museum. The fist traps may be the oldest existing human made structure.

 Save Our Rivers by
Bruce Shillingsworth 2019.

You may have missed this year's tour, but the Save Our Rivers Tshirt is still available.

Update: 

Indigenous community say they've lost their culture to water mismanagement, by Aneeta Bhole SBS, 18 October 2019

Yaama Ngunna Baaka Corroboree Festival 2019

Got my tent, and sleeping bag, ready for the Yaama Ngunna Baaka Corroboree Festival, with local Aboriginal organisations at Walgett, Brewarrina, Bourke, Wilcannia and Menindee Lakes, 28 Sep to 2 Oct 2019. There are a few seats left on the buses: book now.

While I have written about the problems of telecommunications, and e-learning in regional Australia, I am now going to go out and experience it first hand. 

"Each dance group will perform in each township at the corroboree that will begin at dusk:

Betina Bysouth (Menindee / Bendigo)
Barkindji (Wilcannia)
Budjiti (Enngonia)
Kamilaroi (Walgett)
Mungundi (Moree)
Murrawari (Goodooga)
Ngemba (Brewarrina)
Wankamurra (Bourke)
Wakagetti (Brewarrina)
Wiradjuri (Trangie)

Also Aboriginal dance groups ...

Garul Giyalu Rock Mob (Katoomba)
Yama Guroo (Sydney)
Koomurri (Sydney)
Tal-Kin-Jeri (Adelaide)
Mujamundu (Quilpie)
Group (Darwin)"

"In Walgett, Brewarrina and Bourke, the Mothers Milk Bank will involve their musicians as part of their Ruby Hunter project ... In Wilcannia and Menindee the duo JOCEAN from Shell Harbour will perform ... The Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations will lead these programs  ...

Eva Cannan will lead small ethical foraging bush trips and any food collected will contribute to evening meals. ... In Walgett she will be joined with Elder Camellia Bonney  ...

The Indigenous Energy Australia stall will provide information about their leading initiatives...."

Yaama Ngunna Baaka Corroboree Festival Bus Tour 2019

Steam Punk Pygmalion New Theater Sydney

Saturday night I attended "Pygmalion", at the New Theater, Newtown,  Sydney. This is not My Fair Lady, and is more Weill than Lerner and Low, set in a smoggy, dangerous, grimy London.

Much was made in the promotion of this show about it being set Steampunk style. The costumes are striking, with characters adorned with assorted old odd items. Some characters reminded me a little too much of "The Doctor's Wife" episode of Dr Who. But it is worth seeing this show just for the costumes. Hopefully they will be preserved.

However, the upper-class characters were still allowed to look suitably fashionable. But, what stuck me more was how tall they looked. I spent the first thirty minutes trying to work out if it was some trick of false perspective in the set design, if the cast were on stilts, or they were just very, very, tall. After that I gave up wondering, and just enjoyed the show.

The elaborate costumes, and a few pieces of furniture, contrasted with a muted abstract set. The New Theatre doesn't have the space, or budget, for elaborate set changes, but I would have liked a little more detail and color on stage. Also I have seen a little too much of the same steel mesh ramp in New Theatre productions.

For me Mr Doolittle stole the show, with a menace underling his friendly cockney banter. Clara and Freddy were suitably upper class twitish.

The lead performances were good. However, Pickering seemed to be being played by someone channeling Kenneth Branagh, with too many flicks of the mop of hair. Eliza's flinching whenever Pickering touched her was very effective, as was her girlish glee at chocolates, contrasted with a later steely determination.

The play retains its relevance as social commentary. Especially in the middle of an election, where both our major parties are offering handouts to the middle class, but next to nothing for those on Newstart allowance, treatment of the "undeserving poor" is unfortunately very relevant.

Pygmalion is at the New Theater, Newtown, in Sydney, until 25 May. 

August Osage County at the New Theater Newton Sydney

The play August: Osage County at the New Theater, Newton Sydney, last night was like many family gatherings you have been to, combined with The Big Chill. Adult children gather at the family home after many years, due to a family tragedy. They argue with each other, and their partners, over the same old things, with long buried secrets emerging. At more than three hours, with two intervals, this is a long play, but worth staying to the end.

The Australian cast did a good job with mid-western US accents. Alice Livingstone had fun with the role of slightly mad matriarch.


I did not understand why playwright Tracy Letts inserted a native American into the middle of this play.  Emilia Stubbs Grigoriou, gave a credible performance with little dialogue to work with, but passing comment on all happening around her through expression.

The set design by Sallyanne Facer was a little bare for a lived in family home. Also I found the red LED displays on the theater lighted overhead a little distracting.

Silent Disco Loud on Teen Angst

The play "Silent Disco" opened at the New Theater in Sydney on Saturday. Set in a typical Australian city suburban school, teenagers come to terms with relationships and a bleak future working at the local supermarket checkout. At the same time their teacher exhausted from caring about their charges reminisces over their teen years.

This performance suffered from a number of handicaps. The play, by Australian Lachlan Philpott, was first presented in 2011, but already sounds a little dated. References to iPods and SMS do not match contemporary teen language. The actors playing the teens are too old to be believable. A teenager having to go all the way to Kings Cross to buy drugs seems old fashioned.

Set designer Ester Karuso-Thurn has produced a suitably bleak representation of a school classroom (reminding me of a demountable I spent many hours in). Sound designer Jessica Dunn uses loud brash music for raging teens.

"Silent Disco" is at the New Theater, Newtown, Sydney until 14 April 2018.

Australia Day by Johathan Biggins at New Theatre Sydney

The play Australia Day by Johathan Biggins opened at the New Theatre in Sydney last night. This is a loving, humorous and at times bighting look at local politics. Anyone who has been on a committee to organize a community event will recognize the characters and situations.

Set in the scout hall of a fictional Australian inland town, the play tracks the progress of the committee organizing Australia Day celebrations. Along the way issues of race and identity, politics and corruption and explored. This is leavened with humor and the playwright's obvious affection for the characters.

David Marshall-Martin's set evokes the austere, slightly tattered atmosphere of an old scout hall, complete with photo of a very young Queen Elisabeth and slightly tatty flags.

Alice Livingstone was clearly enjoying herself as "Maree Bucknell", one of the quirkier characters of the committee. Louise Fisher's costume design for Amelia Robertson-Cuninghame, as a greens politician was a little too glamorous to be believable. But the way Amelia says "its nothing personal" while blackmailing a fellow politician was chillingly real. She would make an excellent addition to the cast of "House of Cards", now they have a vacancy.

At last nights performance I was a little in awe happening to sit next to a New York theater critic making notes in a battered spiral notebook. I was explaining for my amateur how in my blog reviews I try to find a popular work to relate the play to. The obvious film to equate "Australia Day" to is "Rats in the Ranks", Robin Anderson and Bob Connolly's fly-on-the-wall documentary of the 1994 Leichhardt Council Mayoral elections. But while covering many of the same themes, Australia Day is a lot more fun.

After the Dance at the New Theater in Sydney

Last night I attended "After the Dance" by Terence Rattigan at the New Theater, Newtown in Sydney.  Set on the eve of World War II, the play depicts the end of an age of peace and prosperity with bright young things world weary.

Callum Alexander in early scenes seems to be channeling the young Hugh Grant in Four Weddings and a Funeral. John Cervenka's set is a little sparse for the era. One jarring point was walls which appeared to be finished as polished concrete. The Chesterfield sofa was the centerpiece for the characters to lounge. Costume Designer Brodie Simpson captures the elegance of the age, before wartime austerity.

This pay in one way looks dated with young men in tweed and oxbridge accents discussing love affairs while drinking gin and tonic.  In another way it is of today, with Australia on the brink of a war in North Asia, awash with alcohol and having binged on the proceeds of a mining boom on colonized land.

"After the Dance" by Terence Rattigan at the New Theater Newtown. until Sat 9 Sep

New Theater Sydney 2017 Season

The New Theater, launched its 2017 season of plays last night, in Newtown, Sydney. Directors were on hand to discuss the works and call for actors to audition. My pick would be, best first: Birdland, The Little Dog Laughed, The Chapel Perilous,  The Clean House and Consensual. After the Dance and Australia Day I am not so sure about. Tickets now available.

THE LITTLE DOG LAUGHED

BY DOUGLAS CARTER BEANE
7 FEBRUARY – 4 MARCH
“I’m a lesbian, he’s a fag, we’re in show business, we’re a perfect couple”

CONSENSUAL

 BY EVAN PLACEY
14 MARCH – 15 APRIL
“Give the facts, show the photos, but don’t get too close unless you want your head blown off”

THE CHAPEL PERILOUS

 BY DOROTHY HEWETT
25 APRIL – 27 MAY
“We can go wrong in our minds, but what our blood feels and believes and says is always true”

THE CLEAN HOUSE

 BY SARAH RUHL
6 JUNE – 8 JULY
“Love isn’t clean. It’s dirty. Like a good joke”

AFTER THE DANCE

 BY TERENCE RATTIGAN
8 AUGUST – 9 SEPTEMBER
 “The awful thing is that we’re still running away”

BIRDLAND

 BY SIMON STEPHENS
3 OCTOBER – 4 NOVEMBER
 “All I wanted was to sing songs to people. I never wanted any of this”

AUSTRALIA DAY

 BY JONATHAN BIGGINS
14 NOVEMBER – 16 DECEMBER
 “You think we’re old fashioned, out of touch, that’s it’s all Captain Cook and flag tattoos”

Rake's Progress at ANU

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending a lunchtime talk by actor Richard Roxburgh at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra. Richard is an ANU economics graduate and now a children’s book author, in Canberra to launch "Artie and the Grime Wave". He is best know for his role in TV comedy "Rake", as Cleaver Greene, a character usually claimed to be based on Sydney barrister Charles Waterstreet. Roxburgh asserted that this was untrue and the character was based on someone who drank at the ANU bar.

Anecdotal History of Annandale

Marghanita da Cruz, author of the book series "Anecdotal History of Annandale", will chat about writing Sydney's history, 3pm Saturday 3 September 2016 at Tetch Gallery, 245 Parramatta Road, Annandale, Sydney, NSW.

House of Games at New Theater Sydney

The play "House of Games" is set in a Chicago poker club, where it is hard to know who is conning who. Set in the present day, Kate Shearer plays a therapist drawn into this seedy world to help one of her patents.

Kate Shearer makes a very believable Harvard trained therapist, who's frosty exterior begins to melt.  The rest of the cast struggle with their American accents, although they are playing con-artists, so are they acting at sounding fake?

Set Designer John Cervenka's poker club perhaps need some neon "Budweiser" signs and more clutter, whereas the therapist's office is suitably minimal. Costume Designer Deborah Mulhall succeeds with the look of Chicago high and low life. Playwright Richard Bean, provides some humor (especially at the expense of bankers), but they play has an untidy conclusion, with a new character and at the end.

"House of Games" is on at the New Theater, Newtown Sydney, until 10 September 2016 (my ticket was courtesy of the New Theater).

That Other Eye in the Sky

"That Eye, The Sky" is not a movie starring Helen Mirren, it is a play by Richard Roxburgh and Justin Monjo, adapted from the book of the same name by Tim Winton. I went along to last night's performance at the New Theatre in Sydney, not really knowing what to expect. I came out a few hours later not understanding what I had seen.

The play is set in Western Australia, around the current day. Ort (played by Joel Horwood) is a bit "slow" according to family and friends. He has more than the usual difficulties of being a teenager, with an ex-hippy mother, a father and grandmother in wheelchairs, plus an annoying older sister and a hobo preacher hanging around. Ort is obsessed with a glowing cloud hovering over his house, which only he (and the audience) can see: is this god? My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 this is not, but it is a story about the obligations of  family.

Set Designer, Tom Bannerman, has produced a sparse set with a glowing and, at times, pulsating "cloud" hovering overhead. At times I had to cover my eyes as the pulsating light was too bright. Even when not pulsating, the "cloud" dominating proceedings and tended to distract from the actors.

If you are a Tim Winton fan, then this play might be for you. The cast make a fine job of the material, but it is very hard work for the audience.

"That Eye, The Sky" is on at the New Theatre in Sydney until 16 April 2016.

ps: The Australian National University (ANU) was criticized in the Canberra Times newspaper, over plans to demolish its theatre spaces to re-develop part of the campus. The new development is not planned to have a dedicated drama theater, but will have multi-purpose spaces which could be used. Perhaps this new venue could be named the "ANU Roxburgh Center for the Performing Arts", as Richard Roxburgh is a graduate of ANU.

Mum's Army Goes Tivoli at the New Theatre in Sydney

Last night I attended the musical "Dinkum Assorted"(book, lyrics and music by Linda Aronson) at the New Theatre, Newtown Sydney. This is set in country NSW during the later stages of World War II. With most men serving overseas, the local biscuit factory is staffed by women, who also act as air raid wardens.

The first half of the play is reminiscent of the BBC TV show "Dad's Army" with civilians taking on a paramilitary role, some reluctantly, some relishing the power. Meantime the issues of those profiting from war and the tensions of missing loved ones and the temptation of snapshots of US airmen billeted nearby) bring a more serious tone.

The second half gets a little slapstick (also like Dad's Army), then serious and then turns into something like the old Tivoli theater. Choreographer Alyssha Clarke has done a wonderful job whipping the case into a chorus line of Rockettes, while Vocal Coordinator Kieran Fox has the cast singing up a storm.


The set by David Marshall-Martin evokes an old tin shed factory. A simple platform doubles as a local hill. The factory equipment is not entirely convincing (also reminiscent of Dad's Army) and the prop animals in the show are just silly.

This was a fun night and something the New Theater does well: entertainment with a social message. Younger audience members can enjoy this just as entertainment, those of us older may better understand some of the stories our mothers told us about WWII.

"Dinkum Assorted is on at the New Theater in Sydney until 19 December 2015. My ticket was courtesy of the New Theater.

Not The Real Thing

Last night I attended Tom Stoppard's "The Real Thing" at the New Theatre Sydney. This is well acted, directed and good set, but is just not one of Stoppard's better plays. At more than two hours, this play would benefit from having 30 minutes, and perhaps two characters, cut from it. Now I know what my tutor was on about when they sent back an essay marked: "some brilliant ideas but others not relevant to the topic, needs to be edited down".

The Real Thing is about, well I am not exactly sure what it is about. A Stoppard play always takes work from the audience, with the same scene usually played several times from different perspectives. In this case there is a play within a play and scenes played over twice, once as the play and then the "real thing". But it all looked like a play to me (a play by a playwright about a playwright about actors being acted).

The acting was to the usual high standard of the Ne Theatre, the set a little sparse but having the right atmosphere, consumes excellent. Ainslie McGlynn is outstanding as the conflicted Annie. But this is a play which needs an English cast, of the people you usually see on Midsummer Murders, and doesn't really work in inner Sydney. This is David Williamson's Emerald City and Stoppard seems a little out of place here.

The Real Thing, is on at the New Theatre Sydney until 7 November 2015.

Wayward Brewery Opened in Sydney Inner West

Greetings from the opening of Wayward Brewery in  Sydney's inner west. While the brewery is new, beverage making is not new to the area. The brewery is housed in the old cellar of a wine merchants and the brick wine tanks have been turned into comfortable space for patrons (retaining the wax lined walls). The Leichhardt Fringe Fast Art Competition is being judged in the brewery. Jamie Parker MP for the area and Cr Darcy Byrne Mayor of Leichardt.

Guns and Girls at New Theatre

The Sydney Fringe Festival 2005 continued its  deep deadly theme at New Theatre last night with Britannia Waves the Rules and Slut (both on until 26 September)

Britannia, by Gareth Farr, sees Carl, a young unemployed man, join the British army to escape boredom in Blackpool.  As the recruiter (who had a stock of orange hair and reminded me of a certain
warrior prince), promised Carl gets to see the world, but ends up driven mad by the war torn Afghanistan. Vincent Andriano (Carl) gives a muscular performance. All the cast managed their British regional accents well. The military costumes and props were frightening realistic (although the actors appeared to be wearing US OEFCP, not British Army PCS-CU uniforms and carrying US Colt M4 Carbines, not the UK SA80 assault rifles). The dark grim set was effective at being the Blackpool waterfront and an Afghan battlefield. There are some laughs but there is a harrowing, all too believable ending.

The interval between the two pays was enlivened by a large group from the "Theatre Time Sydney Meetup Group". I have only attended geeky IT events through Meetup and it had not occurred to me it was used for cultural events (and to get cheaper theater tickets). It looked like fun.


Slut by Patricia Cornelius, depicts a rat-pack of six school girls who grow up idolizing and then despising the most sexually adventurous of their class. The actors mange to play believable catty schoolgirls, increasing in age and maturity as the play progresses. The play itself is a little too conventional with the "Slut" of the title punished in the end for her behavior, as she would be in a morality play of centuries past.

After two hours of grim theater I am looking forward to New Theatre's "THE REAL THING" by Tom Stoppard (opening 6 October).