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Category: Arts & Culture

Published: Monday, 27 February 2023 11:00

Written by Nita Teoh

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 ??!!  

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Published: Thursday, 23 February 2023 11:02

Written by Greg Letts

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.

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Published: Monday, 13 March 2023 08:59

Written by Nita Teoh

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.  

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Published: Tuesday, 28 February 2023 11:39

Written by Nita Teoh

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.

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Published: Saturday, 04 February 2023 08:14

Written by Greg Letts

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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Published: Saturday, 18 February 2023 12:35

Written by Nita Teoh

Looking back in time, once we have lost a loved one – all we are left with are our precious memories.

That is the essence of the movie Aftersun, where young adult Sophie tries valiantly to piece together her memories of the last holiday that she had with her father in the late 1990’s in a Turkish seaside town – as seen through her collection of photos and video camera footage of her and her Dad.

The photos and video camera footage are hazy and distorted – just like the memories that she tries to restore of her father and what he was actually like.

Aftersun is a poignant coming of age movie about young Sophie and her relationship with her father. 

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