Reviews

This is the Ur-Fleabag, where it all began in 2013, the one woman 80-minute stage show performed at the Edinburgh Fringe by the woman who wrote it.  That first production led to a string of awards and then to her much amplified television adaptation Fleabag Series I & II.  Plus her adaptation of the Villanelle novels by Luke Jennings that became Killing Eve Series I, plus a punch-up draft on the latest Bond movie and now a contract with Amazon for more.  This ex-RADA student, who didn’t like the roles she was being offered and so

They say music communicates deeper than words. You’ll remember a tune before a speech or a name. The name Sam Cooke may not be one you remember but his songs are legendary. He was a prolific writer during his short life (died in his 30s) and made an impact so big that even now, some 50 years later, his music is still widely selling. It’s the sound of a very specific era in American music. From the first slow dance hit “You send me” in 1957, Cooke had 28 singles in the American Top 40 and Billboard Pop Singles.

Stray Cats Theatre’s Peter Pan gave an adventurous kick off to the school holidays, with its short run filling the smaller theatre at Manpac.

A particularly dark incarnation of this classic story, there were a few small audience members for whom it was a bit too much, with the movement sequences being quite frightening. Having said that, I sought the expert opinion of four year old ‘Jasper’ who declared the whole production “very good”, with a sage nod.

Back in the early 1900s, the Independent Theatre at North Sydney was the Coliseum Picture Hall, screening the black and white silent movies of the era. What better setting to present Nick Russoniello’s tribute to the creative musicians who provided the atmosphere for the action on the silent screen? And who better to present it than Russoniello himself?