Reviews

Horizon is a commanding double bill that intertwines cultural exploration and artistic expression. It opens with Kulka which is choreographed by Bangarra alum Sani Townson followed by the centrepiece, The Light Inside, a collaborative creation by Bangarra alum Deborah Brown and Māori choreographer Moss Te Ururangi Patterson. Together, these works navigate the quest for cultural and ancestral ties, examining themes of matriarchy, birth, and creation, connection to home, and the rich history of storytelling that defines Indigenous identities.

Puccini’s lyric opera is not often performed, perhaps because it is not a sweeping tragedy of complex characters with multiple opportunities for displays of vocal excellence, but it is a pity. It has energy and sufficient opportunities for pathos and vocal displays. This production, directed by Stuart Maunder using his varied experiences in musical theatre and opera together with the wonderful voices of Kiandra Worth (Magda) and Won Whi Choi (Ruggero), revealed its possibilities.

IT WAS a tranquil and beautiful setting – a magnificent green amphitheatre that framed the orchestra and audience on a beautiful mild winter’s afternoon for Sunday’s performance of the Barrier Reef Orchestra in Queen’s Gardens.

Presented by the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, the annual free concert was emceed by Steve Price.

To many the word “Arlington” evokes pictures of the thousands of white headstones guarding thousands of American souls lost to wars since 1861. It’s a dark picture – and Enda Walsh’s play of that name is similarly dark. He conjures a dystopian society beyond 1984 or Brave New World or Severance that interrogates its citizens and leaves them empty of their dreams in locked rooms in high tower blocks with open windows tempting their will to live.