Reviews

Being queer and Muslim can make for a painful clash of identities.  In Australia this century some good exploratory reports, media and community and arts projects have shown pathways through such Islamic condemnation. 

British dancer Sadiq Ali draws on his own story and others he explored from gay Muslims, including slides into addiction, to make The Chosen Haram, currently at the Sydney Festival. “Haram” is anything forbidden by Islam. Even if it’s yourself!

Last night I attended the one night only performance of British writer Neil Gaiman, accompanied by Australia’s electric string quartet, FourPlay. My daughter is a huge fan of Gaiman, which is what led me to reviewing the show. My only familiarity with Gaiman’s work is the film Coraline, which was adapted from Gaiman’s novella. 

The co-directors of this warm, honest play explain that “Tiddas is a shared Aboriginal word for sisters,” women who have grown together bound by friendship, love, and years of shared experiences. They explain the importance of women in Aboriginal culture as “the backbone and heart of our ways … no matter the changing world around us”.

The Ireland Martin McDonagh depicts in his two Irish trilogies is not a happy place, especially the town of Leenane in County Galway where The Beauty Queen of Leenane, A Skull in Connemara and The Lonesome West are set. Rather than the pretty images tourists see of cottages nestling on the northern edge of Killarney Harbour, the village McDonagh paints is a place of bleakness and dysfunction.