Reviews

The Freiburg Baroque Orchestra (Freiburger Barockorchester) consists of 29 musicians dedicated to preserving and promoting historically informed performance practice. The acclaimed orchestra was founded in 1987 and is based in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. Gottfried von der Goltz (violin) and Cecilia Bernardini (violin) are both the artistic directors, alternating the duties of musical arrangement for their concerts. As an orchestra and an ensemble they are widely sought after, often attracting renowned conductors, and they are currently in Melbourne offering three separate concerts.

Fighting is not an easy play to watch, but it’s important that we do! Fighting is about bipolar, a mental illness that few people understand – apart from those who suffer from it. Playwright Xavier Coy is one of those people. He wrote the play shortly after being diagnosed. “The play is raw,” he says, “and by far the most personal I have written. I had to write it that way to … help the audience understand that we are not crazy.”

At Qtopia in the heart of Sydney’s Darlinghurst queer stories across different cultures, wars and national identities are mushrooming.

James Elazzi’s new play begins in a regional town of Lebanon with fresh love between a tomato farmer, Pierre (Antony Makhlouf), and forthright young welder, Samir (Saro Lepejian), beautifully etched in short scenes from casual touch to passion.  The problem is Pierre’s widowed mother Zienab (Deborah Galanos) who insists he settle a huge debt by marrying the neighbour’s daughter, Layla (Nicole Chamoun).