Culture

  • When you least expect it, you're selected

    Front UpSBS, TuesdaysReviewed by Dave Riley Where would television be without its regular fodder of talking heads? In any given day, the console is visited by a fresh batch of chatty craniums. Generally, such company is warranted by reputation alone.

  • Powerful drama of betrayal and revenge

    A View from the BridgeBy Arthur MillerDirected by Adam CookBelvoir Street Theatre, SydneyUntil March 3Reviewed by Pip Hinman Arthur Miller described the story which became A View from the Bridge as a Greek tragedy. It's a story about compulsive,

  • How To Make Yourself Heard

    When you first begin to feel The disquiet you can't explain Discontent or sorrow; Anger — subversive inclinations; The thirst for some kind of justice! Personal, legal SOCIAL? — Heed it. Take note, Encourage it And let it grow — It is power.

  • Physical theatre at its best

    700 positionsA solo performance by Celia WhiteDirected by Gail KellyState Theatre 2, SydneyUntil February 17Reviewed by Kath Gelber 700 positions is a contemporary exploration of lesbian sexual practices, identities, behaviours, desires and

  • Leave your notions of gender at the door

    Shinjuku BoysMardi Gras Film FestivalReviewed by Jen Crothers Shinjuku Boys is a revealing look into the lives of women who live as men in Tokyo. The women work in the New Marilyn nightclub, where they host their (presumably) heterosexual, female

  • Poems of the grander vision

    Kissing Angels on the Eve of RevolutionBy Robin DavidsonBoris Books, PO Box 1388, Woden ACT 2606$9.95 Reviewed by Craig Cormick Robin Davidson wears many masks. He has been a performer, writer, clown, activist and poet. The poems collected in this

  • On the box

    Programs of interest on Sydney Community TV (UHF 31) — Perleeka, indigenous Australians' program, nightly, 7pm. Art Experimenta, Mondays, 8pm and 11.30pm, and Tuesdays, 3am and 6.30am. Bent TV, gay and lesbian program, Thursdays, 10.30pm and

  • Putting the black into film noir

    Devil in a Blue DressTristar PicturesWritten and directed by Carl FranklinBased on the novel by Walter MosleyStarring Denzel Washington, Jennifer Beal and Don CheadleReleased nationally on February 8Reviewed by Norm Dixon Devil in a Blue Dress is a

  • A thriller with a difference

    ResistanceDirected by Paul Elliot and Hugh Keays-ByrneAt Chauvel Cinema, Paddington Town Hall, from February 15Reviewed by Trish Corcoran The Australian government has declared a state of emergency. Troops are being deployed to take action against

  • East Timor in Indonesian stories

    Eyewitness: protest stories from IndonesiaBy Seno Gumira AjidarmaTranslated by Jan Lingard with Bibi Langkar and Suzan PiperSydney: Inprint Books, 1995. 138 pp., $14.95Reviewed by Michael Tardif The occupation of the Russian and Dutch embassies in

  • The Sleeping Generation

    Those who came before us Forgot their mission — Dropped the torch, And while they were asleep Darkness clothed itself as light And again stole through the doors. As the children of those times Is it not we — Who, opening our eyes, Must surely

  • Delightful and charming

    BabeA Kennedy/Miller productionReviewed by Mary Westwood If you go to see this film seeking only story and scenery, you will come away delighted and charmed. But on going further into the production, behind the scenes, you feel you have witnessed a