John is a passionate photographer and reviewer, focused on Australia's vibrant music, culture and arts scenes. His vibe is one of infectious enthusiasm. Also enjoys romantic strolls on the beach.
Like the dawning of a new day, a gentle light envelops the stage. Slowly we become aware of a solitary figure crouching in the gloom, gradually becoming clearer. Aakash Odedra dressed in traditional flowing Indian robes, unravels his body and dances across the stage in increasingly faster yet controlled movements. The name of this piece,…
When strangers meet, they unconsciously do a “dance”, a subliminal meeting of minds using body language. Darlane Litaay and Tian Rotteveel explore this idea in their dance piece Specific Places Need Specific Dances, which this week is part of the OzAsia Festival in Adelaide. Indonesian native Litaay met Dutch / German Rottveel in Papua New…
Until the Lions is derived from a tale in the Mahabharata about Amba and Shikhandi. Director Akram Khan has a long history with the Mahabhrata, having performed in Peter Brook’s version in 2005. In this dance piece, Khan brings to life the story of Amba, who on her wedding day is abducted by Bheeshma as…
Germany’s Rolling Stone has compared Luke Elliot to some of the greatest sonic storytellers of our time and it’s easy to see why when you listen to his debut album Dressed For The Occasion. Recorded in Norway by John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Kurt Vile), it has a real spaghetti western country feel. We…
Bram Stoker’s Dracula has been interpreted many times over the years on stage and screen. This time, Queensland based Shake and Stir Theatre Company have breathed new life into the ageless classic. A single lit window on a darkened stage is the only clue to what is to come. There are shocks a plenty –…
After dazzling audiences and critics alike at its recent world premiere, produced by the renowned Glyndebourne Festival Opera, in the UK, Neil Armfield‘s production of Australian composer Brett Dean‘s masterpiece Hamlet, conducted by Nicholas Carter, is set to make its Australian debut in March, with an exclusive season at the 2018 Adelaide Festival. Hailed as…
The Sydney Dance Company are currently touring Australia with double performance of two individual but complementary pieces; Wildebeest with choreography by Gabrielle Nankivell and Frame of Mind by Rafael Bonachela. I caught the production last week as it arrived in Adelaide. In the opening scene of Wildebeest, a lone figure slowly unravels and expands in a…
The Space Theatre stage setting is sparse; a central console and an outer ring of lights are the only props. The three performers, Black, White and Grey enter the stage to the sound of pulsing music and start to circle around the space, slowly at first then picking up the pace. The effect is one…
Enoch Arden is a stirring tale written by Alfred, Lord Tennyson in 1884. It tells the story of three children growing up together in a seaside town and the complicated love triangle between them. Enoch Arden is the rough sailor’s son who wins Annie Lee’s heart over his rival Phillip Ray. The performance at the…
There are traditional cabaret MC’s and then there is Reuben Kaye. With an outrageous dress style, enough glitter to drown a Pride Mach and dark eyelashes that make him look like Jeannie Little has had a stroke, Reuben has gone to way too much effort to not let everyone have a good time. He prances,…
After eighteen months in the studio, Perth trio Crooked Colours have just released their debut album Vera. This is a well-crafted and enjoyable release for those that love their music laid-back yet still up-tempo. The opening track “Flow” is a likable and catchy tune that has those summer vibes threading through. It begins with that…
Adelaide’s own Bad//Dreems finished their Gutful national tour at home on the weekend, playing to a sold out venue at The Gov – their largest headlining show in Adelaide to date. We followed the guys around a bit after their soundcheck on Saturday night and found out how this tour has compared to their other adventures on the road,…
You can tell the moment that Tina Del Twist (Wes Snelling) lurches out onto stage, with a bottle clutched in her hand, knocking over several props along the way, that this is going to be a wild ride. Introducing her band, visible to only Tina, she reminisces about her recent “world tour”, which we suspect…
Bluesfest Byron Bay had such a variety of performances in five tents over five days that it can be difficult to catch it all. With five stages running between 11am and midnight so there is a lot going on. John Goodridge lists a few highlights from his visit. Patti Smith and her band perform Horses Patti Smith…
Devon Allman is in Australia playing for Bluesfest with a couple of sideshows in Sydney and Melbourne. John Goodridge caught up with him backstage to chat about music making and recording his latest album Ride or Die”. How have you been enjoying Bluesfest? I say it on the mic and I really do mean it,…
The Chemsex Monologues is a 2016 play written by British playwright Patrick Cash and performed by London Ensemble, Dragonflies Theatre. It is a confronting look at the anonymous underground world of gay sex parties in London. The narrator (Richard Watkins), sitting in a chair on a bare stage launches into graphic description of his night on drugs and…
It’s that time of the Fringe when you feel like you’ve seen all the big shows in the major hubs. There’s a week left, surely there’s more to the Fringe than the Garden. Now’s the time to venture further out to smaller venues such as Tandanya, Tuxedo Cat or the Producers. It’s upstairs at the…
Bluesfest has been a staple on the Australian music scene for well over twenty years and director Peter Noble has been involved for most of that time. We had a chat with Peter on what motivates him and some of the reasons behind the success of the event. Let me start by asking how does your…
It’s time to dust off that schoolboy French and put on your dancing shoes because Blanc de Blanc has come to the Adelaide Fringe. The beautiful Magic Mirror Spiegeltent is the perfect setting for this show. A wrought iron staircase leading to a balcony overlooks the main stage and the audience is seated in the round. Blanc…
As we take our seats in the Black Forest at the Royal Croquet Club, we spot a lone figure in a flowing red dress slumped over an onyx grand piano. Around her three other figures are cleaning and sweeping. Oblivious to the crowd around her, she begins a piano melody, a sad song about loneliness….
The Kinsey Sicks are “America’s Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet” and it’s easy to see why. With patriotic red white and blue costumes straight from the fifties, and four part harmonies of your favorite songs over the last twenty-three years, these girls know how throw to party. A tupperware party, that is. The four girls: Trixie, Trampolina,…
Little Death Club is not like most cabaret shows. The slightly twisted and strange collection of acts is what would be classified as Fringe by people who complain that the fringe has become too safe and mainstream. Dressed in black sequins and feather, MC Bernadette “Bernie” Byrne wanders through the crowd, greeting the seated guests…
It’s not without some trepidation that I accepted an invitation to the Wank Bank Masterclass. Adam Seymour, aka Rural Ranga, perfected the art of Taoist massage during his stay in New York and has presented this class as a way of improving the art of genital stimulation. We are ushered into the tent and given a bag containing…
The Chooky Dancers achieved overnight success when Frank Djirrimbilpilwuy uploaded a video clip of the group dancing to “Zorba the Greek” on YouTube in October 2007. After touring extensively around the country and in places as far flung as Canada, China and Europe, Djuki Mala are now part of the Adelaide Fringe, performing in the…
Three piece band Regurgitator are now in their 22nd year, and clearly not keen to slow down any time soon, recently performing the Velvet Underground & Nico album with Seja and Mindy Meng Wang on the Gunzheng at the NGV for an Andy Warhol exhibition. Ben Ely chats with the AU Review about the performance…
Named after Prince Philip II of Spain in 1543 by Spanish explorer Ruy López de Villalobos, The Philippines is a collection of over 7000 islands, situated on the edge of the Pacific Ring of Fire; an area prone to earthquakes and typhoons. It was this beautiful tropical land that was chosen by Ford to showcase…
Sk!n is an Oz Asia production from Malaysia by TerryandtheCruz raising awareness of the refugee issue. Malaysia is not a signatory to the 1951 UN convention relating to the Status of Refugees, making them vulnerable to abuse. The performance itself involves the audience as part of the show. As we are ushered into the foyer…
Split Flow and Holistic Strata are two performances by Japanese choreographer and multidisciplinary artist Hiroaki Umeda. The composing, lighting, choreography and performance are all created by Umeda. Over the last ten years he has toured the world with his subtle yet violent dance pieces. The first piece, Split Flow, is an experiment in expressing velocity…
If you asked the average Australian male what defined them as “Australian” you would typically expect to hear about the rugged outdoors, camping, fishing and hanging with your mates. Trust an Aussie beer company to put this notion to the test. According to research released from Queensland’s Great Northern Brewing Co., while most men would…
Briohny Doyle is a Melbourne-based writer and academic. Her debut novel, The Island Will Sink, is the first book published by The Lifted Brow. The Island Will Sink is set in the near future and follows the life of Max Galleon, a leading director in the disaster movie genre. In this world, people don’t care…
