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Jana Wendt was a highly accomplished TV current and public affairs presenter and journalist, who dominated our screens from the eighties to the mid noughties.   Think programs such as Sixty Minutes, A Current Affair and Sunday, all of which she fronted.   Although her name is in the title of this darkly comedic play, she only gets a look in towards the end of proceedings.   The piece is about socio-economic inequality.  Photos by Darren Gill Three old friends get together for

Fuze is a tense, high octane thriller.   It centres on a daring bank robbery, carried out while the centre of London is in lockdown after an unexploded WWII bomb is unearthed on a construction site.   Leading the team to try to defuse the ordinance is heroic Afghanistan veteran Major Will Tranter (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).   Far from straight-forward in the first instance, the situation is complicated when he discovers a timed trigger.   The police operation to clear the area is

He is effortlessly funny. He is a good yarn spinner, who can make the seemingly mundane highly amusing.   This is a guy who spent 18 years to obtain his law degree. We never find out why it took him that long, but there it is.   And his first job after leaving law school was as Associate to a judge in the Supreme Court of Victoria.   And his first case, that of Erin Patterson.   She went on to be convicted of three counts of murder and one of attempted murder for lacing a bee

In the late ‘70s, seminal English punk rock band The Clash had a hit single, the lyrics of which read “I fought the law and the law won”.   That iconic line may well sum up the career of lawyer turned Hollywood studio exec, turned filmmaker, turned lawyer (and stand-up comedian) Nick Abrahams.   For 50 minutes, the cybersecurity law specialist entertains the audience with tall tales but true from his legendary past.   And to think, he was going to be a dentist, like his fathe

He’s rude, crude, remarkably observant and lightning quick with one liners. In short, a force of nature.   I speak of the indomitable Reuben Kaye, who wears his heart on his sleeve and totally owns his audience like few others I have come across.   His stage presence is remarkable. He walks, talks and warbles like an Adonis, to whom all are irrevocably drawn.  An hour with him brings with it a surfeit of sexual innuendo, observations about politics and politicians, and world

A scary, compelling supernatural horror, Hokum involves a trip taken to Ireland by a successful US author – his first time visiting the country.   Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott) is a loner, writing the bleak epilogue to a book about a conquistador and his son who are looking for buried treasure in the desert.   While doing so, he begins seeing visions.   He opens a box containing postcards, a photo and ashes of his father and mother.   Next thing we know, he has hightailed it to a r

What a mess – a script that lurches one way, then the other, around and around, that simply ends up feeling tortuous.   It is also oh so obvious. It feels forced – all the way.   Sure, I can find praise for the choreographed dance numbers and the musicality, although I could also argue that the musical component was unnecessary. The story concerns narcissistic, self-confident, high school student, Maeve Barker (Charlotte MacInnes), a self-declared bolshy feminist.   She is al

He (The Man, as he is called in this drama cum romance, as played by Ewen Leslie ) loves deeply.   His first love is trout fishing, which he has been consumed by since he caught his first fish with his uncle at the age of seven. Photos by Daniel Boud   His favourite spot is a remote cabin in the woods.   It is where he has brought his girlfriend, The Woman (Miranda Otto), on a moonless night on August 21 st .   She is enamoured by the sunset, anxiously calling out for him to

Poise, precision and humour are the hallmarks of this latest Circus Oz production to hit the main stage at Melbourne Town Hall.   It is all about acrobatic artistry and clownishness, melded into a family friendly, hour-long show.   Gold and frilly costuming seems to be the order of the day as 11 performers, including a lively two-piece band, take to the stage. Photos by Ian Sutherland Among those on show, for Claire Bindoff spinning a few silver hula hoops is never enough.