Blackrock review

It's been over two decades since Nick Enright's Blackrock was first performed, which explored the fallout in a beachside town after a teenager is brutally gang raped and murdered. Sadly these crimes have become a common occurrence in Australia, and EbbFlow Theatre Co.'s production is a timely reminder as to how little has changed in attitudes to violence against women. 

Whereas Enright's play focuses predominantly on the men and themes around loyalty and mateship, director Nicola Bowman ensures that time is provided to the women of Blackrock and that their voices are heard. Ordinarily this would give a new perspective to the source text but in this instance the majority of female characters are all angry and disgusted by what has happened and while they are completely justified in this, it does not allow for any dramatic tension and many of its teenage characters blend into one.

The Maze - Melbourne Fringe Festival review

As a young white man, I have never had to worry about walking home alone at night. In fact, I have done it often, in the early hours of the morning and sometimes after a few too many drinks. Unlike most women, I've never had to worry if someone is following me, if someone has looked at me for a moment too long or being careful how I react when a stranger approaches me to tell me I am beautiful. Made for one audience member at a time, the immersive theatre piece presented by The Honeytrap for Melbourne Fringe Festival, The Maze, allows me to experience this for the first time through the thoughts of a woman walking alone - and it left me significantly troubled and concerned.

Sedih//Sunno review

There is so much I want to write down right now but I am unsure if it’s a critical review of the show I just saw or a visceral personal response. Such is the effect that Rani Pramesti has on you when you walk out of Sedih//Sunno. “Sedih” is Bahasa Indonesia for ‘sadness’ and “sunno” is ‘to listen’ in Fijian Hindi, so the show is an invitation to listen to our sadness. Or as one of the performers advised us, it is a meditation on such sadness. 

Sedih//Sunno is a collaborative performance installation piece by Pramesti, Ria Soemardjo, Kei Murakami and Shivanjani Lal, all sharing stories with us in this multi-sensory and multi-cultural show. As we take our seat in a room surrounded by gorgeous Indonesian batik fabrics, we hear the four women speaking over the top of each other in their various languages as if they are conversing at home with their family. I don’t understand any of it (except some snippets of Japanese), but it feels lively, fun and inviting.

The One review

For its festival debut, new kid on the block, Poppy Seed Festival, asked artists, individuals and theatre companies to submit proposals for a theatrical production. From all its entries, Poppy Seed Festival green lit four shows to be performed. The final show to open is Vicky Jones’ award-winning The One. Presented by Fire Curtain Co., it is a 65-minute analysis of one couple’s relationship and its use of love, power, and abuse over the course of one night.

From the beginning we can sense that this is not a couple that is completely happy in this relationship as Jo (Kasia Kaczmarek) casually munches away on twisties while Harry (Ben Prendergast) watches porn on the TV as the two have sex. The arrival of Harry's friend Kerry (Emily Tomlins), who believes her partner has just sexually assaulted her, gets the cogs turning for what will eventually be a fateful night for all three.

Top 10 Films at the 2015 Melbourne International Film Festival

So two and a half weeks of craziness come to an end, and after getting to watch a mere 50 films, I now present you my Top 10 movies from the 2015 Melbourne International Film Festival.

1. Mustang 

Admittedly, when I think of countries creating brilliant cinema, Turkey is not one of the first countries I think so, but this will change with Mustang. Similar to that of Sofia Coppola's The Virgin Suicides, five sisters are locked inside their house by their uncle and grandmother after they are seen rubbing their legs against boys' necks in the beach. The girls are subjected to virginity tests and systematically married off to local boys with devastating results. 
The five females are incredible in this, and worth noting this is the first time any of them have acted in a movie. Gunes Nezihe Sensoy, who plays the youngest sister Lale, in particular has such a strong screen presence, that it would be a shame if we never saw her on the big screen again.
The suspense builds up in this tragic but uplifting story about the suppression of female sexuality by the patriarchy and how in many cultures women are still being seen as just a mother or wife. 
The film also boasts a beautiful score by Warren Ellis.
The trailer is in Turkish still but I think you can see the brilliance of the film beyond the language.

Little Daughters review

There's a strong sense of unease as I take my seat for Little Daughters. Having to walk through the seven motionless actors on the stage to get to my seat is quite eerie and almost intimidating. They are all dressed in black and with the stage bare and cloaked in black too, there is a dark mood that covers the room. The six men on stage stare intently at the sole woman, their eyes could pierce through her skin if they were daggers.

It is never explicitly stated what happens to this woman (Annie Lumsden) but we get enough information to know that she is the victim of a sexual assault. The six men portray a doctor, boyfriend, friends and possible assailant. The one thing they all have in common though is their demand at controlling and handling the situation. While the men discuss Lumsden's assault among them, they consistently talk at her when addressing the issue. The idea that she perhaps needs to forget about it and move on is thrown around and there is an echoing of doubt and frustration coming from them all, in particular the over-the-top portrayal of her doctor (Martin Can De Wouw), who is comically frightening in his assessment and treatment of Lumsden.