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The Real Thing

THE REAL THING, is a play by Tom Stoppard, from the approximate middle period of his output – 1982. Prior to this it was the intellectual brilliance of his word play and juggling of various viewpoints that gave his work the effervescence of the best cold champagne that money could buy. Exhilarating nights in the theatre that made one feel smarter and wittier than one had suspected, known, of oneself ever being: ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD (1968); JUMPERS (1972); TRAVESTIES (1976). THE REAL THING, had all the wit as usual, but at its centre it had, as well, a…

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Dresden

bAKEHOUSE Theatre Company presents the World Premiere of DRESDEN, by Justin Fleming, at the Kings Cross Theatre (KXT), Kings Cross Hotel. !5 – 30 June. DRESDEN is a new Australian play by Justin Fleming. August Kubizek, remembers attending a performance of Richard Wagner’s opera RIENZI, der Letzte der Tribunen (the last of the Tribunes), of 1838-40, in the relatively new Opera House, the Konigliches Hoftheater, in Dresden, with his young 17 year old friend, Adolf Hitler, in 1906. The libretto was written by Wagner, based on the book by British novelist, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, and tells the story of Rienzi, a…

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She Rode Horses Like The Stock Exchange

Photo by Clare Hawley, Asparay Photography Rocket Productions in association with bAKEHOUSE presents SHE RODE HORSES LIKE THE STOCK EXCHANGE, by Amelia Roper, at the Kings Cross Theatre (KXT), in the Kings Cross Hotel. 20 October – 11 November. SHE RODE HORSES LIKE THE STOCK EXCHANGE, written in 2014, is by an Australian playwright, Amelia Roper, who has been working and living in Los Angeles for some time. Two couples: Amy (Matilda Ridgeway) and Henry (Tom Anson Mesker), Max (Dorje Swallow) and Sara (Nikki Britton), friends because of business contacts – Amy and Max having worked as rivalling investment bankers together…

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A Riff for Keef: The Human Myth

  Ocelot Productions and Griffin Independent present the World Premiere of A RIFF ON KEEF : THE HUMAN MYTH, by Benito Di Fonzo, at the SBW Stables Theatre, Kings Cross, 25 November – 12 December, 2015. A RIFF ON KEEF: THE HUMAN MYTH, by Benito Di Fonzo, is the completion of a trilogy concerning major artists: THE CHRONIC ILLS OF ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, AKA BOB DYLAN (A LIE) and LENNY BRUCE: 13 DAZE UN-DUG IN SYDNEY, 1962. Mr Di Fonzo, a journalist – a gatherer of facts – is also a magician who creates ‘fantasises’ to investigate the ‘spirit’ of his…

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Platonov (adapted by Anthony Skuse)

  Mophead, Catnip Productions and ATYP Selects present PLATONOV, written by Anton Chekhov, adapted by Anthony Skuse, at ATYP Studio, Wharf 4, Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay. 5 Nov – 22 Nov. PLATONOV, is the earliest extant play of the great Russian short story writer and playwright, Anton Chekhov. From Donald Rayfield’s ANTON CHEKHOV – A LIFE: Anton published nothing in spring 1881: perhaps he was writing his first surviving play, a monstrous melodrama usually known by the name of its main protagonist, Platonov (other titles: FATHERLESS; THE PLAY WITHOUT A TITLE). Misha (a brother of Chekhov) recalled copying out the…

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Lenny Bruce: 13 Daze Un-Dug in Sydney 1962

  Tamarama Rock Surfers Theatre Company in association with Sydney Comedy Festival presents LENNY BRUCE: 13 DAZE UN-DUG IN SYDNEY 1962 by Benito Di Fonzo at the Bondi Pavilion, Bondi Beach. I was 14 when I read, nightly, about the ‘depravities’ of Lenny Bruce in the Daily Mirror (The Sun was the other nightly newspaper, but, by far the less sensational, and so, much less interesting and memorable – it does indicate my own Catholic/catholic attraction to sin, doesn’t it? ). I was 16, when similarly, I read, avidly, in the Daily Mirror, on the front pages, about the shocking…

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