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The Caretaker

  It seems a while since we have seen a play by Harold Pinter. Oh, no, there was the Sydney Theatre Company’s NO MAN’S LAND and more recently, BETRAYAL at the Ensemble Theatre. It is THE CARETAKER (1959) that we have not seen for a while. This play is one of the earliest of his successes along with THE BIRTHDAY PARTY (1957) and THE HOMECOMING (1964) that propelled Pinter into the pantheon of one of the British greats. ‘That he occupies a position as a modern classic is illustrated by his name entering the language as an adjective used to describe a…

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The Mystery of Love and Sex

  THE MYSTERY OF LOVE AND SEX, by Bathsheba Doran – a Darlinghurst Theatre Company Production, at the Eternity Theatre, Burton St, Darlinghurst. 10 February – 12 March. THE MYSTERY OF LOVE AND SEX, is an American play, the second of a trilogy of plays by Bathsheba Doran published under the title, THE MARRIAGE PLAYS. The first play is KIN; the third, PARENT’S EVENING. THE MYSTERY OF LOVE AND SEX, presents a modern ‘nuclear’ family: Howard (Nicholas Papademetriou), a successful crime fiction novelist who happens to be Jewish; his wife, Lucinda (Deborah Galanos) who once was Catholic (Christian); their daughter,…

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Thomas Murray and The Upside Down River

Photo by Robert Catto Stone Soup and Griffin Independent present, THOMAS MURRAY AND THE UPSIDE DOWN RIVER, by Reg Cribb, at the SBW Stables Theatre, Kings Cross. 13 – 30 January, 2016. THOMAS MURRAY AND THE UPSIDE DOWN RIVER is a new play by Reg Cribb. Mr Cribb has created plays and screen works at a highly consistent rate. Last year, being at the creative centre of the award winning Australian film, LAST CAB TO DARWIN, based on his 2003 play. This new play seems to me the most ambitious project to date: a kind of poetic metaphor telling the…

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The House of Ramon Iglesia

Photography by Clare Hawley Mophead Productions presents, THE HOUSE OF RAMON IGLESIA, by Jose Rivera, at the Old Fitz Theatre, Cnr Cathedral and Dowling St, Woolloomooloo, May 12 – June 6. Director Anthony Skuse and Mophead Productions introduced this writer, Jose Rivera, in 2009, when he gave us REFERENCES TO SALVADOR DALI MAKE ME HOT (2000), at the Griffin. THE HOUSE OF RAMON IGLESIA (1983) is Mr Rivera’s first play and has all the hallmarks of an auto-biographical/poetic licensed work. Javier (Stephen Multari) is the eldest son of three brothers, the others: Julio (Christian Charisiou) and Charlie (David Soncin), of Pureto Rican…

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The Way Things Work

  Rock Surfers Theatre Company presents THE WAY THINGS WORK by Aiden Fennessy, at the Bondi Pavilion, Bondi Beach. 5 Nov – 29 Nov. THE WAY THINGS WORK, is a new Australian play, by Aiden Fennessy. Mr Fennessy in his program notes says : The genesis of the idea came from the proliferation of corruption allegations and their various outcomes not only through every tier of government but from the private sector, the fourth estate, and other major cultural bodies, top to bottom. It’s the ever widening gap between ‘plausible deniability’ and what you could term ‘command responsibility’ Two actors,…

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The Paris Letter

  Darlinghurst Theatre Company presents THE PARIS LETTER by Jon Robin Baitz. THE PARIS LETTER, an American play written in 2004 by Jon Robin Baitz, is essentially about two men who meet, fatefully, in the 1960’s. As young men they meet in the artistic thrall of a bohemian New York lifestyle. They have a sexually-charged, four month long affair. Both, are intensely stirred. One, Anton, subsequently, moves successfully through a relatively happy life of self acceptance, working in the lower ends of artistic endeavour, culminating in a restaurant of exquisite reputation but carrying a torch for the unrequited love affair…

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