Reverberations

The Seven Streams of the River Ota (98 Version)
Devised by Ex Machina
Directed by Robert Lepage

Ex Machina
Thebarton Theatre

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell

When he first visited Hiroshima, a city, a word, synonymous with thermonuclear destruction, Quebecois director Robert Lepage expected to be dismayed by an enduring grimness. Instead he found “a lively, reconstructed modern city with large parks planted with tall trees: a vibrant night life and some of the most interesting contemporary art galleries in …

1997

Shopping and Fucking

Mark Ravenhill

Out of Joint Company

Playhouse

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell

That old F word just goes on causing problems. Take the case of Mark Ravenhill’s very recent play Shopping and Fucking. A publicist’s nightmare, it has caused a flurry of asterisks and strategic figleaves. In Adelaide it received a self-imposed R rating. In New Zealand there were rumours it wouldn’t play at all.

On tour around the country the play has remained enmeshed in …

A Midsummer Night’s Dream
William Shakespeare

Royal Shakespeare Company
Festival Theatre

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell.

It may take forty minutes for Puck to put a girdle round the earth but it takes the RSC a little longer. It is ten years since we saw Anthony Sher’s Richard III and a lot longer back to Peter Brook’s legendary Dream. Now, boosted by a British Council celebrating its jubilee, the RSC returns like an infrequent comet, bringing with it a considerable reputation …

Cyrano
Adapted by Anthony Burgess

Theatre at Large
Space

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell

The story of Cyrano has been a stage favourite since Edmond Rostand’s syrupy romance hit the Paris boards almost exactly a century ago. Since then it has become a regularly revived cinema property- who could forget Gerard Depardieu as the schnozz ?- and an English rep staple as well. Ralph Richardson’s biographer describes how Rafe and Olivier vied for the part. The choice was between Cyrano and …

1995

Matisse Exhibition

National Gallery of Victoria

Melbourne

Reviewed by Murray Bramwell

It is around half past nine and there are people pouring out of Flinders Street station, some heading across the Swanston Street intersection, others, like me, heading into town for a salubrious bite to eat. There we all are- ordering our number one breakfasts, McBottomless coffee and bacon McMuffin.  Several armies are about to march on their stomachs. The Magpies fans, in their black and white Nikes and …