Victoria Beal - Page 4

In February 2012, an unarmed African-American high-school student, Trayvon Martin, was shot dead in Sanford, Florida. His death was a flashpoint in American race relations, sparking protests across the United States and the beginning of a totally new kind of civil-rights movement: #blacklivesmatter.

In the trail of the release of the first volume of his story, 'Not For the Faint Hearted', Melbourne audiences witnessed Kevin Rudd in conversation with Kerry O'Brien at the Athenaeum Theatre on October 26th. Presented by The Wheeler Centre, Kerry O'Brien brought his famously biting style of journalism and interview to reveal why Mr Rudd got into politics in the first place, what he saw and did during his time in office, and what he's doing now.

Many have seen the famous film featuring a veritable who's who of British screen, and this stage production is just as heartwarming. Based on a true story, the story follows a Women's Institute group in Yorkshire, looking for ways to spice up their humdrum lives and raise money for charity.

Ugly Duckling, written by Spanky and performed by Karla Hillam, breathes new life into the tale we all know about the awkward protagonist coming into their own.

Melbourne is the city to be in if you love food and cabaret and Michelle Pearson's Comfort Food Cabaret is the perfect combination of both.

The stage adaptation of the 1992 film of the same name, The Bodyguard The Musical tells the story of Rachel Marron, a chart topping pop star who's life is turned upside down by an obsessed stalker.

A man featured in literature since the 20s and on stage and film since the 70s, Joseph Merrick, otherwise known as The Elephant Man, has had his story told in a myriad of ways - but none quite like this.

Combining art installation, live performance, projections, opera, puppetry and augmented-reality earphones Black Hole Theatre plunges audiences into the confused and surreal world experienced by dementia-suffering Ada (Alison Richards) in an immersive experience that is both magnificent and unsettling.

Geoffrey Nauffts highly-acclaimed Next Fall is something of a theatrical success story, with the original 2009 production receiving critical praise, an extended Broadway season and a Tony-Award nomination. The play follows the five-year relationship of unlikely couple Adam - a frustrated and neurotic forty-year-old writer and atheist - and Luke, a 20-something year old devout Christian who cannot come out to his parents. Their history is revealed through flashbacks, while in the present Luke fights for life in hospital after an accident and family and friends gather to hold vigil. Perhaps a victim of the reputation that precedes it, this production is only intermittently moving and ultimately it is hard to see what all the fuss is about.

BWW Review: Bell Shakespeare's THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

BWW Review: Music Theatre Melbourne presents Jon English's PARIS

Moira Finucane's The Rapture: Art vs Extinction fully immerses its audience into what can only be described as a hybrid form of boutique theatre. The result is fantastic, a hurly-burly experience that leaves you walking out of the theatre in pure euphoria.

Malthouse Theatre's production of Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. is an explosion of language and imagery that challenges society's gender labels and examines what it is to be a woman. It unapologetically rips away the female archetype and screams for its audience to rally behind its title.

Inspired by the ghost stories of Charles Dickens', The Haunting follows a young book dealer from London who journeys to the moors to visit a client.

As a work of contemporary musical theatre, Ordinary Days never garnered the same acclaim as comparable works created around the time. At first glance it seems obvious why - it is short, unorchestrated, Adam Gwon's score sounds like a collection of rejected numbers from Jason Robert Brown's Songs for a New World and the book concerns itself with the daily interactions of four rather ordinary people. Fortunately, first impressions can be deceiving. This production of Ordinary Days is sublime and verifies the show's central idea that the ordinary can be beautiful.

Touted as the 'shortest musical ever' 21 Chump Street is a superbly crafted 15-minute piece written by the immensely popular Lin-Manuel Miranda for a live show of acclaimed radio/television program This American Life. Based on actual events described in the television series and with 80 percent of the script taken directly from interviews and media reports, the story centres on innocuous high school student Justin who falls for an undercover police officer and is ultimately arrested for supplying her with the marijuana she requests in an attempt to impress her.

Born from a enthusiasm for disco and an appreciation for the returning popularity of the variety show, VELVET is a night of sheer entertainment. An amalgam of circus, burlesque, variety, and concert forms, the audience is taken on a disco journey that ends in a room full of dancing and unbridled joy.

Based on the 1891 German play of the same name by Frank Wedekind and winning 8 Tony Awards in 2007, Spring Awakening is one of those rare musicals to have attained something of a cult status - the kind of show that people will claim changed their lives forever.

Kin Collective's beautifully-realised production of Tim Winton's Shrine is a haunting and ethereal exploration of loss, grief and the interwoven lives of those fallen beneath the 'long shadow' of a life cut short. Director Marcel Dorny has assembled a strong cast and creative team to breathe life into Winton's dense script and the result is a memorable and moving piece of theatre replete with all of the embattled characters, magical-realism and endless references to blood and water that fans of the writer have come to expect.