The absolute capital-T Truth is about life before death. it is about making it to thirty, or maybe even fifty, without wanting to shoot yourself in the head. David Foster Wallace did make it to thirty without shooting himself in the head, but he didn’t make it to fifty without killing himself, although his speech, […]
Category Archives: Articles
January
02
This is Water – David Foster Wallace and the compassionate life. (Book Review)
posted by lisathatcher
December
30
2013: A Magic Year in Film – My favourite films of 2013.
posted by lisathatcher
I said in my first post on this topic that 2013 is being touted as one of the best years for film, and after searching through archives for my “X years ago today series” (new to this blog) I can tell you we have been truly spoilt in 2013 with the wonderful films on offer. […]
December
21
2013: A Magic year in Film – Films that were duds, dodgy or just bored the hell out of me.
posted by lisathatcher
2013 is already being touted as a magical year for film, and I agree with that. The Sydney Film Festival hops on the back of Cannes and Sundance and so this city often see the years best films in that tremendous tw0-and-a-half week marathon, a just compensation for the appalling difference in release dates we […]
December
20
Theatre in 2013
posted by lisathatcher
Everyone who reads this blog knows I’m not a list post person and especially I am not an “end of year” list person, but I do think it’s worth acknowledging the passing of a year and the work displayed, particularly when it has been a landmark year. I said half way through 2013 that this […]
December
15
The Dreamer Examines his Pillow – Unpathed Theatre Company and Vashti Pontaks take us on a journey within. (Theatre Review)
posted by lisathatcher
It’s a brave director that takes on John Patrick Shanley, but to perform possibly his most complex internally referenced work brought to the surface of all things as a first time director is the kind of challenge that must have left director Vashti Pontaks so transformed she can’t recognise herself in the mirror. Pontaks is […]
December
06
Old Fitzroy Theatre 2014 Season announced by Sydney Independent Theatre Company
posted by lisathatcher
The Old Fitzroy Theatre has been home to some of the most wonderful theatre experiences I’ve had in 2013. Standouts were Friday, the recent King Lear I really enjoyed and the very touching An Ordinary Person was a theatre evening that remained in my mind for days. In 2013 The Sydney Independent Theatre Company was appointed as […]
December
06
Luis Buñuel and the perfect martini.
posted by lisathatcher
One of my favourite blogs Open Culture, has a lovely little piece in it (borrowed from the excellent Dangerous Minds blog) about Luis Buñuel and is appertiff-turned-daily ritual, the martini. Martini is my favourite drink, although to the world of Luis Buñuel I am a heretic and a philistine because my martini consists of Vodka (!) 1/4 vermouth (!!) […]
December
03
On/Off – Lisa Chappell and the torch(urous) masks of Cabaret. (Theatre review)
posted by lisathatcher
Sydney-siders know the Bordello Theatre wasn’t purpose-built for Lisa Chappell’s ebullient and darkly erotic comedy On/Off, but it sure feels like it was when you’re sitting there. Bordello is the kind of theatre that makes me sorry I don’t smoke anymore, with its weighty velveteen, its lavish gold brocade, its sumptuous carved wood, and it […]
December
02
King Lear – The Independent Theatre Company and a thriving Sydney Shakespeare Festival. (Theatre Review)
posted by lisathatcher
King Lear is arguably Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy, and this is partly due to the ambiguity of its moralising, as well as its starkly contemporary themes. Who can’t relate to a tired ruling father going a little “odd” in his old age, sibling rivalry over a fortune, or acting out of ego rather than rational common […]
November
29
Triune – Brave New Word take the audience back, forward and sideways through time. (Theatre Review)
posted by lisathatcher
The back of the downstairs theatre at the Tap Gallery is covered in A4 sized colour images of films, albums, and odd bits of iconography that represent a mood and a philosophy rather than a time or place. At first they look like a teenagers bedroom, the images internet-stolen, hand printed, blu-tacked to a wall, […]
Lisa Thatcher 