So many of us turn to stories as escapism to transport us to a completely imagined other reality, a perfect future, or an idealised distant past. But what if it was possible to really escape a life that wasn’t safe for you? What if you could just walk into that other place if you only knew the way?
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China is a prominent topic of conversation in Australian media, especially in recent times with shuffling political positioning between China, America, and Taiwan or between China and the Pacific island nations. As close neighbours, Australia likes to keep an eye on China, for better or worse, but we’re not the only ones as the term “Chimerica”, coined in 2006 by historian Niall Ferguson and economist Moritz Schularick to denote the relationship between the United States and China and its impact on global economic and cultural systems, indicates.
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This review comes from Night Writes guest reviewer Anja Bless
Making its Sydney debut, Control by emerging playwright, Keziah Warner, is a sci-fi show ready to entertain and enthral. Flowing through three different but interconnected stories set sometime in our (not-too distant?) future, Control asks what happens if we don’t pull on the brake of technological development.
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In the Year of Magical Thinking, her memoir about the sudden death of her husband, Joan Didion writes, “Grief turns out to be a place none of us know until we reach it.” Grief is figured as a foreign, unknowable place that welcomes unsuspecting grievers like Frank after tragedy. Frank isn’t sure how he got here or how to get home but he’s slowly piecing together the puzzle of his grief.
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While being one of Shakespeare’s less-performed plays, the Merry Wives of Windsor uses many of his classic theatrical elements including disguises, revenge plots, arranged marriages, and plenty of innuendo. With recognisable characters and plot points from other Shakespearean comedies, this rendition also aligns the script with equally recognisable comedy tropes from an Australian context to add extra dimension to the raunch and gossip.
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The Cold War was a time of great paranoia with international powers Russia, China, the US, and the UK all vying for political and ideological dominance. In Australia, growing suspicions about communism meant a ramping up of national intelligence and ASIO surveillance of everyone, including everyday Australian citizens.
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It is painfully ironic, or perhaps just painfully familiar, that not two weeks out from the kick-off of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, the Australian government was debating whether or not to legalise discriminating against trans people in schools. It was a pertinent, if backwards, reminder of the way LGBTQIA+ people’s lives are violently shaped by systemic oppression and unfeeling legislation. Breaking the Code demonstrates how very little can protect someone from legalised bigotry.
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In 1973, a few weeks before Christmas, 14-year-old Susie Salmon goes missing when walking home from school. She’s been murdered by her neighbour and now she watches on from Heaven as her community pieces together the last day of her life and learns to navigate the future without her. Adapted from the 2002 international best selling novel by Alice Sebold, the Lovely Bones is about living and loving with grief.
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We are conditioned to want, or even expect, the fairytale romance culminating in marriage and a happily ever after with kids. Whether it’s romcoms, social norms, or capitalism, the pressure to fulfil these expectations is enormous. For some it’s a matter of casting off that narrative and seeking something else but what if you do want the fairytale and you just can’t get it?
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A woman turns to the police for assistance when her husband assaults her. The police take the opportunity to puff their chests and wield their power. David Williamson’s the Removalists is exemplary of the playwright’s successes and shortcomings in a brutal, violent exploration of power and toxic masculinity.
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Night Writes 