A work in progress …
Musicals and theatre
- The Normal Heart, Sydney Theatre Company. I’ve never seen this though it’s part of my history as a gay man in the Western world, and for this reason, reviewers, now and at the time, find this an important work. Yet while it was well-acted and staged, I recalled the earlier criticisms that I’d heard of the play and Kramer: it seems like the whole play is spent justifying his political approach, which is strident, and he makes it seem like he was a one-man show, the only person willing to Act Up! to fight AIDS, at the time. It gave me some bad flashbacks, honestly, to my work in the HIV sector, so I can’t say in the end that I appreciated this (and know I wasn’t meant to enjoy it).
Concerts and performances
- Khalid Abdalla’s Nowhere, Sydney Festival. With an actor as experienced and engaging as Abdalla, he really can present anything he wants to, so what would he talk about in his one-man show. He used everything in his arsenal to draw us in: dance, song, video projection, confession, personal history, and a tribute to an artist friend that died. I wondered where it would end up. It ended as a powerful statement from an Arab artist asking us to protest the genocide in Gaza. Bravo.
- CMAT, Enmore Theatre. Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson is a powerhouse, quirkly, magnetic and electric. Even when I didn’t recognise the songs, I was drawn in. Such a diverse crowd (meaning old and young) and a lot of Irish green. A fun night!
- Jensen McRae (with Betty Taylor), Metro Theatre. I think Jensen is super-interesting, talented and inspired, with an emotional quality to her voice that I love. As usual with concerts these days, I’m amazed that so many fans know all the words to her songs and, with one exception at the end of the night, sing along with surprisingly beautiful voices. I generally hate the concert singalongs (since I go to concerts to hear the artist, not the audience) but these days, people seem to be able to sing!
Books
- Charlotte Wood’s Stone Yard Devotional.
- Kiran Desai’s The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny.
Exhibitions
- We start 2026 with a visit to MONA, Tasmania’s Museum of New and Old Art; we last visited in 2016! I love pretty much everything about MONA, the vibe, the messaging, its origin and the eclectic and engaging collection of artwork.
- LOVING: Photographs of Men in Love 1850s to 1950s, Qtopia. Some gorgeous images and my first visit to Qtopia.