Vyshanvee Wijekumar

Is God Is opens with a person whose head is encased in a burning house, foreshadowing the homicidal acts that destroy the very fabric of familial ideals. Twin sisters Racine and Anaia have been estranged from their mother for 18 years, however a letter sent from her death bed reconnects them. All three bear the scars of their father’s attempt to burn their mother alive, and on their mother’s directive, they decide to reap violent vengeance upon him. American playwright Aleshea Harris' breakout hit comes to Australia thanks to this co-production from Sydney Theatre Company and Melbourne Theatre Company. The play features an all-black cast, with co-directors Zindzi Okenyo and Shari Sebbens continuing their acclaimed streak of steering stories that strike a communal resonance, including their recent hit co-directorial debut, Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner. Henrietta Enyonam Amevor (STC's Hubris & Humiliation) stars as the timid Anaia, with Masego Pitso killing it as the assertive Racine. Cessalee Stovall plays their mother, referred to as the eponymous 'God', with an authority that resounds throughout the play as the driving intention behind the twins’ mission.  Is God Is is a captivating tale of retribution with exceptional performances that draw you in through a sinister premise. The journey traverses the Deep South to the Californian desert to Connecticut, taking its stylistic inspiration from spaghetti westerns, hip-hop and afropunk. It strings together ideas of ques

Set in Melbourne in 1995, Iranian-Australian filmmaker Noora Niasari brings a deeply personal perspective to the story of Shayda and Mona, a mother and daughter living at a women’s shelter for vulnerable, abused women. In the lead-up to Nowruz (Persian New Year), Shayda tries to bring culture, community and connection to their lives amongst the pervading isolation and distrust. Once Shayda’s abusive ex-husband Hossein is granted unsupervised visitation with their daughter, the film starts to hit its stride as the palpable tension and paranoia consume Shayda and Mona’s day-to-day lives. The performances across the cast are convincing and compelling. From the opening scene, 2022 Cannes best actress winner Zar Amir Ebrahimi and breakout star Selina Zahednia captivate the big screen with their endearing relationship as Shayda and six-year-old Mona. Zahednia absolutely shines as a daughter delicately grappling with her love for her mother and clear awareness of her father’s simmering temper. Ebrahimi owns every scene with her quiet forthrightness and desire for uninhibited freedom. Local screen industry titan Leah Purcell plays Joyce, who manages the crisis accommodation and acts as a warm maternal anchor to Shayda and Mona’s uncertain existence. Purcell brings a calm sense of security to the narrative, building on her strengths in telling stories about resilient women, such as Molly Johnson in The Drover’s Wife and Twig in the new Amazon Prime TV series The Lost Flowers of Alice

This production contains smoke/haze effects, coarse language, mature themes, sexual references, references to domestic and sexual violence and depictions of graphic violence, suicide and drug use.  Is God Is opens with a person whose head is encased in a burning house, the play foreshadows the homicidal acts that destroy the very fabric of familial ideals. Twin sisters Racine and Anaia have been estranged from their mother for several years and reconnect through a letter she sends from her death bed. All three bear the scars of their father’s attempt to burn their mother alive and on their mother’s directive, decide to reap violent vengeance upon him. The play features an all-black cast, with co-directors Zindzi Okenyo and Shari Sebbens continuing their acclaimed streak of steering stories that strike a communal resonance, including their recent hit stage debut, Seven Methods of Killing Kylie Jenner. Henrietta Enyonam Amevor (previously in Sydney Theatre Company’s Hubris & Humiliation) stars as the timid Anaia and Masego Pitso kills her MTC debut as the assertive Racine. Cessalee Stovall plays their mother, referred to as the eponymous 'God', with an authority that resounds throughout the play as the driving intention behind the twins’ mission.  The journey traverses the Deep South to the Californian desert to Connecticut, taking its stylistic inspiration from spaghetti westerns, hip-hop and Afropunk. It strings together ideas of questionable morality, heroes, and villains wi

Christos Tsiolkas’ novel Loaded was written almost three decades ago. It has previously been adapted into the award-winning 1998 film Head On starring Alex Dimitriades, and in 2020 as a reimagined audio play for the Malthouse Theatre by director Stephen Nicolazzo and Dan Giovannoni. Nicolazzo and Giovannoni have now taken their auditory work and developed it into a new stage show, with nods to Tsiolkas’ original work with subtle shades of nuance for contemporary times. Danny Ball (A Beginner’s Guide to Grief) stars as Ari, a 19-year-old, unemployed, gay Greek man trying to navigate the conservatism of his cultural community and figure out who he is. We first meet Ari dressed in Adidas blue shorts, a white sleeveless top and red sneakers as he relays an hour-long monologue about his family, friends and notable Melbourne locations. Ari continues to swerve parental expectations to get married to a woman and find a job, choosing to dive into Melbourne’s queer club scene instead. The show starts with a Zorba performance to Greek electronic dance music, which eventually evolves into a disco beat – a symbol of Ari’s two realities. Music plays a big part in the narrative storytelling, as Ari expresses his passion for Nile Rodgers; details the empowerment of Saudi women in M.I.A’s 'Bad Girls'; the pulsating beats of Kanye West’s 'Black Skinhead'; and notes how a decaying Brunswick home featured in Beyoncé’s 'No Angel'. Nathan Burmeister's set of an archway made from dark turquoise ti

In a small mining town in Tasmania there’s no Buffy the Vampire Slayer in sight, leaving local residents vulnerable to the predatory whims of Count Orlok in Keziah Warner’s adaptation of Nosferatu. The original 1922 German silent film Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror, directed by F. W. Murnau, was unofficially adapted from Bram Stoker’s Dracula with characters and locations changed due to fears of copyright infringement. Warner has taken a similar approach with this rendition, shifting geography with subtle jabs at the often-obscure Eastern European origins of vampires in popular culture. Starring Jacob Collins-Levy (The Witcher: Blood Origin, The White Princess) as Count Orlok, alongside Sophie Ross (Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again.), Keegan Joyce (Because the Night, Cloudstreet), Max Brown (The Gloaming) and Shamita Siva, Malthouse Theatre’s production uses the financial woes of a regional town as a metaphor for carnivorous wealthy benefactors consumed by capitalistic self-interest. Tom (Keegan Joyce) and Knock (Max Brown) work for the mayor’s office, and alongside local journalist and Tom’s girlfriend, Ellen (Shamita Siva), they strategise ways to save the town from its overreliance on mining and the ongoing detrimental environmental impact. When Tom gets an unexpected invitation from a wealthy financier in Sydney, he’s unintentionally persuaded to bring him back to town to set up a winery to rejuvenate the local economy. However, as the town doctor Kate (Sophie Ross) forewa