Egypt (Part 1)
17 April to 21 April 2025 General Observations Egypt is a multi-faceted country, filled with colour, chaos and some squalor, home to a vast array of ancient monuments, a desert nation whose great artery, the Nile, is the longest river in the world, its cataracts serving as a natural boundary with Sudan to the south. One of the cradles of humankind, Egypt’s primordial past is legend (i.e. ruled by gods), its remote past (pharaohs) cryptic; often overthrown – by the Persian Cambyses c. 525 BC, by Alexander the Great c. 332 BC and his successor Ptolemy, then the Romans c….
Continue Reading →The Penguin Lessons
(Directed by Peter Cattaneo, 2024) (Thanks to White Rita, our ‘off-budget’ film reviewer, for this comment). The Penguin Lessons is a beautiful, moving film made all the more poignant by the fact that it is a true story. Set during the “Dirty War” in 1970s Argentina, it revolves around a middle-aged English teacher and the delightful little penguin that imprints itself on him. Steve Coogan delivers a wonderful performance and is supported by a delightful cast of characters. This important story is sad, happy, humorous and at all times, engaging.
Continue Reading →Jordan
1 to 7 May 2025 General Observations The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a bustling and increasingly modern country, friendly and peaceable. There remains a genuine reverence for King Hussein, who ruled from 1953 until his death at 63 in 1999. He was a man of intense courage and intelligence, dealing with the fact his small country (pop. 11m, 90k sq.k) is trapped by geography – bordered with the Egyptian Sinai, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iraq, and of course, Israel. He experienced more flack from the PLO than the Israelis during his reign, truth be told, and other Arab countries might…
Continue Reading →An Evening Without Kate Bush
(Adelaide Fringe, Garden of Unearthly Delights, 13 March 2025) Kate Bush, is, like one of her influencers Emily Bronte, both genius and mystic. Her look, her voice, her entire unique and brilliant oeuvre, have entranced us ever since her debut in 1978, aged 19. Sarah-Louise Young is clearly a Kate obsessive, and her show, a dizzy mash-note, is clearly for fans (we mean that in a good way), the Fish People, but it is witty and vibrant enough to please those ignorant of Kate-World. Whilst the music is pre-recorded, Young is not: her voice is strong and she inhabits the…
Continue Reading →Krapp’s Last Tape
(Directed by Vicky Featherstone; Adelaide Festival, 7 March 2025) Less is more with the great reductionist Samuel Beckett, although sometimes less is less. James Wood observed of Beckett’s late work that he had “smothered longings for riches, and [made his] reductions seem like bankruptcy after wealth rather than fraud before it.”* Take the best of Kafka and Jimmy Joyce, stir, and simmer. Stephen Rea stars, if one can call it starring. In The Crying Game, he was upstaged by a penis; in V For Vendetta, by a Guy Fawkes mask; and a burning theatre in Interview With a Vampire. Here,…
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