Carrie Kablean Archive

  Paula Arundell has her audience spellbound in this clever and contemporary retelling of Daphne du Maurier’s short story The Birds, made famous by the 1963 Alfred Hitchcock film. That film was set in California, du Maurier’s original took place in post-WWII …

  Steel Magnolias, with its whip-smart wit and female camaraderie, is the sort of play that will have you leaving the theatre smiling, and that is certainly the case with this production. It is set entirely within Truvy’s home-based beauty salon in …

‘Happiness is a choice. Even on bad days, we are lucky to be alive.’ These are among the closing remarks made by Eddie Jaku (enacted by Anton Berezin) as he relates his story of persecution, imprisonment and escapes, torture and near death …

Helene Hanff’s 1970 non-fiction book, 84 Charing Cross Road, is charmingly realised in this eponymously named play at the Ensemble with Erik Thomson and Blazey Best in the leading roles. In 1981, the book was adapted for the stage by James Roose-Evans, …

  Who are we when we speak a language that isn’t our own? That is one question that Iranian American playwright Sanaz Toossi’s English subtly asks of its audiences. In Sydney, one of the most multi-lingual cities of the world, it is …

Pamela Rabe is the commanding and binding force in this ambitious adaptation of Olga Tokarczuk’s novel, which an interweb search variously describes as an ecofeminist, anti-authoritarian, animal-rights campaigning whodunit cum fable/fairytale. It is all of those things and Rabe, as the central …

  For those unaware, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were two great Hollywood mega-stars, rising to fame in the 1930s – hard to believe that was nearly a century ago. Feted individually, they were brought together for the making of the film, …

This is such a clever, provocative and enjoyable play to watch on so many levels. Written by British playwright Sam Holcroft in 2023, its production here is especially timely as one of its key themes in censorship in art. It is a …

Simon Burke is just fabulous as the beleaguered and maligned elocution teacher in this Steven J Spears play, which premiered 50 years ago, and charts the downfall of a man persecuted simply because he is gay. And therefore deemed to be a …

Sheridan Harbridge is just superb in this stunningly good homage to Australian rock icon and Divinyls frontwoman Chrissy Amphlett. Described as a ‘rock odyssey’ of music, storytelling and unapologetic attitude that blends biography and concert anecdotes, the show is all that and …