Comedian Stewart Lee and director Michael Cumming investigate how Prefects and Nightingales frontman Robert Lloyd has survived under the radar for more than four decades.
Bizet’s Carmen has long enthralled audiences with its gypsy flair, colour and passion – not to mention a score packed with hits that have taken on lives of their own outside the opera. In many ways it seems perfect material for the opera-spectacle of Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour.Gale Edwards’ production, which received its first outing in 2013, is set behind a giant CARMEN sign – a stand-in for HOLLYWOOD – the action taking place against the scaffolding, the gritty back-end of fame and prestige. Brian Thomson’s set is sombre and desolate, swathes of empty space with a patina of rust, into which cranes drop a tank and a jeep. John Rayment’s lighting design highlights the textural quality of the set early on before bursting into colour later in the show.
Thelonely bleakness of the setting – somehow removed from the city-scape and harbour behind – adds authenticity to the boredom and discomfort of the soldiers as they wait for the girls to emerge from the cigarette factory, a subterranean bunker that opens in the centre of the stage.
New. In a thrilling and intimate portrait, Celeste Bell embarks on a journey across three continents to explore the legacy of her mother - X-Ray Spex founder Poly Styrene.
From St. John's, Smith Square, London
A portrait of Chrissie Hynde, told in her own words as this film explores her inspiration and creative process while creating 10 Bob Dylan covers.