Culture

Pop-star obsession and ‘fangirl’ devotion are unapologetically celebrated in Yve Blake’s original Australian musical FANGIRLS.  Ever since its premiere in 2019, FANGIRLS has been making waves. It’s become something of a sensation in Australian musical theatre circles and even on TikTok, where its videos have amassed impressive numbers of views. The creation of award-winning playwright and composer Yve Blake, FANGIRLS is a glittering and perceptive take on fangirl behaviour that serves up serotonin by the bucket load. It masquerades as a sparkly pop musical, but interweaves a secondary conceptual thread, adding dimension to what might otherwise be a superficial portrayal

It was only last October when Lot’s Wife published an interview in which I “mourned the prospect” that it would likely take years before immersive theatre returned to a post-coronavirus world. A mere five months later, Melbourne’s own Malthouse Theatre has dispelled all previous apprehension with their bold production Because the Night opening on 23 March.  Because the Night is an immersive theatrical experience, loosely inspired by the characters and plot of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In what I can only crudely approximate to a theatrical ‘choose your own adventure’ or the notion of stepping into a real life video game world,

Watching The Pickup Game as a girl is an unsettling experience. If you aren’t already aware, there exists a ‘pickup industry’ that, in a nutshell, teaches men how to charm and manipulate women to reach their ultimate goal: taking them to bed. The pickup industry is one that generates millions per year. Its followers, mostly men, are willing to pay up to thousands of dollars for online courses, masterclasses and week-long boot camps to pursue the promised Casanova lifestyle. For certain men, this is seductive. But for women, it is dangerous. And in their compelling documentary, directors Barnaby and Matthew