Western Australia’s arts playground

Author Archives: Rita Clarke

Reading time • 6 minutesDance
Five women, all in black mourning dresses and veils, sit solemnly around a bare wooden table. Passion simmers in this House of pain
Reviews

Passion simmers in this House of pain

4 May 2023

Susie Conte’s adaptation of The House of Bernarda Alba is an intense journey into a world of oppression and suppressed desires, writes Rita Clarke.

Reading time • 6 minutesTheatre
A dancer in Catch 22 climbs stairs as two others dance below her in this production at The Blue Room. A woman in black climbs steps on a dark stage with two other dancers below her. Three dancers on stage in Catch 22 using stairs as their props. The stage is barely lit. Climbing the stairs of human struggle
Reviews

Climbing the stairs of human struggle

13 April 2023

The challenges of human existence are made manifest in dance piece Catch 22. Rita Clarke lauds the choreographer’s inventive use of movement in a magnetic performance.

Reading time • 5 minutesContemporary dance
Edgy Equations adds up to festival must-see
Reviews

Edgy Equations adds up to festival must-see

23 February 2023

Laura Boynes’ Equations of a Falling Body is an explosive mix of dance and physical theatre that will live long in the memory, writes Rita Clarke.

Reading time • 6 minutesContemporary dance
A female dancer turns her gaze away from a male dancer holding her hand as both are bathed in stage spotlights in the Perth Moves Strut Dance performance. STRUT delivers 15 minutes of flame
Reviews

STRUT delivers 15 minutes of flame

9 February 2023

Crystal Pite’s bold choreography delivers 15 minutes of scintillating dance for Perth Moves: 10 Duets on a Theme of Rescue.

Reading time • 5 minutesDance
The Sensemaker - a woman holds the receiver of an old-fashioned landline phone to her ear. Hold the line, this one’s a must-see
Reviews

Hold the line, this one’s a must-see

1 February 2023

Solo performer Elsa Couvreur turns the telephonic torment of being put on hold into an hour of witty, spell-binding physical theatre. Rita Clarke’s advice? Don’t miss it.

Reading time • 4 minutesDance
Melon the Human contorts his body by arching so his head is almost touching the floor In love with a master manipulator
Reviews

In love with a master manipulator

23 January 2023

Melon the Human charms and delights Rita Clarke and the rest of the audience with his contortion and object manipulation.

Reading time • 4 minutesCircus
Reading time • 6 minutesTheatre
A woman wearing brown trousers stands between two golden criss-crossed columns, arms outstretched. A black and white still of Rita Hayworth overlays the top of the performer's body, so you can just make out the tip of her head and her hands. It is dancer Sarah Aitken for SITU-8: CITY. Dancers breathe life into grand old dame
Reviews

Dancers breathe life into grand old dame

3 November 2022

STRUT Dance and Tura New Music take us into one of Perth’s forgotten beauties for their latest site-specific program. Rita Clarke enjoys the dance down memory lane.

Reading time • 6 minutesDance
Tröll 5 - A4 - Philip Merry - Axylotl Photography A man stands against a screen, with the words

Terrific Tröll is a pre-teen treat

22 September 2022

Kicking off Awesome Festival, Troll lures Rita Clarke and an audience of school children into its updated Icelandic myth with special effects and equally special storytelling.

Reading time • 5 minutesTheatre

Cleaver Street Studio

Cleaver Street Studio

 

Cleaver Street Studio