Thrice the fun

Braving the chaos of the Sydney Festival, I made my way to the Genesian Theatre in Kent St to see Michael Frayn's 1982 comedy "Noises Off" - three acts giving three unique perspectives on the staging of a play...

Initially, the audience is privy to a farcical 11th-hour rehearsal, wherein the frustrated director wanders the floor giving instruction and blowing his stack, and we learn which members of cast and crew are sleeping together and which are jealous. After a 15-minute intermission, the scenery having been rotated 180^, it's time for the "real" thing. As the same piece is performed on the other side of the backdrop (a double-storey house with eight doors), directed away from us, we witness instead the backstage movements and costume changes, and the tiffs, sabotage and other shenanigans. Following a 10-minute interval and the righting of the scenery, we flash forward to the end of the show's run, when the multitude of grievances combined with the general ineptitude have reduced it to an amusing, in-our-face shambles.


Trashflash 2: The Trashening

Transferred all the empty boxes in my flat - from appliances, collectables, parcels, whatever - to the recyling bin. There were 23 of the bastards! It's remarkable how rapidly they accumulate and how much space has been freed.

Spelunking spunks are sunk

Watched "The Descent" (2005) because I was sick of every man and his dog soldier raving and there's supposedly a sequel in the underground tunnel. The scariest horror fillum I've seen in for-ages. Cheers, PG.

Impatient to revisit Donna

"Doctor Who: Martha In The Mirror" (2008) by Justin Richards. A dude gazes into a full-length mirror and his reflection produces a gun, shoots him dead and steps through. Now there's an opening sequence for ya!