MAN ABOUT TOWN

I've been spoiled for entertainment over the last week. Last Friday was the opening night The Ballad of Backbone Joe , the latest but all-to-briefly showing production by The Suitcase Royale at the Arts House Meat Market, North Melbourne. A clever combination of film noir and Fisher's Ghost , it was another fine example of the Suitcase boys' 'junkyard theatre' aesthetic, and a wonderfully entertaining show, though to my mind it felt a little undercooked - something I also felt about their Chronicles of a Sleepless Moon when I saw its first incarnation at the 2006 Next Wave Festival, mind you. Given time, and fine-tuning, I have no doubts Backbone Joe - a rib-tickling tale of boxing and butchery - will reach similar heights of success. It already has the same quotient of unhinged tomfoolery! On Monday night I saw a preview of the new Australian film by director Jonathan Auf Der Heide, Van Diemen's Land , a beautifully rendered story about terrible events ins...

Joseph (Jof) O'Farrell, Miles O'Neil and Glen Walton Melbourne Town Hall to April 26, Thu-Sat 10.50pm, Sun 9.50pm $20 - $15 4/5 In a distant galaxy, three intrepid astronauts - Kerry O'Brien, Chuck Norris and Kevin Bacon - seek the cure for mannequinitis, a deadly disease which is ravaging the cosmos. Victims of mannequinitis transmute into living plastic, a fate which has already befallen Bacon's friend and companion, Christoff. If more lives are to be saved, our heroes must overcome impossible odds - including mysterious aliens, cardboard sets, and the perils of deep space. As with last year's Golden Gibbo Award-winning The Ghosts of Ricketts Hill , the latest show from The Suitcase Royale - Joseph (Jof) O'Farrell, Miles O'Neil and Glen Walton - is a triumph of inventive lunacy. Ingeniously employed props and toys create theatrical illusions which are cinematic in scale. Mistakes and ad-libbing are swiftly adapted into the script. Laughs come thick and f...

Some villainous poltroons have robbed a warehouse, stealing gear from The Suitcase Royale and other fine performing folk. There's a benefit being held this coming Sunday May 25 in order to get some money together so they can replace their stolen equipment. Please say you'll come, do. There will be performances by: POST (SYD), the Brown Council (SYD), the Caravan of Love, the Black Lung, Bron Batton, Film by the Safari Team, Live Music, swingin DJs and much more (to be announced) hosted by the Suitcase Royale at 25A Eastment St Northcote . Doors open at 8pm, performances around 9pm. A mere $10 entry!