Bell Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet Giveaway
This emotionally charged performance promises intensity, heartbreak, and timeless romance.
Tune in to ABC Radio Canberra for your chance to see the show at the Canberra Theatre Centre. Giveaway details
Tune in to Breakfast on ABC Radio Canberra from Monday 11 August to find out how you can win one of five double passes to see the show. Prize details Double pass to see Romeo and Juliet at the Canberra Theatre Centre between 29 August - 7 September
Visit the Canberra Theatre Centre's website to find out more.
Competition terms and conditions apply.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
News.com.au
2 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Aggressively provocative': Test screener for Margot Robbie's ‘Wuthering Heights' film cops mixed reviews
Wuthering Heights devotees are in for a rude shock, it seems. The beloved 1800s novel written by Emily Brontë is yet again being adapted for the screen, with Australian actress Margot Robbie and fellow Aussie Jacob Elordi in the lead roles of Catherine and Heathcliff. Directed by Saltburn filmmaker Emerald Fennell, the upcoming feature film has already copped significant controversy after photos emerged from the set earlier this year, with many taking issue with Robbie's age, her costume and styling, and even with her face looking too 'modern' for a story set in the late 1700s. Now, a test screener hosted in Dallas, Texas, is said to have generated a deeply mixed reaction among viewers, described as 'aggressively provocative' and 'tonally abrasive'. According to movie website World of Reel, 'There's hypersexualised imagery — far more explicit than any previous adaptation of this material.' The outlet further claims, 'The film opens with a public [redacted] that quickly descends into grotesque absurdity, as the condemned man ejaculates mid-execution, sending the onlooking crowd into a kind of orgiastic frenzy. A nun even fondles the corpse's visible erection. 'Later, a woman is strapped into a horse's reins for a BDSM-tinged encounter. There are several masturbation scenes shot in that now-signature Fennell style — intimate, clinical, and purposefully discomforting.' The publication cites an attendee saying Robbie and Elordi have 'great chemistry', but described the characters as 'unlikeable'. It's not usual for reviews to emerge from highly-confidential test screenings, which are traditionally held by production companies to gauge audience reaction prior to the film's completion and ultimate release. Production on Wuthering Heights, which took place in the UK, officially wrapped in April. And a warning, some story spoilers below. The book – considered one of the most famous pieces literature ever written – follows the doomed romance between Catherine and Heathcliff, whose passionate love story is marred by societal constraints. Amid the backlash when Robbie – a three-time Oscar nominee – was cast, many took issue with the actress' age. At 35, the Queensland-born star is some 16 years older than Catherine. While it's certainly not uncommon for mature actors to portray younger characters, much of the tragedy of the novel lies in the premature nature of Catherine's death during childbirth, as Heathcliff lives on tormented to have lost her before they have a chance to be together. Others also felt Robbie didn't quite capture a 17th-century woman, with one critic claiming she looks 'straight out of Sephora'. Previous adaptations saw actress Merle Oberon, then in her late twenties, star alongside Laurence Olivier in a 1939 movie, as well as Juliette Binoche, also in her twenties, alongside Ralph Fiennes in the 1992 version. Actress Kaya Scodelario was 19 when she played Cathy in a 2011 film adaptation, alongside James Howson as Heathcliff. With a flurry of adaptations having already been made, it's perhaps unsurprising Fennell is looking to infuse some shock factor. Warner Bros is distributing the film, with a planned February 2026 cinema release.
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Arnhem Land's Bulman School turns traditional stories into songs
In the school yard at Bulman in the Northern Territory's central Arnhem Land, a group of boys are practising drums and clapping sticks while a barramundi cooks over coals nearby. They are preparing to unveil their latest song, based on a Dreamtime story that explains why goannas have patterns on their backs but lizards do not. Chadmus Redford, 10, said the goanna and lizard agreed to paint each other. The lizard was a skilled artist and did a good job, but in return the careless goanna made a mess of the lizard. "The lizard is going to get very angry and he's going to chase the goanna," Chadmus explained. The song is the latest output from the isolated school with fewer than 100 students. It has now recorded and produced more than a dozen songs using the two Indigenous languages of the region, Dalabon and Rembarrnga. The community has been bagging gongs at national music awards, including the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awards and National Indigenous Media Awards (NIMAs). But more importantly, the work is passing on stories and providing a bridge in language between kids and their elders. Randall Campion is a senior Rembarrnga man and a keeper of songs for ceremonies. He started working with the Bulman School as a language teacher, but his role quickly changed. "The kids wanted me to sing," Mr Campion said. "I'm the last traditional songman here at Bulman community for funerals, smoking ceremonies and welcoming ceremonies. "Music educates. Land, environment, animal," he said. Many of the songs are creation stories about animals. Malnganarra tells of how bats take shelter inside the rainbow serpent, known as Bolung in parts of the Top End, before coming out at night to eat flowers in the trees. Others, like Strongbala Wei, are about the responsibility of caring for country. The students all take part in singing, playing instruments and acting out scenes in music videos. Musician and producer Steve Lane has been working with the school to make their recordings, on behalf of a non-profit called The Song Room. "Some of the old people … have a big list of stories that they would really like told through song and shared with the kids," he said. "And they're pretty keen to tell them in their languages as well." Working in languages such as Dalabon with relatively few fluent speakers poses unique challenges. Sometimes a vital elder is out of town, so pronunciations have to be figured out over the phone. Australian linguist Nicholas Evans, who codified the Dalabon dictionary, has also been on speed dial. Many of the kids at the school have parents, aunties and uncles who are Dalabon or Rembarrnga speakers who are keen for the next generation to learn more of their traditional languages. Mr Lane said he had seen the kids grow in confidence. Some kids who may not always settle well in maths or English classes have come out of their shells in the studio too. "It's something that those people, those kids in particular, that's what they've been waiting for — that opportunity," Mr Lane said At this weekend's National Indigenous Media Awards, the school added yet another trophy to its growing cabinet. "They've had a good run," Mr Lane said. "It's a lovely thing to be in a community with a collective spirit of 'we can win this stuff, we're as good as everyone else'."
ABC News
4 hours ago
- ABC News
Hard Quiz: Think you could be a contestant? I've heard that before
It's all well and good to be a know-it-all on the couch, but it's time to walk all that talk of yours. The rules are simple (they have to be) — five points for a correct answer. Got it? Let's play, HARD! Stream new Hard Quiz episodes on ABC iview or watch Wednesdays 8pm on ABC TV.
