Latest news with #AntonyandCleopatra
Time Out
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
A haunting new adaptation of 'The Birds' lands at Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre
It's been more than 70 years since Daphne du Maurier wrote The Birds, the gothic short story that famously inspired Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film of the same name. Decades later, it remains one of the most unsettling tales ever told. Now, Malthouse Theatre is bringing this classic thriller to the stage in a bold new form: a reimagined one-woman show starring Paula Arundell (Three Furies, Antony and Cleopatra, Henry V). Adapted by Louise Fox and directed by former Malthouse artistic director Matthew Lutton (Picnic at Hanging Rock), the new production blends psychological horror with cutting-edge audio technology to create a truly immersive experience. As the theatre darkens and you don a pair of headphones, prepare for your pulse to race. The stunning sound design by J. David Franzke uses binaural sound – a 360-degree audio technique – to drag you into the haunting tale where a coastal town is under supernatural siege from a flock of birds. Arundell performs with tiny microphones in her ears, capturing every whisper, gasp, flap, screech and swoop as though it is terrifyingly close.
The Advertiser
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Advertiser
Dame Judi Dench forever grateful for her acting career
Dame Judi Dench is eternally grateful for her acting career. The 90-year-old actress has been a fixture on both screen and stage since the 1950s but still feels fortunate to be in a profession that she loves. Dame Judi told My Weekly magazine: "I feel very lucky to be part of the two per cent of people who wanted to do something and were able to make a living at it. "I never cease to be grateful of the fact that I am able to do a job that I really love – I never got over that. ... the key to happiness is gratitude." Her ability to work has been limited by the macular degeneration that has badly affected her eyesight, although she remains "in love with life". The former James Bond actress said: "Be thankful for what you have, and you'll find abundance in every aspect of your life. I'm in love with life even though it is a beautiful mess – but that's what makes it so incredible." Dame Judi is widely seen as a national treasure in Britain but she jokingly sees the title in another way. She said: "It's dusty and dreary. It's like I've been picked up and put inside a little glass-fronted cabinet. Then they've locked the door so I can't get out." Dame Judi revealed earlier in 2025 that she lost her voice for two days after being scared by a close encounter with a snake when she starred in a 1987 production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. The Oscar-winner, who was playing the female lead in the play, told the BBC Radio 4 documentary 'Roleplay': "One night, the boys taking me [carrying me] kept hissing. I was wondering what on earth was going on. "Then, back on stage at the very end of the play, the snake fell out of my wig as I did my bow. I was so scared I lost my voice for two days." Dame Judi Dench is eternally grateful for her acting career. The 90-year-old actress has been a fixture on both screen and stage since the 1950s but still feels fortunate to be in a profession that she loves. Dame Judi told My Weekly magazine: "I feel very lucky to be part of the two per cent of people who wanted to do something and were able to make a living at it. "I never cease to be grateful of the fact that I am able to do a job that I really love – I never got over that. ... the key to happiness is gratitude." Her ability to work has been limited by the macular degeneration that has badly affected her eyesight, although she remains "in love with life". The former James Bond actress said: "Be thankful for what you have, and you'll find abundance in every aspect of your life. I'm in love with life even though it is a beautiful mess – but that's what makes it so incredible." Dame Judi is widely seen as a national treasure in Britain but she jokingly sees the title in another way. She said: "It's dusty and dreary. It's like I've been picked up and put inside a little glass-fronted cabinet. Then they've locked the door so I can't get out." Dame Judi revealed earlier in 2025 that she lost her voice for two days after being scared by a close encounter with a snake when she starred in a 1987 production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. The Oscar-winner, who was playing the female lead in the play, told the BBC Radio 4 documentary 'Roleplay': "One night, the boys taking me [carrying me] kept hissing. I was wondering what on earth was going on. "Then, back on stage at the very end of the play, the snake fell out of my wig as I did my bow. I was so scared I lost my voice for two days." Dame Judi Dench is eternally grateful for her acting career. The 90-year-old actress has been a fixture on both screen and stage since the 1950s but still feels fortunate to be in a profession that she loves. Dame Judi told My Weekly magazine: "I feel very lucky to be part of the two per cent of people who wanted to do something and were able to make a living at it. "I never cease to be grateful of the fact that I am able to do a job that I really love – I never got over that. ... the key to happiness is gratitude." Her ability to work has been limited by the macular degeneration that has badly affected her eyesight, although she remains "in love with life". The former James Bond actress said: "Be thankful for what you have, and you'll find abundance in every aspect of your life. I'm in love with life even though it is a beautiful mess – but that's what makes it so incredible." Dame Judi is widely seen as a national treasure in Britain but she jokingly sees the title in another way. She said: "It's dusty and dreary. It's like I've been picked up and put inside a little glass-fronted cabinet. Then they've locked the door so I can't get out." Dame Judi revealed earlier in 2025 that she lost her voice for two days after being scared by a close encounter with a snake when she starred in a 1987 production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. The Oscar-winner, who was playing the female lead in the play, told the BBC Radio 4 documentary 'Roleplay': "One night, the boys taking me [carrying me] kept hissing. I was wondering what on earth was going on. "Then, back on stage at the very end of the play, the snake fell out of my wig as I did my bow. I was so scared I lost my voice for two days." Dame Judi Dench is eternally grateful for her acting career. The 90-year-old actress has been a fixture on both screen and stage since the 1950s but still feels fortunate to be in a profession that she loves. Dame Judi told My Weekly magazine: "I feel very lucky to be part of the two per cent of people who wanted to do something and were able to make a living at it. "I never cease to be grateful of the fact that I am able to do a job that I really love – I never got over that. ... the key to happiness is gratitude." Her ability to work has been limited by the macular degeneration that has badly affected her eyesight, although she remains "in love with life". The former James Bond actress said: "Be thankful for what you have, and you'll find abundance in every aspect of your life. I'm in love with life even though it is a beautiful mess – but that's what makes it so incredible." Dame Judi is widely seen as a national treasure in Britain but she jokingly sees the title in another way. She said: "It's dusty and dreary. It's like I've been picked up and put inside a little glass-fronted cabinet. Then they've locked the door so I can't get out." Dame Judi revealed earlier in 2025 that she lost her voice for two days after being scared by a close encounter with a snake when she starred in a 1987 production of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. The Oscar-winner, who was playing the female lead in the play, told the BBC Radio 4 documentary 'Roleplay': "One night, the boys taking me [carrying me] kept hissing. I was wondering what on earth was going on. "Then, back on stage at the very end of the play, the snake fell out of my wig as I did my bow. I was so scared I lost my voice for two days."
Perth Now
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Dame Judi Dench is forever grateful for her acting career
Dame Judi Dench is eternally grateful for her acting career. The 90-year-old actress has been a fixture on both screen and stage since the 1950s but still feels fortunate to be in a profession that she loves. Judi told My Weekly magazine: "I feel very lucky to be part of the two per cent of people who wanted to do something and were able to make a living at it. "I never cease to be grateful of the fact that I am able to do a job that I really love – I never got over that. I think the key to happiness is gratitude." Judi's ability to work has been limited by the macular degeneration that has badly affected her eyesight, although she remains "in love with life". The former James Bond actress said: "Be thankful for what you have, and you'll find abundance in every aspect of your life. I'm in love with life even though it is a beautiful mess – but that's what makes it so incredible." Judi is widely seen as a national treasure in Britain but she jokingly sees the title in another way. She said: "It's dusty and dreary. It's like I've been picked up and put inside a little glass-fronted cabinet. Then they've locked the door so I can't get out." Judi revealed earlier this year that she lost her voice for two days after being scared by a close encounter with a snake when she starred in a 1987 production of William Shakespeare's 'Antony and Cleopatra'. The Oscar-winner, who was playing the female lead in the play, told the BBC Radio 4 documentary 'Roleplay': "One night, the boys taking me [carrying me] kept hissing. I was wondering what on earth was going on. "Then, back on stage at the very end of the play, the snake fell out of my wig as I did my bow. I was so scared I lost my voice for two days." Meanwhile, Judi previously hit out at the increasing trend for trigger warnings being read out before stage plays and suggested that those of a sensitive disposition should stay away from the theatre. The 'Belfast' star said: "My God, it must be a pretty long trigger warning before 'King Lear' or 'Titus Andronicus'. "I can see why they exist, but if you're that sensitive, don't go to the theatre, because you could be very shocked. "Where is the surprise of seeing and understanding it in your own way?"
Otago Daily Times
16-05-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
It's not easy being Green
Green is the colour of nature, a soothing collection of hues from a pale minty or spring-like tint to a deep mossy one. Seeing and experiencing things green is said to be restful and restorative, and good for one's blood pressure and wellbeing. For many people, even imagining something green puts a skip in their step. It is not for nothing, though, that Kermit sang It's Not Easy Being Green. For a start, green is not one of the primary colours but a secondary one made up of yellow and blue. When those are the colours used by Act New Zealand, that is a pretty uncomfortable truth for the Green Party. Then there are the epithets which can teasingly be used to poke fun at Green Party members or supporters, invoking Cleopatra's "salad days, when I was green in judgement" quote from Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra, or the more prosaic "not as green as I am cabbage-looking". New Zealand politicians from other parties are often even less subtle about the Greens. Yesterday, Public Service Minister Judith Collins called them "frankly bonkers". Harsh words indeed, although there can be little doubt that the Green Party we now see in Parliament is many, many miles away from the party of former leaders Jeanette Fitzsimons and Rod Donald, and even from the more recent one co-led by James Shaw. Kermit knows a thing or two. The Greens are in a difficult position, one which opens them up to criticism whatever they do. Their tradition is to be a party which first and foremost advocates for the environment and its protection, at the expense of the economy if such a clash of philosophies arises. Yet, it is unlikely that any party will gain major traction in a parliament if it is solely a one-trick pony. For that reason, the Greens have been forced to expand their offerings to policies running the full gamut of portfolios, from the more obvious close cousins to the environment, such as sustainable transport and housing, to more radical political activism on gender diversity, immigration and the plight of Palestinians. Yet all the time in the background they have to deal with the cry of "shouldn't you be focusing on the environment?". Green Party co-leaders Marama Davidson (left) and Chloe Swarbrick. PHOTO: RNZ This week, the Greens issued their alternative budget ahead of the government's effort due on Thursday. Co-leaders Chloe Swarbrick and Marama Davidson unveiled policies which they said reflected the party's belief in fairness and common sense, and which would make New Zealand a better country to live in by rapidly reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, cutting the cost of living and improving the quality of life. Their cornerstone ideas include free GP visits and nursing services, annual free dental checkups and basic dental care, free prescriptions, 20 hours of free childcare a week for children up to school age, and a guarantee to ensure anyone studying or out of work an income of at least $395 a week. The intention is to fund the policies by increasing taxes on the country's wealthiest people. Among their proposals to do that are a wealth tax, a rise in income tax for those on more than $120,000 a year, a tax on the use of private jets, stopping interest breaks for landlords, and doubling royalty payments on mineral extraction. The private jet tax would make the aircraft owner/operator pay $5000 per passenger each time they arrived and departed from New Zealand. At the other end of the emissions spectrum, the Greens want to breathe new life into regional passenger rail services, including where they are desperately needed, in the South and between Dunedin and Christchurch, and eventually electrify them. The intention of the budget would be to raise almost $89 billion over four years, in order to pay for the free healthcare and other policies. Predictably, the government and its supporters have leapt on the proposals, calling them left-wing economic madness, "kookiness" and a "clown show". Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters was unsurprisingly the most ardent belittler, labelling it a "pink, Marxist plan". As laudable as the ends are, and who could possibly argue that free healthcare and childcare would be a bad thing, the means of getting there do certainly appear too extreme. But, of course, that still allows room for scaling things back to a more moderate approach. In the meantime, though, we say bring back passenger rail in the South regardless.
Epoch Times
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Epoch Times
Costumes: Another Reason to Love Opera
Opera costumes are likely the second reason fans love the art form. Fabulous singing is why they happily purchase the ticket, but opera is an art that includes many art forms: orchestral music, ballet, and stunningly painted and beautifully crafted sets. It has something for everyone. Right up there in second place is costuming; it that can range from fabulous to shocking and everything in between. Costumes run the gamut from the ridiculous to the sublime. To begin with the sublime, the successful, late-1800s soprano Emma Abbott understood the power of beautiful costumes. 'The costumes purchased during the summer of '90 by Miss Abbott were not only the most elegant and costly she ever bought by her, but exceeded both in cost and beauty any ever seen on any stage,' Soprano Emma Abbott appearing as the Queen of Spain in the Victor Hugo-based opera "Ruy Blas." Public Domain Over $100,000 were spent on accessories and costumes. Abbott's audiences looked forward to the sumptuous gowns, according to Martin. 'Many of her dresses were embroidered in gold and silver thread, others had yards upon yards of heavily jeweled garniture, with beads and buttons of real gold plate,' she said. Abbott purchased the most elegant fabrics that European looms had to offer. Sublime and opulent to a physically challenging degree describes the costume that soprano superstar Leontyne Price wore in the Metropolitan Opera's 1966 world premiere of Samuel Barber's 'Antony and Cleopatra.' The extravaganza was also the inaugural performance in the Met's new opera house, and included live horses, goats, and a camel, in addition to lavish costumes. But not everyone was impressed. Some of Price's Cleopatra costumes looked to weigh in the 40 to 50 pound range, and there was also a head dress. 'Cleopatra's most challenging obstacles were her grotesque costumes, ponderous creations that virtually imprisoned her,' In the same article, director Franco Zeffirelli described the costume: 'She will look like one of the greatest widows in the world, like a giant praying mantis.' Leontyne Price opened the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in a lavish production of Samuel Barber's "Antony and Cleopatra." Photo by Louis Melançon. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Opera For pure outrageousness, soprano Beverly Sills's Related Stories 6/16/2024 3/3/2025 Legendary diva Maria Callas wore stunning costumes as Elisabetta in Giuseppe Verdi's 'Don Carlo,' at La Scala in 1954. One velvet, black gown had a high, ruffled neckline and swaths of gold embroidery down the front and trimming the sleeves. The Another stunning Benois creation was Callas's costume for a 1956 production of 'Fedora' by Umberto Giordano. Ivory and gold brocade with a center panel embroidered with geometric designs was adorned with glass and crystal beads. Diamonds—3,700 of them—puts 19th-century diva Adelina Patti in first place for opulence. She wore her diamond-encrusted 'Aida' costume for a Covent Garden production of Verdi's opera. They are estimated to be worth $20 million today. What became of that creation is not clear. 'Turandot' The gorgeous and fantastical headpieces for 'Turandot,' the soprano in the title role of Giacomo Puccini's final opera, are worthy of a room in a museum. The Museo del Tessuto (textile museum) in Prato, Italy, thought so, too. An Cecil Beaton created Soprano Birgit Nilsson's 1961 Metropolitan Opera 'Turandot' head piece. It had beaded, bejeweled golden rods fanning out from her head with dangles ending in golden drops. The bloodred, gold-embroidered robe completed the stunning vision. Birgit Nilsson as Turandot. The Cecil Beaton-designed costume will be on display at a costume exhibit in conjunction with the Metropolitan Opera's 2025–2026 season. Photo by Louis Melançon. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Opera Archives Theatro Municipal of Sao Paulo's wore brilliant blue feathers with peacock plumes fanning out. The equally brilliant blue, satiny robe was embroidered with sparkling, ornate design. 'Ridiculous' is an apt description of the human-sized, purple, plastic egg-suit that mezzo soprano Marilyn Horne had to wear for her La Scala debut. She sang the role of Jocasta in Igor Stravinsky's 'Oedipus Rex,' and remembered in her book, 'Marilyn Horne, My Life' that 'The motif of the entire production was eggs. Jocasta was literally encased in a purple plastic egg.' She recalled her misery, 'Surrounded by this plastic case, with only my head visible, I had no choice but to be static.' Unable to move her arms and legs, she was also rendered deaf by the covering. 'When conductor Claudio Abbado stopped me in the middle of one solo and said, 'Can't you hear what your music is?' I rolled down to the front of the stage and answered, 'My music? I can't hear what this opera is!'' That problem was solved, and she received favorable reviews, but said of the stifling apparatus, 'Things got so hot, I almost hatched!' Marilyn Horne as Jocasta, in a purple plastic egg suit, in Stravinsky's "Oedipus Rex." Photo of image by E. Piccagliani from the book "Marilyn Horne: My Life," by Marilyn Horne with Jane Scovell. Courtesy of Helena Elling The thrill is in viewing the creativity. Whether the costumes are divine or dismal, as long as the singing is sublime, true opera fans love it all. What arts and culture topics would you like us to cover? Please email ideas or feedback to
