John Shand Posts

April 11, 2026 / Album Reviews

Breath (Newmarket) 8/10 Christopher Young is something of a maverick on Melbourne’s jazz scene, only occasionally releasing albums, but always having something worth saying. He’d known Dom Cheviet, a fellow reeds player from France, for 25 years before they finally got around to collaborating, and what a project it is.…

April 4, 2026 / Theatre Reviews

Ensemble Theatre, March 27 8/10 Acting is a challenging art. Playing real people – especially those with whom the audience is readily familiar – is tougher, still. Now the actor is torn between mimicry and shooting for something that blends reality and artistry. The audience, meanwhile, easily becomes preoccupied with…

March 31, 2026 / Theatre Reviews

Roslyn Packer Theatre, March 25 8/10 How many novels spawn a film, play, musical and forthcoming TV series? The fascination with Miles Franklin’s 1901 story continues because protagonist Sybylla’s debunking of patriarchal ideas of marriage as fulfillment for a woman, instead following a nascent dream of being a writer, so…