John Shand Posts

May 11, 2026 / Theatre Reviews

Ensemble Theatre, May 6 8/10 Given the depravity, cruelty, hatefulness, bullying, vulgarity and duplicity that fill our news cycle, how refreshing it is to encounter an affirmation of humanity’s better side. It turns out we’re not inherently such an appalling species: we just seem to default to behaving that way.…

May 8, 2026 / Album Reviews

Antahkarana 8/10 What a great title. Antahkarana, the latest instalment of The Three Seas’ 13-year voyage into a previously uncharted fusion of traditional Bengali music, jazz, dub, pop and more, is Sanskrit for “inner instrument”. This refers to the place inside us where memory, intuition, identity and soul converge. Add…

April 30, 2026 / Theatre Reviews

Wharf Theatre 1, April 17 9.5/10 We go to theatre in the hope of a night like this, where the words flare like fireworks, and insights become revelations; where suddenly the stage seems as limitless as life, and you watch and listen in wonderment. An Iliad is that good. Twenty-seven…