John Shand Posts

September 7, 2018 / Features - Archive

They’re the lucky ones. Australia’s Uyghurs are still able to celebrate their ancient culture in music and dance. Their compatriots in China’s north-west Xinjiang province, meanwhile, are ever more widely reported as being arrested without charge, sent to political “re-education” camps, or simply disappearing altogether. Such allegations are denied by…

September 6, 2018 / Theatre Reviews - Archive

Roslyn Packer Theatre, August 25 8/10 At its best it’s like wading against the great wash of humanity in peak hour at Central: an endless press of faces registering worry, sorrow, panic, anger and, yes, even joy. Many of the 90 roles leave you bruised as they stream from the…

September 2, 2018 / Concert Reviews - Archive

City Recital Hall, August 22 6/10 It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The euphoria of the end of the war to end all wars – with its consequent artistic, social and sexual bravado – collided with the crunch of the Great Depression and then…