Room of her own

When it was announced that A Room of One’s Own would return to the Belvoir St Theatre after the COVID restrictions applied to Sydney theatres last year, more than 2000 people immediately got on the wait list for a ticket. Now the wait to see the show is over, with a full-capacity new season of the two-woman drama starring Anita Hegh and Ella Prince running May 6-23.

A Room of One’s Own is, of course, an adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s groundbreaking feminist essay of the same name, with an impressive mainstage directorial debut by Carissa Licciardello. The play debuted last September when theatres were at 25% capacity and has now returned due to demand. The Sydney Morning Herald reviewed the play as “nothing less than transcendental” and Limelight magazine described Hegh’s leading performance as “superb”.

“Anita Hegh’s performance is extraordinary,” says Eamon Flack, Belvoir artistic director. “She channels the currents of Woolf’s thought and the result is a funny, lacerating, electrifying dose of truth-telling. This really is life-changing stuff.”

Following A Room of One’s Own, Belvoir will be staging Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard from May 29-June 27, starring Pamela Rabe and directed by Flack.

Belvoir St Theatre

18 & 25 Belvoir St

belvoir.com.au

SCREEN TIME

Going to the movies is something we are just getting used again after the past year of film-going absences. There couldn’t be a better way to throw yourself back into it than at the 23rd Spanish Film Festival, on now at Palace cinemas. The 29-film program, running until May 9, includes 20 films from Spain plus nine entries from Latin America.

Highlights include acclaimed director Alejandro Amenábar’s exposé of the 1936 Spanish coup, While at War (Mientras dure la guerra), as well as Sebastián Borensztein's Heroic Losers (La Odisea de los giles), the number one Argentinian film of 2019. Other highlights include Rosa’s Wedding, Wishlist and A Thief’s Wedding, as well as Spanish blockbusters I Can Quit Whenever I Want and If I Were Rich.

Lovers of international film should also keep an eye out for forthcoming international film festivals, with German, Scandinavian, Italian and British events to be held at Palace cinemas later this year.

Spanish Film Festival

Chauvel Cinema

249 Oxford St

Palace Verona

17 Oxford St

spanishfilmfestival.com.au