Those kind folks at Dendy and Think Tank pulled out all the stops and there were so many of my fellow doggies that turned out on the night, it was pawsome. I might have even fallen in love again but then a true lady doesn’t speak openly of such things in public. Everybody was so nice and all my new four-legged friends smelled great.

Even with all the activities, treats and cuddles, the best part of the night were the moving images up on that big screen. They featured a doggo named Runt, a scruffy fellow who saves the day for the Shearer family and helps thwart the evil doings of the land owner Earl Robert-Barren that ends up bringing life back to their struggling town. Runt was heroic and oh so dreamy and really what lady doesn’t love a bit of the rough?

Once again being outdoors under the stars and watching a film with all my new friends was such a good time. I have to also thank my mum and dad for taking me but especially my mum for packing away so many extra tasty treats. Mum might have even given a few of the treats to my new paramour but that’s all I will say on that subject. Thanks again to all the lovely folk from the Dendy and Think Tank, you know how to put on a party and I can’t wait to do it again!
Nina the Cavoodle
www.facebook.com/STUDIOCANAL.AUS/

Set in the dying days of 1965, the play pulls no punches is showing how difficult it was growing up in a small town where racial intolerance was the tone of the day and the grind of daily boredom was never far away. Into this environment Charlie, a boy who dreams large comes face to face with many of life’s ugly truths while he acts as the show’s narrator.

The play is presented in a brisk fashion, with the clever use of a revolving stage and having the actors play multiple roles to flush out the characters. The stage setting never lets you forget the small town origins while the score keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout with its ominous overtones.

Jasper Jones is an involving examination of the resiliency of the human spirit. It also makes a strong comment on the lack of progress that we as a society have made in the last fifty years.

Director: Sam Strong
Designer: Anna Cordingley
Lighting Designer: Matt Scott
Sounds Designer: Darrin Verhagen
Cast: Ian Bliss, Shaka Cook, Nicholas Denton, Rachel Gordon, Hayden Spencer, Hoa Xuande and Melanie Zanetti
Photographer: David Kelly

Jasper Jones is playing at the Playhouse, QPAC until the 18 August.
Rob Hudson

www.queenslandtheatre.com.au

Charlie Bucktin lives in a tiny, insignificant bush town where nothing happens. Nothing, that is, until the town’s very own Huckleberry Finn – the light-fingered and dark-skinned Jasper Jones – stumbles upon a gruesome crime out by the dam.

Who else would he call on for help but the sharpest kid around? A midnight tap at Charlie’s window sparks a race to solve a murder and clear Jasper’s name.

Somewhere between Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and classic movie Stand by Me, Kate Mulvany’s adaptation of Craig Silvey’s novel is a bittersweet, joyous coming-of-age yarn set in a community where every weatherboard house hides a dark secret.

Jasper Jones
28 July – 18 August
Playhouse, QPAC
www.queenslandtheatre.com.au

The story is set in a small town in Western Australia and it mirrors small town life with a loving feel. The surrounds are idyllic and its inhabitants are not portrayed as yokels but as a community with compassion but one coloured by conservatism and some degree of racism. Into this mix we focus on Charlie Bucktin (Levi Miller), a soft spoken and sensitive 14 year-old boy who is about to get pulled into a world previously unknown to him.

The cast is peppered with well known Aussie thespians and both Hugo Weaving as a recluse and Toni Collette as Charle’s often times neurotic mother deliver outstanding performances. It’s a story told with subtle shades and understatement but one that has a punch when dark details are revealed.

Jasper Jones harkens back to the age when Australian cinema focused on the everyday life of its rural citizens and not just the extreme characters that inhabit the fringes of its society. It’s an engaging story well told with some darkness at its core that separates it from a being just a warm and fuzzy tale of small town life.

Rob Hudson
www.jasperjonesfilm.com