Melbourne Festival

It’s so good to go to a show that glories in language and revels in unpretentious cleverness.

The concert footage is impressive, and there’s a delicacy to how the film evolves, but Bird’s still best when heard.

Antony Hegarty is able to zoom in to the deeply personal and intimate - with both his music and visual art.

This tale of siblings, war, culture and love is presented in an intensely physical way by a remarkably charismatic actor, Te Kohe Tuhaka.

Although there are moments where you wonder quite why you are watching this, the dénouement makes it all worthwhile.

Aa’s score is an admittedly intriguing aspect of the show-combing traditional baroque sounds with samples of the whirring mechanical noises of filmmaking.

The ending doesn’t satisfy but on the whole this is a singular and original work of story telling.

Sheer magic. Period.