Box Offce

Alison Whyte gets her teeth into a juicy role in the MTC's Richard III this month.

Good diction is now fiction

IF THERE is one thing that raises my hackles it is sloppy diction. "Ee-NUN-see-ate," my speech teacher would bellow when I was at school.

Master feels at home in the deranged

JOHN Simm has always had an ambivalent attitude towards fame €” aware he's in a profession where success is judged in terms of public recognition but still not liking it much.

Canvas

We are speaking in our own country to our own audience

The Rehearsal

The Rehearsal Eleanor Catton Granta Books, $29.99

Out of her own shadow

GINA Riley won't reveal anything about the likelihood of her alter ego, Kim Day Craig, returning to TV. But it's evident her connection to the Fountain Lakes hornbag is as strong today as it ever was.

Caine's easy charm still making its mark

Playing a bitter old man was a challenge for an actor so content with life, writes Melissa Kent.

Back To The Wharf: An Aid For Reith's Fickle Memory

BASTARD BOYS: GREG'S WAR 9.30pm, ABC1: What kind of impact will a repeat of this political drama series have more than a year after the Howard government, which isn't portrayed in a terribly favourable light, lost office? Its initial screening created considerable controversy and, with industrial relations a major factor in the election of 2007, it reiterated a few unsavoury incidents - some of which have subsequently been ventilated from the horse's . . . er . . . mouth in the four-part series ...

Social Spy

HOLIDAY DRAMA

Students See Scales Of Justice In Baccalaureate

SOME students are opting for the International Baccalaureate instead of the Higher School Certificate to avoid having their marks in humanities subjects scaled down.

Play No Drama For Teens

FOR the third year running Toronto High School Year 11 students have won the MindPlay drama competition, held at the University of Newcastle on June 6.

Crime-fighters Not Too Cool For School

ABBC writers' competition was the best thing that ever happened to Keith Brumpton. The judges didn't think much of the drama series he entered but they were interested in his idea for a kids' show.

Exploring Man's Heart Of Darkness In The Theatre Of War

A play by the VCA's head of drama continues a fruitful collaboration, writes Greg Burchall.