IN Shakespeare’s day all female roles were played by men. Now, a Perth theatre company is aiming to turn that upside down. Her Infinite Variety Ensemble hit the scene last year, causing a stir with its all-male cast of Titus Andronicus. Now its new work, Playhouse Creatures, will honour the first women on English stages…

PEELING back layers of insensitive additions was like an archeological dig and the treasure revealed was Australia’s oldest organ, says Graham Devenish. His Bayswater-based Pipe Organs WA has been repairing and restoring organs for years, but none have been more exciting than the small chamber organ revealed to have been built around 1750. “The oldest…

FIVE men will front court Thursday May 30 charged with offences under the prostitution act. Vincent mayor Alannah MacTiernan is keen to name the men—if they’re convicted—as a deterrent to others seeking sex on Vincent’s streets, but her council is yet to sign off on the notion. Police say they won’t actively help the council…

WOOLWORTHS’ $3.5 million plans to upgrade the Maylands Peninsula Tavern have been rejected by the local development assessments panel. The application for the Railway Parade pub and bottleshop included a 743sqm Dan Murphy’s outlet, courtyards and family-style bistro, 123 car bays and two-storey offices above the liquor store. The bottleshop element of the application proved…

THIS year’s Pride parade will take place during the day to make the event more accessible to families “and people reluctant to visit Northbridge at night”. Organiser Pride WA acknowledges the night parades clog the streets during already-busy times and hopes the new plan will keep traders happy. And while some floats have been threadbare…

THE Aberdeen Hotel in Northbridge is for sale. Billed as “Perth’s biggest party pub”, The Deen has six zoned bars and hosts live music, shows, DJ sets and private functions. The Voice contacted management for comment, but it put us onto estate agent Lance White, who never got back to us. The heritage-listed building was…

PERTH city council is looking to spend $95,000 to light up 15 trees in East Perth. The $6000-per-tree idea for Royal Street was raised at a recent meeting. A staff report shies away from recommending yea or nay but does note, “the expansion of lighting in trees is very costly and is problematic in a…

IT must be Perth’s most controversial toilet with locals packing the public gallery to debate a new loo going in at the small but overpopular Hobart Street reserve. One-hundred-and-twenty-seven people (many from the North Perth precinct group) opposed the public toilet, worried about who it might attract. Other public lavs in parks around town are…

They’re so PC—but in a good way A GROUP of Perth volunteers is refurbishing thrown-out computers and sending them to children in developing countries. Since 2004, the group has sent more than 2000 refurbished PCs to orphanages, schools and charity organisations in Tanzania, Burma, Kenya, Cameroon and Zambia. It diverts thousands more from landfill by…

HOWZAT RON WILLIS of Mt Lawley takes issue with Wisden on the Ashes for, amongst other things, claiming to be ‘the authoritative story of cricket’s greatest rivalry’. IN 2009 Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack shot its albatross—the history of the Ashes urn. Wisden on the Ashes, 644 pages edited by Steven Lynch, took the carcase. One hoped…