THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

 

The Girl on the Train. By Paula Hawkins and the Dreamworks Film. Adapted by Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel. 

Directed and designed by Chris Baldock. Assistant Director Dale Rheynolds. Lighting Design by Rhiley Winnett and Chris Baldock. Costumes and Props Chris Baldock, Dale Rheynolds and the Cast. Intimacy Consultant Steph Evans. The Studio. Mockingbird Theatre Company and Acting Studio. August 2026.

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

 

Morgan Heath Williams as Rachel
 in The Girl on the Train

An air of silent expectation hangs over the audience in the intimate Mockingbird Studio. I cannot remember a time when not a word has been spoken as the audience entered to take their seats for Mockingbird’s production of Rachel Wagstaff and Duncan Abel’s stage adaptation of Paula Hawkin’s and Dreamwork Film’s The Girl on the Train. Director/Designer Chris Baldock has once again demonstrated his visionary theatrical insight in creating an ambience that arouses intense anticipation, intriguing mystery and gripping involvement in the drama.

Susie Todd as Megan and Timothy Cusack as Scott in The Girl on the Train

Four actors are seated motionless on the octagonal set design. They nurse alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages on their laps, waiting for the performance to begin. It is an auspicious beginning to a drama that captures the suspense and mystery of the film’s adaptation. Baldock has carefully and meticulously fashioned the drama for the intimate theatre in the round, ensuring that we are constantly offered shifting perspectives on the characters’ actions and motives.

A video of a moving train surrounds the space. The sound of shattering glass jerks the audience into attention and in the middle of the space the figure of Rachel Watson (Morgan Heath-Williams) can be seen sprawled bleeding from a cut on the forehead. And so the thrilling crime drama begins in a haze of fragmented memory, random accusation and the bewildering search for the truth.

Paul Sweeney as D.I.Gaskill in The Girl on the Train

Megan Hipwell (Susie Todd) has disappeared. Watson’s alcoholic imaginings draw her into the mystery. She becomes both victim and suspect, determined to uncover the truth through her encounters with her former husband Tom (Robert Weardon), his current wife Anna (Sabrina Fu), Megan’s husband Scott (Timothy Cusack) and Megan’s therapist (Ankush Singh Khanchi). At the same time D.I. Gaskill (Paul Sweeney) is on the case as suspicion builds as Watson finds herself both the accused and the accuser.

Like all good crime fiction, investigation is as much about the characters and their relationships as it is about the complex and convoluted quest to uncover the truth. Dark truths about Rachel’s reliance on alcohol, the secret aspect of Scott and Megan’s marriage, Megan’s tragic past, Tom’s tormented continuing love of Rachel, Anna’s spiteful resentment of Tom and Anna’s past and Kamal’s guilt all contribute to a portrait of the frailty of human nature. Wagstaff and Abel’s characters are all complicit in the drama but it is up to director Baldock and his cast to construct a labyrinth of possibilities that will lure their audience on a search, not only for the ultimate truth, but also for a deeper understanding of the human condition in all its complexity and frailty.

Morgan Heath Williams as Rachel Watson, the girl on the train

Baldock has chosen an outstanding cast. In the eponymous role of the girl on the train, Morgan Heath Williams gives an extraordinary performance as Rachel Watson, charting the agony of alcoholic stupor to crushing self-doubt, loneliness, and eventually alcohol free and fervent determination until she arrives at redemption with the revelation of Megan’s murderer. Heath Williams is an actor to watch and I look forward to her appearance in future productions.

Any actor assuming a central role is only as good as the ensemble that supports him or her and commands a performance as truthful as the others. Heath Williams has an excellent supporting cast, each asserting their individuality in this suspenseful and gripping drama. There is a sense of false motive in Weardon’s performance of Tom. It is a performance that you can’t quite put your finger on but you know that there is something not quite right. Cusack’s Scott surprises with an unexpected streak of violence emerging from a conservative presence. Todd’s Megan evokes both mystery and empathy through effective stillness and ghostly essence. Fu exudes the very resentment and anger of the second wife in  a brittle and expressive performance that reconciles her relationship with Rachel  as the drama reaches its finale. Kanchi’s professional concern and reserve hides the discomfort of inappropriate conduct with Megan as observed from the train by Rachel. It is a subtle study of private shame. There is something entirely endearing about Paul Sweeney’s Detective Inspector Gaskill. It is the cat and mouse lark of a man who knows the art of peeling back the false truth to reach the real truth with a grin. Sweeney’s gumshoe would make an excellent series copper.

Baldock’s use of the space is an excellent example of stage choreography, keeping the audience continually engaged and absorbed in the action and behaviour of the characters. It comes as no surprise that the season should be sold out, and I was only able to see the production on its penultimate night. There is no point in me saying “Don’t miss this outstanding production” but there is every point in commending Mockingbird on another first-rate night at the theatre. Lucky are they who could say they saw it. For those that didn’t, there is always the film. But for my part I prefer the part that live theatre can play in encouraging audiences to look beyond the plot and view the inner world of the characters upon the stage.  

 

I LOVE YOU, YOU'RE PERFECT, NOW CHANGE

 

Book& Lyrics by Joe Di Pietro

Music by Jimmy Roberts

Directed by Janie Lawson

Free Rain Theatre at the ACT Hub Theatre, Kingston to 5 September

 

Reviewed by Len Power 21 August 2026

 

In ‘I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change’, a chessboard full of strategies, wins and loses is peopled with colourful characters trying to get through the rocky road of relationships and life in general. The show is composed of separate and unconnected vignettes with titles like ‘Men Who Talk and Women Who Pretend They are Listening’, ‘And Now the Parents’ and ‘Sex and the Married Couple’. The ensemble cast of six play all of the various characters.

Written in 1996, this musical has the distinction of being the second longest-running Off-Broadway show ever with over 5,000 performances. It’s bright, funny and perceptive.

There were some standout moments by Amelia Andersson-Nickson in ‘Always a Bridesmaid Never a Bride’, Deborah O’Toole with ‘I Will Be Loved Tonight’, Sam Thomson in ‘The Baby Song’, David Pearson with ‘Shouldn’t I be Less in Love With You’ and Sarah Copley in ‘The Very First Dating Video of Rose Ritz’. These were particularly strong because the performers made these people very real.

From left: Deborah O'Toole, Amelia Andersson-Nickson, Sam Thomson, Connor McNaught and David Pearson

Unfortunately, some scenes were overplayed like TV sitcoms with exaggerated characters. The over-amplified sound, particularly in the first half of the show, added to the problem.

The striking chessboard-themed set design by Cate Clelland worked very well and Leo Amadeus and Laura Kay provided an appealing musical accompaniment on keyboard and violin respectively.

Janie Lawson, the director, solved the potential problem of many scene changes with her set design concept. While stronger control was needed on some of the scenes, the successful ones showed her ability to obtain fine, realistic performances from her cast.

 

Photos by Janelle McMenamin

Len Power's reviews are also broadcast on Artsound FM 92.7 in the ‘Arts Cafe’ and ‘Arts About’ programs and published in his blog 'Just Power Writing' at https://justpowerwriting.blogspot.com/.

 

 

HEATHERS THE MUSICAL - Canberra Theatre

 

Emma Caporaso (Veronica Sawyer) - Amelia Rojas (Heather Duke ) -Calista Nelmes (Heather Chandler) - Abigail Sharp (Heather McNamara) in "Heather the Musical" 

Book Music and Lyrics by Kevin Murphy & Laurence O’Keefe

Direction by Andy Fickman – Choreographer and Associate Director, Garry Lloyd

Musical Director, Martine Wengrow – Set and Costumes designed by David Shields

Lighting design by Ben Cracknell – Sound design by Dan Samson

Produced by Bill Kenwright Ltd, Paul Taylor-Mills, GMG Productions and Stoddart Entertainment.

Canberra Theatre August 14^th to 23^rd 2026

Opening night performance on 14^th August reviewed by BILL STEPHENS

The Cast of "Heather the Musical"

The cult film favourite, Heathers, satirises 1980s high-school films. Writers Kevin Murphy and Laurence O’Keefe and director Andy Fickman have softened the 1989 film’s plot for this musical adaptation, in which outsiders Veronica and JD kill their tormentors.

While the predominantly youthful audience gave the musical an enthusiastic reception on opening night, some found the uneasy blend of comedy and cruelty, disturbing viewing in a world where High School massacres, youth suicides and school bullying are becoming the new norm.

Emma Caporaso as Veronica Sawyer and Conor Beaumont as JD in "Heather the Musical"

Heading the mainly young cast, Emma Caporaso, in her professional debut, performs with confidence. Her character, Veronica, having been unexpectedly welcomed into Westerberg High’s powerful trio of Heathers, falls for troubled newcomer JD, becoming implicated in deaths staged as suicides.

Caporaso makes Veronica’s shifting loyalties believable, moving from uneasy mean girl to thrilled insider, devoted girlfriend and, finally, a young woman strong enough to confront JD.

Conor Beaumont brings a restrained, unsettling presence to his characterisation of JD. Glimpses of the character’s pain emerge through his intense outbursts. Beaumont keeps JD dangerous without reducing him to a stock villain, bringing a convincing edge to his songs, Freeze Your Brain and Our Love is God.

Each Heather has her own distinct brand of polished cruelty. Calista Nelmes is cool and cutting as Heather Chandler, Amélia Rojas gives Heather Duke fierce ambition, and Abigail Sharp exposes the insecurity beneath Heather McNamara’s confidence.

Mel O'Brien as Martha and Emma Caporaso as Veronica Sawyer in "Heather's the Musical"

Sweet voiced, Mel O’Brien balances sadness and humour as the rejected Martha, and while David Cuny and Nic Van Lits work well together as Ram and Kurt, winning their fair share of the laughs, their characters’ menace never feels entirely comic.

Among the older characters Zoe Gertz brings strong comic timing and impressive vocals to her rendition of Ms Fleming’s misguided anthem, Shine a Light, although it was Ellis Dolan who achieved the most enthusiastic response of the night with his song, My Dead Gay Son.

The enthusiastic ensemble works hard delivering Gary Lloyd’s slick retro music-video inspired choreography with admirable precision.

David Shield’s impressive two-level school set, teamed with the excellent lighting design of Ben Cracknell, allows the action to flow seamlessly, but it is his cropped jackets matched with red, green and yellow tartan skirts that give the three Heathers the production’s clearest visual identity.

This production of Heathers the Musical delivers copious laughs, songs that are enjoyable rather than memorable, and a deliberately unsettling exploration of teenage anxiety, reinvention and rebellion. But perhaps best to leave Grandma at home for this one.

                                                    Photos by Cameron Grant, Parenthesis

                        This review first published in CITY NEWS on 15th August 2026 Link here

The Girl on the Train

 

 

 SPOILER ALERT

 The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins & Dreamworks Film, adapted by Rachel Wagstaff & Duncan Abel.

Mockingbird Theatre at Belconnen Arts Centre, Canberra, August 5 – 22 2026

Reviewed by Frank McKone
Aug 15

Cast
Rachel Watson – Morgan HeathWilliams; Tom Watson – Robert Weardon
Scott Hipwell – Timothy Cusack; Megan Hipwell – Susie Todd
Kamal Abdic – Ankush Singh Khanchi
Detective Inspector Gaskill – Paul Sweeney
Anna Watson – Sabrina Fu

Production Team
Director/Designer – Chris Baldock
Assistant Director – Dale Rheynolds
Stage Manager and Tech Operator – Aoife McFoley
Lighting Design – Rhiley Winnett and Chris Baldock
Projections and Video Design – Chris Baldock
Sound and Music Design – Chris Baldock
Costumes and Props – Chris Baldock, Dale Rheynolds and the cast
Intimacy Consultant – Steph Evans


The purpose of the best theatre is never merely to entertain, but, in doing so, it is to engage us in better understanding of ourselves, individually and as members of society.

The seemingly ironically named Mockingbird Theatre’s choice of the theme of domestic violence is vindicated this very morning as I write, by John Hanscombe’s The Echidna article, Sunday August 16 2026, in The Canberra Times: “A number that shames us all”.

“So far this year – and this number will in all likelihood be out of date by the time you read it – 30 women have been killed, according to the Counting Dead Women Australia register, too often by men known to them.  Partners, husbands, sons.”

Chris Baldock’s directing and design of this stage adaptation of the Paula Hawkins novel, and the quality of realism he achieves with his excellent team of actors, makes this production of The Girl on the Train essential viewing.  Only the very ending scene is questionable, as I see it, from a drama point of view.

The original novel raises a question of its scientific veracity, and a source such as the University of Warsaw : Tetiana Grebeniuk. Narrative Unreliability in Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on the Train as a Strategy of Reader Immersion supports the science and says about reading the novel – 
“Attention is focused on two components of reader gratification as manifest in Hawkins’ novel: intellectual satisfaction due to the solution of the murder mystery (temporal immersion), as well as satisfaction resulting from the protagonist’s psychic recovery and revenge (emotional immersion)”.

https://www.researchgate.net/4050_Tetiana_Grebeniuk

Morgan Heath Williams is remarkable in creating an entirely realistic characterisation of that protagonist, Rachel Watson, described in Google AI as exhibiting – 

Reality invalidation: The antagonist exploits Rachel's self-doubt and drinking habits to make her believe she caused her own blackouts and violent behavior.

Self-gaslighting: Victims under prolonged abuse often internalize blame, convincing themselves their own perceptions are entirely untrustworthy.

Coercive control: The dynamic isolates the victim emotionally, creating total reliance on the abuser's version of events.

That antagonist is Tom Watson, played eerily by Robert Wearden as the least likely to be the murderer until finally found out by his ex-wife Rachel’s determination to find the truth.

The search for the truth makes the play something like a Sophocles tragedy – mythical but essential for understanding why such things happen.  On this point, in the ending scene, when Tom takes the child, his child, onto the railway track, I – and my wife – felt the tragedy would have reached its ultimate awfulness if the child had not been retrieved just in time, and had been killed by the train with him, in what could be seen as Tom’s suicide.

Of course, it was still not exactly a happy ending, if you imagine that baby growing up; but that ending softened, perhaps weakened, the dramatic effect – compared, I think, with the numbers reported in John Hanscombe’s article.

For example, Rosie Batty’s story, of her husband’s killing of their son Luke, and his threatening and then being killed by police, and her becoming a prominent domestic violence campaigner and being named the 2015 Australian of the Year, takes us from fiction to fact.  And gives Mockingbird’s The Girl on the Train all the justification it needs for its presentation today.

Not to be missed – and hopefully for an extended season or even tour, considering that a strength of the production is its in-the-round intimacy for a necessarily quite small audience.  Less is more, I suggest.

ANASTASIA THE BROADWAY HIT MUSICAL

 

 

Anastasia. Book by Terence McNally. Music by Stephen Flaherty. Lyrics by Lyn Ahrens.

Directed by Darko Tresnjak. Choreographed by Peggy Hickey. Musical Director David Piper. Set Design Alexander Dodge. Costume Design Linda Cho. Lighting Design Donald Holder. Sound Design Peter Hylenski. Video Design Aaron Rhyne. Hair/Wig Designs Charles G. LaPointe. Orchestrations Doug Besterman. Vocal Arrangements Stephen Flaherty. Dance Arrangements David Chase. Original Musical Supervisor  Tom Murray. John Frost for Crossroads Live and Opera Australia and Adelaide Festival Centre with Willow Wealth. Adelaide Festival Centre. Festival Theatre. Until August 31 2026. Bookings: 131246

Reviewed by Peter Wilkins

The Australian Cast of Anastasia

Could the survival of Tsar Nicholas’s youngest child be merely a rumour? History has proclaimed it to be untrue. And yet the legend lives on and the mystery remains in the hearts and minds of many who may still find it difficult to believe that the Bolsheviks assassinated every member of the Romanov family during the 1917 Uprising. Whatever the case, the fairytale magically entranced the audience, transported and captivated by Stephen Flaherty’s enchanting music, intrigued by Lyn Ahren’s lyrics and enticed into the adventure from Soviet Russia to unconventional Paris by Terence McNally’s book. In Darko Tresnjak’s direction it becomes obvious that John Frost’s sumptuous and splendidly staged production of Anastasia presents a fusion of the elements that breathe new life into this century old myth.

Eleanor Flynn and nancy Hayes in Anastasia

McNally’s characters are the stuff of mystery drama. It begins with a conspiracy, concocted by rogues, Dmitry (Patrick Volpe (admirably taking over the role at the performance I attended from an ill Robert Tripolino) and Vlad (Rodney Dobson) who discover Anastasia look-alike Anya, a humble Leningrad street sweeper. Their task is to persuade the exiled Dowager Empress (Nancy Hayes) that the reformed Anya (Manon Gunderson-Briggs, excellently stepping into the role originally performed by Georgina Hopson in the production I saw) is indeed her beloved granddaughter. The subterfuge is threatened by the pursuit of the Soviet official Gleb (Joshua Robson), who Javier like must confront his human failing and unrequited love of Anya. One may perceive a Pygmalion reference in Anya’s transformation and echoes of Les Misérables in Gleb’s dereliction of his duty to kill the imposter. In a book that traverses time and countries McNally is careful to distil the essence of each dramatic moment in skilfully crafted vignettes, that advance the adventure with the aid of Peggy Hickey’s choreography, outstanding US video design and lighting design on Alexander Dodge’s grandiose set design. The production elements are awe-inspiring in the true tradition of the great Broadway Musical. From Hickey’s vibrant recreation of the Romanov ball to the delightfully staged moments of Tchaikowsky’s Swan Lake or the gayly abandoned Charleston of the Neva Café in Paris the stage explodes with colour and movement in Linda Cho’s costume designs. Everything about this production of Anastasia is imbued with stylish elegance and professional mastery.

Rhonda Burchmore as Countess Lily in Anastasia

From the very opening scenes of Romanov opulence and privilege and the eruption of revolutionary violence one is swept along by the sheer grandeur of director Tresnjak’s staging of this epic musical. The casting is impeccable. The legendary Nancy Hayes brings a dignified and imperial stature to the authoritative Dowager. Rhonda Burchmore’s Countess demonstrates comedic mischief with Rodney Dobson’s Vlad and Volpe’s charming naivety appeals in his love for Anya.  Gunderson-Briggs takes on the demanding task of assuming the title role and enchants in her musical numbers  ( In MY Dreams and Journey to the Past). The success of the musical rests heavily on Gunderson-Briggs’s ability to arouse doubt in the veracity of history’s verdict and belief that the street sweeper could have been the escaped heir to the Romanov fortune. Gunderson-Briggs assumes the task convincingly and charmingly.

Robert Tripolino as Dmitry in Anastasia

Ultimately Anastasia succeeds as a reflection of our dreams and desires, a concocted fairy tale that holds the promise of fulfilled fantasies. It is why John Frost’s production for Crossroads Live and Opera Australia and the Adelaide Festival Centre and Willow Wealth is such a huge success and survives at a time when other musicals are folding throughout Australia. It appears that no expense has been spared in bringing this Broadway Hit Musical to Australian audiences with a superb Australian cast. The tragic tale of the Romanov assassination and the violence of the Revolution may not conjure an impression of an appealing subject for a musical. However, this outstanding production dispels all doubt and the rapturous applause of the audience around me, many of whom were young members of the audience, confirmed that the story of one woman’s dream became interwoven with their own.

Photos by Jeff Busby

 

THE JUNGLE AND THE SEA - Canberra Theatre Centre Playhouse

Anandavalli as Gowri in "The Jungle to the Sea"

 

Co-Written and Directed by S.Shakthidharan & Eamon Flack

Set & costume design by Dale Ferguson – Composed by Arjunan Puveendran

Lighting design by Damien Cooper – Sound design by Steve Francis

Performed by Anandavalli – Indu Balachandran – Emma Harvie – Shiv Palekar – Dushan Philips – Nadie Kammallaweera – Arjunan Puveendran – Aswin Selvanathan – Hari Sivanesan- Kalieaswari Srinivasan -Rajan Velu.

Musicians: Indu Balachandran – Arjunan Puveendran

A Belvoir Theatre Production with Kurinji and Lingalayam Dance Companies.

Canberra Theatre Centre Playhouse 6^th – 9^th August 2026.

Matinee Performance on 9^th August reviewed by BILL STEPHENS

The family set out on their trek 
Kalieaswari Srinivasan - Anandavalli - Nadie Kammallaweera - Prakash Belawadie -
Emma Harvie - Najun Velu

 

Over nearly three hours, including two intervals, this engrossing epic production follows the experiences of a six-member Sri Lankan Tamil family from 1995 to 2022, during and after the civil war in Sri Lanka.

Eight actors perform multiple roles, except for the matriarch, Gowrie, portrayed by charismatic Bharatanatyam dancer Anandavalli.

The family’s religious beliefs vary. Gowrie is Hindu and her husband is Christian. Their eldest daughter, Abi, is Hindu, second daughter, Madhu is Christian and youngest daughter Lakshmi is an atheist. Their son Ahiklan is Hindu.

The narrative moves back and forth in time, with simple markers at the side of the stage, identifying each year.

When civil war shatters the family’s idyllic life and forces them from their home, Abi leaves to study in Sydney and Ahiklan joins the Tamils.

                               Gowrie vows to wear a blindfold until her family are united

                    Emma Harvie - Prakash Belawadie - Nadie Kammallaweea - Anandavalli

Gowrie reacts by putting on a blindfold, vowing to wear it until her children are reunited. She then sets out with Madhu and Lakshmi on a dangerous search for safety.

What is most remarkable is how clearly and effectively this complex story emerges with deceptively simple staging, as the actors share in seamlessly portraying the many characters Gowrie and her daughters encounter on their arduous journey.

Dale Ferguson’s starkly simple setting consisting of a grimy, bullet-scarred wall surrounding a constantly revolving stage. A raised platform to one side, accommodates the two musicians who create the music and sound effects, which include bomb blasts and rifle fire.

It grows increasingly evocative with the addition of model cars, trains, planes and even a miniature Harbour Bridge to signal shifts in place, time and travel, while the actors bring on and remove the necessary props.

The roadside wedding

Damien Cooper’s lighting design is especially impressive in the beautiful roadside wedding and the harrowing massacre scenes.

“The Jungle and the Sea” is a powerful, engrossing production which demonstrates the capacity of good theatre to illuminate human experience through deceptively simple staging and exceptional performances.

                                                          Photos by Sriram Jeyaraman

        This review also published in AUSTRALIAN ART REVIEW on August 16th Link here

 

Reading Frames: explorations in what makes a photograph work

Book Review by Brian Rope

Reading Frames: explorations in what makes a photograph work | W. Scott Olsen

The University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City ©2026. All rights reserved.

Copyright for photographs remains with the individual photographers.

ISBN: 9781647692810 paperback | 9781647692827 epub

 

In 2020, I received an email from Tomash Trzebiatowski, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of FRAMES magazine asking if we could connect via Zoom. We did so nine days later. Six years on Tomasz and FRAMES have achieved extraordinary things. As I write the FRAMES Magazine Facebook group has 25,200 members.

I have read many of W. Scott Olsen’s monthly essays for FRAMES magazine. This book is some Olsen essays from the digital pages of FRAMES. Trzebiatowski correctly suggests Olsen’s writing is mentorship.

Using “plain language” for “people deeply involved in making photographs”, Olsen explains how images combine artistic elements and, thus, reach levels of sophistication and insight. Each essay starts Let’s begin with, and stay with, the image.

The first image I want to share here is by an Australian, Lyndall Gerlach. The Contemporary Lifestyle is a triptych I have seen before; once accompanied by these words:

It is 2021, 2 years into a pandemic that has so far killed 4,692,850 from 228,413,499 infected people. We are accepting there will be more deaths, as our society tries to find ‘normal’. My triptych illustrates life for some vulnerable ‘high risk’ people. It’s about their contemporary lifestyle choice, staying alive. Time and relationships irrelevant, days merge, contained, among written memories of other times, a far-seeing telescope, a couch to sleep on. Curtains shade reminders of life, alcohol dulls the pain and encourages sleep. Time passes. Painful aloneness, living it is a contemporary lifestyle for some.

The Contemporary Lifestyle by Lyndall Gerlach

In this book, Olsen writes beautifully describing the three parts of the triptych as the equivalent of a musical chord which has at least three notes played together, creating a richer, more nuanced combination. He suggests the three panels form an intellectual narrative.

Next, an image by Monica Riveiro from Spain. On her website she says photography inhabits a space between dreams and reality. Her image here is of two boys jumping into the sea from a pier. It is one of numerous street photography images she took in an urban space, Punta de Liquerique.

From Tales of Liquerique by Monica Riveiro

Olsen writes about the frozen moments that become photographs. He says at first glance the situation shown here was completely familiar, but that a deeper look revealed an inviting mystery. He suggests the somewhat ominous sky and city appearance in this black and white image would instead have a mood of summertime joy if it was in colour.

My third chosen image portrays a ballerina, photographed whilst the photographer was visiting Cuba. Cathy Cakebread, from the USA, uses photography as a way to slow down and, here, she has sought to capture the movement by doing just that – slowing it down.

Cuban Ballerina by Cathy Swain Cakebread 

Olsen discusses how to make a ballet image fresh and original and says Cakebread has done it wonderfully. He explores shapes in the setting, elements of art, the ballerina’s pose, our privileged point of view, and the defining blur. He tells us what he saw.

My fourth selection is a view from a hotel window in Scotland. We’ve all taken such shots. This is by Ross Duncan, another Australian. It shows some old, inhabited buildings. The central home here is deliciously lit becoming a feature we are drawn to. 

View from a hotel window by Ross Duncan 

Olsen talks about the title identifying the point of view - the photographer is in a temporary residence looking at someone else’s permanent home. He sees a sadness created in the disconnect between hotel and home and suggests the twilight image is mesmerising because that is a time of change.

Finally, I share an Italian renaissance. Photographer Giuseppe Gradella from Mantua in Italy believes in memories and dreams, and this fine-artwork has a beautiful dream-like feeling. 

Italian Renaissance by Giuseppe Gradella 

Olsen comments about the frosted glass both revealing and obscuring the woman holding it. He draws our attention to squares and right angles, to the direction of cascading light, to the visual and narrative motion in the still-life image. He sees a specific real woman, a specific real place – and a moment where one woman becomes every woman.

Exploring this book has made me think more about images that stop me - on webpages, in books, at exhibitions. I encourage you to do likewise.

This review is also available on the author's blog.