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The Star
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
Hush The Theatre debuts its Children's Theatre Festival with three quirky shows
This weekend, Hush The Theatre opens its doors to families for its first-ever Children's Theatre Festival – an event bursting with colour, laughter, and playfulness. Designed for children but sure to charm adults too, it proves that the best theatre doesn't always have to be quiet, but can be loud, joyful, and wonderfully spontaneous. The independent theatre group, based in Glomac Damansara, Kuala Lumpur, will stage three original productions, mixing music, slapstick, mime and more. The public can catch The Non-Essentials and Crayons Gone Wild! this Saturday (July 19), while Bohemian Kats: The Great Escape takes the stage on Sunday (July 20). 'I was always keen on producing theatre for kids and families because I believe in the power of theatre,' said Sharanya Radhakrishnan, Hush The Theatre founder, who wrote and directed all the shows. 'Children's theatre can speak to everyone in the room no matter their ages. When I was young, I was bullied and became extremely shy. Studying theatre is what pulled me out of my shyness and saved my life. I believe that putting a smile on a child's face, even for just a few seconds, can help them feel included,' she added. The three productions were staged separately just a few months ago, and the Children's Theatre Festival is where they finally come together – creating one lively weekend of shared stories, laughter, and discovery. 'There's something really exciting about blurring those lines, between adult and child, comedy and heartbreak, polished and spontaneous,' says Sharanya. Photo: Hush The Theatre (Next week, extra shows reserved for children's NGOs and community groups will further Hush's mission to make theatre accessible to all.) 'We saw really mixed audiences, parents who came for Crayons Gone Wild! ended up buying tickets for The Non-Essentials, and adults who came for Bohemian Kats were surprised at how much they enjoyed something made for kids. This blend is exactly what I hope to keep growing,' said Sharanya. Each show promises plenty of fun and mayhem. Crayons Gone Wild! asks what happens when a box of crayons decides they have had enough of being scribbled about without having a say. What follows is a riot of colours, chaos and heart. The Non-Essentials flips the spotlight onto characters usually left backstage, background trees, castle guards, even 'The End', as they audition for their moment to finally take centre stage. Bohemian Kats is exactly as offbeat as it sounds, a wordless, physical theatre romp where a group of rebellious meerkats break out of the zoo and boogie their way to freedom to the soundtrack of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. 'Bohemian Kats: The Great Escape' a performance set entirely to the timeless music of Queen. Photo: Hush The Theatre Behind the festival is Hush's Resident Actor Programme, Sharanya's passion project to nurture original, inclusive theatre and support young talent. The cast – Putrina Rafie, Naveen Raja, Lew Li Ling, Qayleef, and Deena Dakshini – each bring their own spark, from improv comedy to dance and movement. Putrina and Naveen have spent the past few years making their mark in theatre, while the rest of the cast are promising new voices finding their footing. 'The goal for the Resident Actor Programme was simple. It was my way of creating a safe but slightly chaotic space where emerging actors can help bring my original children's scripts to life,' said Sharanya. 'They (the cast) bring unfiltered energy to the table and they're not afraid to try something completely ridiculous and turn it into something meaningful. It's this spirit of playful risk-taking that Sharanya believes gives each show its spark. 'As a director, I've learned not everything needs to be polished from the start. The best moments often come from silly improv. If we can make a six-year-old and a thirty-six-year-old laugh at the same scene, we're on the right track,' she concluded. More info here.
Daily Mirror
18-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- Daily Mirror
Primark's 'must have' £11 bag looks 'just like' £129 version
Primark's new bag looks similar to a more expensive version and can be bought in stores now Primark is stocking a new bag that bears a striking resemblance to a pricier alternative. Known for its affordable fashion and homeware, the high street giant may have just introduced a new crowd-pleaser. The retailer's Faux Leather Sling Bag looks similar to a style by fashion brand Hush, but at a fraction of the cost. Shoppers can snag the Primark version for £11, while the high end version is currently priced at £129 online. The bags are very similar, with a leather-look finish, rounded shape, and adjustable strap. They both also feature gold-tone hardware. However, there are some differences too, including that the Hush bag is real leather while Primark's is synthetic. The Primark bag features a smoother texture compared to the more expensive version, as well as a magnet closure, while the Hush bag has a zipper. The full Primark product description reads: "Bags of style? You got it! Say 'yes' to an accessories refresh with this grab-and-go must-have. Brought to you in a versatile colourway that goes with everything, it's made from a luxe faux leather and detailed with a sleek zip closure. "The cross-body strap is practical yet pretty, while the gold-toned buckle ands a polished look and feel. Use it to accessorise every fit and add a functional yet fashionable finish to all your new season looks!" The Hush description states: "Worn across the body or off the shoulder for a style to suit you, this crossbody bag is brought to you by HUSH. Stitched from leather for a premium finish and with an adjustable strap, it fastens with a secure zip." Primark's Faux Leather Sling Bag is priced at £11, while the Hush Rory Crescent Leather Crossbody Bag comes in at £129. This means shoppers could save around £118 by opting for the bargain version. Customers can grab the Primark bag, which comes in tan or black, in stores now. You can check availability at your nearest store here.
Indian Express
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Beyond superheroes: 4 Indian graphic novels that tackle social issues
(Written by Taniya Chopra) Once seen as entertainment only for children, graphic novels in India have come a long way. They are no longer confined to only superhero stories or children's comics, they are now being embraced by a new wave of writers and artists who are using it to shed light on social issues. By blending graphics and text, these narratives delve into complex issues, in ways that traditional formats often struggle with. They raise awareness, shedding light on the nation's social realities and spark conversations that challenge the status quo. More than just stories on a page, they push the boundaries of what art and narrative can achieve united, in shaping the society. A picture is worth a thousand words. Hush, by Pratheek Thomas and illustrated by Rajiv Eipe, proves this with heart-wrenching clarity. It is a silent graphic novel that addresses the trauma of child sexual abuse without using a single word. The absence of words shows the way abuse usually goes unspoken in Indian families, where stigma surrounds such issues. The graphic novel, frame by frame, makes readers pay attention to small, haunting details, making it extremely personal and unsettling. The young girl who is abused in the novel is depicted with such realism that one can feel a deep connection to her plight. Reading Hush feels like a direct hit- before you even realise it, it's over, but it leaves a lasting impact in your heart. Begins with a double suicide attempt by two women, an act of desperation in a society that refuses to accept them as they are. Amruta Patil's graphic novel follows the life of a queer woman, Kari, in Mumbai, coping with heartbreak and the weight of social expectations that are usually tied to gender. Though legal, homosexuality is still considered a taboo in India, yet to be fully recognised and accepted. The graphics in the novel become Kari's second voice, showing her inner life beyond what words alone could convey. They show her emotional state in black and white, with colour appearing only in moments that reveal her desires and fantasies. The sewer in the novel is used as a metaphor for the lives and identities that society refuses to recognise. 'I was saved by a sewer, by the stinking river of effluents that snakes past our neighbourhood, the one our buildings avert eyes from'. Amruta Patil's Kari depicts the experiences of those whose voices go unheard. It attempts to show the drastic reality of what it means to be a homosexual in a heteronormative India. Written by Srividya Natarajan and illustrated by Aparajita Ninan, it tells the story of Jyotirao Phule, earliest anti-caste reformer, and his wife, Savitribai Phule, a pioneer of women's education in India. This graphic novel shows their resistance to caste-based discrimination and their fight for the education of oppressed communities. Drawing heavily from Jyotirao Phule's seminal work Gulamgiri, the novel uses graphics to sharpen its critique of caste-based oppression. The power imbalance is clearly depicted in several panels, by showing Brahmins as larger figures compared to the smaller figures of Shudras. This throws light on the oppressive social hierarchy of the varna system. By placing Phule's and the Brahmins' perspectives side by side of ancient Indian myths, it makes readers question the dominant narratives. Through these carefully woven graphics, A Gardener in the Wasteland brings the forgotten voices to the forefront, challenging the history we learn today and planting seeds of change. Illustrated by Durga Bai Vyam and Subhash Vyam, and written by Srividya Natarajan and S. Anand, it tells the tale of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's lifelong battle against caste discrimination. It is about incidents from Ambedkar's own life. It shows how systemic exclusion shapes everyday experience for Dalits in India. What truly makes Bhimayana standout is its artwork. The graphics are inspired by traditional Gond art, they do not use rigid panel structures and replace them with flowing forms. The graphics are scattered across the page, resisting uniformity. It is the art in this graphic novel that shapes how the story is experienced, giving it emotional depth and cultural texture. Bhimayana is not just a tale told, it is a reality that is felt in every line and curve of its art. (The writer is an intern with
Daily Record
07-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Record
Firm at centre of NHS corruption scandal moves business to new company as directors jailed
Four men were jailed for a total of 29 years following a major investigation into the award of lucrative NHS contracts to Ayrshire-based telecommunications firm, Oricom. The firm at the centre of a £6m NHS corruption scandal is set to move its business to a new company linked to its jailed directors. Four men found guilty following a major investigation into the award of lucrative NHS contracts to an Ayrshire-based telecommunications firm were jailed for a total of 29 years on Thursday. Oricom directors Adam Sharoudi, 41, and Gavin Brown, 48, secured major deals with the illegal help of NHS telecoms chiefs Alan Hush, 68, and 60 year-old Gavin Cox. The probe was first revealed by the Daily Record after an NHS counter fraud team swooped on Oricom's offices in Irvine in 2015. Now a letter to customers from a current Oricom boss has revealed the service is to be managed by a company called Freestyle Communications Limited. Service Delivery Director David Ross said the change, set to take place from June 19, was 'part of a long-term plan to improve how we deliver your service'. Convicted directors Brown and Sharoudi were named on Companies House as having 'significant control' of Freestyle in May 2023, but filed a cessation in August last year. Prosecutors proved, during a mammoth three-month trial, that contracts for the supply and maintenance of telecoms equipment by Oricom broke rules on financial wrongdoing in the tendering process. Hush was jailed for eight years after being found guilty of nine charges. Cox was locked up for six years for the two jurors convicted him of. Sharoudi was also handed an eight year term having been convicted of seven charges. Brown was jailed for seven years for a total of six. Lord Arthurson said: "The reach and character of the corruption and, in particular, the corrupt relationship engaged by all of you was on a grand scale.' Hush was the telecommunications manager at NHS Lothian and then NHS Scotland video conferencing manager. Cox held the post of head of IT and infrastructure at NHS Lanarkshire. The pair abused their powers as 'public servants' to push deals through. One contract alone was worth £3.1m. In return, Hush got £18,231 of cash bungs and gifts, Cox a total of more than £70,000. All four men had denied the charges, spanning between 2010 and 2015, included bribery, corruption, fraud, theft as well as others under the Proceeds of Crime Act. In Oricom's letter to customers, Ross said the firm was 'moving to a dedicated telecoms management company focused solely on service delivery and support'. He said: 'Your contract terms, pricing, and service all remain unchanged. You'll continue to receive uninterrupted service. You'll still have access to the same support team under the new structure. Join the Daily Record WhatsApp community! Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today. You'll receive daily updates on breaking news as well as the top headlines across Scotland. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the Daily Record team. All you have to do is click here if you're on mobile, select 'Join Community' and you're in! If you're on a desktop, simply scan the QR code above with your phone and click 'Join Community'. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice. 'Why are we making this change? By moving your account to Freestyle Communications, we're simplifying operations and placing service management in the hands of a team 100% focused on telecoms. 'Freestyle Communications is part of the same group and is fully regulated by Ofcom.' Current directors of Freestyle are named as Ross, Stephanie Brown and Simon Agnew. Brown and Sharoudi resigned as directors of Oricom earlier this month, following their convictions at the High Court in Glasgow. They have also been banned from being a company director for the next 10 years and will face proceeds of crime proceedings. Over 250 witnesses were also interviewed and tens of thousands of text messages and emails reviewed as part of the probe. Gordon Young, Head of NHS Scotland Counter Fraud Services it was a 'landmark conviction' of 'individuals who sought to exploit the NHS for personal gain'. We approached Oricom for comment.
Time Magazine
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Magazine
The Life of Chuck Works Too Hard For Its Warm Fuzzies
Stories about the meaning of life tend to work at cross-purposes with the job of actually living it, particularly when they pedal hard to activate the tear ducts. Mike Flanagan's science-fiction life affirmer The Life of Chuck —adapted from a Stephen King novella—is an ambitious little film that has already earned some laurels: it was an audience favorite at last year's Toronto International Film Festival, winning the People's Choice Award. Thanks to a few key moments, and the strength of its actors, it's easy to see why audiences would warm to the film. But if you're immune to its charms, you won't be alone. From its cute-fake soundstage-town setting to the authoritative yet chummy voice-over narration (courtesy of Nick Offerman), The Life of Chuck works doggedly to give you the warm fuzzies—and a little bit of that fuzz goes a long way. The story is ingeniously—or pretentiously, depending on your mood—constructed to unspool backward, beginning with the third act and ending with the first. In the opening section, Chiwetel Ejiofor plays schoolteacher Marty, whose class is interrupted just as his students are digging into Walt Whitman's 'Song of Myself,' particularly its key phrase 'I contain multitudes.' A student gasps: she's just seen the news on her phone that part of California has fallen into the ocean. Then the internet shuts down altogether, possibly for good—the end times are near, maybe, and the world is getting ready. Marty sees a weird billboard, featuring a smiling man in a business suit and the words charles krantz, 39 great years!, and thanks chuck! (The missing comma in that last phrase is presumably just one of the mysteries of life.) Marty doesn't know who Chuck is, nor does anyone he asks. But this billboard, followed by other mysterious Chuck references, may hold the key to the end of the world. In the second act, we find out exactly who Chuck is: a pleasant accountant, played by Tom Hiddleston. And in the third—which is to say the first and final act—we learn Chuck's backstory, how he was orphaned at a young age and sent to live with his grandparents, Mark Hamill's gruff but kind bookkeeper Albie and his sensible but joyful homemaker wife Sarah, played by Mia Sara. Sarah loves to dance, and she teaches young Chuck—at this point played by an appealing child actor named Benjamin Pajak—her best moves. He's a natural, though something is holding him back. And he too will study that Walt Whitman poem: it will shape not only his destiny, but also that of the world. Because The Life of Chuck is based on a Stephen King story, all that heavy-duty supernatural pondering just comes with the territory. The problem is that Flanagan—known for eerie but subtle horror films like Hush and Oculus and Netflix series like Midnight Mass and The Haunting of Hill House —puts too many overly earnest quotation marks around what should be the most moving scenes. The score becomes grand and syrupy whenever there's a big emotional revelation; characters deliver solemn soliloquies on the orderly beauty of math. The Life of Chuck explores the joys and sorrows of a life well lived in the most precious way—though Hiddleston and Ejiofor succeed somewhat in counterbalancing the mawkishness. Ejiofor explains Carl Sagan's Cosmic Calendar with a Shakespearean authority that makes every word matter. And Hiddleston, in the second section, has an extended dance number that momentarily sends the movie soaring. As a street drummer (Taylor Gordon, also known as the Pocket Queen) beats out a fascinatin' rhythm, Hiddleston's Chuck taps, whirls, and moonwalks through a spontaneous routine that, for as long as it lasts, almost manages to connect you with the meaning of life. He's the spirit of Gene Kelly reincarnated in a regulation accountant's gray suit; when he's in motion, The Life of Chuck really is transcendent.
