Arts

Bill Murray and Jan Vogler could be the odd couple except that that name was already taken. Okay, “odd” is probably too strong a word. An unlikely pairing seems more appropriate because Murray is a Hollywood actor, comedian and occasional bartender, and Vogler a world-renown cellist. New Worlds saw both men making their Sydney Opera…

Three of America’s best improv actors are heading down under for one of the best comedy events of the year and if you’re like me and religiously watch Whose Line Is it Anyway? reruns, you had better get excited. Colin Mochrie, Brad Sherwood and Greg Proops are about to join on stage in Australia for the…

Earlier today, I stood on the steps of the Sydney Opera House with one of the most iconic names in entertainment, Bill Murray, and acclaimed classical cellist Jan Vogler. The pair are performing tonight and tomorrow night with “Friends”, including cellist Mira Wang, and violinist Vanessa Perez. This marks the first time Vogler has made it to…

With summer just down the track, why not prepare yourself for one of the best Arts festivals to hit WA shores. Running from the February 8th to March 3rd, Perth Festival has cultivated the growth and exploration of some of the greatest Australian and International acts and is one of Australia’s premier Arts events. Here…

Established in 2016, the Feminist Writer’s Festival aims to support and promote feminist writers in Australia. For the first time this biennial festival came to Sydney, and over the course of two and a half days this writer attended a total of ten talks. Topics of the talks ranged from Writing and Speaking Indigenous Lives…

When you’re at a cracking live gig it’s not hard to be consumed by the performance of a frontman, and even more so when the frontman – or men, in this instance – are Tom Meighan and Serge Pizzorno of Kasabian.  It’s worth taking a moment, however, to focus on the other performers on the…

History is a complex beast and this is certainly apparent in Madiba. This musical weaves together the late Nelson Mandela’s story and the history of South Africa’s apartheid. The show is ambitious and tries to cover a lot in its two-hour runtime. This is a celebration of the long road to freedom for Mandela and…

Summer is closing in, and you know exactly what that means. Australia is home to some of the biggest and brightest selections of entertainment and there is no doubt that coming up there will be something for everybody. From Jazz Festivals to Comedy shows, November is jam-packed with ah-mazing events and we aren’t going to…

The team behind Mona Foma are celebrating the infamous summer festival’s new home in Launceston by launching an airline, Air Mofo, to fly mainlanders to the event for free. Festival curator and Violent Femmes rocker Brian Ritchie is giving away airline seats in rows of six via a competition that’s now live and will also…

Every January, Sydney Festival helps kick off the new year with a massive cultural celebration, and 2019 is looking to be no different. The 2019 instalment of the festival includes eighteen world premieres, five Australian premieres, and eight Australian exclusives, and features a programme which runs the gamut of cutting edge contemporary theatre, visual arts and…

In the world of art, sculptures are fascinating works that can be viewed and placed as wonderful masterpieces. This year, that was proved by Victorian artist James Parrett, who was the recipient of the $70,000 Aqualand Sculpture Land award or M-fortysix at the 22nd annual Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi. This is a series of exhibitions…

In the Mood is a revue show celebrating the music, fashion and dance from the 1940s. Younger audiences may be unfamiliar with the big band tunes and jazz era songs. But for the older crowd, this music is a part of the fabric of their childhoods and the stuff their parents used to listen to….

Her very first performance brought the house down and now Melanie Mununggurr-Williams has been crowned Australian Poetry Slam Champion. Dropping an absolutely stunning slam about aboriginal identity, Melanie won crowds over with her complex piece about breaking free of inner demons, and “being caught between a western white mans world, and ancient aboriginal antiquity”. Her…

I have a single word for you. Wow! Walking into Malthouse Theatre, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. The audience was split in two, both facing each other on opposite sides of the black lacquered stage, which is set up minimally with Eastern Asian instruments. We are told to mirror the women who sit…

A legend across contemporary classical, electronica and experimental music, Ryuichi Sakamoto has had a long an illustrious career. Spanning a number of collaborations, it’s his sixteen year partnership with German composer Alva Noto that has stuck, garnering five albums, along with the soundtrack to the movie The Revenant. A largely improvised affair, the duo meshed sparse…

Australia’s beloved Art Series Hotels have just introduced a slick new concept for hotel guests looking for a little participatory art project for dabble in. From now until December 30th, Melbourne gems The Blackman and The Olsen, and Brisbane’s The Johnson, will offer a “Colour Your Stay” package where guests can grab a spray can,…

Sculpture by the Sea , one of the world’s largest annual free-to-the-public outdoor sculpture exhibitions, has now opened for another year across Sydney’s spectacular Bondi to Tamarama coastal walk. The exhibition, which each year sees the coastline transformed into a 2km long sculpture park over three weeks, features 107 sculptures by artists from 21 countries…

Next month, some of Australia’s leading feminist writers and thinkers will be heading to Sydney for the Feminist Writers Festival. Held in conjunction with the UTS Centre for Social Justice and Incusion, it will be the first time the festival has been held in Sydney. Over three days, thirteen sessions, and featuring over forty speakers,…

Walking into Elizabeth Murdoch hall for the first leaves you struck by it’s beauty. It’s architectural design is distinct, elegant and intimate. Steps echo as we venture to our seats and as the band steps onto the stage, suddenly everything changes. Under the direction of Melbourne-born violinist Julia Fredersdorff, Van Diemen’s band are an array…

There’s a boxing ring in the middle of the room, chairs set up like a stadium in the midst of Northcote Town Hall. As we find our seats, two people are throwing punches to the surprise of audience members, and others are working out, sweating throughout the performance space. For a moment I was deeply…

For some people food is fuel, and then there’s Margaret Fulton. This food icon has been teaching Australians how to cook for seven decades. She’s also the subject of the rollicking musical, Margaret Fulton: Queen of the Desserts. The show had its Sydney premiere this weekend and is every bit as tasty and kitsch as…

Fire and gardens… it’s not exactly what you expect to go together isn’t it? Yet as the sun starts to set across Melbourne, the Royal Botanic Gardens are only just lighting up with a (completely sold out) installation churning with people and garden pots filled with flames. Different, immersive and enveloped in an eerie atmosphere,…

We’re counting down to the annual Sydney event, the Liveworks Festival of Experimental Art, which this year runs from the 18th to the 28th of October. Presented by Performance Space and held at Carriageworks, this 10 day festival showcases many new works from artists right though Australia and Asia Pacific. Jeff Khan, CEO and Artistic Director of Performance…

Monday night saw William Shatner kick off the Australian tour of his one-man show Shatner’s World: The Return Down Under in Perth. It was an evening of warmth, humour and philosophical musings. All. Delivered. In. That. Distinctive. Cadence. However, it was also not without its surprises. For example, whilst Shatner is likely best known for his role…

Summer might be on its way, but even without the unpredictable Spring weather there is plenty to keep us entertained indoors. There’s never a particularly quiet month in the Australian arts calendar, so here are some of our picks for the best Arts events this month. From the Adelaide Film Festival, to an exhibition re-contextualising Frankenstein…

“There is a Fire, a bright flame that was lit in the past, it is still burning but the woods are burning out. My job is to put new woods in to keep the Fire burning.” This is a quote created and practiced by Jimi Bani‘s late grandfather, Adhi Ephraim Bani Jr. The fire represents…

Michael Falzon is one of Australian musical theatre’s favourite leading men. Currently, he is showcasing his considerable talents in Evita, where he shares the stage with the divine Tina Arena. He is also the creator of Swing on This, a collaboration with Ben Mingay, Luke Kennedy, Matt Lee and Rob Mills, with whom he is currently…

Looking for a dosage of engaging, crowd-pleasing and talent filled entertainment? NoFit State‘s Lexicon has everything you need. Dripping in nostalgic, early European costumes and a magnificent live band playing immersive and often gothic folk music, the circus embraced originality whilst still holding dear to it’s roots. 250 years ago a man by the name…

Raw, real and deeply emotional, New Ghosts Theatre Company’s YEN gives us life as we’d rather not know it. Featuring some exceptionally talented new actors, who are expertly directed by Lucy Clements, this is heartfelt theatre at its most authentic. Fourteen year-old Bobby and his older brother Hench spend their days in their mother’s council…

For years people have been perplexed by Leonard Bernstein’s Candide. Is it an operetta? A comedy? Musical theatre? A little of all of the above? Perhaps the safest description is that of “comic operetta,” where the draw-card is some dynamic and electric music. Mitchell Butel directs this latest production, which coincides with what would have…