Arts

Oz Comic-Con is back in Melbourne June 9-10, at the Convention & Exhibition Centre, providing one of Victoria’s yearly celebrations of pop-culture. Oz Comic-Con Melbourne is a culmination of multi-genre content, from across the spectrum, with a lot of everything, for everyone – appearances by film and television stars, comic book artists and voice actors;…

It’s been over a decade since Priscilla, Queen Of The Desert made its theatrical debut. And the film itself doesn’t look a day over 24. This feel-good story about three drag queens leaving Sydney’s big smoke to go west to Alice Springs is still one fun, glittery and rollicking bus ride. The latest production brings…

Beyoncé may have sung about girls running the world but Jennifer Palmieri considered this a certainty until it was wrenched away in 2016. Palmieri was the communications director and advisor to Hillary Rodham Clinton in the presidential campaign that saw the advent of President Trump. Dear Madam President is a short book that chronicles this…

The quiet suffering of grief can be as soft as gravel crunching underfoot to some and as loud as a car crash to others. No matter how it feels it is always heard. Perhaps that is the intended message of Lot Vekeman’s Poison? Catarina Hebbard, the director of this production, interestingly enough compares the characters…

George Harrison always knew there was something special about muse, fashion model and photographer, Pattie Boyd. She was married to the Quiet Beatle from 1966-77 and then to his best mate and guitar God, Eric Clapton from 1979-89. She was the inspiration for many great love songs, including Harrison’s “Something” and Clapton’s “Layla” and “Wonderful…

Inspired by Lea’s experiences with endometriosis, Red is an elusive and fabulous interdisciplinary performance featuring dance, film, spoken word and song. Lea was the recipient of the 2017 ACT Artist of the Year Award and a 2017 Australian Dance Award. Red is presented by FORM Dance Projects and will take place at Riverside Theatres in…

Queer arts festival MELT returns to the Brisbane Powerhouse this year, extending an open invitation to one and all to come and celebrate works inspired and created by Brisbane’s vibrant LGBTI+ community. The festival runs from the 17th to the 27th of May, and is jam packed with theatre, dance, improv, and art. To get you…

1906, Saratoga Springs. A man named James Blake enters The Retreat hotel and asks to see Varina Davis. In his hands he holds a blue book, a book that offers a glimpse into his past. He barely remembers Mrs Davis – V – but he wonders if she remembers him, a small black boy rescued…

Celebrating the authors, editors, publishers, and retailers that bring readers and books together, the ABIA Awards are now in their eighteenth year. It was another huge night for Jessica Townsend’s Nevermoor, as the children’s book snatched up three awards, including the night’s major prize, the Gold ABIA. Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow also took…

A comedian, robobiologist, YouTube celebrity and Anglican priest walk into a convention centre… Okay, it’s not the best opening line for a joke but it is a great start to the line-up for this year’s TEDxSydney, hitting the ICC Sydney stage on Friday 15th June. The theme for this year’s event is HumanKind, which according…

Vivid Sydney is coming to town and this means our city will be adorned with colourful light displays. This festival also comes with a host of wonderful shows, especially those talks and events that fall under the Vivid Ideas banner. The AU Review have put together our top 5 must see Vivid Ideas events. 1….

Having just wrapped up its four city Australian tour, Planet Earth II: Live in Concert brought together Symphony Orchestras from around the country to present, live, the music from the acclaimed nature series of the same name. Accompanied by images from the series, and live narration from Australian actor Eric Bana, the night sounds like…

Anywhere Festival returns to Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast for a jam-packed seventh year, boldly breaking shows out of the confines of the theatre and putting them on just about anywhere. From local shops and bars to train stations and burnt out skate arenas, no location is off limits for Anywhere’s collection of emerging artists…

Padraic’s long been away from his home of Inishmore, fighting with the Irish National Liberation Army. Too mad even for the IRA, he’s built an epic thirst for murder and torture, picking small-time pot dealers and bombing chip shops in his spare time. His father Donny calls to inform him his beloved cat is ill,…

Eager Australian lawyer Kerry Maxwell arrives in South Africa, ready and raring to help veterinarian Graham Baird in his fight against poachers in the country’s national parks. But Baird is not what she expects – he’s drunk, jaded, and, worst of all, he’s behind bars in Mozambique. Baird is responsible for the death of the brother…

After his novel Black Rock, White City won the 2016 Miles Franklin Literary Award, all eyes were on A.S. Patric. His win was something of a coup for small presses in Australia, and a first Miles Franklin win for publishing house Transit Lounge. Patric had been up against four extremely powerful novels, all written by…

If there was ever an author who had the ability to paint a picture with his prose it’s Tom Rachman. In his latest novel, The Italian Teacher, Rachman puts together a complex and often lyrical study of a man who has grown up in the shadows of his artist father’s genius. The result is a…

This weekend, some of Australia’s finest photographers will be showcased at the inaugural photography conference Aperture Australia 2018. The two-day conference is the first of its kind in Sydney, featuring eight industry heavyweights including pioneering Australian landscape photographer Ken Duncan, fine art photographer Alexia Sinclair, and celebrity portrait photographer Gary Heery who has shot celebrities…

Berlin, 1929. A car is pulled from the Landwehr Canal with a mutilated corpse at the wheel. Detective Inspector Gereon Rath, newly arrived from Cologne, is on the case, stepping outside his jurisdiction and onto a few toes in the process. His search sends him deep into the seedy underworld of Weimar Berlin, where drug…

We all do it. But most of us don’t talk about it. What I’m writing about is defecation or shitting. Dutch biologist, Midas Dekkers knows all about this. He has put together his own utterly unique, bizarre and interesting take on this universal-yet-taboo topic. Dekkers is no stranger to writing about left-field and contentious subjects….

Recently I had the privilege of an intimate tour of Curious Affection, Patricia Piccinini’s new show that opened on Friday 23rd at GOMA, lead by the artist herself. It felt like our small group of rag-tag journalists and media types were transformed into pilgrims being lead by a Sage on a spiritual journey through which could only…

In a society where the literary works of men are frequently performed on the Sydney stage, it was refreshing to see a play by an esteemed female writer grace The Depot Theatre. Inspired by the life and work of American poet Emily Dickinson, Susan Glaspell wrote Alison’s House in the 1930s, creating a world full…

A few days ago the matriarch of comedy died. Chances are you probably won’t know her name – she wasn’t a standup or an actress or motivated to have her name in lights. Instead, she was the owner of perhaps the greatest breeding ground of influential comedy talent – The Comedy Store in Los Angeles….

At the ripe old age of 28, Constantine Costi is making a name for himself across a number of theatre forms and as one of Opera Australia’s youngest directors. Part of a young creative family, his brother a playwright and sister as composer, he creatives and revives a diverse range of performances from immersive theatre…

The UK critically-acclaimed show Beyond The Barricade is a glittering concert of musical showstoppers and will make its debut in Australia this year, touring to 24 cities from 1st June, including Parramatta Riverside Theatre on Thursday 28 June. Starring past principal performers from Les Misérables in the West End and on UK tour, this blockbusting two-hour…

On October 17th 2013, teenage sisters Ayan and Leila Juma left their Oslo home and headed for Syria. Deeply radicalised and intending to take part in jihad, they had planned the trip in secret for months. But their decision tears the Juma family apart, as parents Sadiq and Sara struggle to come to terms with…

Writing about true stories can often be a rewarding experience, because these are the most relatable and intriguing ones for the reader. However, on the flip-side there are also ethical questions involved in this particular game and one needs to ensure that a subject is properly represented. This tug-of-war act between the journalist and the…

These days our tabloid magazines are obsessed with the love lives of the rich and the famous; but have you ever wondered what these stories would look like if the subjects were famous composers from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries? ABC broadcaster Christopher Lawrence has the answer along with a dash of poetic licence…

With summer slowly kissing us goodbye and winter around the corner, the blues are getting ready to set in. But turn that frown upside down because  April is packed full of arts events that will keep you smiling! From the Sydney Comedy Festival to Melbourne’s annual Tattoo Festival- get inspired this Autumn and settle in…

Billy Elliot the Musical will return to the Aussie stage in 2019 for its 10th Anniversary Tour. It has been revealed that performances will be expanding its locations, having originally performed exclusively in Melbourne and Sydney in 2007, will now be hitting up stages in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide. A gritty yet heart-warming story, Billy…