Arts

Review: Want to laugh so hard wine comes out your nose? The Miss Behave Gameshow is for you (Sydney Opera House)

Flying candy, endorsement of cheating and a few life lessons – and that’s just in the first 10 minutes – The Miss Behave Gameshow is hands down the most entertaining night out I’ve had in a long time. In fact, stop reading, jump over to the Sydney Opera House website and grab yourself some tickets…

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Theatre Review: The Book of Mormon will make you laugh til it hurts even if you feel you shouldn’t (Sydney Lyric Theatre)

What do you get when you combine a much-maligned American religion, Disney-movie songs and the writers of a politically incorrect adult cartoon? A ridiculously so-wrong-it’s-right musical called The Book of Mormon. As close to Broadway as you’re likely to see on the Australian stage, this show is an all-singing, all-dancing, joke-filled tribute to American musical theatre….

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Win a family pass to see Tinkerbell and the Dream Fairies at The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney

School holiday fun for the entire family, Tinkerbell and the Dream Fairies returns to the open-air theatre at Royal Botanic Garden Sydney from 14th to 29th April. In Tinkerbell and the Dream Fairies, the adventurous Tinkerbell happens upon the fairies from A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Together, the cheeky Mustardseed, fluttery Moth, daring Cobweb and sweet…

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The Stella Prize announces 2018 shortlist

Women across the creative industries are demanding their voices be heard. Today the publishing world is holding the mic, with The Stella Prize announcing its 2018 shortlist. First established in 2013, The Stella Prize is named for author Stella Maria Sarah ‘Miles’ Franklin, and celebrates fiction and non-fiction published by Australian women. Coinciding with International…

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Adelaide Fringe Review: Aphrodite and the Invisible Consumer Gods turns the spotlight on objectifiction with boldness and humour

Aphrodite is the Goddess of Love and Beauty and was born from the foam in the waters of Paphos, on the island of Cyprus. She supposedly arose from the foam when the Titan Cronus slew his father Uranus and threw his genitals into the sea. How does this tie in with a play about consumer…

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9 shows not to miss at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival is bringing the best comedians from around the world to Melbourne from 28 March to 22 April,  just for your laughing pleasure and without the inconvenience of having to calculate your duty free allowance. With a couple of weeks until the festival kicks off, we’ve wrapped up nine shows guaranteed…

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Adelaide Fringe Review: #nofilter Fair at Carclew brings the community together in North Adelaide

Carclew has been a youth arts hub for young adults for many years and offers a range of opportunities for the under 26. The #nofilter Fair and open day was a way to showcase some of the arts on offer, including visual arts and music with Emma Rowe releasing a new single and video. Headspace…

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POPSART: Circa opens at Flowstate Brisbane’s newest performance space

  As an aspirational concept, Placemaking is a multi-faceted approach to the planning, design and management of public spaces. The Placemaking process capitalises on a local community’s assets, inspiration, and potential, and results in the creation of authentic, vibrant and resilient places that are valued by their communities and admired by visitors. In practice, councils…

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Adelaide Fringe Review: The Naked Magicians expertly deliver exactly as advertised

The Naked Magicians are just exactly as you would expect – two guys who strip down and perform magic tricks to a mostly female audience. This is no place for a guy’s night out, but there are probably plenty of “girl’s nights” in the audience. Endlessly touring Australia, the pair just wrapped up a run…

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Review: “We want equality, and orgasms” (Anne Summers) All About Women at the Sydney Opera House

In its sixth year, All About Women celebrates International Women’s Day (March 8) with a line-up of inspiring and empowering discussions around the universal struggle for equality in a world still dominated by the white, privileged patriarchy. While I could have easily gone to every talk on offer, it wold have been physically impossible given…

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Book Review: Delve into a 1930s murder with Katherine Kovacic’s The Portrait of Molly Dean

Molly Dean, artist’s muse and aspiring journalist, was brutally murdered in Melbourne in 1930. Despite compelling evidence her killer was never officially found. Seventy years later, art dealer Alex Clayton discovers what she believes to be a portrait of Molly and delves headfirst into the mystery. Despite cover-ups, missing records, and suspects long since deceased,…

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Book Review: Award-winning journalist Witold Szabłowski collects oral histories of Eastern Europe in Dancing Bears

For hundreds of years, Bulgarian Gypsies trained bears to perform. In the early 2000’s the practice was outlawed following the fall of communism, and the bears, who had only ever known their human family, were released into a reserve. Even now, years later, the bears still stand on their hind legs to dance whenever they…

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Book Review: Join eleven year old Sam on a dangerous and unpredictable road trip in Colin Dray’s Sign

Recovering from a major surgery that took away his ability to speak, Sam is a young boy without a voice. So when his Aunt Dettie packs up Sam, and his sister Katie, and sets out to drive from Sydney to Perth, Sam is unable to protest. Promised that their estranged father is waiting for them…

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SXSW Comedy Festival reveals a packed lineup for 2018

South by Southwest (SXSW) have announced the initial line up for the SXSW Comedy Festival, kicking of 9 to 18 March 2018. The festival will pull guests from all corners of the entertainment industry and showcase film and media icons alongside the next wave of groundbreaking comedic talent. This year will also host performances from…

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Skyfire and Enlighten Festival converge on the ideal weekend to visit Canberra in 2018

It’s looking like March will be the ideal time for Aussies and international visitors to head along to Canberra, which was recently – to a lot of shock and curiosity – named one of the world’s top ten cities to visit in 2018 by Lonely Planet. Why? Well two our Canberra’s best events are on…

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How to Score $40 tickets to The Book of Mormon in Sydney

The Book of Mormon have kicked off a $40 ticket ballot, that will give you the chance to score cheap-as tickets to every show of the world-class musical. The limited number of tickets will be sold by ballot before each performance at the Sydney Lyric Theatre. To get your hands on on a ticket or…

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Adelaide Fringe Review: jden redden truly is The Expert at the Card Table

Usually a magician likes to keep his tricks a secret for obvious reasons. But jden redden is no ordinary magician. Part of the Adelaide Fringe, over the course of an hour, jden performs card tricks and then explains how they are performed. The audience is led upstairs at La Boheme Theatre and sits around a…

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Review: Hand To God is the most hilarious show you’ll see this year (Performances until March 18th)

Hand To God has become one of Broadway’s classic comedies with two Tony Awards under its belt. Now Australian audiences have the opportunity to broaden their theatrical minds with a play that has no boundaries. I don’t think you’ll fully understand what the show is about until you immerse yourself into the crass and messed up…

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Theatre Review: Esther Hannaford Shines in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical (Performances until June 24th)

When news first broke of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical making its way to Australia, the buzz was high. But who would play the coveted role of Carole King? In what has to be one of the best casting triumphs in Australian musical theatre history, Esther Hannaford was the prized winner. It’s safe to say…

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Adelaide Fringe Review: Ferrari – Unlimited Kilometres at the Kentish Wine Shed

Jane Ferrari (normally known as just “Ferrari”) spent 30 years in the Australian wine industry, brand building and promoting wine both locally and abroad. Her show Unlimited Kilometres is a tribute to the people and places she’s met and been to along the way. Opening night at the Kentish Wine Shed was filled to the…

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Adelaide Fringe Review: Aphrodite’s Voodoo – Royal Croquet Club

Aphrodite’s Voodoo showcases chanteuse Jennifer DeGrassi with her live band and some special guests. Set in the beautiful Royal Croquet Club on the northern banks of the River Torrens, the Plaza Parlour tent is an intimate Bedouin style space that is perfect for the dark and mysterious journey to come. The voice of Anais Nin…

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Review: Explore an abandoned Tel Aviv in Raphaël Jerusalmy’s poetic novella Evacuation

Young filmmaker Naor is driving with his mother. Along the way, he tells his mother of his time in Tel Aviv, abandoned after a mandatory evacuation. Staying behind with his girlfriend Yaël, and his grandfather, Naor encounters a new side to his beloved city. As the bombs fall, the trio begin to make a film,…

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The Bedlam Cabaret Returns to the Mardi Gras: Our chat with Director Goldele Rayment and Producer Robbi James!

Nothing is as reaffirming for a creative team as being brought back by popular demand twice! The ever-evolving, devilish and wicked Bedlam Cabaret is getting it’s spotlight at this year’s Mardis Gras – celebrating all things Sydney, all things LGBTQI and all things vaudeville! The dynamic duo behind this roving rainbow wonder fest Director Goldele…

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Five shows not to miss at the Adelaide Fringe Festival

This year’s Adelaide Fringe festival is in full swing, and we’ve scooped together the five shows and events not to miss! Comedy: Wil Anderson – Wilegal  He had sell out shows in 2017 across the world, and this year, Wil Anderson, the host of ABC Tv’s Gruen, returns to entertain audiences with his stand up…

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Adelaide Fringe Review: The Talents of Darkness – Tandanya Arts Cafe

The Talents of Darkness is billed as an “unforgettable experience of the unusual” and it lives up to that name. Hosted by drag queen Bebe Tricx, the show is a collection of short acts from five diverse performers. Bebe Tricx begins by inviting an audience member on stage to break a light globe and then…

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Theatre Review: Single Asian Female is a celebration of all of us (Sydney’s Belvoir Theatre to 25 March)

The Chinese restaurant is a bastion of our urban culture. Birthdays in the suburbs spent with red lanterns, lazy susans and honey chicken dot our collective memory. While contemporary Australia’s lust for foodie culture and an ever refining palette may have moved away from the Red/Golden Phoenix/Centuries in the 00s, they still form culinary centres…

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Three shows not to miss at Sydney Opera House’s UnWrapped series

The Sydney Opera House have released details on the much anticipated UnWrapped series, a biannual season featuring acclaimed work by new and established artists. Unwrapped will take place in May and August each year, and be the centre stage for the Opera House’s new Artist & Sector Development initiative that aims to support emerging and…

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Theatre Review: Mamma Mia! – here we go again (at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre)

In Muriel’s Wedding, Muriel wishes that her life was as good as an ABBA song. Presumably, that life looks a lot like Mamma Mia – a glittering Greek Island paradise where beautiful young men and women burst into song and dance at the drop of a hat, fall in love, have a wedding and live…

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Adelaide Fringe Review: Tom Flanagan in Kaput – Garden of Unearthly Delights

A word of warning; if you have a phobia or are allergic to pop corn then Tom Flanagan’s show Kaput is not for you. For everyone else though, read on. Kaput is a show in the mold of the ageless slap-stick style, from comics such as Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton to more modern day…

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Review: Where’s the love? Cupid’s arrow just misses the mark at the Australian Museum

When I heard that the Australian Museum was hosting a special anti-Valentine’s Day event as part of their Culture Up Late series, I was more than just intrigued – I was excited. I’ve never been someone who buys into the whole commercialisation of Valentine’s Day, having always felt it was an expensive, over the top…

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