Arts

All children, except one, grew up. At least, that is what J.M Barrie would have us believe. However, as I sat in a darkened cinema full of a mix of elderly retirees, bright-eyed children and University students all laughing unabashedly at the sight of a bald adult male playing Tinkerbell, I couldn’t help but disagree….

Young playwright and recent NIDA graduate Emme Hoy has been awarded the NSW Philip Parsons Fellowship for Emerging Playwrights. Supported by Belvoir St Theatre, the Fellowship provides a prize of $12,500, with a further $7,500 available for script development, with the chance to have a play go on to be staged at Belvoir St Theatre. “I’m so…

Black Inc’s Writers on Writers series was launched in October 2017 with the publication of its first two books, Alice Pung on John Marsden and Erik Jensen on Kate Jennings. The tag line for the series reads ‘Twelve Acclaimed Writers. Six Memorable Encounters.’ This sums up the idea behind the series incredibly well, which will…

A haunted and deserted town, yet some people can’t, or won’t, leave. Any prospect of work is long since gone. The road sign offering directions to where the town is, has been removed. Yet, for a small group of locals it’s home, and the only place they know. perfectly captures the feel of country town…

She doesn’t know him. He knows everything about her. Philip Peterson, a wealthy businessman disappears without trace on a trip to South America. Seven years later he’s back. Or is he? The Stranger starts with a memory, and these flashbacks creep in throughout the novel. Not too far into proceedings ‘The Stranger’ is found, appearing amid…

Celebrating ten years of the Basil Sellers Art Prize, Play On: The Art of Sport is opening at the Hazelhurst Gallery and Arts Centre in Gymea NSW on 9 December 2017 until 11 February 2018. The exhibition is a dynamic mix of media, with works exploring the sporting genres from community footy, women’s boxing, ground-keeping to gymnastics…

Misty Copeland represents strength, courage and female empowerment, but now the Under Armour athlete and Principal Ballerina can add fashion icon to her bio. Copeland made the journey to Sydney to launch her new collaborative collection with Under Armour which is fashion-forward, transformative and transitional, celebrating her undeniable drive and unmistakable style. Why have you chosen to collaborate with…

With a title like Violent Extremism and Other Adult Party Games you can’t help but expect a few controversial laughs. But this new play by Sydney-based writer Richie Black is a cut above and a genuinely funny piece of work. Supported by a very good cast and strong production values, this is yet another triumph…

Join The Washington Post’s pop culture editor Hannah Jewell as she plucks (almost) forgotten women from the historical cutting room floor. From artists to investigative reporters, scientists to queens, political firebrands to murderers, there’s no such thing as the delicate fairer sex here. Get in the kitchen and make you sandwich? Puh-lease. I’ve got an…

Alan Burdick’s book, Why Time Flies: A Mostly Scientific Investigation is one with a fascinating premise that we can all relate to. A staff writer from the New Yorker, Burdick specialises in penning articles about science and technology. Here, he poses the question, “What is time and why does it speed up as we age…

On the same day that Australia voted “yes” to marriage equality, Brodie John presented his brave and personal account of childhood sexual abuse. Dressed in drag and playing to an imaginary audience side stage, we are plunged into an intimate moment of rapture with Brodie as he takes his final bow. He then begins the…

What is Christmas like with your family? I can guarantee it’s not nearly as dysfunctional as the one depicted in Mary Rachel Brown’s new play, Silent Night. Chock-full of jokes and characters that have to be seen to be believed, this is a play that makes the final rush to the supermarket on Christmas Eve…

Circus Oz are mixing things up in their upcoming season by creating circus rock opera performance, The Strange and Spektakulär Lives of Otto & Astrid. Artist Director Rob Tannion has brought Otto & Astrid from the Berlin-based band Die Roten Punkte onboard to lead the instrumentals. The duo will perform alongside the evocative Circus Oz acrobats. A sneak peak…

No longer confined to the back streets of grungy inner-city suburbs, street art has really started to make it’s mark on Australia’s urban landscape. Among the artists who create these modern monoliths is Kiama-local Claire Foxton. Her realistic portraits, rendered in tremendous detail, pay homage to local heroes from across the country. Claire is one of…

Between February 9th and March 4th 2018 the Perth International Arts Festival invites audiences to see art in a different light, and revel in a smorgasbord of captivating cultural experiences, with something for everyone. 2018 marks Artistic Director Wendy Martin’s third year at the helm, as well as the Festival’s 65th Anniversary. To celebrate the…

Find out what happens when the legendary Sherlock Holmes comes up against a distinctly Australian series of crimes, in Sherlock Holmes: The Australian Casebook. Commissioned by Holmes super fan Christopher Sequiera, The Australian Casebook sees the world’s greatest detective and his stalwart friend and chronicler head down under. Writers range from historical crime fiction mavens…

The world is becoming increasingly complex and fast-paced. Many people are feeling out of touch with their spiritual sides and this can manifest itself in a series of mental and physical ailments. Intuitive is a book written by Craigh Wilson, an experienced medical and business intuitive who has spent decades working in an area that…

The National Library of Australia’s publishers have managed to turn back time with their latest book, Living The 1960s. In the book, Australian actress and comedian, Noeline Brown takes us all for a stroll down memory lane through an important decade in her life, and in the lives of her contemporaries. Living the 1960s is a fun slice…

Have you ever looked at a really pretty building and thought, ‘I wonder what that would look like as a dress?” Well, wonder no more my friend because Melbourne’s next generation of architects and designers are coming together to make your weird but wonderful day dreams come true. Gaining inspiration form famous landmarks around Melbourne,…

The 2017 Create NSW & Artspace NSW Visual Arts Fellowship winner has been announced as Claudia Nicholson. Starting in 1900, it is one of the nation’s oldest arts awards, and see’s the Sydney artist take home $30,000. Funding a self-directed program of professional development over two years, Nicholson will travel to Mexico and the USA…

The GFC hit 10 years ago, yet it’s wave still lingers on. In a post GFC world, wages are stagnant, jobs are threatened, house prices skyrocket and global warming’s dark cloud hangs in concert. 10 years on, we’re still asking questions; how did this happen? Can it happen again? And, if so, who’s best equipped…

Tess Holliday is a woman that knows all about obstacles. Standing at five-foot-five and wearing a size 26 in clothes, there was a time when if she’d told people she was an aspiring model their reactions would have been laughter and/or scorn. But these days she can thumb her nose at her detractors, because she…

It is rare these days that a complete collection of short stories can sustain a sense of breathless wonder throughout each and every piece included in its pages. In a modern age of mobile phones and social media, short stories present us with an interesting challenge. While they are short enough to cater to our…

The winning emerging artists from a range of creative disciplines for the Helpmann Academy competition have been announced. In its second round of competitive grants for 2017, a total of $46,000 has been awarded to support a total of sixteen projects. The projects include professional development opportunities such as international residencies, workshops, exhibitions, performances, film projects,…

To some people, “Atlantis” is a utopian city lost underneath a wall of water. For Lally Katz it’s a semi-autobiographical play about her mid-30s trip home to America as a newly-single girl. The results are like Bridget Jones played by Kathy Lette. With a panther thrown into the mix. Because you can. Katz is no…

It might be a few months before Sydneysiders will get their chance to see the new rendition of Mamma Mia! The Musical live on stage at the Capitol Theatre, but the cast are hard at work in the city rehearsing. That’s because before arriving in Sydney on February 11th, they’re kicking off their tour in…

This weekend Chippendale’s vibrant Kensington Street precinct will be hosting various works from a diverse group of artists, chefs, designers, filmmakers and photographers from Singapore. Singapore: Inside Out, a multi-sensory creative showcase which has seen enormous success in cities like New York and Tokyo, will be stretched across three days, kicking off tonight with a…

Ready for November? We can’t believe it’s that late in the year either – but thankfully, with Summer right around the corner, incredible entertainment can be found all over the country. Here’s just 7 such shows and events to get excited about this month…. Future Park (Sydney) Combining science and imagination to create a futuristic…

Sydney’s Art Gallery of NSW (from 27 Oct 2017 to 4 Mar 2018) is about to celebrate one of the most renowned photographers of the 20th century, an artist who understood the medium’s ability to alter perceptions and push boundaries. The comprehensive survey of Robert Mapplethorpe’s career, features more than 200 works, from still lifes…

Corinne Fisher and Krystyna Hutchinson, the voices behind Guys We Fucked: The Anti-Slut Shaming Podcast, have travelled from the podcast to the page with F*cked: Being Sexually Explorative and Self-Confident in a World That’s Screwed. Put down the rom-com and stick the rosé back in the fridge because you don’t need a man, and Fisher…