Taking the words out of our Prime Ministers’ mouths and merging them seamlessly together over of stirring music, The Singing Politician is the classical performance you didn’t know you wanted to see. From Menzies’ ‘Declaration of War’ to Whitlam’s ‘Well May We Say,’ and even a possible appearance from Donald Trump, Brisbane’s Topology and The…
Twin: duplicate or match. Identical: being the exact same one. Once again Dirk Kurbjuweit brings us a novel with some unusual characters, something I feel he is mastering rather well. Twins, is a novel about growing up, first loves and friendships. And whilst it touches on eccentric behaviour, it also involves two main characters that you’ll…
Jennifer Down‘s book of short stories, Pulse Points, opens with a story about two men who are driving home from visiting one of their fathers at a retirement home, when they discover an injured person lying in the middle of the road. It is a shocking moment, which leaves both men reeling, and yet, the story…
The China National Symphony Orchestra will dazzle Australian music-lovers with a one-night-only performance at the iconic Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on Monday 23 October. Over 100 musicians make up this exceptional orchestra under the baton of the CNSO’s world-renowned chief conductor Maestro Li Xincao. The concert also features violinist Lü Siqing, the first Asian…
The Book of Mormon has proved to be one of the most controversial and critically acclaimed Broadway shows in history, and now after much anticipation the hit musical will officially be making its way to Sydney’s Lyric Theatre on 28th February 2018. Described by our own reviewer as, ‘two-and-a-half hours of sheer intellectual and comedic brilliance,’…
The sands of Coolangatta Beach will transform into the Egyptian shoreline when Opera Australia presents Griffith Opera on the Beach – Aida this month. We caught up with mezzo-soprano Milijana Nikolic , who will be sharing the role of Amneris, to discuss this unique opera setting! So, Opera on a Beach! How will you have to adjust your voice…
Plunge is innovative theatre at its best. What an extraordinary experience to be able to be a part of a production where you follow the actors across various locations of The Gold Coast Aquatic Centre, soon to be centre pieced for the 2018 Commonwealth Games. The audience are provided with headphones where a mixture of…
For its 33rd year running, Kaldor Public Art Project is showcasing The Last Resort, a world-premiere installation by internationally celebrated French-Albanian artist Anri Sala. Taking stage on Observatory Hill, the artwork, including free public programs, will run over three weeks from 13 October until 5 November 2017. Anri Sala’s installation is a compromise of sculpture and…
I attended the opening night of OperaQ’s regional tour of Night with Opera Queensland from Sunpac Theatre Sunnybank on Friday night and was totally enthralled by the passion, talent, power and beauty of the work. Presenting Opera in this non-conventional form like a cabaret, a chocolate box of hits from Madame Butterfly, Rigoletto and Don…
Khon is a genre of dance drama from Thailand that combines several forms – dance, music, painting and crafts. Traditionally performed exclusively at the court and for royal functions, the masked dance is created for the Devine King with scenes from the Ramakien. On this night at the Sydney Opera House, KHON: Exquisite Masked Dance…
Last Sunday closed the week out for the Queensland chapter of Australian Poetry Slam, as part of the 21st Queensland Poetry Festival, but for some it was just the beginning. 20 Finalists. 5 judges whimsically selected from a libated crowd. 1 Bucket (it was quite literally a bucket) and 1 Winner to go onto the…
As far as cheesy and ridiculously melodramatic stage productions go, The Bodyguard Musical takes the cake. Were the over dramatic scenes intended to be funny? I’m not sure. Was the acting subpar? Absolutely. But did the powerful ballads make up for this? The Goosebumps I felt when Paulini Curuenavuli, ripped into ‘I Have Nothing,’ strongly…
Inua Ellams, is a Nigerian-born, award-winning poet, playwright, performer and the founder of The Midnight Run. He has published four books of poetry, including his most recent publication #Afterhours. His plays have toured internationally, and have been performed at England’s The National Theatre, the Edinburgh International Theatre Festival, and at the Perth International Arts Festival earlier this…
Life of Brine (brine – water containing salts), is a surfer’s journey across our great land and venturing across many continents. In this memoir Phil Jarrett, a world class chronicler of surfing culture, brings us a multitude of stories that placed him in some of the most exciting moments in surfing history. For Jarrett, growing…
Contemporary relationships are in a state of rapid flux, with many of us confessing to feeling a little disenchanted with the monogamy-based dogma we’ve been fed by society, religion and the media. Award-winning actress and clown, Helen Cassidy, uses her critically acclaimed comedy show Erotic Intelligence for Dummies to take a long, hard, cross-eyed look…
Celebrating the seventieth anniversary of one of the world’s most prestigious couture houses, the National Gallery of Victoria has just opened their latest exhibition, The House of Dior: Seventy Years of Haute Couture. Exclusive to Melbourne, House of Dior includes extravagant display of more than 140 garments designed by Christian Dior Couture between 1947 and 2017….
After the international success of its first feature film Girl Asleep, Windmill Theatre Co., the award-winning South Australian theatre company, has announced today the launch of Windmill Pictures, a new arm of the company dedicated to developing and creating screen projects from their range of live theatre projects. The company has also announced it has successfully…
In 2016, My Fair Lady celebrated its Diamond Jubilee with a series of stunning shows around Australia, including a run at the Sydney Opera House. An encore season at the Capitol Theatre with most of the same principal cast and crew returns in 2017 and it still dazzles like a rare diamond. It is a reminder…
In the realm of Ellest a toxic and dangerous mist swarms across the land. Here, magic is forbidden, and those who practice it are disappearing. Drinking to dampen her emerging and unwanted powers, and to forget a turbulent past, nineteen year old Bleak plans to remain firmly out of the firing line. But when the…
Modern Jesus is an intriguing new play that reminds us that you only need a tiny spark to start a raging inferno. It is thought-provoking look at what it means to be 20-something in Australia today, although the themes would resonate with audiences anywhere in the West. But a couple of things hold it back…
Defeating Terror is a behind the scenes look at the hunt for the Bali bombers. Although, given the nature of the book, many of the names and situations, have been altered for legal reasons. The author, David Craig, was a senior officer in the Australian Federal Police (AFP), he has trained with international forces including the…
Dementia is a truly terrifying condition, one that attacks the very sense of self. It affects not only the sufferer but also those closest to them in the most distressing of ways. In Sydney Theatre Company’s production of The Father this distress is both portrayed and felt keenly, even when the play itself deliberately makes…
Make Nice have announced its full program for the Sydney based annual real-life conference for, by and about creative women. The Un-conference for Creative Women will run over three days from Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th of September. The full program line up features a range of inspirational women including Stanislava Pinchuk (Miso), Ann Friedman, Anna…
Celebrating 65 years of Parisian Glamour and inspired by the endless theme of femininity and sophistication, Australian audiences are currently experiencing the tantalising Parisian cultural phenomenon of Crazy Horse Paris for the first time ever as Forever Crazy is high kicking its way through Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Canberra. Featuring the best of acts from…
After dazzling audiences and critics alike at its recent world premiere, produced by the renowned Glyndebourne Festival Opera, in the UK, Neil Armfield‘s production of Australian composer Brett Dean‘s masterpiece Hamlet, conducted by Nicholas Carter, is set to make its Australian debut in March, with an exclusive season at the 2018 Adelaide Festival. Hailed as…
Start booking your tickets to Brisbane theatre folk, it’s going to be a stellar year for treading the boards in the Northern state! Launching the Queensland Theatre’s 2018 program earlier this week, Sam Strong presented an exciting, bright, fresh season that celebrates diversity and Australian stories. Contained in their programme for the new year are four world premieres,…
Fiona Horne is a witch but she could also be considered an “onion.” In her memoir, The Naked Witch she strips away the layers and gives readers a raw and honest account of her life. This enables readers to delve deeper and deeper into different layers and just when you think you have her all…
America in the mid-1980s. In the midst of the AIDS crisis and a conservative Reagan administration, New Yorkers grapple with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell. This new staging of Tony Kushner’s multi-award winning two-part play, Angels In America is directed by Olivier and Tony award winning director Marianne Elliott, and stars…
The winners of the 2017 Art Music Awards were revealed overnight in Sydney, with 11 awards being doled out across a range of national and state categories. Celebrating the works of Australian composers, educators and performers, the Art Music Awards took place at the City Recital Hall for its seventh year. Liza Lim emerged as a double-winner,…
A decade since her last stage musical, Tina Arena will take on the role of Eva Peron in Evita at the Sydney Opera House in September next year. The much loved Australian star will join legendary Director Hal Prince, winner of 21 Tony Awards, in re-creating the original West End and Broadway production created by Tim Rice…
