Arts

Commissioned from local Parramatta author Felicity Castagna based on her multi award winning novel and performed by Australia’s newest theatre company, National Theatre of Parramatta, the coming-of-age drama The Incredible Here and Now looks set to be one of the most talked about shows on the season. In the leadup to the opening of the production…

Audiences are invited to a birthday party like no other when the national tour of Hello, Goodbye and Happy Birthday takes to the stage at Riverside Theatres, Parramatta from 27 to 29 July. Hello, Goodbye and Happy Birthday celebrates two milestone birthdays – 18 and 80 – two major transition points of adult life. One…

Even though it is billed as a cabaret, Vigil is something that is far from that label. This one-person show – commissioned by the Adelaide Cabaret Festival – is filled with songs and interludes that weave through its story. While cabaret is traditionally seen as something jovial, Vigil cannot lay claim to this. It is…

Opening late last month at Brisbane’s Queensland Museum, Gladiators: Heroes of the Colosseum is an expansive and interactive look at one of Ancient Rome’s best known traditions and one of the Eternal City’s most enduring symbols. Curated in conjunction with some of Rome’s most prominent museums and institutions, Gladiators is a Brisbane exclusive, and I…

Front is a new theatre production whose name could mean lots of different things. The band could all be a “front” for something else, a group often has a “front” man and being an artist means you have to perform on-stage “front” and centre. The play is a rocking one that takes a walk on…

Staged on the set of Kinky Boots at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney, the 17th Annual Helpmann Awards Ceremony will feature a vast array of high-profile hosts, talent and performances when it airs live this July. This years premier celebration of Australia’s live performance industry will showcase performances from the musical My Fair Lady with…

It’s a massive month for theatre all around Australia, with the Helpmann Awards on July 24th only furthering the spotlight on the many great productions happening all over Australia. But the Helpmann nominees aren’t the only shows worth celebrating; here are seven productions which kick off or continue through the month ahead in Sydney, Brisbane,…

Known for her award-winning role as Miss Honey in the recent Australian tour of smash-hit musical Matilda, Elise McCann has now taken her love and knowledge of Dahl’s work one step further- creating an album that draws upon and inspired by the magical works of one of the world’s most beloved authors. We caught up…

Choreographed by Stephen Page, Bennelong by the Bangarra Dance Theatre Company, articulates the story of Wollarawarre Bennelong, an Eora man who was kidnaped by Governor Phillip in 1789 and forced to live in the colonies. Taken back to England, Bennelong learnt to speak English and was held up as an example of the relationship between…

There’s no doubt you’ve seen the work of Aardman Animations at some point in your lives. Some of you grew up with it, some of you are just discovering it now and some of you are sharing it with your own kids and reminiscing on the good old days. ACMI has done it once again;…

Heart of Mist, the first in new fantasy series The Oremere Chronicles, hits bookshelves later this year. Ahead of the book’s release, AU Reviewer Jodie B. Sloan chatted to author Helen Scheuerer, to get the lowdown on the upcoming series and her new fantasy publishing house Talem Press. Can you tell us a little about…

Shortlisted for the 2015 Richell Prize for Emerging Writers, No Way! Okay Fine is the first book from writer, editor and occasional DJ Brodie Lancaster. A series of personal essays, Lancaster tackles just about everything, from growing up in a small town and a year spent in New York City, to early brushes with feminism…

Encouraging you to think big, bold and take action, Antidote is the latest festival to join the blossoming list of annual events at the Sydney Opera House.  The two day festival, which will be replacing Festival of Dangerous Ideas, celebrates the thinkers and doers who have spearheaded change in a time of uncertainty. Running from…

Many people love a drink in fact they will indulge at least once a week in a session of binge drinking or occasionally in some Class A’s, their habit is recreational and generally the individual gets on with their life relatively unhindered with some help from a Berocca and a Nurofen. But for others the…

Unplug your curling wands and get ready for the ride of you lives darlings- we’re going bush! A decade since its dazzling premiere, hit musical Priscilla: Queen of the Desert is returning to Australian stages in January 2018 with even more glitz and glamour then before. Having spent the last ten years frolicking around the…

I’ve been to many a circus show over the years where death defying acts are the norm however, this brand new concept show from Circus Oz has me feeling mighty proud of the creativity and ingenuity of our Australian creatives. Set under the Big Top along Birrarung Marr, the show begins with host Mitch Jones…

There are traditional cabaret MC’s and then there is Reuben Kaye. With an outrageous dress style, enough glitter to drown a Pride Mach and dark eyelashes that make him look like Jeannie Little has had a stroke, Reuben has gone to way too much effort to not let everyone have a good time. He prances,…

I’ve never had a hero like Tamblyn Lord. Well, unless Ash Ketchum, the protagonist of the 1990s animated children’s television show Pokémon, counts. Lord’s latest theatrical exploration, ‘Call of The Ice’, chronicles the voyage he painstakingly took in January 2016 to recreate the journey of his childhood (and lifelong) hero Sir Douglas Mawson. Now, as…

Do you enjoy watching scantily clad men and woman perform tantalising tasks, whilst  sashaying across a stage enclosed in the famed Speigeltent? Well do I have a treat for you, Blanc de Blanc has just landed in Melbourne! So come one come all to St Kilda’s Winter Garden where things are about to get just…

Skye’s mum has a new boyfriend. His name is Jason and they’re all moving to Port Flinders with him. But Jason is bad news, and Skye’s mum is in too deep, unable – or unwilling – to see the danger Skye and her little brother, walking animal fact factory Ben, are in. So Ben and…

Australian theatre is so male and white. Main stage subscriber theatre is irrelevant. Theatre is a boutique heritage industry. I have been having these conversations for years and to varying degrees these statements are true. But culture is not static, it grows and evolves and theatre is now transforming itself; driven by the artist that…

The latest artwork to be announced for Sydney’s Barangaroo precinct will be created by German artist Sabine Hornig. The installation- which will include large-scale semitransparent images of local Sydney plants- will be Barangaroo’s largest permanent public art piece to date. Commissioned by The Lendlease Art Advisory under the Barangaroo PublicArt and Cultural Plan, the piece,…

Buildings dressed in blood red lighting; hipsters running around a rocky, pitch-black industrial playground ducking in and out of old warehouses with a hot toddy in hand; inverted polly waffles cooked over campfires and handed out to shamelessly salivating foodies; a single helicopter performing impressive choreography over Hobart’s spectacular waterfront while being blasted by an…

Winter blues getting you down? Get yourself to Adelaide this August and be prepared for things to heat up as the South Australian Living Artists (SALA) Festival celebrates its 20th year! With a mammoth program of exhibitions, arts and cultural events across the state you’re bound to find something that’ll light your fire. Running throughout…

For decades the human race has benefited from someone and they didn’t even know her name. She was known simply as “HeLa” to those in the know and it was a cell line that has been used extensively in research and lead to some major medical breakthroughs. The book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks…

By definition, revolt means to “take violent action against an established government or ruler”, so the fact it is in the title of the show holds great weight in the tellings of this story. This original work by Alice Birch explores the notion of what being a woman means in the 21st century, and how our…

Get yourself ready for an evening of belly laughs and deep concentration because absurdism is back, and it is better than ever! Tom Stoppard‘s groundbreaking 20th century absurdist play Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and thanks to the National Theatre Live, you are able to see it fresh from its…

He is known for his energetic and spell-binding live performances, as well as amassing over 40 million album and DVD sales worldwide, and now the world’s leading pop classical artist, André Rieu, has announced his annual Maastricht concert will once again be beamed into cinemas across Australia in celebration of his 30th year in music….

Outstanding performances from four extremely talented Australian actors make Sunset Strip worthy of the (relatively small) price of admission. The Uncertainty Principle and Griffin Independent Theatre have delivered a beautiful piece of theatre. Just don’t expect sunshine and laughter. By a dried up lake somewhere in regional Australia is a once-thriving holiday town called Sunset…

Most people would be familiar with the story of Cyrano De Bergerac – doesn’t ring a bell? – perhaps you’re more familiar with the 1987 film adaptation Roxanne, with Steve Martin as the plays protagonist Cyrano. Written in 1897, the themes of Edmond Rostand’s play are as relevant today as when he wrote it. Questions…