Arts

It’s not every day you get to see a magician live on stage who has been mentored by the best in the world, Penn and Teller. Kevin Quantum, AKA Kevin McMahon, was a regular guy once, a scientist in fact, but in the mid-2000s, a popular reality TV show called Faking It saw him chosen to be trained in a…

Diary of a Wombat is an Australian classic. I doubt there’s an Aussie kid born after 2002 who hasn’t read the charming picture book, or had it read to them! The story follows a rather rotund and determined wombat called Mothball who causes all sorts of trouble for a couple of humans after she discovers that…

Gilbert & Sullivan’s H.M.S Pinafore sailed into Melbourne’s Athenaeum Theatre this week to the sound of resounding applause. It was Melbourne Opera’s first time tackling G&S, and I was extremely intrigued to see how this comedic opera would play out on stage. For me there’s something so special about the Athenaeum Theatre, it allows for…

Lindy West was one of the highlights from this year’s All About Women festival at the Sydney Opera House. So it is unsurprising that this Guardian columnist and Jezebel blogger’s book, Shrill – Notes From A Loud Woman is funny, accomplished and excellent. West’s book is ultimately a hybrid between memoir, with personal anecdotes, and…

A new take on a theatrical classic makes this Calamity Jane a must-see. And the classic I’m referring to is not the musical – it’s the oft ridiculed theatrical style of ‘Broadway dinner theatre’. Everything bar the meal is here: interactions with the audience, contemporary references (insert Trump joke here), entrances and exits through the…

Jazz by the Bay, WA’s annual Jazz festival, has just announced the first of its scheduled acts, which will include several international acts for the first time in its 5-year history. The festival is a celebration for Jazz lovers from Perth and beyond, and also includes local food and wine experiences. This year, the event…

The Chemsex Monologues is a 2016 play written by British playwright Patrick Cash and performed by London Ensemble, Dragonflies Theatre. It is a confronting look at the anonymous underground world of gay sex parties in London. The narrator (Richard Watkins), sitting in a chair on a bare stage launches into graphic description of his night on drugs and…

It’s that time of the Fringe when you feel like you’ve seen all the big shows in the major hubs. There’s a week left, surely there’s more to the Fringe than the Garden. Now’s the time to venture further out to smaller venues such as Tandanya, Tuxedo Cat or the Producers. It’s upstairs at the…

Settle. Despite the misleading title of the show, Nick doesn’t actually set himself on fire. Looking past that slightly disappointing fact, what he does do is make you laugh. On Fire is the quintessential Aussie stand-up show. No-one is safe. Bogans, Hooligans, his mum – they all cop it in this show. And it’s funny….

Canadian YouTube star, comedian, actress and writer Lilly Singh, a.k.a iiSuperwomanii, will be hitting up Australia in a matter of months on a book tour, supporting the release of her upcoming debut book – How To Be A Bawse: A Guide to Surviving Conquering Life. Taking in Perth, Sydney and Melbourne before heading across the ditch to…

After huge success with its first ever Brisbane based run in 2016, the World Science Festival will once again host a series of events in the River City. Organised by the Queensland Museum Network, a selection of events at this year’s festival will celebrate the relationship between art and science. Traditionally recognised as two very…

The Australian Premiere of Big Fish is coming to Hayes Theatre Co from 18 April to 14 May 2017. Based on the celebrated novel by Daniel Wallace and the acclaimed film directed by Tim Burton, Big Fish centres on a travelling salesman whose larger-than-life stories thrill everyone around him. But their son Will, about to…

Bram Stoker’s gothic masterpiece Dracula is set to swoop the country and will visit Riverside Theatres in Parramatta from 1st to 4th April for a strictly limited season. Created and adapted by one of Australia’s leading contemporary theatre companies, shake & stir theatre co, this critically acclaimed adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 horror-classic is every…

When we think of an “Australian story” the ones that typically spring to mind are predominantly about the country, bush or the past. So what is a reader to do when they want something that reflects their own modern life in the Western suburbs of Sydney? Thankfully, Peter Polites has answered this in his debut…

There are some standout performances in White Box’s production of Blackrock, now playing at Sydney’s Seymour Centre, but they’re not enough to lift it to the heights this play deserves. At a time when violence against women remains high in our nation’s consciousness, we need plays like Nick Enright’s Blackrock to hit us where it…

Tonight’s instalment of ABC’s Q&A will be a little different from normal. For a start, regular host Tony Jones has been given the week off. Taking on hosting responsibilities in his place will be comedian Tom Ballard. This weeks Q&A will also be coming to you direct from the Adelaide Festival of the Arts. With…

It’s time to dust off that schoolboy French and put on your dancing shoes because Blanc de Blanc has come to the Adelaide Fringe. The beautiful Magic Mirror Spiegeltent is the perfect setting for this show. A wrought iron staircase leading to a balcony overlooks the main stage and the audience is seated in the round. Blanc…

The Northern Territory presents in its second year, Parrtjima – A Festival In Light. The magnificent free public event showcases the oldest living culture through the newest technology, illuminating 2.5 kilometres of the McDonnell Ranges, a 300-million-year-old canvas, plus more from Friday 22nd September to Sunday 1st October in Alice Springs. The showcase is an…

In 1859, the steamship Admella sinks off the coast of South Australia. One of the few survivors is George Hills, who never quite manages to shake the events of the wreck. But George is haunted by more than just the cost of his survival, as a creature from another dimension who survived in the guise…

A new stage production of William Golding‘s Lord of the Flies will be performed at the Arts Centre Melbourne (State Theatre), from 5th to 9th April 2017, after a comprehensive audition process that finally cast 23 boys from across Victoria to form the ensemble cast. This new adaptation of the popular novel has been developed…

In its opening moments Chimerica greets us with the back of its full cast, each in the vise of the iconic image “Tank Man”. Together they move, whipping their shopping bags in defiance. It is the precursor to the essence of this play: the enigma that is the Tank Man and his shopping bags. It is…

Have you ever wanted to run away with the circus or at the very least, have found yourself completely enamoured with Cirque du Soleil‘s magical touring lifestyle? Well, here is your chance to learn more about the behind the scenes job opportunities available with the world famous company. On Saturday, March 11th from 11am through until…

As we take our seats in the Black Forest at the Royal Croquet Club, we spot a lone figure in a flowing red dress slumped over an onyx grand piano. Around her three other figures are cleaning and sweeping. Oblivious to the crowd around her, she begins a piano melody, a sad song about loneliness….

When I heard Kate Mulvany’s casting in the lead of Bell Shakespeare’s latest adaption of Richard 3 my first thought was “cool- genderbend Shakespeare!”. But as it turns out that’s not really what the casting was about at all. This casting was about the right person to play the twisted villainous role, and Mulvany was absolutely the…

The independent theatre company known for taking daring risks, bAKEHOUSE Theatre Company, will kick off their 2017 season in Sydney with a powerful world-premiere, The Laden Table, written and developed by a collective of Jewish, Muslim and Christian women in response to ‘dinner table racism’. The Laden Table tells the story of two Australian families,…

Oz Comic-Con returns with five exciting shows in 2017. Join in the quest to ‘Unleash Our Inner Geeks’ and celebrate all that is cool, awesome and nerdy at Oz Comic-Con Perth March 25-26, Adelaide April 1-2, and Melbourne July 1-2. Come and meet your favourite celebrity guests, shop the expansive show floors full of the…

Ever sat in the living room watching music videos and wondered to yourself, “What the hell is going on here,”? Well, Dave Callan has. And in his riotous fringe show for 2017, he takes you deep into the weirdness that is music videos. Some would say MTV have a lot to answer for. As a…

The Kinsey Sicks are “America’s Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet” and it’s easy to see why. With patriotic red white and blue costumes straight from the fifties, and four part harmonies of your favorite songs over the last twenty-three years, these girls know how throw to party. A tupperware party, that is. The four girls: Trixie, Trampolina,…

It’s so refreshing when an original piece of work is brought to a wider audience, especially one that shines a light on a snippet of Australian history. Ladies in Black had such a successful premiere season last year that they’ve come back to delight audiences once again, this time touring to Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and ending in…

Yesterday evening, I, and about 40 or so others, braved the heat and humidity and took part in Perth’s first ever Midnight Run – organised as part of the Perth International Arts Festival. What is a Midnight Run you ask? The Midnight Run is the brainchild of poet, performer and artist Inua Ellams. It’s a…