Arts

Asia TOPA has just kicked off in Melbourne, and with it comes a variety of art from our country neighbours to the north. A collection of amazing performances including Tao Ye’s 6 & 8, originally featured in Paris Fashion Week. These two distinct dance works amazingly precisely the same in their execution. For these performances Tao…

Many of us see random pieces of paper, notes and other paraphernalia on the street without a second thought (unless you’re a sweet soul who takes the effort to put the paper in the bin). Laura Sullivan is different. She’s developed a bit of an instinct to find those sticky notes, cards and other pieces…

The 2017 Adelaide Fringe Festival is off and running, with the heart of the city now brimming with activity; from circus performers to cabaret artists, musicians and drag, everyone in between – there’s something for all punters to get involved in. We checked in with the ladies behind Fringe Wives Club to find out what’s led…

London’s biggest comedy hit, the riotous theatrical disaster The Play That Goes Wrong described as Fawlty Towers meets Noises Off, will have a limited season at Roslyn Packer Theatre from 5 April. The Play That Goes Wrong introduces ‘The Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society’ who are attempting to put on a 1920s murder mystery, but as…

Inspired by one of the 20th century’s most powerful images, the photograph “Tank Man”, Chimerica tackles two decades of complex US-China relations alongside the personal stories that exist beyond the margins of history. We caught up with Matthew Backer during rehearsals to talk about this geopolitical thriller and what to expect from this latest production by Sydney…

I don’t know how everyone sees my art – but I know that people seem really fucked up by my age for some reason. I don’t know if it’s because people underestimate youths or if it’s because of the content. I don’t think my age is disregarded, because here we are talking about it. 17…

The MICF is set to take over Australia’s comedy capital from Wednesday, March 29th until Sunday, April 23rd. Here’s what we know so far! The Gala Opening Night Comedy Allstars Supershow will be hosted by none other than Wil Anderson. The 28th annual Great Debate takes over the Melbourne Town Hall on Saturday April 15, as six…

In the lead up to one of Melbourne’s most distinguished cultural festivals Asia TOPA, we had an in-depth chat with Creative Director Stephen Armstrong about the significance of such a curation of work and one show in particular, The Red Detachment of Women. What is the idea behind Asia TOPA? There are so many amazing creators and…

Scrabble World Champion, Austin Michaels knew over 200,000 words. Then he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Since then Austin has been in a race against time to document his memories, his greatest achievements before they fade from his mind and the world forever. Once the toast of the board game world, Austin’s life was full…

With the 2017 Perth International Arts Festival kicking off in just a matter of days, we’ve run through the artsy smorgasbord that is this year’s program, and are bringing you our tips on what not to miss in the coming weeks. So these are 8 things we think you shouldn’t miss over the course of…

An artist who has performed in a castle in Poland, an orphanage in the Angolan jungle, and a field in Malaysia, Anna Lumb is no stranger to the surreal. Lumb’s unique blend of theatre, circus and physical comedy has taken her to some of the world’s farthest corners. Ahead of her hometown appearance at Melba…

Presented as part of BrisAsia Festival, a host of international performers welcome audiences to Cargo Club, an immersive experience exploring global themes and personal experiences. Spoken word, ancient ritual, live art, and cool tunes come together as artists tell their stories, unpacking their own ‘cargo’ in a true cultural melting pot. A joint collaboration between…

Living in a Western society, for the most part, we are taught to be open-minded; to want to learn and experience new things, embrace new ideas. Though, the comfort resultant of the acceptance of their appearance is a luxury not afforded to many. So, what does it feel like to be put under the microscope?…

Legendary frontierswoman; notorious daredevil; profane storyteller; unwomanly radical – CALAMITY JANE is one of the most immediately recognizable figures of the old American West. And now, after a sell-out performance in August last year as part of Neglected Musicals, The Hayes Theatre is bringing the Wild West back in a  “stripped-back, rough-and-ready reimagining” of the classic musical….

I find myself sitting in QPAC, eyes half closed. I’m moving through springtime, by a babbling brook. I’m gazing from a snowy summit, blistering winds gazing my face faster than coarse sands. But all the while, just in my peripheral, I can see these damn yellow sneakers. They follow me through the foothills. They sit…

The Book of Mormon has been one of the most talked about musicals to ever make its way down under, and this weekend the Australian premiere was held in Melbourne to officially commence its long awaited run on our shores – some six years after it made box office history in New York City. The comedic…

Now playing at The Princess in Melbourne is The Book of Mormon – the mammoth Broadway hit we’ve been looking forward to arriving in Australia for some six years. There are endless reasons to see the show, and if you’re a fan of South Park or Avenue Q – the creators of which are behind…

Disco. That most oft maligned of genres is given the celebration it rightly deserves thanks to the gloriously kitsch and utterly entertaining Velvet, which is a part of this year’s Fringe World in Perth.

So many wonderfully talented people are performing within Cirque du Soleil’s Kooza, that it is amazing how its performances under the big top can be coordinated in such a way. It’s quite the production; heading backstage, I see gym equipment sprawled out within the backend of the performance area, while artists (of the trapeze, dance…

Here at the AU offices, we go through all your spruces and gooses and have collated the best events in this, our monthly look at the best the art, theatre and cultural world has to offer this month for the month of February 2017. Go out and enjoy one of these little events around Australia,…

Take a Cirque du Soleil show. Strip out all the colour, the costumes, the set. Turn off the music. What you’d be left with is something that looks a lot like Dimitris Papaioannou’s Still Life. Featuring feats of acrobatic strength and clowning, Still Life is a beautiful piece of moving art, created from the most…

Bringing up the rear of a family of circus runaways, ambitious playboy barristers, and juvenile delinquents, Loretta often finds that the best recourse is blending into the background of their scandalous and unusual existence. But Loretta cannot remain a fly on her family’s wall for much longer. As the four piece’s precarious existence begins to…

You’ve probably heard the phrase ‘wrestling with their inner demons’ – you may even know someone who has. In Institute, English physical theatre company, Gecko, has taken that idea and turned it inside out, giving us a powerful and beautiful physical representation of the inner workings of the human mind. Institute does not follow an…

Described as “part anthem, part campfire story, and part instructions for the dismantling of the gender stories we tell”, Tomboy Survival Guide comes to Sydney Festival all the way from the Yukon in Canada, and serves as one of the most powerful performances to grace this year’s festival. The show is led by Ivan Coyote,…

Native Earth Performing Arts’ Sydney Festival offering, Huff, is arresting, confronting, and oddly comedic. Immensely talented writer and performer, Cliff Cardinal, ensures the audience is continually unsettled, and you will find yourself laughing at circumstances that are far from funny. If you’re looking for a feel-good night out, safely ensconced behind the theatrical fourth wall,…

Following on from documenting the life of the great Jim Henson, author Brian Jay Jones has given us another comprehensive biography, (and international best seller), this time of Star Wars creator George Lucas in George Lucas, A Life. George Lucas, A Life opens in March 1976 with Lucas having a tough time filming in Tunisia…

Here’s Johnny! For years Johnny Marr has created great music and influenced multiple generations of guitarists by wearing various musical hats. Set The Boy Free is the first time the former guitarist of The Smiths has committed the story of his life to paper. This book is a cracking read and it proves that Marr…

With the prospect owning your own home as distant as one of Saturn’s moons, it seems the majority of Sydney is content with living in a rented apartment/house nowadays. Such living arrangements spurred a production of The Inspection, starring NIDA alumni Julia Christensen premiering at Sydney’s Old 505 Theatre tonight. The producer for the show Julian…

In the 1980s, Sydney gangs found a new blood sport – hunting gays. From February 21st to March 4th , Fairly Lucid Productions will present the gripping production, Member, a powerful look into the gay hate crime epidemic that blighted Sydney’s coastline during the 1980s and 1990s. Member follows the story of former gang member,…

King Roger, or Krol Roger, is a rarely performed Polish opera that takes you inside the conflicted mind of the King as he battles with the seduction of a hedonistic Shepard/God. And by “takes you inside” it means quite literally, for the main stage is a giant head- the hollowed back forming stairs and platforms…