Arts

Personal sacrifice meets political thriller in Simon Boccanegra, an opera by a master of the genre- Giuseppe Verdi. We caught up with Opera Australia tenor Diego Torre, who played the Genoese gentleman and love-interest Gabriele Adorno in the opera, to discuss the twisting plot and the interesting challenges of Verdi operas. This is your debut in the role…

After a very popular season in Melbourne, Songs For A New World has finally made its way to Sydney and we were ready! Well, sort of. Songs For A New World is one of those “musicals” that you kind of need to see in person, and its difficult to get a sense of really anything…

It turns out that the popular photo sharing app Snapchat is not all “cute” dog face filters, or even the latest avenue for product placement; rather it has been revealed the app has a decidedly more NSFW alternative use. Los Angeles based Australian artist Jesse Willesee has created Premium, a mini-documentary  investigating the world of Snapchat…

Between Luke Kennedy and Joel Turner there has blossomed quite the musical partnership, one that will be making its hyped debut at the Brisbane Powerhouse as part of Wonderland 2016. The duo present Smooth Criminals – The Songs of Michael Jackson this December: an homage to the late Michael Jackson‘s extensive catalogue in a way that hasn’t been seen before….

This coming weekend, artists, art therapists, community development workers, educators, and arts and humanitarian organisations will partake in a special forum at Sydney’s Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, discussing artistic practice by, with, and about refugees. Inspired by the recent number of exhibitions with a focus on refugees, including CPAC’s own Refugees, and the Refugee Art Project,…

What does it mean to be an ‘artist’? What is classified as ‘art’? Living in a creative society where artistic merit is constantly scrutinised and picked apart by observers both within and outside the artistic community, it can be sometimes overwhelming to comprehend that your work, piece/s you’ve become so attached and close to, can…

Samuel Beckett might have brushed up against your memory like a shifty cat quickly grazing past your leg before changing its mind and scampering off into the darkness. Or perhaps you’re very familiar with his work that planted him firmly at the forefront of absurdist theatre when it was at its peak of creation. Regardless…

Next month Sydney Theatre Company will be taking on Shakespeare’s whimsical tale of fairies and magic, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. But it seems not all will be flittering wings and glittering sparkles in this latest adaption by the company’s interim artistic director Kip Williams. We caught up with STC favourite Josh McConville during rehearsals to discuss this…

And just like that, the biggest show to open in Australia this year has blown the socks off audiences. Ever since it was announced to make its Australian debut, the hype surrounding Disney’s classic Aladdin has been immense, with industry professionals and theatre lovers alike counting down the days until opening night. Every childhood memory…

In 2011, Oliver Burton undertook the ambitious task of building an improvised show in which the actors speak only in Shakespearean-style language. Five years on, the idea remains as fresh as ever, and the Post-Haste Players are now entertaining Sydney audiences with their take on Shakespeare’s History plays. I asked Burton about taking on the…

The UK’s largest artist-led contemporary art fair, The Other Art Fair, will return to Sydney at the end of October, setting up for four days in Waterloo space COMMUNE. Launching in 2015, the inaugural fair welcomed some 7,500 visitors during its run, allowing artists to connect with audiences and potential buyers. This year’s Sydney fair…

On September 3rd, two of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas‘ most anticipated sessions will be streamed lived from the Sydney Opera House to sixteen locations across Australia. Lionel Shriver, author of best-seller We Need To Talk About Kevin, will head up the first session Break A Rule A Day, while journalists Annabel Crab and David Marr take…

The National Theatre of Parramatta are on the look out for entrants to their inaugural playwriting program From Page to Stage. Presented in partnership with Playwriting Australia, From Page to Stage is a free program that aims to provide playwrights with an opportunity to hone their skills; whilst also more broadly attempting to facilitate the…

The 2016 Program for the Melbourne Fringe Festival has now been officially launched this week, and tickets have gone on sale for what is going to the biggest ever edition of the festival. With 463 events, involving over 6,000 artists it’s pretty safe to say there is plenty for festival goers to choose from; and the…

Most people are familiar with the story of On Golden Pond, with many having seen the 1981 film starring Henry and Jane Fonda and Katharine Hepburn. The story centres around relationships and families, in particular the dynamic which exists between Norman Thayer, JR (Dave Kirkman), his wife Ethel (Carole Grace) and his estranged daughter Chelsea…

Having already amassed a large following for his piano covers on Youtube, all of which are arranged by ear alone, Samer Fanek has now released his debut album “Wishful Thinking”. The album features 13 original instrumental tracks- all of which Samer composed, performed and produced in his bedroom studio. It debuted at #12 on the US…

Last Wednesday the Seymour Centre was alight with the exciting reveal of Squabbalogic’s 4th Mystery Musical- “Kiss Me Kate”! The evening is a brilliant fundraising event that helps bring much needed funds to the company to help support its future and give us more of it’s spectacular productions. It’s a night that has fast become…

I find Mario Kart so ruthless and stressful that, emotionally, I can’t reach the end of Rainbow Road without shedding some real-life baggage. That’s the game Charlie (Brandon McClelland) is playing with flat-mates Clara (Contessa Treffone) and Tommy (Tel Benjamin), literally and metaphorically, in their rundown Perthian apartment. Whatever he’s trying to shed, they seem…

Doth thou speakest true? Not a script betwixt these players yet drama and merriment dost ensue! It’s hard not to get carried away with the language used by the Post-Haste Players in their latest production, The Post-Haste Histories, especially because the Shakespearean-inspired script is developed entirely before your eyes. This is improv theatre at it’s…

Australia’s largest independent arts festival has released details on over 300 productions that will take over Sydney venues this September. Covering theatre, physical theatre and circus, music, comedy, visual art, film, cabaret, musical theatre, dance and spoken word, the Sydney Fringe Festival this year launches with a “call to party”, highlighting and celebrating the city’s…

Filling the spot left by the recently cancelled Melbourne Art Fair, FLAIR will be taking over several Flinders Lane art galleries later this month, with a series of exhibitions, events, and talks. Heading the festival will be Michael Lynch CBE ME, one of Australia’s most experienced, influential, and outspoken arts administrators. After more than 13…

French choreographer Olivier Dubois’ Tragédie will be performed for two nights at Sydney’s Carriageworks in early September. Described by Dubois as “an exploration of the gulf between merely being human and embracing our full humanity“, Tragédie is inspired by Nietzsche’s The Birth of Tragedy, and concludes a trilogy centred on themes of resistance and insurrection. A minimalistic dance…

There’s an overwhelming urge amongst Australian societies to divulge themselves in to the case of missing people – particularly children. Stories that dominate the media also capture us. The case of Daniel Morcombe is a case in point, where the pubic followed it religiously for more than a decade until there was some sort of…

The heads of agreement regarding a proposed merger between the University of Sydney‘s Sydney College of the Arts and the University of New South Wales Art & Design faculty was terminated by USyd Vice-Chancellor Dr. Michael Spence earlier this week. In an email sent out to students, Dr. Spence said that the “two institutions have a…

Here is a dance show that is so much more than just a dance show. What Jump First, Think Later brings to audiences is a poignant and raw tale of six young parkour and urban dancers who represent Australia’s wonderful multiculturalism. The narrative of this 50-minute show is really heartwarming as Joe Carbone, Johnny Do, Justin Kilic, Jimmy James…

Director Kevin Jackson freely admits Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters is his favourite play of the last century and you can certainly feel the love in Sport For Jove’s production of the classic work, now playing at the Seymour Centre, Chippendale. The three sisters are Olga, Masha and Irina, who we follow over a period of five…

Oh how this year is flying by! August is now here! While it is raining and freaking cold in many places around the country there is a bunch of fascinating shows, exhibitions and other arty stuff around the country for you to peek at. Here are our picks: The Beast Murder! Lies! Cows! The Beast…

The Beast that is Eddie Perfect’s debut play had its premiere at the Sydney Opera House on Friday the 29th of July. The playwright joins the endowed cast of seven on stage, bringing to life a tale of three city-slicking partners and their journey through to the Yarra Valley after three mates and their skipper encounter…

Well. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is not going to be the easiest thing to review. Not only was the play itself a complete sensory overload, its plot was so intricate that I almost feel like I can’t reveal anything without giving the die hard fans a clue as to what happens. Suffice to…

This review should probably be premised with the fact that I am a huge fan of the Indiana Jones series (the first three – don’t even get me started on Kingdom of the Crystal Skull). These films formed an intrinsic part of my childhood and are potentially where my love of history steamed from. So…