At the wrap party for the 12th Sydney Comedy Festival, the winners of this year’s awards were announced, including international acts Daniel Sloss and Ivan Aristeguieta, and festival favourite Frank Woodley. The largest festival yet, the 2016 event boasted some 220 shows, and entertained an estimated 140,000 comedy fans. At the Factory Theatre event, festival…
Ships in the Night, Perth’s bi-monthly celebration of words and music, returns this week. After two successful showings at Perth’s Fringe World, where the evening inhabited a ger or yurt, the team are back in a more conventional venue this month – Paper Mountain. We caught up with the two headliners Laurie Steed and Tristan…
Tasmania’s Festival of Voices is returning for 2016, and will be bringing with it a huge program of singers and choirs. Taking place from July 30 – June 17, cities around Tasmania will be taken over by song, engaging visitors and locals to engage in thematic and performances that will be presented. The festival has…
What a time to be alive and witness the magnitude of talent we have here in Australia. If you have yet to experience the incredible gifts of our young Aussie guys and girls, then Heathers: The Musical is the best way to ease you in. Amidst a sea of scrunchies, yes that’s right scrunchies, the Arts…
For many who aspire to be on the stage, Singin’ in the Rain is one of those shows that ignites the fire within and allows us to dream the dream and hope to one day turn it into a reality. On Saturday night, the Australian premiere of this iconic show fulfilled every heart’s desire as Adam Garcia,…
Some shows work best when certain things are kept to a minimum. Prince’s “Piano and a Microphone” concerts were one such example as is the kiwi cabaret known as Daffodils [inspired by true events]. The play is a love story inspired by writer, Rochelle Bright’s parents and grandparents meeting at the same spot in New Zealand…
On September 6th, the culmination of years of work will debut on the Sydney Opera House stage – a precise recreation of the original 1956 Broadway production of My Fair Lady, helmed by the woman who starred in the production itself as Eliza Doolittle – Dame Julie Andrews. Taking over this role for the 60th…
Fresh from a successful double showing at Fringe World back in February, Ships in the Night is returning on Thursday for their thirteenth celebration of local words and music. Taking place at Paper Mountain in Northbridge, the event will once again feature a collection of local writers, and musicians headed up by two headline acts; who…
WA Youth Theatre Company has revealed they will be presenting Sarah Kane‘s Crave, a stunning and poetic piece of literature revolving around need, violence and doubt. Originally debuted in 1988, the play takes place in an abstract world, focusing on four characters that are only identified as C, M, B and A. The production gives…
This August and September the Sydney Opera House will welcome Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady, where a classic take on the original 1956 production will come to life. Celebrating its 60th anniversary, the production has been in the making for the past seven years, with contributors aiming to recreate the classic play and re-introdude…
The National Art School Gallery’s new exhibition Ann Thomson and Contemporaries presents selection of artworks from important artists and teachers at the school from the 1950s and 60s. Opening evening is on Thursday 26 May, and runs at NAS Gallery until 23rd July. The exhibition showcases over 50 paintings, sculptures and works from the school’s Collection and…
The Honey Bees, presented by Red Stitch Actors Theatre, will hold its world premiere in St. Kilda, Victoria on Friday June 17th, with the show running until Saturday July 16. The production written by Caleb Lewis and directed by Ensemble member Ella Caldwell, explores the struggle of a family-owned honey business trying to meet international demands in a near-reaching bee…
Ahead of the May 20th announcement of the winners, the Sydney Theatre Company has released the shortlist of plays in the running to for this year’s prestigious Patrick White Playwrights’ Award. Named for Australian playwright Patrick White, the award is presented to an original, unproduced play. The winning playwright will receive $7500, and have the…
In association with Fremantle based Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, Hawthorn Arts Centre have announced a one off performance of an adaptation of beloved children’s book The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry. Adapted by Simon Clarke, and directed by Michael Barlow, this acclaimed production of one of the most widely read books in history (and the fourth most…
After a hugely successful run 2014, American dance troupe Pilobolus are returning to Australia with their innovative show Shadowland, touring the country in August and September this year. Following a young girl as she falls asleep and descends into the Shadowland, meeting all manner of strange creatures along the way, the show is part dance, part…
The Beast, directed by Simon Phillips and written and starring Aussie comedian Eddie Perfect, has been announced to tour the East Coast of Australia from July. The show – Perfect’s first play – made its debut in 2013 at the Melbourne Theatre Company. The play combines comedy with outrage, as Perfect delves into the ugly truths of organic, free-range…
It has just gone midnight on April 15 1912, and Herbert Stone — second officer aboard the SS Californian — is about to take watch. Across the Atlantic ice field that has halted his own ship’s progress for the night lies another, a passenger steamer, her lights dim. Stone is expecting a quiet night, but when…
You wouldn’t necessarily think a show dedicated to the legacy of Carole King would resonate so profoundly to a younger audience. Let it be known that this show is for absolutely anyone who has a connection with music, a respect for the truth and a deep-seeded love for nourishing your soul. As we are taken…
Perth’s Liz Newell launched a theatre company, Maiden Voyage Theatre Company, this year; and this week the company’s debut work, Belated (written and produced by Newell), will be hitting the stage at the Blue Room Theatre. Belated follows Blythe & Max, friends since they were kids, and Norah (Max’s girlfriend) as they all suddenly find…
The Killer Queen (Casey Donovan) is, well, a Killer Queen – but she also likes Fat Bottomed Girls. Is one such girl, in fact. When she’s not indulging, she’s doing what she can to make sure that all the music on the iPlanet is Computer Recorded Autotune Pop (or CRAP). The last thing she wants…
Stephen K Amos knows Australians. The English comedian has been visiting our fine country for over a decade and he even has the nasally accent down pat. His show at the Enmore Theatre for the Sydney Comedy Festival was a rather clever look at life both in general as well as different observations and anecdotes…
When we were children most of us would’ve blown bubbles and tried to catch them. As adults there is still something magical in watching large bubbles being created as they fly through the sky before they reach the end of their transient lifespan and go “Pop!” Melody Yang is someone that knows all about this….
In this period of YouTube celebrities, reality TV starlets and Kardashians, it can be challenging to relate to theatrical characters. Audiences are regularly plated-up a plethora of classics, complete with over-the-top performances and melodious, fruity language contrasted against edgy, overly dark interpretations of long-lost fables. Presented on stark stages that we struggle to comprehend (but…
It has been announced today by producers Andrew Lloyd Webber, David Ian, John Frost and the Really Useful Group that The Sound of Music will be heading to Perth later this year, rounding out a highly acclaimed national tour. This new tour of the classic play is led by the all star cast of Amy…
After entertaining over 50,000 visitors last year, the Cairns Indigenous Art Fair has today announced this year’s program, along with the 2016 event app, presented by Artistic Director Janina Harding. The event encourages Indigenous artists to share their stories and is an ethical point of sale for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. Running over…
A curious race of flight-obsessed creatures has crash landed in the remains of the Red Hill Skate Arena, just outside the Brisbane CBD. Eager to get back to “upground”, the Gremlins have thrown open the cabin doors, inviting passengers to join them as they take to the skies with their budget airline Airlinius Hippopotamus. Please…
Irish theatre group Fishamble are bringing their hit romantic comedy Swing to the Brisbane Powerhouse as part of a ten venue Australian tour, slated to play the Brisbane River venue in late May. Following the tale of Joe and May, the show tells the story of two strangers who meet at a swing dance class. Swing…
Before any actor graces the stage, the apartment is full of stories. The cracks on the wall tell us it was built-to-last a long time ago. The beaded curtains in the doorway are permanently drawn to the side; while charming, they quickly became a nuisance. By the red corduroy couch, there’s a pair of boots…
Former keyboardist, and current superstar physicist Professor Brian Cox OBE is returning to Australia in August with a brand new stage show; A Journey in to Deep Space. Once again teaming up with Lateral Events, Cox over the course of the show will be exploring some of the unanswered questions that abound about deep space; drawing…
After a successful run at the Brisbane Powerhouse during last year’s Brisbane Festival, raucous disco cabaret VELVET made a triumphant return to the River City, taking over the Cremorne Theatre at QPAC. Once a huge fan of the standard cabaret fare, the borderline offensive humour and the sexy-but-kinda-weird acts offered by shows like Club Swizzle, Absinthe, and La…
