Produced and created by Indian Ink Theatre Company, Balloon Dog at the Sydney Opera House is a contemporary adaptation of Kabuliwala, the 1892 Bengali short story by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore. It is the story of a five-year-old girl called Mini who befriends a local service station worker called Kabir (Jehangir Homavazir). They form an…
Meet Bev, or Chiko, who, in his own words, is “not the best truckie, just the best looking.” He’s every stereotype of Australian masculinity you could conjure up, from his impressive mullet to his truck-themed stubbies (translation: shorts). Written and performed by Jonny Hawkins, Truck Driver at the Sydney Opera House, is an insight into…
If you need any evidence that history repeats itself, look no further than this 1960s rock musical, HAIR. Celebrating an age of freedom, rebellion against war, and experimentation, tackling issues of race, sexuality and gender identity. HAIR takes us back to the 1960s/70s counterculture hippie movement whose obstacles are not so dissimilar from those we…
Choreographed, written and performed by Martin del Amo, Scary Piece of Work at the Sydney Opera House is perhaps the most bizarre show I have ever seen. Pitched as a work that explores fear, its universality and our individual responses to it, this one-person production was a cocaine-fuelled fever dream that left audiences wondering what…
Sheltering at the Sydney Opera House is a triple-bill from the acclaimed Bangarra Dance Theatre. Bangarra’s unique style of dance fuses traditional First Nations movement and narratives with contemporary dance to tell stories that resonate and challenge the audience. Sheltering acknowledges and honours the theatre’s history through the work Sheoak, while looking forward to the…
In NSW, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children make up over 56% of those in youth detention, but only around 4% of the youth population. Presented by the Australian Theatre for Young People (ATYP), Saplings at the Sydney Opera House sheds light on the youth justice system. Written by Yuwaalaray playwright Hannah Belanszky and directed…
Oscar Wilde‘s satiric play, The Importance of Being Earnest, is a “Trivial Comedy for Serious People”. South Australia’s State Theatre Company have sprinkled their own flavours into this delicious mix. The best way to describe the event would be queer and quirky – in the most over-the-top camp way imaginable. The plot begins with Jack…
The Other Side of Me at the Sydney Opera House is a heartbreaking story of loss and identity. Based on actual events, the dance duet tells the story of a young Aboriginal man in the Northern Territory who is adopted, along with his brother, by a white English couple in the 1960s. The adoption process…
Got yourself a case of the sweet tooth? Treat yourself to a slice of happiness with the hit Broadway musical, Waitress, where there’s a bun in the oven… and certainly a pie. Picture entering Her Majesty’s Theatre and the room being filled with the intoxicating scent of fresh apple pie. And no, it’s not artificial;…
Co-founders of Erth, Scott Wright (Artistic Director) and Steve Howarth (Head of Design), have brought their large scale, animatronic puppet dinosaurs to life in the world premiere of Erth’s Dinosaurs, now playing at the Sydney Opera House. Geared towards kids (5+) and families, Wright and Howarth really show their commitment to teaching young audiences about…
There are standing ovations… and then there are the kind that feel inevitable. The opening night of MJ the Musical at Brisbane’s QPAC Lyric Theatre didn’t just earn one – it triggered waves of them. The kind that start mid-show, ripple through the crowd, and return again before the final curtain even has a chance…
Few texts are as closely associated with a single era – or as widely mischaracterised – as The Great Gatsby. In truth, the two go hand in hand; the imagined glamour of the Roaring Twenties often serves to obscure just how deeply cynical and pessimistic the novel is. Despite its brevity, abridged adaptations inevitably prioritise…
On the surface, this deeply confrontational play deals with several heavy themes, including (but not limited to) trauma, discrimination and the destructive aftermath of both. But it’s equally concerned with an even more ambitious matter: the nature of truth. The action begins with several figures in hazmat suits sweeping a crime scene as Laurenz Laufenberg's…
This is not the story of Josephine Baker that you know. As the title suggests, it is “for”, rather than “about” the famed singer, dancer and actress. Baker’s story defies neat narratives, and while this performance touches on many elements of her life, from her onstage persona to her Rainbow Tribe of adopted children and…
The most popular prestige television shows of recent years have made it clear that we all love to watch rich people being awful, but Chekhov’s 1904 masterpiece is a reminder that this is nothing new. The action in The Cherry Orchard centres around an aristocratic family in terminal decline, and the coddled individuals who prioritise…
The opening night of Head Over Heels could have been a complete disaster. Days before the season commenced, the air conditioning system broke, the preview was cancelled completely, and one of the main performers was struck down with illness, unable to perform. Having the director announce this before the lights went down makes you wonder…
Nestled amongst the attractions of sideshow alley at the rear of the Garden of Unearthly Delights is an unassuming collection of white ocean containers. They house three of the Darkfield experiences, Seance, Flight and Invisible. The nearby screams of patrons being flung high in the air on the various rides lend a strange contrast to…
Oscar Wilde‘s farce The Importance of Being Earnest is all about two young men about town who lead double lives, avoiding their social obligations. It is normally played in a rather rigid format by rather experienced thespians. It’s a play that explores explores themes of identity, social expectations, and the nature of truth and deception. Which…
The Greek mythological tragedy Orpheus and Eurydice is an epic tale of how the musician Orpheus descends into the Underworld to rescue his wife, Eurydice, after she dies from a snake bite on their wedding day. His music moves Hades, allowing her to return, on the condition that Orpheus walks ahead and does not look…
Holden Street is known as “Home of Theatre” during the Adelaide Fringe. For some 23 years, the artist-run hub has been at the forefront of cutting-edge theatre. Hidden away in Hindmarsh, it’s like a secret gem in the inner west. This reviewer saw a small selection of plays, each of which were world class, thought-provoking…
Three friends, one artwork, three very different perspectives. ART The Play, written by French Playwright Yasmina Reza and directed by Lee Lewis, is the story of three friends – Marc (Richard Roxburgh), Serge (Damon Herriman) and Yvan (Toby Schmitz) – whose 20+ year friendship is thrown into turmoil when Serge decides to spend 160,000 euro…
Irrespective of how old you are, the memories of adolescence are never far behind. The awkwardness and insecurity of growing into yourself – both physically and mentally – and the overwhelming sense that your parents will simply never understand. And if they try, well that’s just so embarrassing. Perhaps that is what makes the character…
Frank Roberts, a Widjabul Wia-bal and Githabul man, known as ‘Honest Frank’, was Australia’s first Aboriginal Olympian. A man of incredible integrity and determination, Frank’s skills in a boxing ring saw him selected for the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo. In My Cousin Frank at the Sydney Opera House, his first cousin, artistic and cultural leader…
There’s something exciting about A Christmas Carol returning to the Melbourne theatre each year. Much like the season itself, Charles Dickens’ timeless tale has a way of circling back with a sense of familiar comfort, but the Old Vic’s acclaimed production manages to make that return feel exciting rather than routine. Back at the Comedy…
With sexual fluidity becoming more a open topic of discussion and exploration, it’s quite surprising how revelatory something like Gravity still feels in 2025; Bradford Elmore‘s sexual celebratory romantic dramedy that flips the usual boy-meets-girl narrative with a boy-meets-boy-meets-girl layering. A tale of two distinct love stories unfolding simultaneously, Gravity initially sets up the meet-cute between Heather (Annabelle Kablean, comedically…
The 2022 film version of The Whale, directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Brendan Fraser, earned two Oscars and a BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. Samuel D. Hunter‘s play, written in 2012, centres on a morbidly obese online English tutor trying to reconcile with his perpetually angry daughter. The University of Adelaide Theatre Guild,…
It’s 1968, and Hair has just brought a story about identity, hippie culture and war to the musical theatre scene. Cut to nearly 60 years later, and the same cultural movement is making its way through Australia, capturing the audience with an emotion-fuelled tribal ritual. This tribal love rock musical is hinged around 60s counterculture,…
Appropriately pitched as a “stripped-back, rough-and-ready reimagining”, Calamity Jane at the Sydney Opera House is a rowdy and rambunctious tale of the well-known American frontierswoman. Known as a sharpshooter and avid storyteller, there have been many reprising’s of this infamous character – Doris Day in the 1953 film, Robin Weigert in the 2004 series Deadwood…
If you’re a popular-enough movie with a strong feminine edge, there’s a good chance you have been, will be, or are receiving the screen-to-stage treatment. Over the last near-two decades we’ve seen such titles as Legally Blonde, Bring It On, 13 Going On 30, and Mean Girls all get the musical treatment, and now, the…
Mario Marchese, known to his adoring fans as Mario the Maker Magician, is a fireball of energy. This is what you will expect for the 60 minutes he graces the stage in his high-octane magic show. Not only is Mario the Magician absolutely hilarious, but he is also the most friendly and personable man you…
