Culture
Theatre
Skulls, Vodou and a giant penis: is this Rising’s wackiest offering?
Ghetto Biennale brings Haitian street culture to Melbourne in a work born out of junkyard cast-offs.
- by John Bailey
Latest
Comedian Kirsty Webeck’s stories are low stakes but impossible to dislike
A wrap of our favourite shows from the week, including immersive experience Darkfield, Clyde’s at Ensemble Theatre, and comedian Kirsty Webeck.
- by Lenny Ann Low, John Shand and Daniel Herborn
Latest reviews
Arts
It’s easy to see why audiences keep flocking to this musical
This wrap of shows around Melbourne includes the musical Once, two performances by the LSO, a Yirramboi double bill and small metal creatures at Fed Square.
- by Sonia Nair, Barney Zwartz, Andrew Fuhrmann and Cameron Woodhead
Interviews, like love, don’t always run smoothly. Just ask this writer
Zia Ahmed squirms at even an innocuous question, but he writes with dazzling clarity. His play, I Wanna Be Yours, navigates love and racial fault lines.
- by Richard Jinman
A family’s work to restore violins saved from the Holocaust comes to the Sydney stage
Amnon Weinstein’s life’s work has been collecting and restoring Holocaust-era violins – and telling the stories of those who played them.
- by Siobhan Moylan
★★★½
Arts
Judith Lucy takes on one of the most demanding roles in modern theatre
In Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days, Judith Lucy plays Winnie, a woman who despite finding herself buried deeper and deeper in sand, continues going about her normal routine.
- by Cameron Woodhead
Even its creator thinks this play might end up being a car crash
We’re not exactly sure what Cavalcade is about, but William Henderson’s theatrical pedigree makes it hard to look away.
- by John Bailey
Locked and Loaded: Acclaimed Melbourne story finally hitting the stage
“Revisiting your work is always challenging. But what’s been exciting ... is that it’s like a call and response between the ’90s and now,” says Christos Tsiolkas.
- by Anthony Nocera
Latest reviews
Review
Meet the Jane Austen who confessed to writing with a hangover
This wrap of shows around Melbourne includes Bell Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Mudhoney, Hania Rani, The Tap Pack, By Jane’s Hand at La Mama and Selling Kabul at Red Stitch.
- by Cameron Woodhead, Jessica Nicholas, Martin Boulton and Andrew Fuhrmann
In praise of the intermission, the best part of theatre
Movies, take note: it’s the right time for a halftime.
- by Robert Moran
How economic stagnation is reshaping the American narrative on stage
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Lynn Nottage’s next work is on its way to Sydney.
- by Neha Kale