Camp comedy embraces sheer silliness and some raw truths
Bad taste rules supreme in a show that slaughters every sacred cow in sight.
Stage
Oscillating dance work keeps audience in suspended state of anticipation
Actions can affect us long after they seem to be resolved: this is the true metaphor in Tremor, in which dancers perform on an oscillating platform.
Stormy affair hits Sydney
This musical tells the tale of an original power couple.
Theatre
Up in smoke
Next week the musical satire will hit Melbourne for the first time in a two-week run at Chapel Off Chapel.
A dated play, The Shadow Box performs admirably thanks to creative staging
The Shadow Box's genteel approach to death has been surpassed by tougher fare, but a strong cast and crew elevate a dated work.
Tightly orchestrated production mines drama of wounded masculinity
THEATRE RUST AND BONE ★★★½ La Mama Courthouse Until November 27
Dance
Protests against injustice danced into view
NAISDA celebrates its 40th anniversary with a virtuoso display of Indigenous dance.
Carriageworks' visitor numbers outstrip rival major arts institutions
Carriageworks receives more visitors, and at a fraction of the cost, than the major cultural institutions as it reveals 2017 artistic program.
Oscillating dance work keeps audience in suspended state of anticipation
Actions can affect us long after they seem to be resolved: this is the true metaphor in Tremor, in which dancers perform on an oscillating platform.
Musicals
Phoenix Players' Spring Awakening at ANU Arts Centre has a forceful young cast
The Canberra premiere of this musical benefits from excellent performances by both its older and younger cast members.
Songs the main attraction in Springfield tribute
Based on the life of Dusty Springfield, this jukebox musical has its share of flaws and triumphs.
Spring Awakening at ANU Arts Centre is a rock musical about teen angst
Phoenix Players presents the Canberra premiere of the award-winning musical about German adolescents grappling with romance and sexuality in a repressive environment.
Opera
Sumi Jo brings good weather with her for Voices (Not) In the Forest
International opera star Sumi Jo has arrived in Canberra for recently moved - but not renamed - Voices in the Forest.
Running rings around himself
From the overblown pomp of political rallies to the environmental ravages of capitalism, Neil Armfield finds new themes resonating in the return of his Opera Australia production of Wagner's four-opera epic The Ring.
Boisterous production doesn't quite hit the mark
The steely voice of soprano Elena Xanthoudakis sliced through the orchestra like a freshly sharpened axe blade.
Comedy
Absurd flights of fancy and musical interludes make for impressive comedy
Bill Bailey is one of the few modern comedians who avoids vulgarity or going dark for shock value (though there's the occasional brief bit of black humour).
Bill Bailey lets fly on 'monstrous blight' of censorship
The English stand-up comedian knows how it feels to be torn down by the tabloids, but it hasn't quite stopped him speaking his mind.
Jerry Seinfeld to tour Australia almost 20 years on
The master of observational comedy will perform Down Under for the first time in almost 20 years next August. But don't expect any cracks at Melbourne's expense.