Arts
Broadway home away from home
From small fry to a Big Apple hit, Rodney Rigby is doing Australia proud, writes Wendy Tuohy.
Comedy Festival 2017: Red Stitch Theatre’s Rules for Living
IN THE chaotic comedy-drama Rules for Living, UK playwright Sam Holcroft attempts to expose the behavioural ‘rules for living’ that govern our human relationships and she capitalises on the intense emotions that can emerge during a family Christmas.
A divisive dance
Anti-Gravity is a rigorously developed, immersive experience but those looking for the physicality of contemporary dance may miss the immediacy and kinetic excitement of more sustained choreography.
Olympics inspired dance en pointe
Faster is a triple bill of varying works that showcase the Australian Ballet en masse, allowing lesser seen dancers to strut their stuff and principals to duet with different partners than usual.
All on board the good ship
MELBOURNE Opera have the heavily dramatic works of Wagner’s Lohengrin and Donizetti’s Roberto Devereux to come but a completely satisfying belly-laugh start to their season docked into the Athenaeum Theatre this week in the form of HMS Pinafore.
David O’Doherty’s silly, silly show
IRISH comedian David O’Doherty pines for the good ol’ days of nine months ago when everyone was angry about Pokemon Go, discovers Mikey Cahill.
Opera hits Arabesque note
Praise to Lyric Opera of Melbourne for giving The Japanese Princess a delightful and meaningful outing for its Australian premiere.
Mesmerising musical a tale for all ages
OTTORINO Respighi himself would be mesmerised by how magically glowing his musical fable, The Sleeping Beauty, lives in Victorian Opera’s latest production.
Gotta have Faith
MEMORY may be unreliable, but the troubled characters in Irish playwright Brian Friel’s challenging and moving play Faith Healer, reframe their memories of a shared past to suit their own needs, writes reviewer Kate Herbert.
Hot stuff
The Full Monty is back but, this time, it’s not the 1997 UK film set in the economically depressed city of Sheffield in the North of England, but the American musical adaptation that transports the six, unemployed steelworkers to Buffalo, New York.
Tim Finn brings Aussie tale to life
Ladies in Black charms the audience with its simple, engaging stories of the saleswomen who work in F.G. Goodes — a store that resembles Myer and Georges — in 1959, just before the conservative ’50s become the unconventional ’60s
Rugging up for summer
For its free entry summer blockbuster this year, the National Gallery of Victoria will roll out the red carpet to 60 contemporary artists from more than 30 countries.
A love triangle doomed
With its story residing in a grim melting pot of infanticide, revenge and mystery on a background of civil war, in CityOpera’s Il trovatore a love triangle is blown apart in a tragic finale few might see coming.
What goes wrong, goes so right
In this raucously slapstick UK comedy The Play That Goes Wrong, anything that can go wrong does go wrong (Murphy’s Law), including a collapsing set, missed cues, forgotten lines, missing props and truly awful, hammy acting.
Here’s Johnny
IN HER play John, award-winning American playwright Annie Baker braids the ordinary with the peculiar and the real with the otherworldly, evoking a slightly disturbing sense of dislocation and miscommunication.
Review: Little Emperors
THE actors in Lachlan Philpott’s Little Emperors perform ankle-deep in a murky pool of water that heightens the physical and personal struggles of their characters, writes reviewer Kate Herbert.
The new Veronica Roth book you need to read
BEST-SELLING Divergent author Veronica Roth is taking her teenage fans into deep space in her new book Carve the Mark, creating not only a new planet but a whole new language sci-fi readers will love.
What goes on behind closed doors
The Way Things Work is a satirical comment on the unethical and criminally corrupt practices that sometimes permeate our governments and corporations, writes reviewer Kate Herbert.
It’s a pity.
‘Tis Pity feels like an indulgent work that neither does justice to the art of opera nor the rich talent at Victorian Opera’s disposal. This time the company has sold itself thin, writes reviewer Paul Selar
Say hello to Melbourne’s new hit show
PRAYING for a music theatre miracle? Your prayers have been answered with The Book of Mormon.
Best seller is living by the book
A SNEAK peek inside the photo album of Australia’s biggest selling female writer, Di Morrissey, reveals what’s close to her heart.
Be transported to the Amazonian jungle
The Encounter is a challenging and mesmerising performance that creates a world in our minds and reminds us of the extraordinary skill of the actor and the magic that is great theatre, writes reviewer Kate Herbert.
How to raise resilient, independent kids
PARENTING expert Michael Grose shows parents how to help their youngsters become resilient, autonomous, independent and self-confident in his new book Spoonfed Generation.
Why the theatre is good for children
MORE than 105,000 people saw children’s theatre performances at the Melbourne Arts Centre alone last year. Here’s why taking the kids to the show is so popular.
Is there room on your broom?
SUMMER is here and that means a plethora of children’s theatre offerings around Melbourne. Room on the Broom is just one of several family friendly events on at the Arts Centre this month.
Review: Circus 1903
Step right up folks to the greatest show on earth … such is the feel of the lush and grandiose Circus 1903. Harking back to the travelling circus days of yore, the show oozes nostalgia while featuring top international acts of the now.
Rocking the book charts
Rock great Jimmy Barnes has become a publishing sensation, joining JK Rowling and Andy Griffiths as one of the best-selling authors in Australia
$20 for a sneak peek at hit musical
DID someone say The Book of Mormon tickets for only $20? Yes, this offer may interest Melbourne fans of the hit musical. But you’d want to queue up early.
