A circus antidote to parental anxiety
The Fruities deliver a beautiful, inventive and unsentimental look at the changing world of childhood.
Stage
Bell Shakespeare's new Merchant of Venice calls out casual racism
The Jewish moneylender Shylock is a lightning rod for racial abuse in The Merchant of Venice but he's not the only one who feels it.
British classic lifts the long shadow of patriarchy
Caryl Churchill's essay on love and power is a play of two halves, different in tone but intimately connected. Don't quit at interval.
Theatre
Bell Shakespeare's new Merchant of Venice calls out casual racism
The Jewish moneylender Shylock is a lightning rod for racial abuse in The Merchant of Venice but he's not the only one who feels it.
British classic lifts the long shadow of patriarchy
Caryl Churchill's essay on love and power is a play of two halves, different in tone but intimately connected. Don't quit at interval.
No shortage of returns for this Rover
Fair maids trump the rovers in Eamon Flack's freewheeling production of Aphra Behn's restoration classic.
Dance
Canberra dance school founder Bryan Lawrence dies
The dancer and dance teacher had a long and distinguished career.
The Rapture review: Human frailties wrapped up in fur
Moira Finucane's complex persona pulls the audience in different directions.
An epic night of old-fashioned theatre magic
The Winter's Tale is wonderful old-fashioned theatre magic, a truly Shakespearean epic of love and hate, jealousy and purity – all told in the language of dance.
Musicals
Disney on Ice: Frozen is the coolest spectacle in town
It makes for Disney on Ice to finally devote a whole show to just one story. And what a story to pick.
Comedy 'the best way' to tell the Joh Bjelke-Petersen story
You are seated at a table in a leagues club next to the Daintree Developers Corporation. There are brown paper bags on the table for donations, as this event is a fundraiser for Joh Bjelke-Petersen's campaign to become prime minister.
Not Sondheim's best, and it shows
There are too many imperfections in this musical, and Watch This' interpretation only accents them further.
Opera
Sublime music and fart jokes, too
Pinchgut Opera's winter production often presents events which, history tells us, shaped the development of music.
Dean's heart-wrenchingly beautiful opera wows Glyndebourne audiences
Hamlet has everything on which opera thrives: murder, love, lust, intrigue, betrayal, revenge – and a ghost. Not to mention a duel, followed by a pile of bodies.
The Nixon Tapes review: concert captivates with its climactic musical excitement
This is a concert of unflagging interest and intellect from two distinctive younger voices and an enduring work from a venerated master.
Comedy
'I don't hate myself any more': why Hannah Gadsby is retiring from comedy
Hannah Gadsby is walking away from stand-up comedy, and reveals her long struggle with creativity, sexuality and illness.
Rock's show not blockbuster fans hoped for
While there is plenty to like about Chris Rock's ability to explore uncomfortable topics fearlessly, this show felt undercooked.
Chris Rock surprises fans with secret gigs on Australian tour
Comedy club punters in Perth and Melbourne scored a massive treat with surprise appearances by Chris Rock.