Melbourne Festival 2017 program one for the ages
Epic battles, life stories and questions about humankind set the theme for Jonathan Holloway's second Melbourne Festival.
Stage
Kosky's Saul and Belvoir's The Drover's Wife win Helpmanns
Barrie Kosky's Saul and Belvoir Theatre's The Drover's Wife dominated the 2017 Helpmann Awards, announced in Sydney on Monday night, taking home several gongs each, including best opera and best play, respectively.
Question marks over Katz's strange creation
Compared to the Rabble's retelling of the Mary Shelley classic just a few years ago, this lacks purpose.
Theatre
Orwell's stark vision given powerfully grim life
This Australian production of a British adaptation of 1984 captures the novel's terrors.
A musical trip through century of invention
Canberran Sally Greenaway's score beautifully highlights this entertaining show.
Foreign invasion overwhelms local heroes
Music theatre in Australia is in a pretty dire state if Monday night's Helpmann awards are anything to go by.
Dance
Breakdancing wolf has all the right moves
The Wolf and Peter has a light touch and plenty of action.
Canberra dance school founder Bryan Lawrence dies
The dancer and dance teacher had a long and distinguished career.
Bolshoi denies Nureyev ballet postponed for gay theme
There have been suggestions a ballet about dance legend Rudolf Nureyev was too controversial.
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
Massenet's Thais a glorious vehicle for vocal performance
Thais, a "courtesan", makes the journey from sin to salvation.
Sydney Eisteddfod Opera finalists struggle to be heard
It's been a season of firsts for Boyd Owen.
Sublime music and fart jokes, too
Pinchgut Opera's winter production often presents events which, history tells us, shaped the development of music.
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.