Culture
Theatre
‘How good does it get?’: Courtney Act lands major role in STC’s upcoming season
Australia’s most famous drag performer will star in Noel Coward’s comical three-act play Blithe Spirit about a writer haunted by the ghost of his first wife.
- by Linda Morris
Latest
Online cabaret can be a ‘social boot camp’ to re-enter real world
It’s better late than never for cabaret favourite Queenie van de Zandt, who managed the pivot to digital and will perform an online show on Saturday ... two days after lockdown ends.
- by Nick Miller
Opinion
Arts
Forcing audiences into casinos to see theatre is just what Sydney doesn’t need
Sydney has a desperate lack of commercial theatre space. Putting new ones in casinos is not the answer.
- by Nathanael Cooper
Exclusive
Coronavirus pandemic
Festivals, theatres win $86 million lifeline to get back on feet
Reigniting the economy through cultural offerings is a priority for Treasurer Matt Kean.
- by Linda Morris
$35 million price tag to restore the Minerva to a 1000-seat theatre
New plans to restore the Minerva theatre at Kings Cross have the backing of leading theatre names.
- by Linda Morris
Belvoir roars back to life with diverse program
A story about resilience and survival in migrant communities kicks off the Surry Hills venue’s energetic return to the stage in 2022.
- by Nick Galvin
★★★★
Melbourne Fringe Festival
For the Fringe’s final days, here’s our pick of what you should catch
The Melbourne Fringe Festival hits its final weekend bearing a cornucopia of curiosities, each tweaked to be easily experienced by the housebound.
- by Cameron Woodhead
This Fringe video nasty has students writhing in fake blood
Melbourne theatre-maker Stephen Nicolazzo has always been fascinated by the eroticism and danger of the horror genre.
- by Stephen A Russell
★★★½
Melbourne Fringe Festival
Never a better time to watch this moving Fringe show
Indigenous theatre has led the way on the path to reconciliation – and this new work by an emerging Wamba Wamba writer is a powerful example.
- by Cameron Woodhead
How sex clown Betty Grumble uses her body to heal from sexual assault
The sex clown’s daily online aerobics shows were partly a spiritual quest in defiance of a pandemic that has decimated the arts.
- by Steve Dow
Half a century ago, a Moomba magic trick changed his life
A childhood encounter with a scathing John Laws nearly derailed Sam Angelico’s dream: to learn magic and conjure white doves from nowhere.
- by Catherine Lambert