38 Results

It’s as good as Carmen can be, indoors or out. Opera Australia’s Sydney Harbour spectacle might not be pure, but it’s a visual feast and the performers are world-class, writes Lloyd Bradford Syke.

Irish playwright Enda Walsh wrestles Beckett, Joyce and Homer and comes out a little worse for wear in Red Stitch’s Penelope, says Sarah Braybrooke, despite some winning (near-naked) performances.

They’re creepy and they’re kooky, and the Australian players really dazzle. The Addams Family, a moderate hit on Broadway, arrives in Sydney in perfect working order, writes Lloyd Bradford Syke.

Mother and Son writer Geoffrey Atherden goes over old ground for his new free-wheeling play on our scared contemporary society. But a terrific cast makes it seem fresh, says Lloyd Bradford Syke.

There are few dramas held more dearly to queer theatre-goers than Jonathan Harvey’s Beautiful Thing, which celebrates its 20th anniversary at this year’s Sydney Mardi Gras. Lloyd Bradford Syke was moved.

Sydney Theatre Company go back to the dusty pages of George Bernard Shaw’s work to find little-performed Mrs Warren’s Profession. It’s a witty, non-challenging escape.

What was the best film of 2012? The best TV show? The book you have to read, the video game you have to play, the album you have to download, the theatre you should have seen? Crikey picks the best.

Australia’s best blog devoted to theatre criticism has frozen in time. There are fewer opportunities for thoughtful arts criticism, robbing culture of important conversations.

Staff and students are up in arms about a restructure at Melbourne University’s beloved Union House Theatre, where some of the country’s brightest names got their start.

New data released by the Australia Council confirms stagnating audiences for the nation’s largest performing arts organisations. But companies say it’s not as bad as it looks.

Jonathan Biggins can cut through society like a knife. But his attempts to go deeper with Australia Day at Sydney Theatre Company might be lost in space, writes Lloyd Bradford Syke.

The ultimate aim of arts companies is to put bums on seats. But the multi-media, multi-faceted strategy is an inexact science. Crikey speaks to arts marketers about the challenges of their jobs.

Silent Disco is an edgy, almost angry representation of modern teenage life, littered with sharp-witted wisecracks and the promise of potential, both in the script writer, set designer and the actors themselves, says Siobhan Argent.