Arts and Entertainment Archive

For Mandela Mathia, born amid war and hunger, Australia became the ‘Promised Land’. Lose to Win is him telling his story of how that came to be and how he got here. It starts in South Sudan, where he was born to …

Image courtesy of Sydney Symphony Orchestra. Photo: Jay Patel. Jean Sibelius is undoubtedly Finland’s most celebrated composer. While typically remembered for his passionate symphonic works and concertos, Finnish conductor Osmo Vänskä’s latest show at the Sydney Opera House reveals a more enigmatic …

  This is one of those plays that has you thinking about it long after you have left the theatre. It is engrossing from start to finish, as we follow the lives of two seemingly quite different men and learn, bit by …

Utility vehicles and red sports cars, Mechanicals in Hi-Vis vests and wielding ‘Stop’ signs,  costumes that reference the Matildas, and Barbie and Ken, are all elements that bring Glenn Elston’s interpretation of this 400-year-old comedy into the 21st century – as long …

All seven Harry Potter books in ’70 hilarious minutes’ promises the publicity for this UK production, which has already been seen by millions of muggles and wizards. And the advertising doesn’t lie. Comedians Scott Hoatson and Brendon Murphy deliver in spades as …

It’s fun, it’s colourful, delivered with verve, a good dollop of irreverence and at a cracking pace. In this iteration of Grease the Musical, what’s not to like? Even before Sandy (Annelisa Hall) and Danny (Joseph Spanti) are seen in silhouette in …

Eighteen years after it premiered at The Stables in 2006 (after which it had runs all around Australia, including the Opera House, then in London’s West End and was made into a film), Tommy Murphy’s adaptation of Timothy Conigrave’s 1995 memoir Holding the …

In this, the play that has once again coaxed Australia’s most prolific playwright out of retirement, David Williamson takes aim at greedy property developers, with a side swipe at slut shaming. The action takes place in fictional Wallis Heads, a coastal town …

Mandy McElhinney shines as the down-to-earth ‘agony aunt’ who delves into her own experiences of love and loss to advise those who seek her help (or, in some instances, offer skepticism and abuse). As a wife, a mother, a daughter, a writer, …

In 1978, when Munster became the first Irish rugby team to beat the seemingly unconquerable All Blacks, an instant legend was born. John Breen’s heart-warming comedy Alone It Stands celebrates this tale of triumph and brings another almost impossibility to life – …