Theatre Archive

  Steel Magnolias, with its whip-smart wit and female camaraderie, is the sort of play that will have you leaving the theatre smiling, and that is certainly the case with this production. It is set entirely within Truvy’s home-based beauty salon in …

‘Happiness is a choice. Even on bad days, we are lucky to be alive.’ These are among the closing remarks made by Eddie Jaku (enacted by Anton Berezin) as he relates his story of persecution, imprisonment and escapes, torture and near death …

Helene Hanff’s 1970 non-fiction book, 84 Charing Cross Road, is charmingly realised in this eponymously named play at the Ensemble with Erik Thomson and Blazey Best in the leading roles. In 1981, the book was adapted for the stage by James Roose-Evans, …

  Who are we when we speak a language that isn’t our own? That is one question that Iranian American playwright Sanaz Toossi’s English subtly asks of its audiences. In Sydney, one of the most multi-lingual cities of the world, it is …

Pamela Rabe is the commanding and binding force in this ambitious adaptation of Olga Tokarczuk’s novel, which an interweb search variously describes as an ecofeminist, anti-authoritarian, animal-rights campaigning whodunit cum fable/fairytale. It is all of those things and Rabe, as the central …

  For those unaware, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were two great Hollywood mega-stars, rising to fame in the 1930s – hard to believe that was nearly a century ago. Feted individually, they were brought together for the making of the film, …

Eager music goers gathered at the Walsh Bay Arts Precinct last weekend to revel in the rich sounds of the Baroque era with Gloria! by Sydney Philharmonia Choirs. With champagne in hand and Sydney Harbour shimmering in the background, audiences were treated …

On the eve of a blisteringly hot summer’s day, Musica Viva Australia’s A Winter’s Journey is nothing short of transformative.  Its program, Winterreise, one of the world’s most notoriously challenging song cycles, both for the interpreter to perform and the audience to …

This is such a clever, provocative and enjoyable play to watch on so many levels. Written by British playwright Sam Holcroft in 2023, its production here is especially timely as one of its key themes in censorship in art. It is a …

Simon Burke is just fabulous as the beleaguered and maligned elocution teacher in this Steven J Spears play, which premiered 50 years ago, and charts the downfall of a man persecuted simply because he is gay. And therefore deemed to be a …