Front Page Archive

Some things take a very long time to change. If that were not so, Harvey Fierstein’s Torch Song Trilogy – which opened at the Darlinghurst Theatre on February 5 – would not continue to be so relevant. This very funny but deeply dark play …

If you like literary allusions, poetry, pop culture and word play you will enjoy Alan Bennett’s The History Boys, which opened at the Sydney Opera House on February 12. This erudite comedy has a large smattering of Auden, plenty of laughs and …

Most Sydneysiders have fond memories of visiting the Australian Museum on school excursions, exploring the wonders of nature and the ancient world. Now many of them are coming back for a totally new experience. For the fifth year now the Museum has …

After attending Rachel Collis’s debut of her album Ever After, going for a Brazilian wax will not be as frightening as it used to be. Collis’s uninhibited stage presence, powerful voice and great keyboard talent convinced me that the painful process of …

I stared at my reflection in mild disbelief. A girl wearing heavy black frames gazed back owlishly. Behind them were brown eyes covered with prescription contact lenses – which I had switched to several months ago because I was tired of wearing …

After a 45-minute ride into the suburban heart of Melbourne city, we finally arrived at the Footscray Community Art Centre. As we walked out of the station with the crowds, the atmosphere and energy was absolutely brilliant. The sun was out and …

Gripping finals matches, success for our Australian players and outstanding attendance figures highlighted the 2013 Australian Open at Melbourne Park. Considered as the first of the four ‘Grand Slam’ tennis events of the year, the Australian Open is conducted on the picturesque …

The first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander playwriting festival to be held in Sydney in two decades is now underway with six playwrights chosen to showcase their work this week. The last Indigenous playwriting festival was held in Adelaide in 2000; the …

Vampire Weekend is a band in demand.  On the afternoon of the gig I ended up with a spare ticket at late notice due to illness. After offering it for sale on Gumtree the phone didn’t stop beeping all night. While it’s a …

I meet blues musician Ash Grunwald on Australia Day, a few hours before his gig in The Rocks. Ash lounges on a couch, with aviator sunglasses nestled in his dreadlocks and a guitar at his side. As I approach him, I tiptoe …