Twins, Anaia (Henrietta Enyonam Amevor) and Racine (Masego Pitso), get a letter from their estranged mother (Cessalee Stovall), whom they long thought dead, to come to her nursing home in the dirty south. Bedridden with the effects of major burns, she reminds them of the incidents preceding their father’s leaving, having set her and the…
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Boy meets girl. Then meets again. And again, and again across various states of time and space in numerous dimensions. Some meetings see a failure to launch, others bloom, with the couple going through a number of relationships across the multiverse, with only minor alterations making, in this case, literal worlds of difference. Ian Michael…
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For over 20 years, Milk Crate Theatre have engaged with disadvantaged people, devising works which challenge norms of performance. Developed over the 2020 and 2021 lockdowns, DUST was conceived over a number of zoom sessions before being fleshed-out in the person earlier this year. Drawing on themes of isolation and enforced reflection, the story centres…
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A Raisin in the Sun was the first play in Broadway to be written by an African American woman, premiering in 1959 and starring Sidney Poitier. Sixty-five years later, it finally makes its Australian mainstage premiere, presented by Sydney Theatre Company. Three generations of Youngers live in a cramped 2-bedroom apartment on Chicago’s gritty south…
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Two men meet in a park; a seemingly innocuous Grindr hookup. Except, there’s a wide age gap, and an immediate tension between the two men. The younger Edden (Joseph Althouse) finds the original suggestion to meet pre-hookup amusing and wants to head to a nearby sauna, while Warren (Steve LeMarquand) awkwardly attempts to discreetly take…
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Released in 1995, Jagged Little Pill was a cultural moment, packaging themes of angst, sexism, loneliness and self-discovery from the perspective of a young woman to over 30 million albums sold. 25 years later, the Broadway production takes us back to the anguish of the original text, albeit with an updated rap sheet. Designed as…
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A musical about 9/11 might feel a bit risky, so it’s fortunate that Come From Away has a particularly refreshing angle on the subject. With airspaces locked immediately after the tragedy, 38 planes were forced to land on the island of Newfoundland, Canada. Over 7,000 stranded passengers were sent to nearby towns including Gander, where…
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Jackie French’s much loved children’s book, Pete The Sheep has been a staple of households since its first pressing in 2004, with the story of a loveable shearer and his ‘sheep sheep’ Pete teaching children about differing viewpoints and acceptance of change. Theatre company Monkey Baa have lovingly produced a stage musical based on the story,…
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Being a teenage girl is rough. Expectations are high, bodies are changing, social media is all consuming and society deems your interests as silly. There have been countless attempts to represent teen girl culture both on stage and screen, yet most rarely seem to get it right. Originally premiering in 2019, Fangirls attracted a buzz…
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Globally acclaimed Queensland contemporary circus group Circa have delivered a sequel to their ground breaking 2017 show Humans. Humans 2.0 is a ‘love letter to humanity’, exploring trust, vulnerability and the extremes of human ability. Those extremes are of evident immediately, as the cast of 10 begin with outrageous feats of acrobatics. At times it…
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Autocannibal presents a dystopian circus exploring the nature of sustenance. Isolated as the only remaining human in a world bereft of food and water, our protagonist battles a sea of junk and plastic, avoiding the obvious reality that there’s only one thing remaining for him to truly eat. Mick Jones is a versatile performer, delivering…
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Sybylla Melvyn announces (triumphantly and somewhat without apology) that this is a play all about herself. Stuck on her family property as the eldest of eight, her drunken father (Jason Chong) has squandered much of the family resources while her mother (Blazey Best), keen to marry her off, is worried she’s too plain. In strong…
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Pippin is the first major musical to return to Sydney theatres, with distancing restrictions easing just before the show’s opening. The show’s offering of colour and magic are perfect medicine for our current climate. But, on another hand, its somewhat confusing premise and over-reliance on smoke and mirrors are yet another symptom of them. This…
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Billed as a one-woman retelling of the famed 1961 novel (and 1971 film), Malthouse theatre’s production of Wake in Fright is an ambitious undertaking – if not initially perplexing. Producing one of Australia’s most classic outback thrillers as a one-cast show is odd enough, but not least of all when you are greeted by a…
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After a five year break between releases, during which he released a polarising feature film, Flying Lotus (real name Stephen Ellison) finally reacquainted himself to fans with the album Flamagra. Ever one to place visuals central to the musical experience, he has returned to Aussie shores with a new 3D live show. UK/Aussie Warp Records…
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Pipe organs are interesting, yet largely under-utilised beasts. Built into the grand expanse of the building, the organ at Sydney Town Hall is not an instrument in itself but rather turns the entire building into one. Ireland-based Australian composer and artist Robert Curgenven utilised this to its full extent in his immersive production: Bronze Lands (Tailte…
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An all-star collaboration of sorts, Anthem sees acclaimed writers Christos Tsolkas, Patricia Corneleus, Andrew Bovell and Melissa Reeves reunite with composer Irene Vela following their 90s-era play Who’s Afraid of the Working Class? A series of stories interweave through the backdrop of Melbourne’s train network, with a range of characters thrust together on public transport…
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Performance artist Bryony Kimmings is known for work centering on the personal, with prior shows exploring her partner’s depression, a show devised with her tween-aged niece and another sleuthing the source of an STD. In I’m a Phoenix, Bitch, however, things get far more raw. If one uses life experience as a platform for their…
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The wedding comedy is common shorthand through which to explore culture. Those from different traditions are forced to navigate a new frontier, negotiate new sets of terms and decide what parts are most important. Black Ties sees this culture clash cleverly told between an Indigenous and Maori family, highlighting both the similarities and stark differences…
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One of the longest-running musicals in history, Chicago returns to our shores again, seemingly only a heartbeat since it’s the last production, which was in fact in 2009. As the show-to-end-all-shows, it seems interesting to have it return, in this mounting of the most recent Broadway production. However in our current era of reality and…
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With controversy preceding its release, The Nightingale has seen polarising responses from festival audiences, from walkouts to awards. The controversy stems from the film’s depiction of rape, with two gruesome examples early in the film. These however, provide the necessary bedrock for a deep look into our colonisation’s patriarchy, genocide and classism, with white (male)…
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The Australian Dream is one of two recent documentaries about AFL legend Adam Goodes’ playing career and his his powerful anti-racism advocacy, with Ten’s The Final Quarter already making waves. Written by famed journalist Stan Grant and directed by BAFTA-winning director Daniel Gordon, the film is an inspiring (and infuriating) exploration into the depths of…
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An impending wedding often brings out the worst in people. Familial and societal expectations collide with capitalism at the extreme of feminine expression. The wedding industrial complex magnifies every insecurity and extracts large sums from its subjects. Where women on the larger end of the body spectrum deal with constant reminders and callouts regarding their…
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Thunder Road opens with one of the more profound opening scenes in recent memory. Police officer Jim is giving a eulogy at his mother’s funeral somewhere in the American heartland. He’s completely unprepared and grief-stricken and – in one 12-minute shot – flips from humourous nostalgia to all out hysterics, finishing the awkward performance with…
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Contemporary act-plus-orchestra shows aren’t a new phenomenon in rock, with arena-size bands churning out orchestral projects since the 80’s; an attempt at legitimising corporate rock, re-selling already existing albums and making mums proud. With dance music reaching maturity, EDM acts and DJs are beginning to jump on the bandwagon as their audiences age and new…
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Matt Corby is on a home run in support of last year’s long awaited Rainbow Valley, with a national tour booked a little later than the album’s release and following a run through Europe. Melbourne singer Eliott opened the show with a brand of electro soul and a huge voice, while second support Blessed turned…
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Devin Townsend is a mainstay in metal circles, with an almost three-decade long career spanning industrial, speed metal, rock, ambient and even novelty projects. Empath, his 25th album and the 13th under his own name, sees him solidify the presence he has built up in the progressive metal genre over his last few projects. Epic is often…
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Sydney’s Cog have remained incredibly active since returning from a six-year hiatus in 2016, finally releasing new music last year and launching into 2019 with new song Drawn Together. Taking the single on a national tour before heading to Europe, the three-piece played a completely packed Max Watt’s. Opener, Melbourne’s The Omnific surprised the early arrivers…
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Counting and Cracking was Belvoir and Sydney Festival’s lead production for 2019, launching with much fervour and excited rumour. A stadium worthy theatre piece purpose-built into Sydney Town Hall. A global casting call for 17 performers playing over 50 characters. Five languages on stage. A Sri Lankan meal awaiting each audience member as they arrive….
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The trek to Parramatta Park seems to have become a regular occurrence for Sydney festival goers, with almost every large-scale day-long music event being held there nowadays. With Good Things the newest addition to this list and with more coming (looking at you Download and Ultra), the parklands might do a job of keeping the…
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