Latest Reviews
Robert the Octopus
By Nick Pilgrim As I queued last Friday night to see Robert the Octopus, I overheard the following snippet of conversation. “When you see a PO PO MO CO show, expect the unexpected. Even if you never know what you’re quite in for, you’ll always be entertained.” I...
Mickey Wilson – How ya goin’?
By Jennifer Beasley. Oh Mickey, You’re so fine, You’re so fine, You blow my mind, Hey Mickey! Many thanks to Toni Basil who appeared to have written Oh Mickey specifically for kinetic ball of motion Mickey Wilson, whose personality beguiles you as soon as you walk...
Twelfth Night
By Darby Turnbull Twelfth Night or (What you will) is one of William Shakespeare’s mid-career comedies, post Comedy of Errors and As you Like it where he’s reached new heights in structural form; nimbly balancing balls to the wall farce and aching melancholy, and pre...
The self-possessed
By Jennifer Beasley. Raw, authentic and captivating, Countertenor Glenn McKenzie time travels with their beautiful singing as they unfold the life of 18th Century Castrato, Gaetano Guadagni, in this performance where vulnerability collides with disability and...
Songs of the Bulbul
By George Dixon. I was very privileged to attend and experience one of the most masterful dance performances I've attended in a long while. “Songs of the Bulbul” is part of the Persian Sufi culture. The Bulbul (nightingale) is part of the Sufi myth. As a prelude, the...
Asexual Fantasies and Hopeless Aromantics
By Jennifer Beasley. A Midsumma Festival cabaret viewed through the ASPEC lens, Sophie Harvey infuses her warm personality with show tunes, Golden era tunes and THAT Queen song. Sophie Harvey, a freshly minted 20-year-old theatrical musical performer hailing from...
Much To Do With Law, But More To Do With Love
By Jennifer Beasley. Danish Sheikh’s love letter to the rigid and outdated stance of Indian LAW, skilfully weaves Taylor Swift, Queer rights and heartbreakingly asks – What became of Kokila? ** NB: Trigger Warning. (References to violent sexual assault). I’m going to...
Afterglow
By Nick Pilgrim Leon Zat (played by Anthony LaPaglia): [the morning after Leon admitted having an affair] I f****d up, all right? People f**k up. Sonja Zat (played by Kerry Armstrong): Really? Well, I don't. You know what's so easy, Leon? It's so easy to go out and...
The Pirates of Penzance
Written by Arthur Sullivan (music) and W.S. Gilbert (libretto), The Pirates of Penzance premiered in New York City in 1879, then opened in London just a few months later in 1880. Countless productions have taken place over the years ever since, but it's...
Features
Afterglow – S. Asher Gelman’s Labour of Love
S. Asher Gelman's international hit play, Afterglow, is heading to Melbourne for its highly anticipated Australian premiere at Midsumma later this month. The plot, essentially about a gay married couple in an open relationship, is one extremely close to the heart of...
A West End Bucket List Dream Come True
By Nick Pilgrim I am a graphic designer and a photographer by trade. Beyond my nine-to-five juggling act, competitive ice skating and live theatre are my two biggest after-hours passions. Late last year, I applied for and earned press passes to the 2026 European...
Jane Montgomery Griffiths talks Australian Open – An exciting inclusion in the Midsumma Festival
Ambition collides with desire in playwright Angus Cameron's razor-sharp queer comedy, Australian Open. Described as a heady blend of queer comedy, sports theatre, and psychological drama, actor Jane Montgomery Griffiths says it’s just a terrific script "Funny, sparky,...
Peter Houghton on Twelfth Night – its revelry is matched by its soul
The Australian Shakespeare Company is excited to soon set Melbourne’s summer nights alive with Twelfth Night, one of Shakespeare’s most beloved and mischievous comedies. Seasoned writer, director and actor, Peter Houghton, plays the disagreeable but multi-layered...
Madeleine Somers – Come laugh with us under the sky
With the city’s Botanic Gardens as a stunning backdrop, audiences will be treated to some of Shakespeare’s most chaotic characters unleashed under the stars with the Australian Shakespeare Company's fabulously mad Peter Quince presents Shakespeare’s Best Bits. From...
Clare Watson and the importance of community in Mama Does Derby
A single mum, a teenage daughter, and a new life in a regional town where neither quite fits. Billie is 16 and restless, trying to navigate the chaos of adolescence. Mum, meanwhile, is spinning into a rebellion of her own – in the sweaty, rough and radical world of...
News
Steel Magnolias Cast Announced
THE BELOVED FILM LIVE ON STAGE CAST ANNOUNCEMENT! Pull up a chair, darlin', and let us tell you some news we just can't keep to ourselves. The beloved film Steel Magnolias is returning live on stage, and this brand-new Australian production is packed...
Special access to untold stories – applications are now open for the 2026 Frank Van Straten Fellowship
Applications are now open for the Frank Van Straten Fellowship, a yearly fellowship that offers arts enthusiasts access to Australia’s largest specialist collection, the Australian Performing Arts Collection. Dedicated to the collection and preservation of the...
Melbourne Writers’ Theatre – Metropolis Monologues & Who I’m Doing This For
10 new Monologues and 1 new Play, presented by the company who doesn’t care who you are – just that you have written a cracking script. Each of the scripts selected for performance in Melbourne Writers’ Theatre’s 2026 double-bill Season of New Writing was selected...
Joseph Green Takes The Mushroom Lady Centre Stage at Melbourne Comedy Festival
If you didn’t get a front row seat to the trial that gripped the nation, then don’t worry, Joseph Green has you covered. As Associate to a judge of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Joseph worked on the trial of Erin Patterson, now infamously known as The Mushroom Lady....
Competitions
Win Tix to Murder Village: An Improvised Whodunnit
Win 1 of 2 double passes for the upcoming season of for the upcoming season of Murder Village: An Improvised Whodunnit at the Arts Centre. They’re for the 9:15pm show on Friday the 27th of March. To be in the running please send your response to the below question...
Win Tix to Anything But The Dyson and Other Excellent Monologues
Win 1 of 2 double passes for the upcoming season of Anything But The Dyson and Other Excellent Monologues at Trainscendence in Collingwood. They’re for the 6pm show on Friday the 27th of March. To be in the running please send your response to the below question...
Win Tix to Beyond the Neck
Win 1 of 2 double passes for the upcoming season of Beyond The Neck at Theatre Works. They’re for the 7:30pm show on Thursday the 19th of March at the Acland Street venue in St Kilda. To be in the running please send your response to the below question to: ...
... because theatre matters.
About Us
Theatre Matters is a community group that loves, promotes and discusses all things to do with Australian theatre.