By Darby Turnbull I’m a huge admirer of romantic comedies, a genre much maligned as somehow being insubstantial mainly because their most devoted audience members consist of femme individuals, women, queer men etc and so complacently derided. But when done right...

By George Dixon The Melbourne Magic Festival has grown over the years into one of Melbourne’s major festivals. One of the wonderful aspects is that, generally, magic is a fantastic live visual experience. It is a skill that takes years to master to make natural and...

By Stephen Mitchell After premiering at La Mama Courthouse in 2018, Just A Boy Standing In Front of A Girl has endured a couple of false starts at fortyfivedownstairs, courtesy of everyone's favourite pandemic, previewing in 2021 and finally opening in 2023 after what...

Whether it's the original book, the film starring Judy Garland or the various musical stage adaptations, L Frank Baum's story of The Wizard of Oz is a well-loved classic tale. Under the direction of Kim Anderson, Theatrical's production has retained all the familiar...

Review by Jody Miller   A Mesmerising Blend of Mystery and Melody: City of Angels at The Hayes Theatre Sydney   Presented by Joshua Robson Productions in association with Hayes Theatre Co   City of Angels, the critically acclaimed musical, has found a...

By Adam Rafferty This is a very unique play and a very unique production for Melbourne Theatre Company (in co-production with Sydney Theatre Company), not just in storyline, but in style too. This is a tale of revenge in almost a comic book kind of ‘action-writ-large’...

By Anna Hayes Red Stitch Theatre is the venue for the Australian premiere of U.S. playwright Clare Barron’s challenging work ‘Shhh’, a play that explores the concept of consent through a number of different characters. The play follows a relatively loose narrative,...

By Jessica Taurins Underneath Ms Archer has a number of themes running throughout, from modernity vs. antiquity to social media and its hold on the world. So, it was a bit of a shame to find one of its central story conceits was a bit lost without the relevant...

    World premiere musicals in our country are all too often small-scale productions by independent companies in little theatres outside the CBD; applauded by the small audiences who get to witness them, but soon forgotten without a producer willing to develop it...