By Adam Rafferty Have You Been Paying Attention regular, Taskmaster Australia Season 2 winner and partner of Anne Edmonds, Lloyd Langford is probably a better-known comedian Down Under nowadays than he is in his home country of Wales. Certainly, he’s been here long...

By George Dixon Popera, is the merging of two worlds. Pop music, complete with divas and Opera, which was considered the “Pop” music of its day. Sex, Death and Politics are considered to be three of the four prohibited subjects, with Tax being the fourth. What could...

By Jennifer Beasley. The rubbery comedic talents of Filips excel in his playful physicality and exceptional ability to make fun of himself. MICF, we have to stop meeting like this. Once again, I have stumbled upon a great up-and-coming talent. Choosing what acts to...

By Bronwyn Cook For the 35th time, international and local comedy superstars gathered their wits, wrote and presented their arguments, did some light opposite team roasting along the way - all with the aim of winning the Melbourne International Comedy Festival annual...

By Jessica Taurins To be transparent - I've not seen Rhys Darby in anything other than a few seasons of 'Our Flag Means Death', and a few of his smaller film roles - 'What We Do In the Shadows', the 'Jumanji' remake, and 'Hunt for the Wilderpeople'. What I'm saying...

By Jennifer Beasley. Come to the Wedding. Stay for the rapid wit, face aching comedy and a brave statement on human rights. This wasn’t what I expected. Firstly, I’ve been reviewing like mad and amongst the 700 odd shows at MICF (I’ve done about fifteen so far) it...

By George Dixon This year's International Comedy Festival is full of great entertainment. It’s sometimes overwhelming to decide which ones to select. One of the most outstanding improvised comedies is Time Lord.I had the pleasure of seeing Time Lord at last year's...

By Jennifer Beasley. An intellectual, witty and piecing comedy act by a performer who isn’t afraid to get real. I love an intellectual comedy. It makes me feel I haven’t wasted all those years at university, and you can never have too many degrees, can you? Enter whip...

By Natalie Ristovski Dearest readers, There is nothing quite so comforting as a good cup of tea. Presented in the most delicate of porcelain cups upon a saucer, paired with a scone slathered with jam and cream, tis a balm for the soul that can cure almost any ailment...

By Natalie Ristovski Bernie Dieter is a consummate artiste. Channeling the long gone spirits of Weimar Berlin and dragging them screaming and crooning to life for new generations, Dieter cups them all in the palm of her crimson-clawed hands, shaping and molding her...

By Jennifer Beasley. Murphy slays with a rollicking, frantic ode to 90’s pop iconic show Buffy. Buffy The Vampire Slayer. 90’s television series that launched a few Hollywood careers. Never heard of it? Or Super Hard Core Fan Numero Uno? If you identify with either of...

By Jennifer Beasley. An exceptional talent and budding comedic superstar. Robyn Reynolds has arrived. Drum roll, please. Da, da, daaa! Introducing the amazing, talented, gifted comic, Robyn Reynolds! You think this is hyperbole? I reviewed Reynolds in early February...

By Jessica Taurins With Maddy Weeks, what you see is almost 110% what you're gonna get. They flounce onstage, a teeny tiny powerhouse, who immediately brushes off a heckler with a self-deprecating joke and an expert redirection into queer community. The wacko nature...

By Jennifer Beasley. This one-night Asian Comedy Feast delivered in spades. It’s a pity this event was only for one night as it was an absolute cracker. However, you still get a chance to see the individual artist’s shows if you are quick, although a few have already...

By Jessica Taurins In a normal world, shopping is pretty basic. Enter store, find item, spend money, go home. But for Lena Moon, a simple need for a projector for her new apartment turns into a story so catastrophic it literally cannot be predicted. Moon - known for...

By Adam Rafferty As a 29-year-old Aussie, Jenny Tian is currently undertaking the right of passage that is moving to the UK and making a go of it abroad. And just like all those ‘antipodean’ kids before her, she’s accumulated a bunch of fun stories along the way about...

By Bec Johnston Jack Docherty isn’t exactly a household name in Australia. He’s BAFTA-nominated, and had a '90s chat show out of the UK on Channel 5, which didn't quite make waves on our distant southern shores. Someone forgot to tell Docherty that, though, as he...

By Nick Pilgrim Spoken Word is one the more challenging categories from this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Set on a bare stage, artists have only the written text and a few simple props to guide them. Left to sprinkle their routines with a mixture of...

By Jennifer Beasley. Part comedy, part cancer awareness campaign and a bit of balloon artistry thrown in makes for an entertaining show. Becky Steepe is full of surprises. As comedians go, she handles herself well, although at times I really wanted her to lean more...

  Ruth Ellis was the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom, in 1955. The Thrill of Love is a play adaptation of the book by Amanda Whittington that explores the life of Ruth Ellis, her conviction of murder and subsequent hanging. The Thrill of Love is set...

By Jennifer Beasley. Do you have to understand someone in order to love them? Charlene Kaye presents Tiger Daughter, or How I Brought My Immigrant Mother Ultimate Shame. After watching this show it appears that anything Chinese American Kaye does is the source of...

By Adam Rafferty Winner of Best Newcomer at last year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Noah Szto’s very funny routine on this year’s Gala show contained (I’m guessing) excerpts from that previous show. Because Med School contains less of the ‘getting to know...

By Adam Rafferty Probably best known for her regular guest appearances on Channel 10’s Have You Been Paying Attention? Lizzy Hoo surprised last year when she appeared on Shaun Micallef’s Origin Odyssey on SBS, a show where he took Australian comedians on journeys to...

By Nick Pilgrim The bread and butter of any comedy festival, stand-up is both the most prolific yet unnerving live entertainment artform to master. Armed with only a microphone and their wits, it is a joy to watch performers stand tall and ride that emotional wave...

By George Dixon Dr Jo, asks the question, Can Cancer Be Funny? Which opens up other thoughts like, is it too early to make fun of Cancer? How do you present Cancer in a light-hearted way that is also supportive and informative? Dr Jo’s new production, Cancer and...

    By Nick Pilgrim Mike McLeish is less than eighty-five days away from a significant milestone birthday. But who’s counting, eh? Hot on the heels of Adult Beginner, his breakthrough revelation from last year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, McLeish...

By Nick Pilgrim Thanks to the internet’s worldwide reach, Julian O’Shea has amassed an impressive global following and counting on platforms such as YouTube (125K subscribers) and TikTok (85K followers and 2 million likes). The self-confessed trivia buff quickly...

By Nick Pilgrim One of the delights of reviewing the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is discovering brilliant new talent for the first time. With more than 600 acts and events on offer, chances are many punters will be in the same boat as well.  Taking a...

By George Dixon Melbourne’s Comedy Festival is once again in full swing. This annual event provides an amazing vibe to this city. With so many artists and different types of performances, some may become overwhelmed In choosing which shows to see. Regardless of what’s...

By Adam Rafferty According to the man himself, it has been eight years since Luke McGregor did stand-up. The intervening years having seen him create (with Celia Pacquola) five seasons of successful ABC comedy series Rosehaven, while also appearing on many and varied...

By Nick Pilgrim There is something I need to confess something straight up. Given my manic daily work schedule, whether via the small screen, talkback radio or live in person, this is the first time I have experienced Sammy J perform in full. The extended wait, it...

By Jennifer Beasley. Alice Tovey shares heartbreaking vulnerabilities intertwined with comedy to shatter the glass walls of our emotional prisons. That by-line sounds heavy, right? However, it takes an extraordinary courage to blaze onto a stage in an emerald velvet...

By Jennifer Beasley. Con Coutis mimes his way out of an unescapable prison with sound effects and a spice of help from the audience.  I swear your honour, I ain’t done it. I’m innocent! Yes, I’m sure. A likely story, Jennifer Beasley, but you are now a captive...

By Nick Pilgrim The British pop star, Boy George, was once quoted as saying while Fawlty Towers was his favourite show, he always needed a good lie down after watching it. Set in a quaint family-run Torquay hotel, it seems incredulous to think the award-winning series...

By Nick Pilgrim Bigger, brighter, and louder than ever, the Melbourne International Comedy Festival is currently under way for three dynamic weeks. Jam-packed with interest, the multitude of options on offer means there is always something for everyone. Having...

By Jennifer Beasley. English teacher by day, superstar in training by night.  Budding comedian Alasdair Keith Gardiner played to a packed house at Tasma Terrace to deliver humorous stories from his travels around the world, his childhood in Brisbane (or BrisVagas as...

By Jennifer Beasley. MICF’s Zen master of comedy.  Welcome to MICF! For those recovering from that cheery opening it’s time to do all things funny at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. First off the rank (for me anyway), is the fantastic Adele Cliff. Super...

Review by David Gardette   As the iconic Jesus Christ Superstar continues to celebrate its 50th anniversary, this reimagined production based on the acclaimed London 2017 Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre production, brings a fresh, gritty energy to Andrew Lloyd...

By David Gardette. Boys on the Verge of Tears by Sam Grabiner is an ambitious exploration of modern masculinity that delivers a mix of raw emotional moments, humour, and unsettling insights. Premiering at the Soho Theatre in London in 2023, the play won the Verity...

By Jennifer Beasley. A ‘lonely, busy, wandering cloud’ is surprisingly sweet and tender.  This was a very hard one to class. Unique, whimsical and full of mishaps and happenstance, Amy Bodossian sings, dances, interviews and creates chaos during this cabaret styled...

By Jennifer Beasley. 5 fabulous monologues that will make you make you think. Then think again.  I feel blessed to be a Melbournian. Not only do we have amazing events like the Grand Prix (over 125,000 people on the day I attended) but we have organisations like the...

By  Adam Rafferty In one of his earliest works, prolific Australian playwright David Williamson wrote a show to be performed at La Mama based on a true tale told to him by a removalist who was helping him shift house. The removalist recounted how he’d recently worked...

By Darby Turnbull The good folx at Bullet Heart Club just don’t stop, barely six weeks after the stunning Thirty-Six Kitan Petkovski and Ro Bright reunite at Darebin Arts Speakeasy for Eva Rees’ latest play, Djuna.  It’s in the interest of any who attend this play...

By Darby Turnbull. In these increasingly bleak and fraught times I think audiences and stages will gravitate towards Chekhov with more frequency. His works, especially the big 4 Uncle Vanya, The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull and of course Three Sisters; show people and...

          By Jennifer Beasley. 5 extraordinary stories that explores the lives of a diverse range of people.  About 20 minutes after Lyceum Highway, I was invited to attend 5 monologues that were written by members of the Melbourne Writers...

By Jennifer Beasley. An exploration of one woman’s journey through her Hell by breaking the circle of pain.  I had to look up Lyceum, which is a hall or a place for discussion and learning. In K. V. Adams play, two extraordinarily written characters, Maggie (played...

Review by Tim Garratt   The Tony Award-winning MJ the Musical has arrived in Sydney, following productions in New York, London, Germany and a US Tour. Penned by Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage, and directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Christopher...

By Adam Rafferty Commissioned through the MTC’s NEXT STAGE Writer’s Program and presented as part of their Education & Families Program, The Robot Dog is a fun new story set in the future and designed both for easy viewing and for themes that are ripe for...

By George Dixon I attended The Aevum Valley without knowing anything about it; I was interested in experiencing this play without any preconceived ideas. I allowed the experience to absorb and surround me from the moment I arrived. As you arrive, you are presented...

By Karyn Lee Greig, Having seen numerous productions of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet over decades, I find myself having to lower my expectations. Not since drama school have a I seen a version where I’ve believed that the two protagonists are actually in love....

By Jennifer Beasley. Fractured fairytales encounter the Aussie version of the English Pantomime by the Melbourne Shakespeare Company.  Right, who’s up for a rip roaring, jolly old time in the beautiful Central Park gardens in Malvern? Now don’t be shy. Let’s see those...

By Nick Pilgrim In its seven-year history, the James Terry Collective has become the independent go-to destination for quality theatrical experiences. Having produced left-of-centre choices like Rent (2018), Legally Blonde (2019), Next To Normal (2020/21) and Kinky...

By Jennifer Beasley. The art of forgiveness resides in letting go of the past.  Trigger Warning: Mention of the Holocaust.  I’ll say it to get it out of the way – Berlin is a fantastic story. And it’s written by Joanne Murray-Smith, author of another incredible...

By Natasha Boyd Collaborating successfully for over forty years, writer Patricia Cornelius and director Susie Dee, opened their latest and much anticipated creative project, Truth, at the Malthouse. Cornelius rarely writes about living people, so while a work centred...

By Adam Rafferty. British Australian playwright and host of The Guilty Feminist podcast, Deborah Frances-White takes Oscar Wilde’s cue in Never Have I Ever, a play filled with outrageous comedy and sparkling wit, that offers more political views than you can shake a...

By David Gardette. 30 years after its premiere at Playbox Theatre, "Honour" by Joanna Murray-Smith is celebrated with an anniversary season by Red Stitch Actors Theatre. Murray-Smith’s landmark play follows Honor, who must cope with the collapse of her marriage after...

Review by George Dixon   Melbourne Opera’s presentation of Richard Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at The Royal Exhibition Building is an experience that thoroughly delights all of the senses. The Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne’s only UNESCO World...

Review by Bronwyn Cook “And the 2004 Tony Award for Best Musical goes to……Avenue Q”   Twenty years ago, a musical with only three human characters but eleven puppets toppled the hot favourite, a show you may have heard of recently…Wicked, to win the biggest...

By Darby Turnbull Horror is a genre that has always been innately femme and queer. Part of being a marginalized class or identity is being hyper vigilant to perilous outside forces and not being believed. The most enduring Horrors have been rooted in an individual’s...

By Darby Turnbull. There’s a story in Gail Sheehy’s biography of Hilary Clinton about how after the public exposure of her husband’s affair with Monica Lewinsky she didn’t speak to him for eight months and only broke her silence when she called him to strongly advise...

  By George Dixon High octane, High energy with heaps of fun, That’s the best way to describe Hot Lunch’s latest production One of These Things First. Hot Lunch is becoming one of Australians much loved theatre companies. With a nucleus of three dynamic and...

Review by Tim Garratt   The tale of Orpheus and Eurydice is one of the best-known legends of Greek mythology, inspiring myriad works of art, film, literature and theatre. In 2006, American singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell took the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice,...

By Darby Turnbull In a brief reprieve from Naarm’s recent heatwave; the weather turned pleasantly crisp for Friday night’s performance of Macbeth with overcast skies and some moderate wind; the ambience could not have been more ideal for transposing rural, medieval...

By Bec Johnston. Downstairs in the Fairfax Theatre at Arts Centre Melbourne, there's a windstorm building. The sheer flat of the stage could, conceivably, be mistaken for the wily, Wuthering moors somewhere out in West Yorkshire. There is nothing resting upon it but a...

By George Dixon. The “Queen of Ireland”, Panti Bliss, holds court with her latest creation, “If these wigs could talk”. This seventy-five-minute solo production is packed with heart-warming and, at times, intense accounts and insights into her life as a Drag Queen....

Review by Tim Garratt   First published in 1847, Wuthering Heights was Emily Brontë’s only novel. Today, this Victorian romance, fusing Gothic and Romantic elements, has a firmly entrenched place among the classics and has been the subject of numerous film and...

By Jennifer Beasley. Aim for a solid six and mind who takes up residence in your head, as this hilarious quartet ensures no refunds are required.  I really enjoy going to The Shirley Burke Theatre. Supported by the Kingston City Council, it’s a lovely 167 seat venue...

By Nick Pilgrim. From the outside looking in, monologue-driven theatre may be the easiest medium to produce but amongst the most difficult and challenging of the performing arts to execute well. Separated from viewers by only their wits and a handful of props, it can...

By Karyn Lee Greig Baby boomers were born between 1946 and 1964. According to liveaboutdotcom, some common workplace values are that they are ‘workaholic, independent and self-assertive . . . . competitive and self-actualised. As they age, they are changing people’s...

  With music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Goldman, Follies premiered on Broadway in 1971. The musical tells the story of a group of former showgirls, the Weismann Girls, who are invited to a reunion at the Broadway theatre where their musical...

By Adam Rafferty. After a successful first run in the 2024 season, the Melbourne Theatre Company are kicking off (pun intended) this year with the triumphant return of 37, and it’s not hard to see why. This is a waggish, raucous and ribald comedy that also delivers a...

By Darby Turnbull. What a monumental thrill it is to see a flourishing, expansive canon of local trans theatre emerge. Not just theatre that includes trans talent but work that is so stark, so authentic and piercing in its transness. After the grotesque burlesque...

By Karyn Lee Greig. Pursuing an artistic or vocational passion of any sort, for most of your life, is something to be admired. I know engineers that are still working well into their 80s. Actors such as the award-winning Glenda Jackson was an acclaimed British actress...

By Jessica Taurins. Standup comedians are interesting folk, usually. Too distracted for acting, too gleeful for drama, too inherently depressed to do anything but measure their own worth against the sounds of the laughter in the room... They're freaks, some would say....

By Karyn Lee Greig. Lewis Carroll, born Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, was not only an English author and poet but also a mathematician, photographer and Anglican deacon. Carroll first told an outline of Alice in Wonderland to 10-year-old family friend, Alice Liddell, who...

By Jennifer Beasley. A delight in every way, Toad of Toad Hall, resplendent in all his manic toady fads, journeys with his companions through themes of friendship and love in the Botanic Gardens.  It’s always been a dream of mine to witness The Wind In The Willows at...

By Karyn Lee Greig.  Alison Lester is one of Australia’s most preeminent, beloved and bestselling children’s author illustrators. The description that ‘her stories mix imaginary worlds with everyday life, encouraging children to believe in themselves and celebrate the...

By Nick Pilgrim. In my fifteen years of reviewing for Theatre Matters (previously known as Theatre People), I have had the privilege to witness first-hand the continual growth and evolution of what constitutes live theatre. From shows which push technical boundaries...

Review by Nic Conolly   "I like smiling, smiling’s my favourite!" and Elf certainly made that happen! Performed at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, this production by John Frost for Crossroads Live in association with Shake & Stir Theatre Company is a...

By Karyn Lee Greig The story of The 3 Little Pigs has its origins in European folklore, dating back to oral tradition. However, the earliest published version of the story is from Dartmoor, Devon, England in 1853, about three little pixies and a fox instead of the...

  It's been a long wait for the Australian premiere of Dear Evan Hansen after it won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2017. After a critically acclaimed Sydney season, Dear Evan Hansen has now opened at Arts Centre Melbourne. I had the privilege of reviewing...

By Karyn Lee Greig A friend of mine, through her own contacts, informed me that a Riley Street, performer of Mediocre, needed a reviewer. I said to myself, ‘It's Christmas. I’m tired. I’ve got a lot to do to host the event . . . blah, blah’. But, I thought, this young...

By Jessica Taurins From the outside, the shipping containers marked FLIGHT and SÉANCE don't seem like much. Painted an unassuming white, shining in the hot Melbourne sun, it seems as if they were just dropped there accidentally. Perhaps, almost, as if they came from...

By Jennifer Beasley. A sexed up Christmas show that delivers plenty of naughty in a nice way.  Unless you have been living in a deep, black hole (What’s up Pakenham?), you’d be aware that Christmas is upon us. Yes, Christmas. That ode to commercial spending and the...

By Darby Turnbull This review was written from a filmed recording of Lost Property’s November season at Club Voltaire Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s Fleabag is frequently cited as an easy point of reference when discussing millennial/gen z female centred comedy. However, her...

  Love Actually has become a regular Christmas movie appearing on our television screens every year, and so the timing of the Australian premiere of Love Actually? The Musical Parody in the weeks leading up to Christmas would seem perfect. In this parody version,...

By Jennifer Beasley. Diasporic African narrative that melds the past with the future, exposing the fetishisation and abuse of Black bodies, and discovers the healing power of mysticism to accept one’s real self.  Trigger Warning: Adult content, sex and sexual...

By Jennifer Beasley. 6 comedy skit s+ audience interaction = a 5-star theatre drinking game.  When my brilliant editor sent me this opportunity to review a theatre drinking game, my fingers suffered the afterburn of a speedy reply. I expected, and received, an...

By Carissa Shale Melbourne Shakespeare Company’s reimagined Twelfth Night is a dazzling musical celebration of Shakespeare’s timeless comedy, set amidst the beauty of the Rose Garden at the St Kilda Botanical Gardens. This outdoor show allows audiences to soak up the...

By Karyn Lee Greig Skating in the Clouds by Clare Mendes is a delightful, highly imaginative, whimsical piece of magic realism which encourages us to look at climate change with fresh eyes. We are introduced to the characters of Summer (Katrina Mathers) and Autumn...

By Sarah Skubala  Christmas is getting cheeky with the return of A Very Naughty Christmas, the outrageously funny risqué holiday cabaret that has become a beloved seasonal tradition. Now in its eighth year, this adults-only romp combines festive humour, hilarious...

By Ash Cottrell Malthouse Theatre are undeniably knocking it out of the park this year with their suite of provocative content. Ending the season with the festivity and exhilaration of a show like, F**k Christmas was an inspired choice and proved to be the absolute...

  One Day in September is a new Australian musical written by Maverick Newman and Kohan van Sambeeck, with contributions by Trudy Dunn and Mackenzie Dunn. Over five years in the making, One Day In September made its debut to a sold out audience in Melbourne's...

By Sarah Skubala The world premiere of Wanderings is the beautiful final inclusion of Queensland Theatre’s inaugural DOOR3 program. An initiative designed to platform independent theatre, Wanderings, created by The Nest Ensemble, intertwines fiction and autobiography...

By Jennifer Beasley. Sacred Harp singers face each other in a ‘hollow square’ formation, immersing the audience in the musical bliss of unaccompanied harmonies, which draws deep connections for a three-generational family battling together against an insidious...

By Nick Pilgrim Like Mamma Mia, Grease and Wicked before it, the testament of any critically and commercially successful production is a knack to revive and captivate time and time again. Returning to Melbourne for its third consecutive festive season, A Christmas...

By Jennifer Beasley. A lone voice questions Daddy Australia in this performance piece designed to make you squirm. It was with great anticipation that I dragged my latest victim to be my companion to observe this 60-minute show, Edging at the Arts House. Luckily, my...

By Ash Cottrell There are very few plays I’ve seen in my lifetime that inspire an overwhelming desire for a second viewing. Cruel Britannia: After Frankenstein is an example of a play and performance that I wanted to relive almost immediately after. This was primarily...

By Jennifer Beasley. A beloved Australian Icon holds viewers enthralled in this touching and funny one woman show.  I can remember by mother watching Jeanne Little on The Mike Walsh Show during the 70’s to 80’s. Her face would light up like a sunflower blooming in the...

By Jennifer Beasley. Themes of sexual assault, internalised misogyny and the healing power of friendship defines this powerful musical.  Small Ripples Theatre presents Hidden Tunes as part of La Mamma’s Festival of Mother Tongues. Before I go any further, I must...