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...

By Darby Turnbull This was reviewed from a pro recording from Charnelle’s season for the Melbourne Fringe 2024 season. Ilane Charnelle, one of our finest cabaret chanteuse’s returns to the Naarm stage with a killer set of ‘vintage inspired songs with modern...

By Sarah Skubala The highly anticipated Round The Twist The Musical opened to an enthusiastic Brisbane audience, presented by Queensland Theatre in conjunction with QPAC. A boisterous new work with book, music and lyrics by Queenslander Paul Hodge, Round The Twist The...

By Nick Pilgrim In my decade or more of writing for Theatre Matters (formerly known as Theatre People), I have had privilege to review many opening nights. Being asked to critique the very last performance of a show is a new first for me. Riding high on the wave of a...

By Jennifer Beasley. 11 minutes and 49 seconds later I’m lifting myself up by my ponytail. 4 minutes and 16 seconds later I’m on the other side. And then 3 seconds after that I’m losing my grip. (Libretto by Holly Childs).  As a reviewer, I go to wherever my editor...

By Jessica Taurins The concept of Eurovision is an interesting one. It started in 1956, with only seven participants. Since then (except for 2020 - the Covid Times) the show has run every year with around forty countries participating for the chance to host the next...

  Written in 1982 by Michael Frayn, Noises Off has been described as "the funniest farce ever written". Frayn was inspired to write Noises Off in 1970, after watching a performance of another farce from the wings. He realised the play was funnier to watch from...

Review by Tim Garratt   Before Phantom of the Opera, Cats and Evita, there was Jesus Christ Superstar. With music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice, Superstar began life as a concept album in 1970, landing on Broadway the following year as a rock...

By Nick Pilgrim From Sister Act’s Delores Van Cartier, Henry the VIII’s headstrong (or beheaded) wives in SIX, to Elphaba and Galinda in Wicked, Australia’s musical theatre scene is currently flush with fiery female empowerment. The latest entry to the fold arrives in...

By Jennifer Beasley. The forgotten voice of Ellen Kelly, mother of Ned Kelly, is finally heard. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I drove to DROUIN (it’s in the COUNTRY, the other place aside from Melbourne), about an hour east in Gippsland, to view this play at The...

By Nic Conolly    The evening began with eager fans lining up from as early as 5 pm, sharing memories of past Eurovision experiences and buzzing with anticipation over meeting their favourite stars in a pre-show meet and greet. Although the Tivoli’s small awning...

By Jessica Taurins In this day and age, where the world is undergoing an unbelievable amount of turmoil and heartache, perhaps we need more stories like Peter and the Starcatcher - a 2ish hour tale filled with whimsy, joy, and silliness - to remind us that things...

By Jennifer Beasley. ‘I am beautiful.’ Playwright José Rivera (The Motorcycle Diaries), Oscar nominee and twice Obie award winner with a list of plays as long as my arm, explores relationships in this beautiful and intense 100-minute play showing at the Red Stitch...

Review by Carissa Shale   Gather together your sisters and prepare yourself for a night of pure, joyful fun and flamboyance — Sister Act is back, and it’s here to answer your prayers. Bringing energy, joy, and feel-good fun, the Regent Theatre’s latest production...

By Jennifer Beasley Throw aside your prejudices and enter into a world of full moons and fluttering hearts. www.Witinc.com.au Let me tell you a fable. Once, or now, neither long ago nor far away, in the urban sprawl that eats at rural England, there lives a fox...

By Sarah Skubala When was the last time you experienced a magic show? Outside of kids' parties, magic performances aren’t usually something you find as a standard entertainment offering, except maybe in Vegas. Fortunately for Brisbane, Maho Magic Bar is in town for a...

By Jessica Taurins MARVELous The Show is sexy, sultry, silly fun for anyone looking to have a good time. The concept of a superhero strip show x comedy show is something that's existed for some time in smaller venues, but MARVELous takes the concept and absolutely...

By Sarah Skubala Melt is an annual citywide festival celebrating queer arts and culture staged at 70 venues throughout Brisbane in October and November. DragSpeare: Drag Kings Do Shakespeare is one of the dazzling shows on offer, presented by PIP Theatre in...

By Heather Bosted Delightfully weird and then troubling real, Spinning Plates Co smash the theatre of the absurd out of the park in this timely resurrected and adapted classic. Eugene Ionesco’s original play is about a small provincial French town overrun when ifs...

By Sarah Skubala Love Lies Bleeding, Ad Astra’s final offering for 2024, is a play about assisted death from the pen of Don DeLillo, an American novelist made famous by books such as White Noise, winner of the National Book Award and now a Netflix film directed by...

Review by Tim Garratt   Four years ago, SIX The Musical had its Sydney premiere. The show is the brainchild of Toby Marlow and Lucy Moss, two Cambridge University graduates who wrote the book, music and lyrics in 2017 while studying, and staged its first...

By Jennifer Beasley Monologue by MJ Wilson MJ Wilson – Performance artist & community worker Move over Wil Anderson, Type-A Marketing Man is here to show you what the Gruen Transfer is really about! Monologues. They either score a bullseye or result in eye-rolling...

By Adam Rafferty The tale of two orphans toughing it out in the seedy Singaporean underworld isn’t the kind of story that often makes it onto Australian stages, but thanks to the MTC’s NEXT STAGE Writer’s Program (and the Griffin Theatre Company), this excellent...

By Jennifer Beasley ‘Six knights are hired to rob a case of precious jewels from a coach on its way to the King. After their robbery is thwarted, the brigands realize that one of them must secretly be an officer in disguise. But which one? This is Quentin Tarantino's...

By Jennifer Beasley Comedy Showcase featuring: Dave O’Neil, Geraldine Quinn, Brad Oakes and Billy Stiles. This was my first time visiting this cute 167 seat theatre. Supported by the Kingston Council, the Shirley Burke Theatre increases the profile of our creative...

By Jennifer Beasley A little like a Fawlty Towers dinner but without the food. Or chairs. The beginning for All The Things We’ve Done at Theatre Works is promising. The patrons are beguiled by the three ‘air hostesses’, actors bedecked in yellow wigs and bright blue...

 By Natalie Ristovski “The world is far too dangerous for women. Assault and domestic violence numbers are at an all-time high, red pill incels lurk in every corner of the internet and skincare for 5-year-olds has never been more popular.”- A Figure in the Yellow...

By Rebecca Waese A hotpot of queer delights warmed the spirit of an enthusiastic crowd on Friday night at The Wheeler Centre in “Stirring the Pot: A Feast of Erotic Storytelling and Performance.” Steaming up the Spring Fling season, a sextet of writers and artists...

By David Gardette One only has to cruise the streaming services to see that society has an immense fascination with True Crime stories. The genre has become a growth industry. A recent study from the US shows that 84% of the U.S. population age 13+ are True Crime...

  Dear Evan Hansen first opened in 2015 and made its Broadway premiere in 2016 to great critical acclaim. The book was written by Steven Levenson, with music and lyrics by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, earning the team numerous awards, including the Tony Award for...

By Jennifer Beasley Did you hear the joke about the reviewer who attended the wrong show? I can’t disclose who that is, but I’ll give you a 4-star review if you guess right. Sometimes happy accidents occur. Entering the cosy Billiard Room of The Mission at Seafarers,...

By Chenoah Eljan Ada, Asmin & The Analytical Engine written by Sarah Kriegler and Deniz Aslan delves into the intertwined lives of two girls more alike than they are different: Ada Lovelace, the 19th-century mathematician often regarded as the first computer...

By Nick Pilgrim If the name Donald O’Connor doesn’t immediately appear on your radar, fear not. It is that very premise which kick starts this delightful tribute into action now showing at the 2024 Melbourne Fringe Festival. Like Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland before...

By Jennifer Beasley What happens when one genetically crosses Mr. Bean with Rik Mayall (The Young Ones, Bottom)? No, not that. Well, maybe. Em Barrett performs as a fly in this one-woman 60-minute show held at The Butterfly Club (the choice of the club in terms of...

  As they celebrate their 60th year, CLOC's final production for the year is the Australian non-professional premiere of Come From Away.   Written by Irene Sankoff and David Hein, Come From Away made its Australian professional debut at Melbourne's Comedy...

By Nick Pilgrim  The Melbourne Fringe Festival runs each year for three dynamic and jam-packed weeks. Covering a multitude of live entertainment and social event options, this season has already proven it is bigger and stronger than ever. With hundreds of acts on...

By Darby Turnbull Over the last few years in Naarm Dax Carnay and her company Tayo Tayo collective have established themselves as a forceful independent theatre practitioner known for her eye-catching titles and her heartfelt, witty queering of genre Trans woman kills...

By Jennifer Beasley SKINSHIP (Japan, South Korea): Bonding through physical (touch, skin-to-skin) contact; particularly between family members, relatives and loved ones. (Wikipedia). Presented by Ensoul Entertainment, and produced by Samantha Daly, who is also one of...

  In October 1998 Matthew Wayne Shepard was brutally attacked on the outskirts of his home town of Laramie in Wyoming, USA. Left for dead, and tied to a fence to ensure he was not able to escape, Mathew was miraculously discovered but succumbed to his horrific...

By Jennifer Beasley BUILDING TRIANGLES Created by Unspooled Theatre Collective, I Love You, Faustus is a sixty-minute two-hander held at the oh-so-cute Explosives Factory for the Melbourne Fringe Festival. Written by Laura Charlton and Sabina Donato, I Love You,...

By Chenoah Eljan The Melbourne Fringe Festival has long been a hub for innovation, creativity, and cultural dialogue, and this year’s TOD Talks are no exception. Bringing together an eclectic mix of speakers and ideas, TOD Talks offers a unique platform for praxeology...

By Nick Pilgrim When Theatre Matters recently asked its team of writers to cover the Melbourne Fringe Festival, this event is always a firm favourite in my yearly calendar. Jammed into three hectic yet dynamic weeks, there are hundreds of listings to consider. The...

By Sarah Skubala Queensland Ballet has a triumph on its hands with the Australian premiere of Coco Chanel: the Life of a Fashion Icon selling out its entire season ahead of opening night. A new, full-length narrative ballet, Coco Chanel: the Life of a Fashion Icon is...

By George Dixon Walking into the reception area at the Meat Market Stables, you will find scattered about on the walls and on display stands with assorted items (not artefacts) of nostalgic Australiana that bring back memories of the fifties and sixties, which sets up...

By Nick Pilgrim The legendary screen actress, Bette Davis, is quoted as saying that once somebody does you in drag, you know you have made it as a legitimate star. Until the likes of RuPaul came along with his global reality series phenomenon, this cheeky subset of...

Review by Lynn Jackson   Adelaide - Her Majesty's Theatre   Grease the Musical is one of those shows that every musical theatre fan has either performed, either in full or by performing one of the many many bangers in the soundtrack. It's also one of those...

By Jennifer Beasley Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright In the forest of the night  (William Blake)  I Hope This Means Something is the quest that Writer/Performer/Producer Patrick Livesey’s character, Corinthian, sets out to answer. A brilliantly written one-act play, this...

By Anna Hayes The concept of the ‘tortured artist’ takes on a very contemporary twist in Claire Frost’s debut play ‘Instructions Not Included’, a nifty two-hander that explores the connections between creativity and consumerism. Parker (Sarah Clarke) is a struggling...

By David Gardette Establishing itself as one of the greatest romance novels ever written, Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice continues to captivate readers and audiences. Published in 1813, its popularity continues to grow, selling over 20 million copies, never going...

By Chenoah Eljan  Silvers Circus has set up its big top in the parking lot of Burvale Hotel, Nunawading. Billed as a modern circus with a ‘twist’, it’s a safe bet the modern part means that the animal cruelty has been replaced by acrobatics and the twist means… more...

By Karyn Lee Greig There has been a long history of gender violence in Australia. For much of the 19th century, men far outnumbered women (in) the Australian colonies. This produced a culture that prized hyper masculinity as a national ideal. (The Conversation, July...

 By Mama Natalia For almost as long as burlesque and drag revival artists have graced stages in Australia and beyond, there has been Briefs. Whispered about in awe within backstage dressing rooms for almost two decades, casually mentioned as the ‘who’s who’ of fringe...

By Jennifer Beasley Mayhem. Murder. Madness. These are the tenets of Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Presented by MUST (Monash University Student Theatre) at The Alexander Theatre located at Monash University, this bold production snaps open with a silent slow-motion fight...

By Sarah Skubala The Brisbane leg of The Cat Empire’s national tour was a one-night-only, sold-out affair at the Fortitude Music Hall which saw the band perform alongside the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Playing as part of the Brisbane Festival, the two-hour concert...

Review by George Dixon Twenty Twenty-Four marks the 100th anniversary of Puccini's death. There would be no better way to celebrate this occasion than to present what is uncountably one of Opera's most loved works, La Bohème. Reading Puccini’s biography is like...

Review by David Gardette   Quasimodo – The Musical (The Untold Story of the Hunchback of Notre Dame) Considered a classic of French literature, Victor Hugo’s 1831 Gothic novel, Notre-Dame de Paris 1482 (Our Lady of Paris), not only captures the imagination with...

By Adam Rafferty In a season full of Pulitzer Prize winning plays, Martyna Majok’s Cost of Living is by far the most emotionally affecting of those produced by the Melbourne Theatre Company this year. Providing a window into the world of those who live with a...

By Jennifer Beasley The beauty of theatre is the discovery of art forms that challenge your perceptions. Dredge, an electrifying performance piece, delves into the natural world and segways into a physical and emotional discourse on consumerism and patriarchy....

By David Gardette Having first worked together in 2012 on MTC’s The Heretic, Director Matt Scholten and Actor Noni Hazlehurst cemented both a personal and professional bond. With a determination to again work together, Scholten positioned the question ’If you could do...

By Sarah Skubala When Jean Paul Gaultier was four years old, he asked his parents for a doll, and they gave him a bear instead. Several years later, he watched a televised revue at Paris’ iconic Folies Bergère with his grandmother Marie. The next day he took the...

By Jennifer Beasley Stories of domestic violence are difficult to tell. Done well, they can be a lighthouse igniting the quest for change, as we continue to see with Rosie Batty, a staunch campaigner against family violence, after her son was murdered by her husband...

Review by David Gardette   Adapted from the Hungarian work Liliom by Ferenc Molnar, Carousel marked the 2nd collaboration between Richard Rodgers (music) and Oscar Hammerstein (book & Lyrics). Following their smash hit Oklahoma!, the duo, eager to collaborate...

By Jessica Taurins A reviewer's dilemma: how to critique a performance of Hamlet without the written musicality of the bard himself? How can anyone really put to words what it means to see a Shakespearean production in movement and life? Here, I must try. The venue...

  Coherence is a stage adaptation of the 2013 science fiction film of the same name. Written by James Ward Byrkit, the original film version of Coherence was made on a shoestring budget over just five nights in the director's home, but went on to receive critical...

By Nick Pilgrim As a writer for Theatre Matters (formerly known as Theatre People) for more than a decade, I have had the privilege to review a solid handful of productions which focus on regional stories, characters and themes. Supporting such content not only...

 By Natalie Ristovski The Theatreworks Early Career Artists Program serves as a supportive bridge for young creatives as they transition between tertiary art education and independent theatrical development. It stands out as one of Theatreworks’ “artist-first” led...

By Nick Pilgrim For more than a decade writing for Theatre Matters (formerly known as Theatre People), in this time I have had the privilege to review dance in its many shapes and forms. From Ballroom to Broadway, the possibilities to entertain and enthrall audiences...

By Adam Rafferty Another show at the Melbourne Theatre Company and another Pulitzer Prize winner graces the stage, this time around the 2002 honouree by Suzan-Lori Parks, Topdog/Underdog, a visceral two-hander about two African American brothers scraping together life...

By George Dixon 24 Carrot Productions is a vibrant emerging production company that prides itself on bringing inclusive and devised productions. With its first production in 2018, 21 Carrot is already developing a strong supporting fan base. Around the World in 80...

By Jessica Taurins With smoke billowing across the stage and 'Clair de Lune' playing gently, it could almost be imagined that Shake & Stir Theatre's reprisal of Frankenstein will be a soft, calm reproduction. Not to spoil anything, but it isn't too long before...

By Ash Cottrell Last Friday night reminded me that after all these years, I still feel very passionately that fortyfive downstairs is a hell of a place to see theatre in Melbourne. The steep staircase, while lined with distracting festive strip lighting doesn’t do...

By Bronwyn Cook Scene - a house in New England. Guests gather for a surprise birthday party. There are decorations. There is cake. There are drinks. There is a MURDER. Who killed renowned local author Arthur Whitney? Can Officer Marcus Moscowicz and his assistant Lou...