Culture
Live reviews
The takedown of toxic masculinity that you must not miss
Set in the hour before a high-school debate, Trophy Boys is an excoriating exploration of corrosive male entitlement that is both witty and highly incisive.
- by Sonia Nair and Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen
Latest
Two powerful performances in this Streetcar make it a bare-knuckle fight
In this MTC production Nikki Shiels plays a Blanche DuBois who isn’t mad – her Blanche is quite fun, witty, and as likely to self-deprecate as self-dramatise.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Barney Zwartz
Lady Macbeth deserves a better fate. Does this play offer that chance?
Horrors both supernatural and human abound in this creative and provocative re-working of The Scottish Play.
- by Cameron Woodhead, Barney Zwartz, Andrew Fuhrmann, Vyshnavee Wijekumar, Michael Dwyer, Jessica Nicholas and Tony Way
A musical Little Women brings Jo’s lurid imagination to life
Our critics deliver their verdict on the latest shows around town.
- by Joyce Morgan, Daniel Herborn, Bernard Zuel, Chantal Nguyen and Harriet Cunningham
A wildly entertaining play to get you excited about Australian theatre again
Our critics deliver their verdict on the latest shows around town.
- by John Shand, Michael Ruffles and Shamim Razavi
★★★★★
Review
This three-way bet on the loopy power of opera is a five-star triumph
Our reviewers cast a critical eye over this week’s big shows.
- by Joyce Morgan, John Shand and Harriet Cunningham
It might be a tale as old as time, but this musical is pure delight
Musical theatre lovers with fond memories of seeing Beauty and the Beast as children will find them refreshed in this production (and kids will love it too).
- by Cameron Woodhead, Tony Way and Jessica Nicholas
★★★★½
Sydney live reviews
Torture, murder, lust and lies: Don’t miss this thrilling Tosca
Puccini’s masterpiece becomes a gripping, visually captivating game of cat-and-mouse in this new production.
- by Chantal Nguyen
★★★★★
Melbourne live reviews
The ghostly theatre classic you should see at least once in your life
Daniel MacPherson and John Waters star in The Woman in Black – the second-longest running play in London, after Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap.
- by Cameron Woodhead, Nadia Bailey and Andrew McClelland
★★★★½
Sydney live reviews
This whip-smart satire puts a bomb under faux feminists
Our critics take a look at the latest shows around town.
- by Peter McCallum, Joyce Morgan, John Shand, Michael Bailey and Kate Prendergast
Has Melbourne’s biggest arts festival finally taken off?
With a beefed-up performing arts program, this was the first year of Rising that felt like more than a poor shadow of an international arts festival.
- by Cameron Woodhead