Culture
Live reviews
A ritual once marked marriage as a spiritual death for women. It’s now a stunning performance
The Bridal Lament by Rainbow Chan brings together the ancient and contemporary to explore the line between cultures.
- by Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen, Barney Zwartz and Cameron Woodhead
Latest
★★★★½
Sydney live reviews
Tales of young foolishness are comedy gold
Cameron James mines his early life for laughs in his latest show.
- by Daniel Herborn
Beauty and horror collide in this famous exploration of ‘madness’
One of opera’s most famous ‘mad scenes’ is on show in Melbourne Opera’s production of Lucia di Lammermoor.
- by Bridget Davies, Cameron Woodhead, Tony Way and Andrew Fuhrmann
★★★★
Sydney live reviews
Miraculous: This play in a tiny theatre shouldn’t work but it does
Our critics give their verdicts on the biggest shows around town.
- by Chantal Nguyen, Daniel Herborn, John Shand and Harriet Cunningham
★★★½
Review
Nothing is sacred in this side-splitting ‘coming-of-clown’ story
Our critics give their take on the biggest shows around town
- by Shamim Razavi, Michael Bailey, Millie Muroi, Daniel Herborn and Kate Prendergast
A rare act of impersonation: Heather Mitchell’s enthralling RBG
Inhabiting someone as illustrious as US Supreme Court judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg is no mean feat, but Mitchell doesn’t just capture her likeness – she captures her spirit.
- by Cameron Woodhead, Nadia Bailey, Jessica Nicholas and Vyshnavee Wijekumar
One-man show about Sudan makes spirits soar above the sadness
Our reviewers check out the best shows around town including those offered by Belvoir, the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Sydney Comedy Festival.
- by Peter McCallum, John Shand and Daniel Herborn
When this play premiered, its actors were arrested for obscenity. Now it’s back
A controversial classic, and a smart contemporary response to it, takes the stage at La Mama in an excellent double bill.
- by Cameron Woodhead, Karl Quinn, Tony Way and Sonia Nair
Everyone feared this festival would implode, but there’s Alice Cooper waving a boa constrictor on stage
Despite the rough lead-up and dropping half of its acts, Pandemonium music festival didn’t live up to its name – and was ultimately a pretty good time.
- by Will Cox
★★★
Review
Did you hear the one about the girl on the bus with a dead squirrel? Sydney Comedy Fest kick off
Our critics give you their verdict on the best shows around town from the Sydney Comedy Festival, singer James Taylor and the latest Hayes Theatre production directed by Blazey Best.
- by Cassie Tongue, James Jennings and Daniel Herborn
★★★½
Review
Pain and sensuality abounds in revival of Italian classics as British rockers deliver chaotic experience for the apocalypse
Our reviewers check out Sydney performances of the Australian Haydn Ensemble, Bring Me The Horizon and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
- by Kate Prendergast, Peter McCallum and Michael Ruffles