September
- Opinion
- Art
There is a compromise for disputes like the one at MSO
Art is meant to disrupt, but audiences must be free of interference too. There is a time and a place for both.
- Patrick Langrell
August
Everyone is angry at Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, even its musicians
The MSO’s decision to cancel a guest pianist for his Gaza war commentary, then backtrack, has united pro-Israel and pro-Palestine activists in disdain.
- Michael Bailey
Voice of Play School to run Sydney Theatre Company
Mitchell Butel accepts that singing the children’s show theme is what he is best known for despite three decades in the theatre.
- Michael Bailey
May
Shows you don’t want to miss in June
From the original ‘Evita’ to Coppélia set in the Adelaide Hills, here’s our pick of the top performances and exhibitions around Australia.
- Michael Bailey
April
How to make money being Paul Keating
Thank god for writing royalties, says Jonathan Biggins, who reckons politics is stuck on repeat and the new puritanism is hard to poke fun at.
- Emma Connors
February
This Australian theatre wunderkind is taking on London’s West End
Sydney Theatre Company’s Kip Williams wowed the critics with his adaption of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Now he’s set to cash in.
- Michael Bailey
STC should act or $1.5m losses will mount: Jewish patrons
On the eve of Sydney Theatre Company’s West End debut starring Sarah Snook, the company is being urged to engage with the Jewish community or suffer further losses.
- Michael Bailey
January
Alan Joyce quits Sydney Theatre Company
The former Qantas chief executive says the chairman’s role will require more time than he is willing to give.
- Ayesha de Kretser
- Opinion
- Byelection
Like it or not, the Middle East runs through our politics
The Dunkley by-election will be fought and lost on kitchen table issues. But it is a distant conflict that is piling pressure on political parties and even the national broadcaster.
- Laura Tingle
December 2023
STC director Minchin slams ‘leftie bubbles’
The performer, who’s also an STC director, reportedly told a Canberra audience that the actors’ onstage pro-Palestinian protest was misguided, and thanked Jews for their outsize support for the arts.
- Michael Bailey and Ronald Mizen
- Opinion
- Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Political debate in Australia is at a dangerous tipping point
In the arts and now politics, claims about the other side are turning to reductionism and wild overreach.
- Laura Tingle
November 2023
‘Idiotic thing to do’: Sponsor says STC has ‘learnt its lesson’
Robert Magid, whose Pier One Hotel sponsors the besieged theatre company, said his support hinged on no evidence of management collusion in Saturday’s pro-Palestinian protest emerging.
- Michael Bailey
September 2023
Sydney’s blockbuster ‘cinema theatre’ is back
The team behind Australian theatrical smash hit The Picture Of Dorian Gray is back with another innovative take on a gothic classic.
- Michael Bailey
July 2023
Art is mightier than the law, says lawyer turned playwright
Suzie Miller is on a roll, but she still marvels at how her play Prima Facie has turned her from an accomplished playwright to an international success.
- Michael Pelly
May 2023
What’s it like to get old? Here’s an answer
Almost everyone in the cast of this new play is old enough for an age pension.
- Michael Bailey
March 2023
Joyce to take reins of Sydney Theatre Company
In an email to supporters, the Sydney Theatre Company credited Alan Joyce’s ‘business acumen and great passion for theatre’.
- Lucas Baird
January 2023
- Opinion
- Art
The Don and Dame Joan: we need art as well as sport
Society is becoming more atomised by social media. Australia’s arts as well as sporting success can help make it whole again.
- Rod Sims
November 2022
Old friends play around with legal icon RBG as the US beckons
Playwright Suzie Miller could have been a judge, is married to one, and her latest play is about one: the remarkable Ruth Bader Ginsburg. But she still says judges are “quite odd people”.
- Michael Pelly
October 2022
How Sigrid Thornton hit the top without a big break
The actor is one of Australia’s most recognisable faces, with a CV that stretches back five decades. Yet she is still doing things for the first time.
- Lauren Sams
Nuclear war? No, just a play...for now
The Sydney Theatre Company’s 2023 season will feature a post-apocalyptic classic that is oddly prescient as nuclear weapons fears heighten.
- Michael Bailey