This Month
Sydney Theatre Company’s $500k bet on Dorian Gray pays off big
Receipts soared in 2024 thanks to the West End success of one of its plays, and more self-presenting tours, but a boycott from some Jewish donors hit hard.
May
How an Aussie nabbed Wicked star Cynthia Erivo before she was famous
Producer Michael Cassel contracted her for a West End season of Sydney Theatre Company’s Dracula weeks before Wicked made her a household name.
April
Robyn Nevin wrote off Agatha Christie. Now she’s directing her plays
The theatre doyenne once dismissed the Miss Marple creator as “just a popular playwright” – until producer John Frost convinced her to actually read her work.
Dorian Gray is a homegrown Broadway smash. Local investors missed out
The Sarah Snook one-hander is breaking box office records with tickets at $US497 a pop in New York. But just four of the 53 investors in the show are Australian.
March
An aged care musical? Straight to the pool room, said Tom Gleisner
The creator behind The Castle and Utopia spent many hours visiting nursing homes, and emerged not depressed, but inspired to write songs.
This actor has the legal profession flocking to see her show
Heather Mitchell is reviving the crowning role of her long career, playing the US Supreme Court judge in RBG: Of Many, One.
September 2024
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.
August 2024
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.
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.
May 2024
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.
April 2024
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.
February 2024
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.
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.
January 2024
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.