Civil war and abdication: What has art predicted for King Charles’ reign?In 2014 Prince Charles became king – on a London stage. In the opening scene of Mike Bartlett’s award-winning play, King Charles III is at his mother’s funeral. “Now I’ll rise to how things have to be,” he says, as the weight of the monarchy falls on… Sep 18 22September 18, 2022Article at The Age
The playwright who wants you to doubt everything – for your own goodPlaywright Christopher Chen wants audiences to feel uncomfortable. He doesn’t trust comfort, in his mind, or in others. He wants us all to be digging, questioning, poised on the line between belief and doubt. “That is the best theatre,” he says, from… Aug 11 22August 11, 2022Article at The Age
In the name of art: Why single people in Melbourne kissed petri dishesSingle Melbournians have been kissing petri dishes for art. It feels like kissing jelly. The culture medium in the dish, agar, is made from boiled seaweed. The moment is less than romantic, satisfying or fulfilling. Huei Yin Wong has been asking… Jul 30 22July 30, 2022Article at The Age
‘The shows won’t fit on the stage’: Why Melbourne could see a drought of opera and balletMelbourne arts lovers will get smaller – and fewer – operas, ballets and musicals for almost three years from early 2024, when the grand State Theatre at the Arts Centre closes for a major refit. After extensive talks with the state government and… Jul 27 22July 27, 2022Article at The Age
Bangarra’s powerful story of loss, and the black divas who changed the worldBack in the late ’80s and early ’90s, there was something in the wind. Or the water. At NAISDA, the Indigenous dance college in Sydney, a remarkable group of young people were embracing each other, and challenging each other, on their way to change… Jul 23 22July 23, 2022Article at The Age
‘Nothing about us without us’: The idea that sparked Melbourne’s newest festivalIn mid-September, as you walk past Hamer Hall, look up. A highlight of Melbourne’s newest arts festival may be hanging from a harness above you. The performance of Momentum, from Women’s Circus, is part of the inaugural Alter State festival which… Jul 21 22July 21, 2022Article at The Age
The future of libraries, or haven for piracy? The case of the Internet ArchiveMelbourne-based actor Ben McKenzie wasn’t looking to take sides in one of the internet’s more fraught debates over censorship and freedom. But when he discovered his labour of love audio drama had been pirated and uploaded to the Internet Archive, he… Jul 17 22July 17, 2022Article at The Age
Torn in half by war, Vasily Petrenko sees hope for peace in musicBy Nick Miller July 11, 2022 — 11.00pm Acclaimed conductor Vasily Petrenko has been torn in half by war. One half looks back gratefully at the hothouse Leningrad schooling that set him up for a hugely successful career (he is music director of the… Jul 11 22July 11, 2022Article at The Age
‘Young, funny, irritatingly handsome’: Euan’s challenge in taking on JosephBy Nick Miller July 10, 2022 — 3.58pm Andrew Lloyd Webber doesn’t have a favourite Joseph but says if he did, Jason Donovan would have to be up there. Donovan – now playing the Pharoah in the current UK production of Joseph and the Amazing… Jul 10 22July 10, 2022Article at The Age
The Australian who designs the palaces of kings, billionaires and... Clive PalmerBy Nick Miller July 10, 2022 — 5.30am Rodney Surawski isn’t even sure if one of his favourite creations, the astonishingly ornate painted ceiling of a ballroom in an oligarch’s grand mansion in eastern Ukraine, still exists. But that’s kind of par… Jul 09 22July 09, 2022Article at The Age
Museums acquire viral Goose game so future generations can have a ganderBy Nick Miller July 8, 2022 — 11.08am Back in 2016, four guys in a little studio in North Fitzroy had just released their first computer game, and were wondering what to do next. Late at night, one of them posted a stock photo of a goose on the… Jul 08 22July 08, 2022Article at The Age
This artist built his own mausoleum. And it snoresBy Nick Miller July 3, 2022 — 1.47pm In an art gallery, there’s a little bungalow. And in that bungalow there’s the detritus of a life: old magazines, tins of food, knick-knacks. There are plastic grapes on a side table, a shuttlecock on a shelf, a… Jul 03 22July 03, 2022Article at The Age
The Australian brothers making history at the world’s most prestigious art schoolBy Nick Miller July 1, 2022 — 5.15pm There’s that old joke about a tourist in New York who asks a passerby how to get to Carnegie Hall, one of the world’s most prestigious classical music venues. “Practise, practise, practise,” the local quips. But… Jul 01 22July 01, 2022Article at The Age
Melbourne theatre’s ‘digital pivot’: pandemic thing or a revolution?By Nick Miller June 29, 2022 — 2.34pm Jason Cavanagh has just flicked the switch on a big experiment that he hopes could transform independent theatre in Melbourne. It’s called MotleyGO, and it’s a digital streaming platform for subscribers (yes,… Jun 29 22June 29, 2022Article at The Age
These real-life Willy Wonkas are tinkering at the borders of tasteBy Nick Miller June 28, 2022 — 2.31pm There’s often a moment in a Zoom where you just have to ask about that thing in the background. With Rob Smith, creative director at London-based design studio Bompas & Parr, that thing is an enormous pipe organ… Jun 28 22June 28, 2022Article at The Age
In this empty shop, two artists opened a window to a dystopian futureBy Nick Miller June 24, 2022 — 2.44pm Just when you thought this whole metaverse craze was already verging on the absurd, there has been a major development. A pair of artificially intelligent beings from the year 2042, who look like multicoloured… Jun 24 22June 24, 2022Article at The Age
She hacked an old knitting machine to weave the universe into a work of artBy Nick Miller June 23, 2022 — 9.00am In 2018 Melbourne software engineer Sarah Spencer powered up a mid-1980s era knitting machine. Over the next week it slowly spat out an enormous woollen map of the night sky. Why? More or less because it was a… Jun 22 22June 22, 2022Article at The Age
Cattle calls, stress and high kicks: Scrapping for work in the capital of danceBy Nick Miller June 20, 2022 — 2.19pm Caitlin Marks grew up with people asking her if she wanted to be a Rockette one day. New York’s high-kicking, 90-year-old dance company, based at Radio City Music Hall, has become one of the staples of American… Jun 20 22June 20, 2022Article at The Age
‘Victory for spinster theatregoers’ after Arts Centre denied tourist a ticketBy Nick Miller June 15, 2022 — 3.10pm Arts Centre Melbourne has changed its ticketing policy and promised to update its booking technology, after a tourist visiting from New York was refused one of the last two seats for a performance of the hottest… Jun 15 22June 15, 2022Article at The Age
One of ballet’s busiest superstars is making the big leap to MelbourneBy Nick Miller June 15, 2022 — 5.00am It’s after 10pm in New York, and finally Daniil Simkin can spare time for a chat. He’s been dubbed one of the ballet world’s busiest superstars for a reason: based in Berlin, currently dancing Don Quixote at the… Jun 14 22June 14, 2022Article at The Age
