On a Clear Day You Can See Forever: A Sydney theatre review by Alex First

What a hoot! Read more

Fences: a Sydney theatre review by Alex First

We’re among African-Americans in a working-class suburb in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the 1950s. Read more

The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? A Sydney theatre review by Alex First

Melbourne-based, I flew to Sydney to catch up on five shows over five nights. One I was keen to see was The Goat or, Who is Sylvia? Read more

Madama Butterfly: An opera review by Murray Dahm

This Handa Opera on Sydney Harbour (HOSH) production of Puccini’s Madama Butterfly was first seen in 2014 and here makes its triumphant return ‘home.’ Read more

Silly Little Things: A Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

Rosie is a 20-something-year-old florist shop owner and party girl for whom life has its challenges. Read more

Don Quixote (The Australian Ballet):  Reviewed by Alex First

I was mesmerised by the performances of the two leads in an intoxicating production of Don Quixote by The Australian Ballet. Read more

Prodigious pianist brings Roaring Twenties to the 2020s

When Simon Tedeschi plays the nostalgic notes of Rhapsody in Blue, the virtuoso hears the story of his family in the Roaring Twenties. Read more

Green Day’s American Idiot: A Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

Three disaffected young men are at the centre of punk rock band Green Day’s rock opera American Idiot. Read more

Living: A movie review by Alex First

The expressive question “you call that living?” may well be asked of the chief protagonist in the movie Living. Read more

Wolf Play: A Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

Put succinctly, intriguing. Read more

Berhardt/Hamlet: A Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

We are in Paris in 1899. Read more

At the Adelaide Festival with Alan Slade

The Adelaide Festival Theatre is an impressive structure and one of South Australia’s most prestigious venues. Read more

When the Rain Stops Falling: A Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

What a phenomenal piece of writing by Andrew Bovell (who wrote the powerful Australian film Lantana, which debuted in 2001). Read more

& Juliet: a Melbourne musical review by Alex First

A riotously fun, thoroughly entertaining musical for our new, enlightened times, & Juliet picks up Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet where it ended and kicks it up a gear. Read more

A concert of colour: A music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

Young’s reflected lights, Saint-Saens’ kaleidoscopic second piano concerto and Mussorgsky’s art gallery stroll, resulted in a visually provocative program last night from the SSO under the baton of 39-year-old Estonian Mihhail Gerts. Read more

At the Adelaide Festival with Alan Slade

Most Jewish Australians will have heard of William Cooper (1860? – 1941), the Aboriginal political activist who, in 1938, led a delegation of the Australian Aboriginal League to the German Consulate in Melbourne to deliver a petition condemning the “cruel persecution of the Jewish people by the Nazi government of Germany”. Read more

Taking on the Russian Titans: a music review by Fraser Beath McEwing

Twenty-six-year-old Albanian-born pianist Marie-Ange Nguci might well have bounded onto the Recital Hall stage wearing boxing gear last night because there was no way she could avoid stepping into the ring with four heavy-weight Russian composers all threatening to knock her out. Read more

At the Adelaide Festival

Cédric Tiberghien, the French classical pianist, started learning to play the piano at age 5, which may explain his masterful rendition of Mozart’s Sonata K331 in the concert he gave in the magnificent Adelaide Town Hall as part of the Adelaide Festival. Read more

Made in China 2.0: a Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

I am faced with a predicament that I can’t say I have confronted too many times in four decades of reviewing. Read more

Creed III: a movie review by Alex First

After retiring from the ring three years ago, Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) lives to fight another day in Creed III. Read more

Empire of Light: a movie review by Alex First

Set in the English coastal town of Margate during the turbulent early 1980s, Empire of Light is a sensitive drama romance. Read more

Cruel Intentions: The 90’s Musical – a Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

Cruel Intentions: The 90’s Musical sizzles with powerhouse performances and a rousing score. Read more

The Rocky Horror Show: reviews by Henry Benjamin

With a massive musical intro, it was time again to see the Roxy Cinema candy seller part the curtains and send us off on to the wild ride that is The Rocky Horror Show. Read more

The Mousetrap: a theatre review by Alex First

Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap opened in London’s West End on 25^th November 1952 and has been running continuously (save for the COVID lockdown) ever since. Read more

Josh Piterman talks to J-Wire

Popular musical theatre performer Josh Piterman has just landed one of the roles of his life. Read more

Adriana Lecouvreur: An opera review by Victor Grynberg

Francesco Cilea’s ADRIANA LECOUVREUR is a rarely produced opera nowadays, and this critic doesn’t recall ever seeing it before. Read more

Nosferatu, a Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

The play starts with a heartfelt warning from one of the characters that only tragedy puts you on the map. Read more

Coming Out: a Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

Showmanship, humour, pathos, anger, overt messaging and song are part of this well-meaning but noticeably stretched offering. Read more

Prima Facie: a Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

Tessa Ensler (Sheridan Harbridge) is a successful barrister. Read more

Wittenoom: a Melbourne theatre review by Alex First

Wittenoom, the former town and declared contaminated site in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, was, in short, a death trap. Read more

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