Review: Ann Yee’s production of Turandot

Thursday 15 January 2026 Sydney Opera House Joan Sutherland Theatre Opera Australia Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) Puccini wrote Madama Butterfly (1904) and Turandot (1924) at the height of Western fascination with the Orient. Artists and musicians were creating works that portrayed a stereotypical western view of the exotic cultures of the Orient, in […]

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Review: Duck Pond

Saturday 10 January 2026 Sydney Opera House CIRCA Photos by Daniel Boud Circa is one of the world’s leading touring circus ensembles based in Brisbane. They generally tour three shows internationally at one time and the current show Duck Pond has been travelling the globe since 2023. Lead by Yaron Lifschitz, they stay true to […]

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Review: Madama Butterfly

Thursday 8 January 2026 Sydney Opera House Joan Sutherland Theatre Opera Australia  Photography: Keith Saunders Revival and Movement Director, Matthew Barclay, brought together an incredibly talented team of creatives to reproduce Moffat Oxenbould’s 1997 award winning production of Madama Butterfly for Opera Australia’s 2026 season. The casting of Guanqun Yu as the impressionable and innocent […]

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Review: Romeo & Juliet, Bell Shakespeare

20 November 2025 Playhouse Theatre, Sydney Opera House Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) Photos by Brett Boardman Written over 400 years ago, Romeo and Juliet has permeated our culture in ballet, pop music, art, film and literature. And this is due to Shakespeare’s genius in portraying the human condition with timeless acuity in a […]

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Review: Euan Macleod

Glacier. S. H. Ervin Gallery.  I8 November – 14 December. Then & Now. King Street Gallery on William. 18 November – 13 December  Review by Anthony Frater. Arts Wednesday. There are two exhibitions on now at different galleries featuring the work of one this country’s most gifted painters in the Romantic style; actually he isn’t […]

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Review: Bach Akademie Australia plays all 6 Brandenburg Concertos

Saturday 15 November, 2025 Bach Akademie Australia The Neilson, ACO on the Pier Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) Photos by Keith Saunders It would have to be one of the most famous, most creative and ultimately unsuccessful job applications in history. In 1719, not long after the death of his first wife, JS Bach, […]

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Review: Piotr Anderszewski

Monday 10 November, 2025 Musica Viva Australia City Recital Hall Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) Photos by Claudia Raschella Polish pianist, Piotr Anderszewski returns to our shores for Musica Viva Australia in a series of recitals featuring music by three German greats – Brahms, Bach and Beethoven – representing music from the Romantic, Baroque […]

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Review: ACO Cocteau’s Circle

Saturday 8 November, 2025 City Recital Hall Australian Chamber Orchestra  Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) The Australian Chamber Orchestra are famous for  their innovation and risk-taking programming, but in their theatrical production of Cocteau’s Circle they ventured beyond their comfort zone, and for the first night of the national tour there were a few […]

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Review: The Paddington Art Prize

Art Leven Gallery. 17 Thurlow Street, Redfern. Exhibition Dates: 16 October – 25 October Review by Anthony Frater (Arts Wednesday) The Paddington Art Prize is on once again. In its 22nd year it’s always a highly anticipated event and this year was no exception. The prize is a $30,000 National Acquisitive Prize – meaning the […]

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Review: Shadow Boxing

8 October 2025 Flight Path Theatre, Marrickville Feet First Collective Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) What a powerful solo performance by Samuel Addison as a conflicted gay boxer that had us pinned to the floor for the entire bout. The intimate space of the Flight Path Theatre in Marrickville only heightened the sense of […]

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Review: Ruins أطلال at the Seymour

Wednesday 1 October 2025 Seymour Centre Clockfire Theatre Company  Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) Having reviewed many contemporary dance performances, Ruins could have been devised by Bangarra Dance or Sydney Dance Company, only this theatrical work has a script and dialogue. Equally surprising there is no choreographer or movement director in the cast and […]

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Review: Australian World Orchestra – Mahlerfest

Thursday 4 September 2025 Sydney Opera House The Australian World Orchestra  Review by Paul Neeson (Arts Wednesday) More words have been written about Gustav Mahler’s 4th and 5th Symphonies than the number of notes in both works combined. Given that they are scored for around 100 musicians and they both last around an hour, that […]

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