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Theatre April 10, 2021
Playwright Joanna Murray-Smith
After a long and successful career, dramatist Joanna Murray-Smith returns to her roots with a new play opening this month at the Melbourne Theatre Company.
Comedy April 10, 2021
Melbourne International Comedy Festival 2021
Although the spectre of Covid-19 hangs over this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival, it demonstrates the resilience of live Australian performance.
Art April 10, 2021
TarraWarra Biennial Slow Moving Waters
The TarraWarra Museum of Art’s 2021 biennial explores the utopia of slow time as both defiance and melancholia.
In Progress April 10, 2021
One of the pioneers of Indigenous presence on screen, Rhoda Roberts has spent her life breaking barriers for First Nations artists. But with her new job, she may finally find some time for her own art.
Comedy April 3, 2021
With a Netflix show and a headline at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, the surreal troupe Aunty Donna has come a long way from their Ballarat days.
Art April 3, 2021
In its third showing, The National – which exhibits new Australian art across three major Sydney galleries – highlights uncertainties about our national identity.
Television April 3, 2021
Allen v. Farrow is more than a rehash of a celebrity scandal. An indictment of the entertainment industry, it looks thoughtfully at how stories are told, and who gets believed.
In Progress April 3, 2021
Working under lockdown on her new album, while contending with a diagnosis of ADHD, meant a wholly different process for musician June Jones.
Fiction April 3, 2021
It’s so exciting you’re here to stay. I remember when I was the new one. A lifetime ago. You’re going to love it here. Our friend is so amazing. All friends are… Well, almost all. But ours is the best. When I was new there was an old one already …
books
Books April 10, 2021
George Saunders
A Swim in the Pond in the Rain
In the introductory chapter of A Swim in the Pond in the Rain, George Saunders describes what he has written as a “workbook”. It is a term, he says, that “kept coming to mind” as he was writing, and one that feels fitting because what …
Books April 10, 2021
Susan Johnson
From Where I Fell
Susan Johnson has written eight novels, a memoir and a nonfiction work. Her latest effort is a contemporary version of the epistolary book once popular in the 18th century. From Where I Fell is a narrative conducted entirely through online conversations …
Books April 10, 2021
I first became familiar with Safdar Ahmed’s work through his webcomic about his fraught relationship with his father, The Good Son. It showed Ahmed’s knack for illustrating the mind’s landscape, his death-metal-inspired illustrations giving …