Arts and culture
Cressida Campbell Margaret Olley interior (detail) 1992 hand-coloured woodblock Private Collection
Margaret Olley had a gift for friendship, that is, in addition to her gifts as a wonderful painter. Among her…
Alison Whyte and Colin Friels
When I was at secondary school in the 1950s, we were taught about the significance of the 20th century’s Irish…
The Australian Ballet Faster
I imagine that quite a few subscribers to the Australian Ballet would be happiest if they were only offered full…
Vincent van Gogh Wheat Field with Cypresses, Saint-Rémy, 1889. The National Gallery London
Make sure you are in Melbourne between late April and early July to see the important Van Gogh exhibition coming…
James Cook items, Treasures Gallery, NLA, Canberra
If you missed the 100 Objects from the British Museum on display at the Museum of Australia, don’t despair, there…
Jason Chong & Mark Leonard Winter in Chimerica
This is one for the brighter kids in the class. Chimerica by British playwright Lucy Kirkwood was first produced by…
Lucia Martin-Cartón soprano soloist
Countless indignities have been visited upon the Hallelujah Chorus. Currently it is being used in a suggestive television commercial for…
Dress worn by Yvonne Kenny as Armida in Rinaldo
If you think you haven’t got anything to wear, then Opera Australia may be able to help you. At the…
Julia Baird
In 2015, Queen Elizabeth II became the longest reigning sovereign in British history surpassing Queen Victoria who is the subject…
Jim Maxwel
Two of the ABC’s most admired radio presenters have published books that are perfect holiday reading: Richard Fidler’s Ghost Empire…
Royal Opera House production of King Roger
Soon after the Norman Conquest of England (1066 and all that) Count Roger Hauteville of Normandy took control of Sicily.…
Valda Wilson as Theodora
Mostly I’m more interested in what is to come than in what’s already been, but I have let my mind…
Arthur Streeton And the Sunlight Clasps the Earth 1895
Last week you could have done some Christmas shopping at the Mossgreen and Sotheby’s art auctions in Sydney. You might…
The kiss Auguste Rodin (1901-04)
Local writers have been repurposing Kenneth Clark’s 1958 differentiation of the nude from naked in discussing the current exhibition at…
Rose Byrne at rehearsal
David Mamet has a birthday next week; he’ll be turning 69. Quite a grand old man of American letters. Playwright…
Sebastian Smee
His schooling was at St Peter’s College, Adelaide followed by the University of Sydney where he graduated with honours in…
Valda Wilson sings Theodora
Antioch on the Orontes River, founded in late 4th century BC, became an important city in the East of the…
La Belle Époque
Farce is a difficult theatrical form to write and to stage successfully. Farce operates beyond reality; a farce must establish…
Ko wai Koe (Who Are You) 2005 from the series The Odyssey of Captain Cook by Marian Maguire
When colourful Tasmanian identity David Walsh announced his intention to build an art gallery in Hobart, open to the public…
Adam Frandsen plays The Architect
First performed 21 years ago, it’s title was The Eighth Wonder. This year it is being revived under a cumbersome…
David Hockney
Born in Yorkshire 79 years ago, he fell in love with the idea of California as a child via Hollywood…
Kevin Jackson as Nijinsky
In 1981, at the Sydney Theatre Company, we presented a stylish production of Chinchilla, a play by Robert David MacDonald…
Ladies in Black
David Jones administration may be moving to Melbourne but that won’t worry Sydney: it knows where DJ’s really belongs. Reading…
Paul Dyer & ABO section leaders
Announcements of 2017 seasons are coming thick and fast. The Sydney Theatre Company, having lost an artistic director on the…
Pirramimma, Wentworth Falls
Gardens are one of the indicators of civilisation. It is said that the first references to gardens occurred about 4,000…
