Here’s HELEN MUSA’s latest Arts in the City column.

With its famous assertion that “hell is other people”, Jean-Paul Sartre’s No Exit sees Garcin, Inez and Estelle trapped with a sinister waiter in a room from which escape is impossible, and where the real torture is each other. Directed by Céline Oudin for Mockingbird Too, this emblem of modern drama is billed as both a dark comedy and a moral mirror. Studio, Belco Arts, April 15-18.

Will Eno’s solo play Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) returns to Canberra for the first time since Neil Pigot’s 2008 performance at The Street Theatre. A new production at The Mill Theatre launches a co-production model inviting external producers to collaborate, with Joey Minogue taking on the rambling role under the guidance of Madeleine and Mark Lee. The Mill Theatre, April 16-25.

Damon Baudin has won the Outstanding Performer, Indie Theatre Award at the Green Room Awards for his role in Smokescreen. The production, by Christopher Carroll’s Bare Witness Theatre Company, originated through the Q The Locals program in Queanbeyan.

Canberra writer and editor Emma Pei Yin has claimed the Debut Fiction prize at the Indie Book Awards 2026 for her novel When Sleeping Women Wake, published by Hachette Australia and voted on by independent booksellers across the country.

Author Paul Easther has been presented with the Across Generations Award at the COTA Ageing ACT Short Film and Video Competition 2026, delivered in partnership with Screen Australia. Best known for writing more than 40 children’s books, Easther turned to filmmaking for the competition, submitting two videos and winning with both.

Oriana Chorale launches its 2026 concert season with Uprisings, a concert exploring the music of Shostakovich, Tallis, Shara Nova, Hugo Distler and Amanda Feery, as well as 2026 composer-in-residence Sebastian Allen, with texts by Odgeroo Noonuccal, Andrea Ferro and Leonid Radin. Duntroon Chapel, April 12.

A free interdisciplinary craft symposium brings together contemporary craft and innovation, with keynote speaker Norwood Viviano exploring the integration of digital 3D modelling and printing with traditional glassblowing and casting. The event honours the legacy of the late head of the Glass Workshop at ANU, Stephen Procter, and Christine Procter Nicholson. ANU School of Art & Design, April 17.