What’s on where and when around the town? HELEN MUSA’s Artsweek column will get you off to a good start…

Rob Carlton, famous for his lookalike performance as  the late  Kerry Packer on TV in Paper Giants,  will be at Canberra Comedy Festival with Willing Participant, directed by comedian Darren Gilshenan. It’s a one-hour show telling four true stories of sexual taboos, lies, heartaches and hope. The Courtyard Studio, March 23.

Dance meets film in Cunningham, a film which traces dance legend Merce Cunningham’s artistic evolution over three decades of risk and discovery. NFSA, March 22. Free screening.

ArtsNational Molonglo Plains presents: Really Big Art Works – Why Do Them? by botanical artist Sharon Field, with opportunity to examine first hand an over-sized artwork being created by Field that, when finished, will be more than 70 metres in length. C3 Auditorium, Queanbeyan, March 21.

Julieanne Lamond from the ANU will be in in conversation about the book and film, Jasper Jones, with Canberra Writers’ Festival director Beejay Silcox in Book Club at the NFSA, March 24

Stage

• You are a Doughnut! is a new family show from the creators of The Alphabet of Awesome Science – biology teachers Oesoph A Gus and Dewey Dean (say them out loud) as they go on an all-singing, all-dancing exploration of every bodily tube and organ. The Q Queanbeyan, March 22-23.

• James Schloeffel from The Shovel and Charles Firth from The Chaser are bringing their satirical show, Wankernomics 2.0, to the Canberra Comedy Festival. Canberra Theatre, March 21.
• Irish comedian Jimeoin is back in Queanbeyan with his new show, Who’s Your Man? The B, March 21.
• Sh!t-Faced Shakespeare’s take on Macbeth is at The Playhouse, March 21-22.
• Helios, winner of Summerhall’s Lustrum Award at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe, transplants a story about the son of the Greek sun god into a modern-day myth set in rural and urban England. Written and told by Alexander Wright with music by Phil Grainger. Mill Theatre, Fyshwick, March 23.
• After Rebecca, by Emma Gibson, tackles the question of systems that fail to protect women in a new take on Daphne du Maurier, ACT Hub, Kingston, until March 23.
• Dr Jason Leong, a Malaysian medical doctor now turned comedian, will be at The Street Theatre on March 24.

Concerts

• Indie rockers Old Mervs are on a regional tour in March with their new EP Give It Up and featured track Sweetheart. At The Basement, Belconnen, March 21.
• Phoenix Collective kicks off with a program featuring the Lark quartet by Haydn, the work of Giovanni Sollima, Bartók’s intricate String Quartet no 3 and the music of Radiohead. All Saints Ainslie, March 22.
• Selby & Friends perform a favourite by Arvo Pärt, Schumann’s Fantasy Pieces, an early Beethoven piano trio, a Dvořák piano trio, and a new composition by Newman. Fairfax Theatre, NGA, March 22.
• Greek singer Eleanna Stavrianoudaki and actor Stefanie Lekkas will be sharing songs, stories and confessions in a relaxed session at the Mill Theatre, Fyshwick, March 22.
• Canberra Choral Society’s performs The Faithful Shepherd – Music for Easter. St Paul’s, Manuka, March 23.
• National Capital Orchestra, under the baton of Louis Sharpe, features works by two Canberra composers, Starry Night Over Ubud by Thomas McConochie and a new arrangement by Sally Greenaway, as well as Violin Concerto No. 2 by Prokofiev and Suite from the Firebird Ballet by Stravinski, The Q, March 24.
• Luminescence Chamber Singers presents Glass Heart, 500 years of love songs and break-up anthems, from Monteverdi’s Sestina to music by David Lang, Sting and Eric Whitacre. Wesley Uniting Church, March 24.
• Young Cairns-born pianist, Reuben Tsang will perform masterpieces by Scarlatti, Fauré, Brahms and Mozart at Wesley Music Centre on March 25.

Galleries

• Sistar S’pacific, Rosanna Raymond, is an innovator of the contemporary Pasifika art scene as a member of the art collective the Pacific Sisters, and the founding member of the SaVĀge K’lub. She’ll address the complex legacies of the Paul Gauguin story in a conversation at James Fairfax Theatre, National Gallery of Australia and online, March 23.
• Craft + Design Canberra has two new exhibitions: Talisman, Tool + Touchstone; and by 2023 artists-in-residence, Julie Bradley and Holly Grace, South Facing. North Building, Civic, until May 11.
• Megalo Kingston has a new exhibition, Desire Lines, by Sydney artist Pia Larsen, March 23-May 11.
• A new joint exhibition, Common Threads, by local photographer Jerusha McDowell and woven sculpture artist Linda Coomber, will open at the Rushe Photography Gallery at the Malbon in Bungendore on March 23. 
• The M16 Artspace Environmental Artist Residency includes a $3000 scholarship and a nine-month residency at M16 Artspace in 2024, culminating in a four-week exhibition in January 2025. Application details at m16artspace.com.au
• Surfacing by Gundaroo artist Moraig McKenna, at Canberra Potters Gallery, Watson, until April 21.
• The Australian Yarn Show will be held at Rydges Canberra over the weekend of March 23-24.