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

The Shrek-inspired burlesque and drag parody Swamplesque, billing itself as coming from Far Far Away, promises an irreverent night of entertainment steeped in fantasy and satire, Canberra Theatre, April 29.

The Llewellyn Choir presents the East Coast premiere of Lachlan Skipworth’s Mass for Easter Sunday, complemented by works from Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds, including Stars, O Magnum Mysterium and Passion and Resurrection, with sopranos Sonia Anfiloff and Elsa Huber joined by brass octet and timpani, Duntroon Chapel, May 2.

The National Library of Australia reveals the depth of its vast letter collections in the new book Postscript: Life, Love and Loss in Australian Letters, with publisher Lauren Smith and the NLA Publishing team uncovering correspondence spanning from literary notables such as Jane Austen, Judith Wright, Henry Lawson and Mem Fox to contemporary voices including Kate Forsyth, Maggie Mackellar and Robert Skinner.

Georgia Pike-Rowney, curator of the ANU Classics Museum, has been honoured with the Consortium of Humanities Centers and Institutes Award for Leadership in the Public Humanities for helping turn an international repatriation case into a global public education initiative, shifting the common view of repatriation as one of blame and secrecy to that of cultural exchange and transparency. 

Canberra musician Matt Dent brings a tribute to Anzac Day with his blokey folk and rock single Beers & Tears on Anzac Day, recorded at Pendragon Studios and released across streaming platforms, honouring fallen soldiers and their loved ones.

Despite artist Rosalie Gascoigne’s deep connection to Canberra, the Canberra Museum and Gallery has yet to hold a major original work by her, and now seeks donations at cmag.com.au to acquire her 1995 piece, Wool Clip, a significant work from her final decade that the gallery believes it is uniquely placed to preserve and study. 

The Wesley Lunchtime Concert series will showcase clarinettist Ollie Wong and pianist Hilda Visser Scott in a program featuring Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto and Fantasia in D minor, alongside Giampieri’s Carnival of Venice, Wesley Music Centre, April 29.