Absurdist Caligula comes with a ‘slap in the face’
A new theatre company, directed by Isaiah Prichard, is mounting a production of Albert Camus’s rarely performed Caligula. Arts editor HELEN MUSA has the story.
Arts & Entertainment
Canberra’s best coverage of local arts news plus reviews, including dining, film, theatre, music, visual arts and dance
The biggest show on television has returned for its third blockbuster season, says streaming columnist NICK OVERALL.
Singer Art Garfunkel says he and longtime musical partner Paul Simon have 'found peace' decades after the ups and downs of one of music's greatest duos.
Based at Canberra Glassworks and her own studio in Burra, NSW, Annette Blair - one of Australia's leading glass artists - has won the 2026 FUSE Glass Prize, Australasia's richest award for contemporary glass, writes arts editor HELEN MUSA.
Update
Aussie music stars furious at big AI song scrape
Australia's greatest musical hits have been used in AI training datasets. Artists who've found their work using a new search tool say they're furious.
Books
Gripping crime fiction from across the ditch
"NZ crime fiction is characterised by its distinctive rural and urban settings as well as its often gritty realism," says book reviewer ANNA CREER.
Dance
Physicality fuels Sydney Dance Company’s Engine
The "unusual" title of Sydney Dance Company’s latest production, 'Engine' refers to "an intensity of movement seen in the full-on, engine-like physicality that characterised all three works" that it's composed of, reviews MICHELLE POTTER.
Canberran BARRY YORK recalls the day his dad, Loreto, stood in a London recording studio among a crowd of servicemen singing beside The Forces' Sweetheart Vera Lynn.
Stars of the Australian music industry have voiced their support for singer Daryl Braithwaite, who has announced he will step back from performing live.
Arts editor HELEN MUSA is back with her latest Artsweek column of everything arts, music, theatre, and creative happening around Canberra.
The theatre industry wants help to cope with soaring costs that have meant curtains even for certified hits such as Beetlejuice the Musical.
The National Museum's winter blockbuster, simply titled Antarctica, promises to take visitors on a journey into a stage set for adventure, reports HELEN MUSA.
"The National Gallery is offering a rare opportunity to see the complete cycle of 20 monumental tapestries about St Francis by Arthur Boyd. But aficionados may be shocked at Boyd's take on the gentle saint," says HELEN MUSA.
KERRY-ANNE COUSINS reviews contrasting ceramic works (Un)-Common Ground by Paul Davis and Jacqueline Clayton, the two 2026 artists-in-residence at Canberra Potters.
Middle Raged – A Musical Meltdown, about to premiere at The Playhouse, is the brainchild of two former Canberrans, performer Queenie van de Zandt and writer-producer Tiffany Noack, reports arts editor HELEN MUSA.
Arts editor HELEN MUSA reviews Judith Clingan's song cycle, The Prophet - as part of the second half of Wayfarers Australia's concert Musica Vitae - which, based on Kahlil Gibran's famous 1923 work, is "not one of Clingan’s finer works".
NICK HORN reviews the Canberra Community Chorale's Australian premiere performances of three substantial contemporary choral works, directed by Olivia Swift, that demonstrated both "enjoyment and energy" through its performance.
Here's the latest Arts in the City column from CityNews arts editor HELEN MUSA.
HELEN MUSA reviews Eternal Light, a performance of sacred music by The Resonants vocal ensemble.
