News

Small theatres might open in July

Australia's performing arts sector faces months more closure under the Federal Government's new guidelines released today, for the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

The Prime Minister announced that he wants many aspects of Australian life up and running by July - which may include small theatres in some states.

However even under what is described as Stage Three of life getting back to normal, almost all live theatre will not be possible.

Watch National Theatre's Antony and Cleopatra FREE

National Theatre At Home’s latest FREE online offering is Shakespeare’s Antony & Cleopatra directed by Simon Godwin.

At the fringes of a war-torn empire the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra and Mark Antony have fallen fiercely in love. In a tragic fight between devotion and duty, obsession becomes a catalyst for war.

Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient, James Bond: Spectre) and Sophie Okonedo (Chimerica, Hotel Rwanda) play Shakespeare’s famous fated couple in his great tragedy of politics, passion and power.

Opera Queensland Announces An Aria a Day

Opera Queensland, May 8 onwards

Opera Queensland has consulted some of Australia’s most revered music specialists to prescribe an uplifting and invigorating course of free online performances in An Aria a Day.

Theatres and concert halls may be closed but opera continues to ring through the homes and hearts of Australians, uniting people through song during this time of isolation.

Trafalgar Entertainment to Re-Open Theatre Royal Sydney

Sydney’s Theatre Royal will return to life in 2021.

Leading global live entertainment company Trafalgar Entertainment (TE) HAS announceD its agreement with the New South Wales (NSW) Government to become the new operator of Sydney’s Theatre Royal, in a 55-year sublease.

Today’s announcement signals the beginning of a new era for TE in Australia and points a confident way forward for the Theatre Royal which is planned to reopen in August 2021 as the cornerstone of TE’s Asia-Pacific operation. 

Healthcare Workers and Artists Celebrate International Nurses Day with Heart Sounds

HEART SOUNDS, an online concert, will stream on International Nurses Day, Tuesday 12 May 2020.

Bangarra Dance Theatre Announce Digital Streaming Program

Bangarra Dance Theatre have announced the launch of a new digital offering, Nandhu, (pronounced Naan-do), meaning 'to be close' in Wiradjuri language.

Building on the incredible success of the recent digital streaming of multi-award winning work Bennelong, Nandhu will comprise a series of curated programs, headlined by a selection of the company’s works, available for audiences to watch from their own homes.

Five Australian Plays Free on ABC iview

In a nationwide win for theatre-lovers and students, not-for-profit arts organisation Australian Theatre Live announces landmark distribution of five Australian plays, free on ABC iview.

The release of these plays on such an expansive and widely available free platform marks an historic deal in how theatre-on-film will be consumed by audiences in the future. Perhaps the most exciting element is the world premiere of Malthouse and STC’s production of Michael Gow’s iconic play, Away on a streaming platform.

Staying Creative in Quarantine

Beth Keehn reports on how Brisbane’s Minola Theatre has reworked Bianca Butler Reynolds’ ‘Begotten’ as an audio drama.

OA | TV: Opera Australia on Demand Launched

Opera Australia launches free online streaming platform with Joan Sutherland in the starring role.

Subscribe to our E-Newsletter, buy our latest print edition or find a Performing Arts book at Book Nook.