10 - 2026 - The Local Paper

Observer

OBSERVER: The Heart Beats In Counts of Eight

Monday, October 5, 2026

Monash University Theatre (MUST) presents The Heart Beats in Counts of Eight by Madeleine Willshire from October 15-24 at Monash University, Clayton.Directed by Esmé Stripp, Assisted by Ava Toon, The Heart Beats in Counts of Eight is set in the not too distant future.After a synthetic revolution, Lou, Jamie and Taxon scavenge to survive. They…

Observer

OBSERVER: Zoe’s Killer Instinct

New Melbourne theatre collective Primitive Streak presents Zoe’s Killer Instinct at the Motley Wherehaus, Melbourne, from October 5-11.Zoë Jensen returns to the Australian stage from Germany for the first show from Primitive Streak, which showcases a one-woman performance in the Melbourne Fringe Festival.This ‘unhinged, razor-sharp satire’ features original music inspired by vaudeville and Weimar.The origin…

Observer

OBSERVER: British Film Festival

Some of Britain’s finest actors will star in this year’s British Film Festival. Presented by Palace, this year’s festival includes a line up of dramas, diverse and illuminating documentaries, romantic comedies and more, all screening at Palace Cinemas, Palace Nova and Luna Palace Cinemas from October 28.One of the most recent talked about films to…

Uncategorized

OBSERVER: The Homecoming

Harold Pinter who died on Christmas Eve in 2008, aged 78, was not just the writer of some 29 plays and 15 dramatic sketches, but also an actor, a director, a screenwriter of 27 scripts for cinema and television and a composer of poetry.Award-winning Best Play, The Homecoming in 1967 stands as one of his…

Observer

OBSERVER: Koreaboo

Koreaboo, by playwright and actor Michelle Lim Davidson, is a personal and surprisingly humorous exploration of identity, family and belonging.Drawing on her own experience of being adopted by an Australian family, the production follows Lim Davidson’s journey to uncover the truth of her origins and reconnect with her birth mother in South Korea.When Hannah (Lim…

Observer

OBSERVER: Back To Me

Domestic violence is a delicate subject to address, but Penelope Swales embodies the role of a woman surviving from day to day living in her car.Written by Jules De Cinque and Swales, this is a show that is both touching and intimidating, given the prevalence of inappropriate aggression in our society.Self-composed songs provide an insight…

Observer

OBSERVER: Age Of Reason

Jayda D’Agostino’s cabaret contribution to the Melbourne Fringe Festival is a tribute to the works of John Farnham.She has the vocal range to meet the demands of the pieces she has chosen to sing and she is backed by very competent musicians, but it is in the narrative between songs that the show suffers a…

Observer

OBSERVER: The Ex Files

Sunday, October 4, 2026

The city of Melbourne becomes the grandest set imaginable for Matt Bell in one of the queerest criminal investigations of all time.The audience become voyeurs in the journey craftily linked by headsets that allow us to hear Bell over the city’s din.Each location on the trail enables Bell to reveal the details of the felony…

Ourselves

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SOLD OUT. So, let’s do it all over again on Monday WE PROMISED TO SELL 7 SUPER-DISCOUNTED PACKAGES.WITHIN HOURS, IT WAS A TOTAL SELL-OUT.WE ACTUALLY SOLD 8. Congratulations to the following clients: SO FROM MONDAY,LET’S DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN SPECIAL: FULL-PAGE AD FOR $270ADVERTISE ANYTHING It’s Melbourne Observer publisher Ash Long’s 70th birthday, and…

Observer

OBSERVER: Briefs – The Works

The creatives behind Briefs: The Works nailed the title because it delivers exactly that – the works!While the full-frontal nudity certainly commands attention, it’s far from the show’s defining feature. What truly sets this cabaret, burlesque, drag and circus spectacular apart is its extraordinary artistry, razor-sharp humour and jaw-dropping talent.These drag performers don’t just lip-sync…