Observer

OBSERVER: Death of a Salesman

Monday, May 18, 2026

GWB Entertainment and Andrew Henry Presents have announced the return of Arthur Miller’s Pulitzer Prize-winning classic play Death of a Salesman to Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne, for a strictly limited two-week season from August 11.Emmy, Golden Globe and Tony Award winner Anthony LaPaglia will reprise his role as Willy Loman, for which he received rave…

OBSERVER: Confined 17

The Torch announces an immersive public program for Confined 17 – its landmark annual exhibition featuring 497 artworks from 424 First Peoples artists with lived experience of incarceration in Victori.The exhibition is until June 14 at Glen Eira City Council Gallery.Through a series of live events, The Torch invites the public to engage directly with…

OBSERVER: Sweet as pie

Saturday, May 9, 2026

The Australian premiere of Waitress opened to an appreciative packed house at Her Majesty’s Theatre, where it can be enjoyed until July 19.Audiences are greeted by a spectacular lattice cherry pie design covering the front curtain, with numerous racks of delicious-looking pies rotating in two tall glass towers standing either side.The comedy-drama stage musical evolved…

OBSERVER: Waitress

Thursday, May 7, 2026

Broadway’s smash-hit musical Waitress is playing at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne until July 19.Leading the cast as Jenna is Natalie Bassingthwaighte (Chicago, Shirley Valentine), while Gabriyel Thomas (Cats, Sister Act) and Mackenzie Dunn (Grease, Annie) play Becky and Dawn, Jenna’s coworkers at the diner.Rob Mills (& Juliet, Wicked) is Dr Pomatter, and John Waters (Jesus…

OBSERVER: Welcome to Hell

Saturday, April 18, 2026

Hell on earth could well be a corporate training session where recruits are ‘onboarded’ – an odious word if ever there was one – but, for Andy Balloch, it represents an opportunity to chastise and satirise and, for that matter – demonize everything that’s problematic in society. His Welcome to Hell contribution to the Melbourne…

OBSERVER: Disunited States

When it comes to farce, it would be difficult to rival current events where the United States are concerned but Richard Mealey has taken on that daunting task in his contribution to this year’s Comedy Festival. Titled Disunited States, we are privy to a range of stereotypical characters that expose the fraught underbelly of a…

OBSERVER: Birds

Two women lounge in deck chairs, staring out to sea. This is Birds, presented as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival at The Beckett Theatre, Malthouse.Shayna (Alex Hines), a wealthy five-time divorcée, and Beverley (Sarah Stafford), a suburban mother of twelve boys, bond over cocktails and cigarettes, as if Kath Day-Knight had met Prue…

OBSERVER: A Weight Off My Chest

Celebrating her 20th year at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Geraldine Hickey is a familiar face, and judging by the packed house at the Comedy Theatre, a very popular one. She marks the milestone with a neat piece of crowd work before the show properly begins, spotting an audience member who had seen her two…

OBSERVER: The Effect

Intriguing, thought provoking, intense – are some words to describe my thoughts after seeing Key Conspirators’ production of The Effect.The opening was stirring with mirrored flooring giving the illusion of space, with a stark white light transforming the theatre into a hospital setting allowing the audience to be within the four walls from the beginning.Well…

OBSERVER: Maps with Julian O’Shea

Arriving at the cosy, intimate Studio Two performance venue at The Crowne Plaza, I wasn’t expecting to find cartographic comedy to be so entertaining.Surprisingly, it lived up to its reputation as being the “funniest map-showed theme at the festival”.Who knew that a witty, knowledgeable, quirky digital content creator could be so hilariously comical using relevant,…