Observer

OBSERVER: Universal Language

Thursday, May 1, 2025

In Winnipeg, a child dressed as Groucho Marx shows up to class and is immediately placed in a cupboard.Another child confesses that a turkey stole his spectacles.The exasperated teacher (Mani Soleymanlou) orders the class into the cupboard.Outside, a long trail of children queues patiently in the snow for a turn on a single swing.Later, two…

OBSERVER: Monolith

Monolith is a powerful new dance work by Joel Bray Dance that echoes and honours generations of protest and rebellion, presented from June 3-15 at Arts House, North Melbourne Town Hall as part of the Rising Festival.Together, five fierce Brown present themselves as obstacle and resistance to colonising power. They evoke a monolith – the…

OBSERVER: MSO For A Day

It is every aspiring musician’s dream to play with a professional symphony orchestra.While not every keen music student will reach those heights, some passionate community musicians have the chance to play with the acclaimed Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for just one day.On Saturday May 10 at 7.30 pm in Hamer Hall, selected community musicians will have…

OBSERVER: Hadestown opens

Opera Australia and Jones Theatrical Group present Hadestown, opening in Melbourne on Thursday (May 8) at Her Majesty’s Theatre.Seen by three million, streamed by over 350 million around the world, singer- songwriter Anaïs Mitchell’s acclaimed West End and Broadway musical phenomenon Hadestown, won eight Tony Awards when it opened on Broadway in 2019.Christine Anu (pictured)…

OBSERVER: Local Theatre Report

Wednesday, April 30, 2025

Local Theatre Report – May 7, 2025 Shows Williamstown Little Theatre: Things I Know to be True (by Andrew Bovell) Until May 10 at Williamstown Little Theatre, 2-4 Albert St., Williamstown. Director: Shirley Sydenham. Bookings: wlt.org.auLilydale Athenaeum Theatre Company: Haunted (by Eric Chappell) Until May 10 at Lilydale Mechanics Institute, Castella St., Lilydale. Director: Nicholas…

OBSERVER: New $1m contribution to Bowness Prize

Friday, April 25, 2025

Submissions are now open for the 20th anniversary of the Bowness Photography Prize.There have been major uplifts to the prize, making it secure for future generations, and which see it becoming the richest cash prize for photography in the country.A substantial philanthropic gift from the Bowness Family Foundation has enabled these developments.Theree will be a…

OBSERVER: Josephine Wants To Dance

‘Josephine Wants to Dance’ and now so do I. I was extremely fortunate to attend the Monkey Baa Theatre Company’s amazing musical production Josephine Wants To Dance, based on the popular Australian picture book by Jackie French and Bruce Whatley at the perfectly suited intimate setting of the Alexander Theatre Monash University.This uplifting, funny and…

OBSERVER: Yirramboi

Yirramboi’s 2025 Festival is being presented from May 1-11 at various Melbourne CBD venues.The Festival is set to close with Barring Yanabul (‘We all walk the path’) and The Uncle Archie Roach Block Party, transforming the heart of Melbourne with live music, DJs, voguing, performance art and installation – breaking away from colonial spaces and…

OBSERVER: En Pointe

The Australian Ballet School presents En Pointe, as part of Morning Melodies on Tuesday, May 13 at 11 am and 1.30pm at Hamer Hall, Arts Centre Melbourne.Featuring talented full time senior and pre-professional students of The Australian Ballet School, the mixed program of works will celebrate the art of ballet from uplifting contemporary to the…

OBSERVER: Hysteria

The thought-provoking political thriller Hysteria is the centrepiece movie for the German Film Festival, presented by Palace Cinemas in Melbourne from May 2-21.Written and directed by Mehmet Akif Büyükatalay, Hysteria takes moviegoers on an unnerving journey of psychological twists and turns.Set in modern-day Germany, a film company replicates the historical burning of a home where…