Culture
Live reviews
★★★★½
Sydney live reviews
The result of a single test tears this friendship apart
A premiere of a new British play and a production of As You Like It head this round-up of reviews from around the city.
- by Kate Prendergast, Joyce Morgan, Michael Ruffles and Shamim Razavi
Latest
One name wasn’t spoken at the Linkin Park gig – but his words were on everyone’s lips
A Linkin Park without co-lead singer Chester Bennington means the pressure on his replacement is strong. Live, it makes for a strange tension.
- by Will Cox, Michael Dwyer, Vyshnavee Wijekumar, Sonia Nair, Tony Way and Cameron Woodhead
Monster roosters, supersized satire collide in this outrageous production
There was one scene so absurd that no one in the room could keep a straight face.
- by Cameron Woodhead and Bridget Davies
The floor is sticky, it smells bad, and a pint is $10. It’s perfect
Rain Dogs performed at The Tote in a gig that dripped with atmosphere and sweat.
- by Will Cox, Martin Boulton, Tony Way and Sonia Nair
Pulp just gave us the best one-two opening punch I’ve ever seen at a live show
Last night there was both a blood moon and Pulp’s return to Melbourne. I know which one I’ll remember better.
- by Will Cox
Hula-hooping and a nip slip: Grace Jones delivers chaos and fun at St Kilda gig
On an ominous, stormy night on St Kilda foreshore, Grace Jones makes a declaration that sounds a bit like a threat: “I’m gonna have some fun tonight.”
- by Nick Buckley
The posters are censored and that’s just the start of it in this intriguing play
Our reviewers give their verdict on all the latest shows around town.
- by John Shand, James Jennings, Joyce Morgan, Harriet Cunningham and Nadia Russell
A bit of Bad Bunny might just be what we all need right now
Our reviewers give their verdict on all the latest shows around town.
- by Peter McCallum, Rod Yates, John Shand, Kate Prendergast and Michael Ruffles
Ed Sheeran provides intimate one-man performance to a stadium of thousands
It’s an experience you don’t usually get at a concert, let alone a 2½-hour stadium show. Despite being the only person on-stage, Sheeran keeps everyone engaged.
- by Nell Geraets
How a man playing a frog was one of the best performances I’ve seen
In a festival that brings together a performance by Baker Boy and an adaptation of a Kafka classic, the standout work came as a surprise.
- by Elizabeth Flux
This is a red-letter event for any committed theatregoer worth their salt
Red Stitch is offering the vanishingly rare opportunity to see Ray Lawler’s Doll Trilogy, which gives deeper context to the beloved Summer of the Seventeenth Doll.
- by Cameron Woodhead, Tony Way, Jessica Nicholas and Marcus Teague