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1 week ago | 
watoday.com.au | John Shand |Rod Yates |Peter McCallum
By John Shand, Rod Yates and Peter McCallumSaveNormal text sizeLarger text sizeVery large text sizeTHEATRETHE SPARE ROOMBelvoir St Theatre, June 12Until July 13Reviewed by JOHN SHAND★★★½As improbable as this seems when we gaze out upon a broken world, or scrutinise our own chaotic lives, living is the easy part. Dying is the trick: not the last breath itself, but the lead-up, once mortality grips you, and asks whether you fight or accept. Want to unlock unlimited news?
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1 week ago | 
brisbanetimes.com.au | John Shand |Rod Yates |Peter McCallum
By John Shand, Rod Yates and Peter McCallum June 16, 2025 — 3.25pm, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. THEATRETHE SPARE ROOMBelvoir St Theatre, June 12Until July 13Reviewed by JOHN SHAND★★★½As improbable as this seems when we gaze out upon a broken world, or scrutinise our own chaotic lives, living is the easy part.
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2 months ago | 
theage.com.au | John Shand |Peter McCallum |Cassie Tongue
By John Shand, Peter McCallum and Cassie Tongue April 6, 2025 — 12.56pm, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for laterAdd articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. MUSICAL THEATREAnnieCapitol Theatre, April 3Reviewed by CASSIE TONGUE★★★½That little redheaded orphan is back again. The comic strip-turned-musical has spawned three films, a live TV staging, and more than one sequel.
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Mar 4, 2025 | 
theage.com.au | John Shand |Michael Ruffles |Peter McCallum
By John Shand, Michael Ruffles and Peter McCallumUpdated March 4, 2025 — 4.49pmfirst published at 12.31pm, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Save articles for laterAdd articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. MUSICGREEN DAYEngie Stadium, March 3Reviewed by MICHAEL RUFFLES★★★★American Idiot has no right to feel this urgent. The song is 20 years old but could have been written last weekend after recent Oval Office antics.
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Mar 3, 2025 | 
smh.com.au | John Shand |Michael Ruffles
By John Shand and Michael RufflesUpdated March 4, 2025 — 2.41pmfirst published at 12.31pm, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. MUSICMARIZASydney Opera House Concert Hall, March 3Reviewed by JOHN SHAND★★★★The lights go down, and Luis Guerreiro’s dazzling Portuguese guitar splinters the silence. Mariza first appears as a silhouette, only her platinum hair and sparkly gown catching the dim light.
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Feb 24, 2025 | 
smh.com.au | John Shand |Daniel Herborn |Nick Newling
By John Shand, Daniel Herborn and Nick Newling February 25, 2025 — 10.56am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. MUSICBILLIE EILISHQudos Bank Arena, February 24Also performing February 25, 27 and 28Reviewed by NICK NEWLING★★★★★There’s a long tradition of writing off musicians with young fan bases, especially if those fans happen to be teenage girls.
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Feb 24, 2025 | 
watoday.com.au | John Shand |Daniel Herborn |Nick Newling
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Jan 24, 2025 | 
smh.com.au | John Shand |Bernard Zuel |Peter McCallum
SYDNEY FESTIVALJACKYBelvoir St Theatre, January 18Until February 2Reviewed by JOHN SHAND★★★½Most of us balance ambition with the fear of biting off more than we can chew. Jacky has begun to conquer his fear; to believe that he can find his place in the world both figuratively and literally; to carve out his own niche of lifestyle and adequate income in a white world, and eventually afford to buy his own flat in Melbourne. But at what cost?
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Jan 19, 2025 | 
smh.com.au | John Shand |Bernard Zuel |Peter McCallum
McElhinney is typically convincing playing a well-meaning hypocrite who’s prepared to chase funding from any source, however repugnant. She makes us both like Linda and cringe for her. Glenn, however, wins the cringe-worthiness stakes at a canter, and is perhaps Gillick’s ultimate creation. Retreating from a failed marriage, Glenn hires Jacky as a call-boy, whereupon he gradually reveals his naked racism, which becomes intolerable for both Jacky and a vocal first-night audience.
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Jan 13, 2025 | 
smh.com.au | John Shand
By John Shand January 14, 2025 — 11.51am, register or subscribe to save articles for later. Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time. Brendan Cowell, actor and writer, was enjoying a successful eight-year stint in London when he had a night out with an unnamed “fabulous British theatre actor”. At 2am the two ex-Hamlets were sharing a bottle, performing the Dane’s speeches on the kerbside, and agreeing he never leaves those who play him.
