Stuttgart Ballet’s appearance in Melbourne comes thanks to The Australian Ballet, under whose banner Stuttgart’s Sleeping Beauty is being performed while TAB is tied up with its tour to the United States with Christopher Wheeldon’s Oscar. It’s a delectable gift. Marcia Haydée, John Cranko’s indispensable muse during his transformative artistic leadership of Stuttgart in the 1960s and early 1970s,…
Author: Deborah
Bespoke, Queensland Ballet. Talbot Theatre, Thomas Dixon Centre, Brisbane, October 2, 2026.
A bespoke item is one made specially for a person. It’s tailored to suit and fit. That’s what the word means, full stop. But that’s only half the picture for Queensland Ballet’s annual program of new work. There are expectations that go significantly beyond a great fit. In 2023, for instance, the promise was that Bespoke would…
My Fair Lady, Opera Australia and John Frost. Sydney Opera House, September 22.
Eliza Doolittle (Claire Lyon) has got on top of where it rains in Spain and the safest topics of conversation (weather and health). She has entranced everyone at an upper-crust ball, looking unutterably poised in white. She has been the toast of Royal Ascot, scene of arguably the most delicious display of glamour in all…
Triptych. Lewis Major Projects. The Studio, Sydney Opera House, September 16, 2026
I’d see this show again in a heartbeat. If they’d announced a performance of Triptych was to start immediately after the one I saw in Sydney I’d have been elbowing people out of the way to be first in line. True, the whole thing is only 60 minutes long and time passes so swiftly you’d swear you’d…
Macbeth. West Australian Ballet, His Majesty’s Theatre, Perth, September 9, 2026
Sex, violence, fabulous frocks, industrial-strength design and a banging score: what’s not to like about Alice Topp’s Macbeth? Topp has wanted to make this ballet for a long time and at last one can see where she’s been heading with that super-intense, tightly woven, frankly erotic partnering she likes so much and does so fearlessly….
Flora. The Australian Ballet and Bangarra Dance Theatre. The Regent, Melbourne, March 12. Sydney until April 18, 2026.
I saw Flora at its premiere in Melbourne in March and was struck anew by the breadth of artistic director David Hallberg’s vision for The Australian Ballet. Hallberg’s counterpart at Bangarra Dance Theatre, Frances Rings, is his equal in daring. Both companies are leading forces in Australian dance but would seem to be strange bedfellows. Stylistically and…
Code of Conduct. Australasian Dance Collective. Level 20, 300 George St, Brisbane. March 19, 2026
Code of Conduct is pungently sited on the 20th floor of a Brisbane office block. Look out the windows and a shiny city full of possibilities beckons; inside it’s all concrete, low ceilings and regrettably basic equipment. If not for the smart suits worn by the Code of Conduct dancers you could easily imagine this as a prison rec…
My Brilliant Career. Melbourne Theatre Company, Lawler Theatre, February 4, 2026
Sybylla Melvyn blazes like a comet in the night sky, although one with a path that can’t be predicted with any accuracy whatsoever. Sybylla is an agent of chaos, crashing her way towards a life much bigger and brighter than she would seem destined for. This wild girl from drought-stricken Possum Gully at the turn…
Mama Does Derby. Windmill Production Company, Sydney Festival and Adelaide Festival, January and February 2026
It goes without saying creating new work is always a gamble. When it’s staged as part of a major festival the stakes are even higher. The show has to compete with much more seasoned fare. Odious comparisons may be made and a strong idea may never get to have a second chance. That fate has…
Songs of the Bulbul. Aakash Odedra Company, Sydney Opera House, January 28, 2026
You hear it a lot in foyers. “A short show’s a good show” we cry before heading into the auditorium. It’s shorthand, if you will, for the knowledge that we don’t be detained too long if a terrible performance lasts only 90 minutes or so without interval. It’s kind of a joke but not a…
