Arts and culture

Culture Buff

28 February 2015 9:00 am

Adelaide is the perfect festival city and its once biennial, now annual, Festival has been the pace setter for others…

Culture buff

14 February 2015 9:00 am

He gave himself the name ‘Tennessee’; a creative and public relations masterstroke for a still unknown 28 year-old writer. Born…

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7 February 2015 9:00 am

Readers already know from this column something of the forthcoming Perth International Festival (13 Feb-7 Mar) with its huge Journey…

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31 January 2015 9:00 am

Possibly in the most beautiful setting of any theatre in the world, Sydney’s Wharf Theatre saw its first performances 30…

Culture buff

24 January 2015 9:00 am

This is a great time of the year to make progress with that stack of unread books. One of my…

Essie Davis in The Babadook

Australia’s film awards – put your money on the pulpy stuff

17 January 2015 9:00 am

If I were asked to name my favourite job over the past 15 years, since I took leave of my…

Culture buff

17 January 2015 9:00 am

Wanting to love it was not enough; Mr Turner just didn’t quite do it for me. Mike Leigh’s new film…

Culture buff

10 January 2015 9:00 am

Not many people would still argue that fashion, as in garments, has no place in an art museum. After all,…

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3 January 2015 9:00 am

I’m a bit perplexed about a current Christmas (perhaps I should say Xmas) craze. This is not a moan from…

Anthony Minghella’s Madama Butterfly in Perth from 24 Feb

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13 December 2014 9:00 am

The arts are alive and well heading into 2015

Culture buff

6 December 2014 9:00 am

We’ve established that capital city festivals are for other people. Their principal purpose is to bring people into the city,…

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29 November 2014 9:00 am

John Hearder was a society photographer whose studio and display window were on Castlereagh Street between Rowe Street and the…

Culture Buff

22 November 2014 9:00 am

Andy Warhol is the star but Roy Lichtenstein is the master. That’s the quick take out of POP TO POPISM…

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15 November 2014 9:00 am

Jane Turner is to play a mother with a difficult daughter. No, it’s not a stage version of Kath &…

Culture buff

1 November 2014 9:00 am

I’m oversensitive to criticism of Australia by famous authors. Richard Flanagan, elated at winning the Man Booker Prize for The…

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25 October 2014 9:00 am

A highly successful tour of European festivals is a great boost to an orchestra. Not just to morale but to…

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18 October 2014 9:00 am

Happy is the theatre company that can enjoy the regular services of a genuine international star, as admired on stage…

Culture Buff

11 October 2014 9:00 am

I’ve never entirely understood why big cities have arts festivals. Melbourne and Sydney are both big cities by any international…

Culture Buff

4 October 2014 9:00 am

He was born into Australian ballet aristocracy but now lives in Houston. Stanton Welch is the son of Marilyn Jones…

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27 September 2014 9:00 am

It all began in the mid-1960s for the Brilliant Creatures: Germaine, Clive, Barry & Bob, now given de luxe treatment…

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20 September 2014 9:00 am

It’s chamber orchestras at 20 paces. Both the Australian Chamber Orchestra and the Australian Brandenburg Orchestra have recently announced their…

Culture Buff

13 September 2014 9:00 am

The village of Bibbenluke sits at the point where the Monaro Highway crosses the Bombala River. It’s beautiful, remote,  and…

Culture Buff

6 September 2014 9:00 am

After a red-carpeted fanfare the Emmy Awards were announced last week in LA.  There is no hope for me; my…

Culture Buff

30 August 2014 9:00 am

Oh dear, the Helpmann Awards have come round again. The winners were announced in Sydney’s Capitol Theatre, a most appropriate…

Culture buff

23 August 2014 9:00 am

I was hung once, in the Archibald, that is. Paul Newton, having been commissioned to paint me by the ABC,…