
Bell Shakespeare’s latest production of Richard 3 is something of a jumble. An uninspired staging of one of the great plays of the canon, redeemed if not entirely rescued by the strong central performances of the major female leads.

From its opening moment In Difference reaches out and activates two very opposing emotional responses

It is clearly an extraordinary work, performed by outstanding talent and composed with great thought and precision, but it is less of a shared experience between audience and performers, and more a polarising exercise in insular boundary-pushing.

Mr Stink is the delightful tale of friendship between an odorous vagabond and Chloe, a gifted young writer who is suffering from the angst of school bullies and a mother who just doesn’t understand.

In an arts landscape that so easily slips into an ‘art-for-arts sake’ mentality, shake & stir have ferociously identified and developed an audience for their work, quickly expanding as one of Queensland’s most highly valued artistic exports.

It is dynamic, epic in scale and utterly fearless, both joyously painful and terribly uplifting.

Eighth Blackbird send you to musical seventh heaven with their Musica Viva set which includes the world premiere performance of home grown composer Holly Harrison.