
Spectacle and orchestra, a mash-up of punk, jazz, Balkan gypsy folk and big brassy carnival scores – it's all here in a show touting itself as 'Cold War served warm.'

Melbourne has been invaded by pirates. The Gilbert and Sullivan’s classic operetta The Pirates of Penzance, that is.

Filled with a stellar lineup of performers and set in a magnificent elevating apartment block, La bohème feels like a grand finale; it's festive, spirited and gorgeous in all the right places.

It's hard to know what to say about Emma Matthews that mightn't have been reflected before. Suffice to say, to restate the obvious, hers is a soaring, self-assured coloratura of the highest and finest order.

All That Is Wrong is a gentle journey that packs a powerful punch. The limited season during the festival is a crying shame. Here’s hoping they’re back here again soon.

Minsk is ruled in the old-school soviet style, secret police, artistic, intellectual and cultural censorship, political repression, state executions even. None of the performers can work in Belarus and most are based elsewhere, predominantly the UK.

Irish performer Rory O'Neill's drag queen Panti is a commanding stage presence. 'You will love me' is the start and finish of her show. A consummate story teller is Panti, and a most unlikely product of rural Ireland's County Mayo.