The Story of Mary MacLane and a rocker's transformation
It's a production that brings to life the first world's self-made media star from the 1800s, and shows one of Australia's favourite rockers in a new light.
View ArticleWollongong group takes mental health to the stage
A local theatre company has devised an innovative choose-your-own-adventure style theatre production to tackle mental illness on stage.
View ArticleLocal theatre explores Illawarra's dark history
It started as a small 'historical footnote', but that's all playwright Marcel Dorney needed to create a chilling story based on our local past.
View ArticleWollongong performance artist taking theatre to Ecuador
She's just 20 years old, but Gretchen Habermann is already travelling internationally to spread the message of live theatre.
View ArticleDoes my bum look non-existent in this?
It's the timeless story of posterior thievery, but one boy will get to the bottom of it.
View ArticleRomeo and Juliet through Facebook and Skype
It's hard enough rewriting a Shakespeare classic, let alone teaming up with a drama school in New York to do it.
View ArticleLegally Blonde stars prepare for smash musical
Before it opens in Sydney in September, two of the show's lead actors called in to our studio to talk about taking Legally Blonde from the screen to the stage.
View ArticleTerrain of Lake Eyre comes to life on stage
Australia's leading Indigenous performing arts company returns to Wollongong as they bring the mood of Lake Eyre to the stage.
View ArticleAiming high as Southern Stars concert set to explode
The routines are down, the vocals are warmed up, and over 3000 young people from the Illawarra and South East are set to lift the roof off the Wollongong Entertainment Centre this weekend for the...
View ArticleSchool for Wives proves a feast for the senses
Bell Shakespeare's performance of The School for Wives provides the perfect upgrade for a timeless story about man's thirst for relationship control.
View ArticleTell me on a Sunday, but see it from now
It's the 'Sex and City' style story of a women that leaves London for New York after a number of failed relationships, and you can see it now in Wollongong.
View ArticlePhoenix Theatre reflects on the ashes, one year on
There's something both generous and slightly mad about Coniston's Phoenix Theatre, and it's the same reason behind both.
View ArticleStrong vision recognised for Wollongong theatre company
Vision Australia says Wollongong's Merrigong Theatre Company is 'breaking new ground' when it comes to helping blind people enjoy the theatre.
View ArticleRomantic comedy with a Greek mythology twist
A new romantic comedy play featuring two talented Aussie actors opens in Wollongong this week before touring Albury and Sydney.
View ArticleJack Charles - acting beyond drugs and crime
Jack Charles is a respected Indigenous artist and elder, but for a good portion of his life he has also been homeless, a drug addict, a thief and a regular in Victoria's prisons.
View ArticleShakespeare performed in the technology era
Two enterprising theatre companies on either side of the world are teaming up again for one performance of a Shakespeare classic, with a little help from technology.
View ArticleAlbury-Wodonga to sit at The Table of the Knowledge
Court transcripts form the basis of a new play about the 2008 Wollongong Council "sex for development" scandal.
View ArticleGripping and provoking: Frankenstein comes to Wollongong
Ensemble Theatre's nationally touring production of 'Frankenstein' has opened in Wollongong to remind us of a timeless gothic masterpiece.
View ArticleStripping off the layers of a performer's life
Irene Nicola always wanted to write a show, so she settled on a subject and some topics that have consumed her for many years - herself.
View ArticleSpring Awakening rises to tackle teen issues
It's a musical that manages to tick off almost every social taboo, but at the heart of Spring Awakening is a simple story of growing up in the metaphorical dark.
View ArticleRomance and loss fused for Brief Encounter stage show
'Brief Encounter' serves as a poignant little reminder of the volcano ready to erupt beneath the cover of a mediocre suburban life.
View ArticlePassion and obsession as 'Equus' gallops back to Wollongong
It's a play made famous by Harry Potter, but the themes of 'Equus' are very much human as the story looks at what happens when your obsessions consume you.
View ArticleJump for Jordan brings the multicultural experience to the stage
Fresh from a sell-out season in Sydney, Griffin Theatre's production of 'Jump for Jordan' has leapt into Wollongong.
View ArticleHipster Apocalypse takes over Wollongong theatre
The Urban Dictionary says a modern hipster is an 'aged indie kid' that maintains an air of snobbery while still shopping at op-shops. Now throw in a zombie apocalypse story, 80s pop music and you have...
View ArticleAustralian theatre legend in Wollongong for Oscar Wilde classic
'The Importance of Being Earnest' rightfully sits in the list of classic plays, and a near full-house at Wollongong's Illawarra Performing Arts Centre on opening night of this touring production shows...
View ArticleOriginal Jurassic Park actor Jeff Goldblum praises Wollongong parody
It's been a ride as exhilarating as the movie it parodies - sell out shows, a run at the Sydney Fringe Festival, and most bizarrely, a chance encounter and tick of approval from a Hollywood celebrity...
View ArticleThe giants of war who never left home, honoured on stage
As this especially important Anzac Day draws closer, it's a fitting time for local theatre to pay tribute to the sacrifices Wollongong people made during war time. But this isn't about the troops on...
View ArticleLiberty after the Storm - Amelia Ryan on finding peace in a lovable life of...
South Coast cabaret artist Amelia Ryan has become known for her show that exposes her hilarious and chaotic life thus far. Now she returns to Wollongong to premiere a brand new one-woman show that...
View ArticleThe costume custodian of the Arcadians Theatre Group
Stored behind two unassuming doors near the entrance of the Arcadians Theatre Group in Corrimal are thousands of dresses, trousers, coats, shirts and accessories. The custodian of the costume...
View ArticleCausing positive cultural change through live theatre
In Wollongong with another eye-opening play looking at Indigenous issues, playwright Wesley Enoch reflects on how to grow Aboriginal reconciliation, how art can help design a city, and taking on one of...
View ArticleShunning the effect of technology with the master ventriloquist
He's a virtuoso of ventriloquism, and David Strassman knows the audience won't tire of seeing him single-handedly conduct a conversation with a puppet, no matter how advanced technology and robotics get.
View ArticleA marionette made in heaven as puppetry comes to the Southern Highlands
It's early days, but Sutton Forest in the New South Wales Southern Highlands could become a centre of excellence for puppetry in Australia, with the establishment of a national puppet centre. Meet the...
View ArticleBearing the brunt of trying to please everyone with live theatre
One of the things about art, whether it be live music, painting or theatre, is that you can't satisfy everyone. Or can you? Eccentric playwright Malcolm Whittaker is taking on the challenge.
View ArticleBringing social struggles to the stage with new Wollongong play
Wollongong playwright Laura Jackson returns to the stage to explore the role of a friendship between two people struggling for equality in modern society. In her second play in two years, she looks at...
View ArticleSouthern Stars spectacular returns to lift Wollongong
Southern Stars is not only a priceless gift for the students involved in it, it's a mind-blowing showcase of what young people are capable of when matched with professional direction and a huge venue.
View ArticleCircus Oz brings more than just tricks and flips
The agile, strong, bendy and funny performers from Circus Oz are back in Wollongong and yesterday they moved into the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre is typically outrageous fashion. But beneath the...
View ArticleAll In The Mind - Transcript
SHANE JACOBSON, PRESENTER: Hi. I'm Shane Jacobson and tonight's Australian Story is about a childhood hero of mine: Mister Garry McDonald, whom I had the pleasure of working alongside in the theatre...
View ArticleArt from the NT desert comes to Wollongong for theatre collaboration
The remote deserts of the Northern Territory are a long way from the centre of Wollongong, but Aboriginal artwork created by some of Australia's most isolated artists has made its way to the Illawarra.
View ArticleQuidam skips into town as Cirque du Soleil returns to Wollongong
It is one of the most respected circus franchises in the world, and next month Cirque du Soleil will return to Wollongong with its show Quidam.
View ArticleAll In The Mind
Acting legend Garry McDonald is a man on a mission. He wants to educate the public about an urgent and poorly understood mental health problem.
View ArticleTheatre legends Todd McKenney and Nancye Hayes unite for heart-warming play
Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks is a play that brings two of Australia's most respected musical theatre performers on the same stage the challenge is teaching Nancye Hayes to pretend she can't dance.
View ArticleA haunting play and uncertain future for Phoenix Theatre
The famous prose of Edgar Allen Poe will fill an almost-blank stage for Wollongong's Phoenix Theatre's first show of the year this weekend, but there is a darker cloud hanging over the theatre as a whole.
View ArticlePhoenix Theatre fate in the hands of Wollongong Council and a $1 deal
The future of the Phoenix theatre will be determined on Monday as Wollongong Council staff will vote on the proposal to sell the site to Phoenix Theatre for $1.
View ArticleLetters to Lindy Chamberlain shape groundbreaking new play
A selection of the 20,000 letters written to Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton during and after her trial for the murder of her daughter Azaria have been used to create a new play that will premiere in...
View ArticleMeet the wannabe computer programmer who ran away to the circus and now has a...
It is hard to imagine Craig Reid as a computer programmer, but that was the life awaiting the professional hula hoop artist until he chose to run away from Scotland and join the circus.
View ArticleAustralian Rockette lives out childhood dream with world renowned NYC dance...
Australian dancer Sophie Holloway visited the world-famous Rockettes in New York City as a 14-year-old girl, and like many young dancers, was told maybe one day she could come back and join the famous...
View ArticleAustralian play Lost Boys explores same-sex marriage and history of gay hate...
Australian playwright Lachlan Philpott says homophobia is still a prevailing issue in his play Lost Boys, which explores Sydney's anti-gay violence in the 1980s.
View ArticleCreate NSW funding cutbacks affect regional touring capacity for major arts...
Some of Australia's most prestigious arts companies Bangarra, Australian Theatre for Young People and Australian Chamber Orchestra have cancelled tours to regional New South Wales, after the state's...
View ArticleRolf Harris sketch removed from regional theatre to take a stand against...
A sketch by convicted sex offender Rolf Harris is painted over at a theatre in regional South Australia, four years after the performer was convicted of indecent assault.
View ArticleWith their love for parkour, Dauntless Movement Crew inspire kids to get fit,...
The Dauntless Movement Crew met on the streets of western Sydney and now they're touring Australia inspiring teenagers to get fit and express themselves through dance.
View Article
