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The fun starts even before you enter the heated Big Top, which is located opposite Westfield Fountain Gate in Narre Warren. Snow is falling immediately outside, courtesy of a snow making machine. FROSTED – A Winter Spectacular is a magical experience for the littlies and for the parents and grandparents who watch their small faces light up. It is the second time that Showtime Attractions has staged this Christmas in June and July celebration and it has been expanded sinc

Set between Australia and the Philippines, the tragicomedy MR BIG aka Tatay, A Transwoman and That Tiring Tune! deals with pain and regret. Diana (Dax Carnay-Hanrahan) is a trans Filipina woman who now lives in Australia and is engaged to be married to the love of her life, Jerry (Aiden Gale Miranda). At the same time, she is carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. Photos by Myca Guinchoma She is holding on to a dark secret that she can’t bring herself to share

Relationships can be complicated beasts. That is shown up in all its tangled glory (well, not so much glory) in Four Play. Rafe (Anthony Jacobsen) and Pete (Reuby Chip), both virgins when they met at university, have been in an exclusive relationship for seven and a half years. That’s when Pete puts forward an unusual suggestion that Rafe agrees to run with. Photos by Phoebe Anne Taylor He wants both of them to try having sex with the same third person, someone they both

It is a flashy, feisty, feminist take on superheroes and villains, specifically Supergirl, the 23-year-old cousin of Superman, but I wanted more substance. As it is, Supergirl, aka Kara Zor-El (Milly Alcock), raised on the planet Krypton, who watched her parents become ill and die, doesn’t want any responsibility. She has effectively checked out and lives a drunken life with her beloved dog Krypto. In short, she is celebrating her birthday week by partying across space.

A glorious spoken and sung hoot, this is an audacious retelling of Pride & Prejudice. Just what would author Jane Austen have thought of it? I dare say she would be figuratively rolling around the aisles, just like the rest of us. Photos by Matthew Chen Scottish playwright Isobel McArthur simply goes “bang” and wows us, time and again tickling the funny bone. Pride & Prejudice* (*sort of) follows the basic storyline of the classic 1813 romantic novel. Mrs Bennet, facin

Lightscape, the highly creative, after dark, lighting cavalcade at Royal Botanic Gardens, complete with a most appealing soundtrack, is a sensory sensation. It started in 2022 and the "exhibits" this year are the best yet. Following a curved two-kilometre trail, the installations have been created by leading artists from Australia and around the world. For those who have seen Lightscape before, there is so much this year that is fresh, while those who haven’t are in for a

What a fascinating, intriguing, thrilling premise this James Joyce actioner has! Imagine if the Irish writer of Ulysses, one of the most lauded books ever published, exchanged correspondence with one of the world’s most famous comedians. Yes, Joyce and Groucho Marx in regular communication, after Groucho reached out to Joyce having acquired a first edition of Ulysses. Photos by Jody Jane Stitt He does so because he admires passages of Joyce’s writing within it, but is fru

Do tech bros, that is entrepreneurs in the tech industry, rule the modern world without taking personal accountability for their missteps? You need not think too hard to come up with names that roll off virtually everyone’s tongues. That is a concept explored in this horror sci-fi about such a man who sets about trying to colonise Mars. Photos by Joe Calleri His name is Evan Task, the founder of a company called Corporare, that has its sights on the red planet. Not only

Tragicomic in nature, Sweet Charity features a series of big musical numbers. It premiered on Broadway in 1966, was nominated for nine Tony Awards (winning one for choreography) and continues to resonate. With book by Neil Simon, music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Dorothy Fields, it is based on the screenplay for the 1957 Italian film Nights of Cabiria. Heirlume Productions’ iteration is big on energy, humour and heart. Leading from the front as the ever-optimistic Cha