Stage

No place for a light heart

Alanna Maclean "Macbeth" By William Shakespeare. Directed by Peter Evans. Bell Shakespeare; The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre. Until June 2.

Reviewer

Cameron Woodhead THE biennial Next Wave Festival celebrates new, boundary-pushing work from younger artists. The problem it faces is one of curatorship: how to guide audiences so they get the most from a program packed with experimental offerings - some unsuited to traditional venues, many fleeting and ephemeral.

Broadway ambitions dashed as modest State Theatre revamp approved

Wendy Frew A PROPOSAL for a $32 million extension of the State Theatre to attract larger productions and ''world-class events'' has fallen well short of promises, say theatre heavyweights who are disappointed the State still won't be able to stage big, Broadway-style musicals.

Mad as Hell

Entertain us: Shaun Micallef

Christine Sams Presenter Shaun Micallef on comedy, television and Mark Zuckerberg.

The lost child of Gen X

Elissa Blake Melita Rowston's Crushed explores a dark crime in the apparent safety of the '80s.

Tragic tale of a video game addict

Andrew Taylor Computer Boy is a stage show that combines puppetry, machinima animation and a lecture on copyright.

At home with Paul Capsis

Elissa Blake Reminders of beloved friends and forebears dot this actor's abode.

Smashing theatre's glass ceiling

Elissa Blake Despite the gloomy statistics, female directors and playwrights are staking out new ground on stage.

Pitch perfect

Jane Wheatley A Young Talent Time winner by age nine, lyric soprano Danielle de Niese has been lauded on world stages as an opera star bright enough to woo the gods. Now, as she returns to Melbourne to join the Australian Chamber Orchestra, she hits back at critics who claim her alluring glamour outstrips her vocal talents.

Schoolgirls play who dares sins

Elissa Blake Playwright Lachlan Philpott's Truck Stop examines a new raunch cuture that may shock audiences.

Dreams of fresh future haunted by nightmare at home

Robin Usher Young Italian movement group Dewey Dell are dedicated to forging a new form of theatre integrating music, choreography and lighting, but are so depressed by the Italian economy they are saddened when considering the future.

New-look Wiggles

All change! Now it's time to get a Wiggle on

KARL QUINN Is it a mere changing of the guard or is it an early indicator of the decline and fall of the Wiggly empire?

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Aus Ballet is back in black

Wendy Frew Record numbers of people are subscribing to the Australian Ballet since the mid-nineties.

A different pointe in time

Ron Cerabona The memory of dancer Anna Pavlova comes alive again in a new work, writes Ron Cerabona

Front row seats on the Yarra

Paul Best The city's murky river becomes the stage for an innovative theatre project.

Grants to Victorian artists with sights set on digital age

Adam Fulton Arts fellowships come with calls for greater support for contemporary arts.

Reality toned down in play about brotherly love

Ron Cerabona Sometimes reality is so bizarre, it has to be toned down when adapted to fiction. Such was the case with Adam Cass's play I Love You, Bro, which opened at The Street Theatre last night.

Crimes of passion

Carmen by Georges Bizet. Directed by Hugh Halliday. Conducted by Greg Hocking Melbourne Opera; The Canberra Theatre, Canberra Theatre Centre. May 12 Reviewer: Peter Wilkins

Duo on the edge in world of pain

Robin Usher A masterpiece has been given a new treatment.

Too soon?

Korp case opera ready for opening night

Karl Quinn The first question many people ask of Midnight Son, the opera based on the Maria Korp woman-in-the-boot case, is 'why?'

Dita Von Teese: I'll strip when I'm 70

Los Angeles The 39-year-old star has no plans to retire from striptease any time soon. She still feels passionate about her performances and is planning new shows.