Capital Life from July 9, 2022: From musical theatre to Messiah

Two exhibitions on at Craft ACT until July 27 explore aspects of nature. Confluence by Valerie Kirk and Harriet Schwarzrock is the culmination of Craft ACT's 2021 Artist-in-Residence program. It shows the results of the artists' two-part residency project - researching at Geo Science Australia and creating in Namadji National Park. Beeing by Dr Julie Bartholomew and Mahala Hill aims to bring greater visibility to bees through the craft practices of these artists. Both artists aim to utilise the aesthetic power of craft practice to engage audiences and encourage critical discourse around the significance of bees and threats to biodiversity. See: craftact.org.au.

Behind Dat Face Cabaret Showcase and Panel Discussion presents some First Nations drag acts both in performance and in conversation (Saturday, July 9 at 6.30pm at Tuggeranong Arts Centre Theatre). Artists Aidan Hartshorn, Jessica Spencer and Rechelle Turner have exhibitions in a range of media - weaving, collage, photography and installation - in the centre's gallery, showing until July 16. See: tuggeranongarts.com.

New semi-professional Canberra theatre company Heart Strings presents the Tony Award-winning satire in which a terrible water shortage caused by a 20-year drought has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The targets include the legal system, capitalism, bureaucracy, and musical theatre itself. The Courtyard Studio, Canberra Theatre Centre, July 14 to 16 and 20 to 24, various times. See: canberratheatrecentre.com.au.

Sam Taunton will host the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow with special guests Bronwyn Kuss, Cameron James, Lizzy Hoo and Takashi Wakasugi at the Canberra Theatre on Saturday, July 9 at 8pm. See: canberratheatrecentre.com.au.

Four new exhibitions are on at M16 Artspace until July 24. In Gallery 1, the M16 Studio Artists' Exhibition, curated by Nick Offer, has paintings, prints, drawings, jewellery and objects produced by both established and emerging artists. In Gallery 2, Inside Space by Tahlia Duncan-Kring explores feeling, trauma, and generational survival. Hands On Studio's All of US! in Gallery 3 brings together the stories from artists aged from 19 to 94, each artist having illustrated a part of themselves by exploring their individual relationships with the physical and virtual worlds. And in the Chutespace are Liz Coats's Procion-dyed silk squares made after she left art school in the mid-1960s. See: m16artspace.com.

This show is an affectionate lampoon of the beloved sitcom. The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre, July 13 to 16. See: canberratheatrecentre.com.au.

The Canberra Symphony Orchestra and CSO Messiah Choir will perform Handel's oratorio at Llewellyn Hall on Saturday, July 9 at 7.30pm. The performance will be conducted by Anthony Hunt. The soloists are tenor Andrew Goodwin, bass Andrian Tamburini, soprano Chloe Lankshear and countertenor Tobias Cole. See: cso.org.au.