Capital Life: What's on in the Canberra arts scene from February 11, 2023

The survey exhibition of Australian artist Cressida Campbell's work at the National Gallery of Australia, with prints and paintings that range from intimate interior views through to panoramic coastal landscapes, finishes on Sunday, February 19. See: nga.gov.au.

Direct from her London base, Hayat Selim in her only Australian appearance will be accompanied by collaborative pianist Dianna Nixon in an evening of original compositions and arrangements of classic soundtrack material. Selim is an Egyptian composer, singer-songwriter and voice artist, with a Masters in Screen Composition from the Royal College of Music. She sings in Arabic, English, ancient Egyptian, Spanish, Italian and old Irish language, bringing a focus to cross-culturalism, inclusion and diversity. After interval, Nixon becomes the host for a chat with Selim. The Street Theatre, Thursday February 16 at 7.30pm. See: thestreet.org.au.

Carl Rafferty presents this event with a selection of popular and opera numbers and orchestral tunes. The program will include Summertime from Porgy and Bess, Stranger in Paradise from Kismet and Spring from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. It's on at Albert Hall on Saturday February 25 and Sunday February 26 at 6pm. See: operabycandlelight.net.au.

To celebrate the 80^th birthday of stage, screen and recording star Barbra Streisand, musical theatre stars Elise McCann, Ainsley Melham and Caroline O'Connor along with genre-hopping vocalist Katie Noonan will perform songs made famous by Streisand. Among the numbers will be The Way We Were, Evergreen and You Don't Bring Me Flowers. It's on at the Canberra Theatre on Saturday, February 11 at 2pm. See: canberratheatrecentre.com.au.

Members of the Australian Haydn Ensemble will perform string quartets by Haydn and Mendelssohn and selections from The Art of Fugue by J.S. Bach at Wesley Music Centre on Thursday, February 16 at 7pm. See: wesleycanberra.org.au.

Two new exhibitions are on at Beaver Galleries until February 25. Alex Asch's Climacteric explores constructed landscapes primarily through the use of recycled metal and form ply. This exhibition was inspired by a recent road trip to Broken Hill (Wilyakali), Cobar (Wongaibon), and Silverton (Wiljaali) where industrial ruins and metal tailings dominate the outskirts of the urban landscape. In Duality, Tasmanian ceramic artist Kelly Austin creates meditative still life arrangements unrestricted by traditions of efficiency and utility, process and practice. See: beavergalleries.com.au.

With the actor getting the script for Iranian writer Nassim Soleimanpour's play only once they step on stage, in a role they can only play once, this play promises to be something different. The Mill Theatre at Dairy Road, February 15, 16, 18, 23 and 24 at 7.30pm. See: humanitix.com.

Here's something different to do the night before St Valentine's Day: see The First Wives Club (PG, 1996) on the big screen. At the funeral of a friend who killed herself when her ex-husband married a younger women, three former college friends (Bette Midler, Goldie Hawn and Diane Keaton) reunite for the first time in years and, feeling their ex-husbands have taken them for granted, make a pact to exact revenge. Arc Cinema, National Film and Sound Archive, Monday February 13 at 6pm. See: nfsa.gov.au.

Seeking another offbeat cinematic offering near the day of love? Sara Dose's documentary Fire of Love (PG, 2022) looks at the lives of French scientists Katia and Maurice Krafft, who devoted their lives to uncovering the mystery of volcanoes. It explores how their shared passion enabled pioneering research in the 1970s and '80s that helped save lives, but at what cost? It's on at Arc Cinema, National Film and Sound Archive, on Thursday, February 16 at 6pm. See: nfsa.gov.au.