Articles by Lloyd Bradford Syke

Sydney Theatre Company is going to regional NSW and ACT schools to teach kids about road safety — and theatre. Its new production is pitched in just the right way.

What do you get when you put 16 writers, nine directors and 19 actors into a room? The inaugural Mayday Playwrights’ Festival. The theatrical shorts are a shot in the arm for Sydney indie theatre.

Two recent dance works packed a solid punch, but would both benefit from a dramaturgical fine-toothed comb: Australian Dance Theatre’s G and Dansatori’s Mah-Hah-Bone.

Cavalia is short on gimmicks and big on heart. The big-top import touring Sydney and Melbourne has horses as it stars, but after a long canter never breaks into a gallop.

The Australian Ballet’s Vanguard showcases works from George Balanchine, Jiri Kylian and Wayne McGregor. And two great performances out of three ‘aint bad.

There’s an awkward, eloquent silence to Tom Holloway’s Forget Me Not. It’s one of the finest Belvoir St Theatre productions in quite some time.

Bell Shakespeare’s Henry 4 might be the best place to start for Shakespeare novices. And one of the best performances given by the company’s patriarch.

The Australian Chamber Orchestra takes a walk through the Weimar Republic with a couple of sensationally sassy guides — cabaret star Meow Meow and the incomparable Barry Humphries.

Australia’s most prolific playwright serves up another relationship drama that still has plenty of things to say — by silver-tongued characters.

She’s never acted before. But if Lally Katz can become one of the most performed writers in Australia, why not a one-woman show? It’s full of heart.