Music theatre

‘As a post-apocalyptic imagining of a US “bombed back to the Stone Age” by its own energy industry, it expresses the dread that pierced the brittle armour of western invulnerability when the proxy wars finally came home’: Alison Croggon on Lightning Jar’s Mr Burns

‘It’s only February, and I think I’ve already seen the show of the year’: Carissa Lee on the scorching music theatre work Barbara and the Camp Dogs

Funny, angry, anarchic and moving: Alison Croggon reviews Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story

‘This is how theatre used to be immersive before the fourth wall: a participatory ritual of joy and storytelling and song.’ Robert Reid on Calamity Jane

Gothic has strong moments but ultimately feels like a superficial exploration of the genre, says First Nations Emerging Critic and goth fan Carissa Lee

‘A yearning for simpler times, simpler narratives and endless familiarity’: Robert Reid reviews Andrew Lloyd Webber’s School of Rock

‘Trauma, its aftershocks, its fragmentation, its strange, loud silence.’ Alison Croggon on Rawcus’ Song for a Weary Throat

‘It makes me believe that magic can happen’: New Review critic Monique Grbec on Sheree Stewart’s Pilepileta at Melbourne Fringe 

A musical about the foundation of the Australian wool industry is a fun romp that misses some opportunities, says New Review critic Sumudu Samarawickrama

Robert Reid is charmed by The Rest is Drag at the Butterfly Club, a melodrama for contemporary times