2019 has been one of our most ambitious years to date and yesterday that ambition was recognised with Belvoir scoring a record thirteen gongs at the Helpmann Awards, including Best New Australian Work and Best Production of a Play for …

What made you decide to become a designer? I did a visual arts scholarship all the way through high school for five years so I studied a lot of history of art and there was also lot of practical visual …

Bob loves roses. They are his pride and joy; over weekends and in retirement he has tended them lovingly. They say a lot about him, and because of the way that Andrew writes – telescoping from the intimate and personal …

Neil Armfield has noted that family is the central theme in my work but in Things I Know to be True the focus on it has never been sharper. The seeds of this play are located in my own childhood, …

Celebrated director and giant of Belvoir’s history Neil Armfield joined us in advance of rehearsals beginning for Things I Know To Be True to talk about his much anticipated return to the Upstairs Theatre, and this amazing play charting the …

The (Re)Indigenisation of Space: Weaving narratives of resistance to embed Nura [Country] in design So, Country is known – people sing for it, there are dances known, taught and danced for it, it has its stories that are taught, learned …

This play had its genesis at Belvoir in 2012 and, in many ways, has come full circle. Winyanboga Yurringa, in my Yorta Yorta language, translates as Women of the Sun and is inspired by Hyllus Maris and Sonia Borg’s …

The entire performing arts industry is in the process of cultural change. It’s painful, and it’s overdue, but individuals and organisations are focused like never before on ensuring our work places are safe and our professional relationships are respectful, responsible …

Due to a sudden but quite brilliant twist of fate (we can’t tell you what just yet) Kate Mulvany will have to finish up in Every Brilliant Thing a week earlier than scheduled. Fortunately this play has its own very …

Almost all of us have had some experience of living with mental health issues, whether it be first hand or through a loved one or friend. It is a recognisable part of being alive and human. Yet we rarely treat …

I wrote this play in a sports bra. I am not an athlete in my current life and hadn’t worn one since high school. I would take off my shirt, take off my bra, pull the sports bra over my …

The Wolves is a play that celebrates what it means to be a team, to be young and growing. Throughout this process it has been a privilege to work with a team of ten phenomenal women on a play that …

Actor Rajan Velu, recently returned from almost 10 years of film, television and theatre work in the US, on Counting and Cracking and the huge changes to the entertainment industry in the past decade, and the importance of representation. What …

Sydney based actor and youth worker Monica Kumar on learning new languages for the role and the incredible socio-political backdrop to the production. What did you expect when you were cast in Counting and Cracking?   I was really excited …

This is an Australian story. It’s not only an Australian story, but it is definitely an Australian story. Much of it takes place in Sri Lanka: the story of Australia is the story of many places, many people. Ours is …

This article was originally published in The Weekend Australian Review, January 5-6, 2019. Read the original article on The Australian here. Counting and Cracking is at Sydney Town Hall as part of Sydney Festivval, 11 January – 2 February …

“Early in 2018, when the playwright (Shakthidharan) and director (Eamon Flack) first came to my city Bengaluru, India for a quick audition, I was already in love with the script, which had been emailed to me. Several months later, when …

Yael Stone 7:30 Report Interview   “In regard to the 7:30 Report interview on 17 December, we’re upset that Yael has carried these years of anguish. Belvoir strives to have a safe and respectful workplace for artists, staff and audiences …

Perth based actor, writer and theatre maker Jay Emmanuel on the social and political power of Counting and Cracking, and his experiences of rehearsal as he works on his portrayal of young Thirru. What did you expect when you were …

Over the past twenty years it has become a rite of passage for young, innovative directors to take on Ibsen, the great Norwegian playwright born in 1828. By tackling the big social issues of his time and applying a more …

I first came cross random on a hot summer’s afternoon in London in 2009. It was my first time at the National Theatre Bookshop, and I was surrounded by all the best new plays that Europe had to offer. Something …

This brand-new version of Ibsen’s An Enemy of the People by Melissa Reeves is a comedy with a fierce political heart. Ibsen wrote Enemy in response to the critical backlash he received for his play Ghosts. His script bristles …

Belvoir has announced Kodie Bedford as the recipient of the Balnaves Foundation Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Fellowship, an evolution of the Balnaves Foundation Indigenous Playwright Award, which has long been recognised as one of the most prestigious playwriting awards …

Shelagh Delaney, who grew up poor in the middle of England in the middle of the 20th century, wrote A Taste of Honey when she was 19. The way she tells it, a young man took her to a play …

I was asked recently what effect A Taste of Honey had had on my life. All I could remember were a handful of idiot teachers who said things like: “I bet you want to be a writer when you grow …

You’ve worked on a number of Belvoir shows, and the latest, A Taste of Honey, is about to open. Can you tell us a bit about your process? Does it change according to the director? My basic process is …

His heart revives nine minutes later, but while ‘dead’ he becomes aware of the literal reality of Heaven and Hell. So much so, that Harry thinks his return to life is actually an entry into Hell. This opens the Peter …

We were thrilled to see Sam’s name among the 2018 Queen’s Birthday Honour List. She was awarded her AO “For distinguished service to the community through philanthropic support for arts programs and cultural institutions, and to a range of charitable …

This is a story about Harry Joy. He is awakening to the Hell he has been complicit in creating and he is only just starting to realise its vastness. He is beginning to understand the destructiveness of historic patriarchy and …

It’s the early 1980s in Australia. On the TV, ads flicker gravelly masculinity, flogging beer, lemon squash, and a new nationalism for the bigger world we are about to enter. “We’re gonna have to wake up sometime that everything’s not …