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What does telling the story of the long-running conflict in the Congo through the lens of Verdi’s Macbeth teach us? Owen Metsileng and Nobulumko Mngxek in Macbeth. by Nicky Newman

Macbeth brings double, double, toil and trouble from DR Congo

Brett Bailey’s Macbeth at Brisbane Festival is a powerful production that relocates Verdi’s opera (based on Shakespeare’s play) to the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Hearing HITnRUN as a ‘concept album’ rather than a collection of tracks, gives a different feel to the more awkward moments. AAP Image/NPG Records

Prince shoots for a new purple patch with HITnRUN

For some, this album will be a good-natured happy-go-funky tour through Prince’s famously diverse stylistic interests. Others will find some of the tracks poorly executed, or a bit passé.
What role does the philologist play in our ongoing engagement with great writing? AAP image/Art Gallery NSW/ 'John Coetzee' by Archibald finalist Adam Chang, 2011.

JM Coetzee and the Life of Writing bears testimony to the value of a literary archive

David Attwell’s new book is the first extended investigation of the South African author composed since the recently-opened Coetzee archive at the University of Texas. So what does it teach us?
Alison Bell as Emma, making the long, counter-intuitive journey from despair to hope, is perfect in every way. Shane Reid

Betrayal by Harold Pinter, and our betrayal of ourselves

This production of a very great play by the State Theatre Company of South Australia is beautiful, clarified, and haunting. You will be relieved to know it is “excellent”. More to the point it is right.
Greek tragedy remains the most modern form of drama, unafraid to question everything we value. Sarah Walker. Photo: Jane Montgomery Griffiths as The Leader and Aaron Orzech as Haemon.

Antigone now: Greek tragedy is the debate we have to have

Regardless of reasoning and the plethora of scholarship that exists, Greek tragedy remains the most modern form of drama. It is unafraid to question everything we value.
Men at Work were found liable for copying two bars from Kookaburra Sits on the Old Gum Tree – a ‘fair use’ exception would have prevented this. Jolene Bertoldi

The Down Under book and film remind us our copyright law’s still unfair for artists

A new book and documentary tell us more about the story behind Men at Work’s song Down Under – and the court case it eventually led to. They also prompt questions about current Australian copyright law.
Brian Wilson’s music – the subject of Love & Mercy – is like a lesson we relearn each time we listen. Francois Duhamel/image.net

Love & Mercy: what Brian Wilson’s story tells us about genius and music

Much like the music of the man it’s based on, Love & Mercy is beautiful, complex, somewhat melancholy, and thought-provoking. It also teaches us some things about creative genius, innovation, and art.
Exhibitions such as HERE NOW at the Lawrence Wilson Gallery show how local art museums can engage with the arts community in which they are based. Lawrence Wilson Gallery

Staking a claim: a rationale for local art museums

In a crowded and competitive market, how does an art museum located far from major centres of population – say, in Perth – make its mark? One obvious answer is to focus on what is distinctive about your…
Performance artist Marina Abramovic is undertaking a residency in Sydney. This image from her 2009 work, The Drill at the Manchester International Festival 2009 Photo © Marco Anelli. Courtesy the Marina Abramovic Archives

The mystical stillness of Marina Abramovic in Sydney

It’s hard to resist the extraordinary charisma of performance artist Marina Abramovic, who has just started a new residency in Sydney.
Michal Motycka’s Diamonds is one of the standout works at Sculpture by the Sea in Aarhus, Denmark. Photo: Clyde Yee. Sculpture by the Sea

Sculpture by the Sea is thriving – on the coast of Denmark

Bondi’s highly popular Sculpture by the Sea has set up shop in Denmark – and the Aarhus event has proved to be an astonishing and very different success to its predecessor.

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