Melbourne Festival
The top nine Time Out recommended shows
1 Anthem
When we talk about landmark moments in Australian playwriting, it’s hard to go past Who’s Afraid of the Working Class, the blistering collaboration between four of our finest writers – Andrew Bovell, Patricia Cornelius, Melissa Reeves and Christos Tsiolkas – and composer Irine Vela. Now they’re reuniting to mark the work’s 20th anniversary at Melbourne Festival with a brand new show that looks at Australia today and asks what draws us together and what divides us. à Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne 3004. 1300 182 183. festival.melbourne. $39-$79. Oct 1-6.
2 Colossus
Leading Melbourne choreographer Stephanie Lake’s show featuring 50 dancers performing as a spectacular single mass premiered at the 2018 Melbourne Fringe to stellar reviews (we gave it a rare five-star rave). It was such a hit that Melbourne Festival is bringing it back to the Arts Centre for a short season. à Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne 3004. 1300 182 183. festival.melbourne. $29-$39. Oct 3-6.
3 Grand Finale
Israeli choreographer Hofesh Shechter makes some of the most vibrant dance in the world. In 2016 he was nominated for a Tony Award for choreographing a new production of Fiddler on the Roof, but he’s best known for the shows he creates with his own company. That company is coming to Melbourne to perform Grand Finale, a bleakly funny reflection on a planet threatened by disaster. à Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne 3004. 1300 182 183. festival. melbourne. $39-$119. Oct 10-13.
4Gender Euphoria
Two greats of Melbourne cabaret – Mama Alto and Maude Davey – co-created this show coming to Melbourne Festival after a hit season at this year’s Midsumma Festival. Featuring a cast of trans and gender-diverse artists from all stages of their careers, the show combines the traditions of vaudeville with genre-pushing and boundary-pushing performance. à The Spiegeltent, Arts Centre Melbourne Forecourt,
100 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne 3004. festival.melbourne. $30-$39. Oct 15-20.
5The Nico Project
British actor Maxine Peake, known for her roles in Black Mirror, Silk and Shameless, steps into the shoes of the late, enigmatic German singer and model famous for her work with the Velvet Underground. Peake will be joined onstage by 15 female musicians from Australia and the UK. à Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne 3004.
1300 182 183. festival.melbourne. $39-$89. Oct 11-20.
6Rite of Spring
Australian audiences who caught Chinese superstar choreographer Yang Liping’s Under Siege at the 2017 Melbourne Festival couldn’t stop raving about the visual spectacle, sheer beauty and inventiveness of the performance. Now she’s bringing a new ballet to Melbourne, inspired by Igor Stravinsky’s ballet score, The Rite of Spring. The performance will feature 15 dancers on stage at the State Theatre. à Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne 3004. 1300 182 183. festival.melbourne. $39-$119. Oct 3-6.
7The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes
Geelong’s world-renowned Back to Back Theatre is made
up of people who are neurodivergent or disabled. They’re back with another provocative piece of theatre featuring five activists who stage a public meeting about some of the biggest issues facing us today. à Arts Centre Melbourne, 100 St Kilda Rd, Melbourne 3004. 1300 182 183. festival.melbourne. $39-$49. Oct 9-20.
8Token Armies
Antony Hamilton is taking over the reins of Melbourne’s Chunky Move dance company and will premiere his first work as artistic director at this year’s Melbourne Festival. Set in an immersive environment, the futuristic work features 23 dancers interact with various lifeforms and machines that move and seem to breathe. At the centre of the performance is a massive moving sculpture created by Creature Technology Co, the company behind the larger-than-life puppets in King Kong and Walking with Dinosaurs. à Meat Market, 3 Blackwood St, Melbourne 3051. festival.melbourne. $39-$59. Oct 16-20.
9The End of Eddy
Édouard Louis’s book tells of a young boy growing up in rural France and withstanding relentless bullying for being gay. It’s an often bleak story, but this British theatrical version – which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival in 2018 and has two actors playing Eddy and every character he comes into contact with – is vibrantly entertaining. à Malthouse Theatre, 113 Sturt St, Southbank 3006. 03 9685 5111. festival.melbourne. $39-$59. Oct 16-20.