Steve Dow

How a ‘depressing Tin Man’ took Madeline to Romeo and Juliet When Madeline Li scored a lead role in a school play as a 12-year-old, it put her on a path she still follows.

I had a yarn with Madeline Li, midway through her three-month Australian tour of 26 venues as Juliet for Bell Shakespeare.

“She’s a young woman who’s vulnerable and very emotional but look at the language and you see the strength that underwrites all of that ...” www.smh.com.au/culture/thea...

How William Barton’s yidaki meets Stephen Page’s vision in new dance work The musician and the choreographer have collaborated on a new work for Sydney Dance Company’s triple bill Continuum.

“We carry ceremony with us that keeps that fire alive and keeps us connected and grounded.”

I caught up with yidaki master William Barton & choreographer and former Bangarra leader Stephen Page during rehearsals for their first collaboration, at Sydney Dance Company

www.smh.com.au/culture/danc...

YouTube video by PBS NewsHour WATCH: At 'No Kings' rally, Sen. Sanders says U.S. experiment of democracy 'in danger' under Trump

Bernie Sanders: “The establishment want you to believe you are powerless, but that is a lie.” youtu.be/W2wbSUQxp48?...

Hamish Macdonald: ‘The experience of hosting Q+A was totally overwhelming’ The ABC radio host talks about copping abuse, being driven, and the rise of political violence around the world

Took a walk with ABC host Hamish Macdonald around Parramatta and we talked about him getting married, being type A, and learning to deal with intolerance www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

“I’m very passionate about having a First Nations storyline in such a huge show with such a huge reach.”

In Sunday Life today I profile Tuuli Narkle about her life, Noongar ancestry and ongoing role as Evie in NCIS: Sydney as well as Mary in Mystery Road: Origin.

www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/li...

Cultural exchange on the international stage Dangerously Modern: Australian Women Artists in Europe 1890–1940, co-curated by the Art Gallery of South Australia and the Art Gallery of New South Wales, celebrates 50 Australian women artists who tr...

Just seen Dangerously Modern at Art Gallery of NSW, presenting the art of 50 Australian women artists who pursued their passions in Europe between 1890 and 1940

Here, I talk to the curators about Bessie Davidson and Agnes Goodsir and their works made against the odds artguide.com.au/cultural-exc...

‘Us’ and ‘them’ is far from my spirit: Why Kutcha Edwards is building bridges As he mourns the recent death of his brother Dave, Edwards is in a period of reflection ahead of his debut with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

Great to catch up with Uncle Kutcha Edwards for a yarn ahead of his debut with the Sydney Symphony at the Opera House.

The concert, Ngarli-Wangu (Our Song) takes Edwards’s poem My Favourite Drop as inspiration, featuring river-themed landscapes and soundscapes.
www.smh.com.au/culture/musi...

Artistic director Petra Kalive State Theatre Company South Australia’s artistic director, Petra Kalive, brings seldom-heard voices to her imminent first season.

Ahead of her first season launch as artistic director of the State Theatre Company of South Australia, I talk to artistic director Petra Kalive about her life, career and community ethos www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/culture/thea... via @thesaturdaypaper.com.au

Loving the progressive values of those still posting with Elon.

Speaking of local content, when is Bluesky going to introduce regional topics?

We need a trending chart to keep us informed of Australia's biggest arsehats and bitter disappointments of the day.

'Crown-of-thorns starfish bleaching Australian content': Michael Cordell blasts tech giants Award-winning producer and director Michael Cordell has likened Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Google (“the FANGs”) to the crown-of-thorns starfish – coming in and destroying the local content environm...

"The FANGs [Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google] don’t pay tax in Australia. They commission very little content. ... they’re not dissimilar to the crown-of-thorns starfish ... bleaching Australian content from our screens.”

Agree. Zero Oz content on HBO Max, too.

mumbrella.com.au/michael-cord...

Limelight magazine's October cover image of a blue and pink Georgia O'Keefe's 1918 abstract painting Music - Pink and Blue No 1.

Opening pages of profile on playwright and actor Kate Mulvany titled Crosses to Bear, and a portrait image of Mulvany and her cane called Yorick.

Given her own father-daughter road story, actor and playwright Kate Mulvany seemed destined to adapt D'Arcy Niland's classic novel The Shiralee for Sydney Theatre Company.

I profile Mulvany about her life and career for Limelight's October issue [subscriber].

limelight-arts.com.au/features/cro...

“No Guernicas, no sacred places”: On the closure of Meanjin - Overland literary journal Australia’s literary culture depends for its life on its journals. Literary journals are not just clearing houses for pithy snatches of commentary and readable middlebrow fiction — they’re incubators ...

The deputy editor speaks

overland.org.au/2025/09/no-g...

Looking Forward, Looking Back with Lisa Reihana Auckland-born and raised artist Lisa Reihana is ever the optimist, creating two new works signifying social cohesion to hang outside two Australian arts venues—Ngununggula, and Sydney Contemporary at ...

Had a yarn with NZ artist Lisa Reihana, whose works welcome visitors entering Ngununggula in the Southern Highlands and Sydney Contemporary at Carriageworks.

"I try to demonstrate caring for others," she says, her survey at Bowral collecting her stunning recent video art.
artguide.com.au?p=219231

You mightn’t know her yet, but actor Philippa Northeast is a star to watch After a COVID career setback, the 30-year-old star of The Newsreader and Territory appears in a new ABC drama based on a Sally Hepworth bestseller.

On motherhood, career and rejection: my profile of Philippa Northeast, from The Newsreader and Territory to the ABC’s new drama The Family Next Door and her upcoming lead in a Netflix remake of an iconic Australian story. In today’s Sunday Life magazine. www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/li...

Robert Wilson: the art my generation produced won’t be seen in 50 years Avant-garde theatremaker on the genius of Lady Gaga and why contemporary artists such as Marina Abramović will become a ‘footnote’ in history

He eschewed “the lie” of naturalism on stage and saw artificiality as “more honest”. Visionary theatre and opera director Robert Wilson has died aged 83.

In 2015, he was ever the showman when I interviewed him, and he spoke of divas Gaga, Dietrich and Abramović. www.theguardian.com/stage/2015/d...

“I always want a painting or drawing I do to have a little energy and a sense of self."

Pleasure to spend time with rule-breaking artist Janet Dawson at her first state museum retrospective, at age 90, at Art Gallery of NSW.

My interview for Art Guide Australia: artguide.com.au/resisting-ru...

🔥 Rosie O’Donnell, an American, responds to Trump threatening to revoke her citizenship — showing he is coming for anyone who opposes him eventually: “You are everything that is wrong with 🇺🇸… King Joffrey with a tangerine spray tan. I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”

Stephen Page: ‘Am I old? Am I not old? Can I still create?’ The acclaimed choreographer on leaving Bangarra, losing family and finding sacred stability

Took a walk with choreographer Stephen Page and we spoke of grief, creativity and renewal as well as plans to make a feature film about his late brother, composer David Page www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...

‘As an older woman, courage starts to wobble’: How Marta Dusseldorp finds her strength Since moving to Tasmania, the actor and co-creator of Bay of Fires has embraced a more connected life.

“As an older woman, courage starts to wobble,” Marta Dusseldorp tells me in this interview ahead of her Tassie-noir romp Bay of Fires season two on the ABC.

“I want to keep my courage until the very end, and I’m finding right now I’m having to remind myself of that.” www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/li...

Bangarra: Illume review – exquisite dance show makes for an astonishing visual feast In the 1,500-seat Joan Sutherland theatre, Bangarra Dance Theatre finally has the space it deserves – and this ambitious production makes the most of it

Light as life: I review Bangarra Dance Theatre’s new show Illume last night at the Opera House, ahead of its national tour www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...

Janenne Eaton reflects the impact of the digital world on the natural Janenne Eaton’s first major career survey, Lines of Sight—Frame and Horizon opens at Geelong Gallery. With a lifetime of environmental work and appreciation, the work reflects on the omnipotence of te...

In Janenne Eaton’s art lies an implicit critique of our over-reliance on digital technology, a musing on the collision of our physical and virtual worlds.

I talk to the Melbourne artist for Art Guide Australia artguide.com.au/janenne-eato...

‘I was sure salvation lay in art’: Marina Otero on death, dance and mental illness The Argentinian choreographer, known for working out her traumas and neuroses on stage, is bringing her provocative new work, Kill Me, to Australia

Marina Otero drew on her breakdown to create Kill Me, her show about “madness for love” (or, as she puts it, “locura por amor”), coming to Melbourne’s Rising festival. I spoke to Otero in Madrid for @australia.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com/culture/2025...

En ung Michael B Tretow sittande vid ett stort mixerbord. Frida, Agnetha, Björn och Benny stående runt.

Michael B Tretow 1944-2025.
Svensk kulturkanon. ❤️

Alexander Berlage: The Bold and the Terrifying Alexander Berlage chats about his current projects – the Australian premiere of a musical and a world premiere with Sydney Chamber Opera.

Serial empath: I talk to director and lighting designer Alexander Berlage about his life and career, his take on Almodovar and his upcoming Aphrodite limelight-arts.com.au/features/ale... [subscriber]

Dutton: “We know our values, we know our beliefs and we will always stick to them.”

Well, there’s your review, then. No soul searching there. Pity he couldn’t show Indigenous people the same respect he shows defence personnel. #ausvotes

Lamington Drive was Mary’s address in Adam Elliot’s Mary and Max. Iconic.

good idea, I guess

driving home the metaphor

Walking Tall Read the article from Limelight's May 2025 issue.

From cruel Violet to optimistic Winnie, clinging to small comforts: I talk to actor Pamela Rabe about her two stage characters thus far this year, dealing with life’s blows in very different ways.

In Limelight magazine, ahead of Happy Days at Sydney Theatre Co limelight-arts.com.au/features/wal...