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fortyfivedownstairs

A man and a woman embracing in Othello.
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Othello review: a pared-back production by Melbourne Shakespeare Company

With its themes of domestic violence, Othello has continuing relevance.

A white walled gallery with three small photographs featuring a red background and three sculptural works placed low on the ground. Free exhibitions.
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Free exhibitions in Victoria August 2025

Your guide to free exhibitions in Victoria, including major solos featuring Darren Sylvester, Liam Fleming, Mike Parr, Katrin Koenning and…

Two men in suits, one lighting a cigarette for the other. Smokescreen
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Smokescreen review: smoke and mirrors theatre show in Melbourne

Smokescreen shows how tactics developed by the tobacco industry were used by the fossil fuel industry to delay action on…

A fair-skinned woman, wearing black shorts and a black waistcoat, stands in a constricting shroud of paper (perhaps representing paperwork) on a bare, industrial-looking stage. This is Andi Snelling in her solo show 'Happy-Go-Wrong' at fortyfivedownstairs.
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Theatre review: Happy-Go-Wrong, fortyfivedownstairs

This exploration of chronic illness fuelled existential angst doesn’t make the leap from fringe festival circuit to the fortyfivedownstairs stage.

An elderly man sitting on a bed. He's wearing a grey robe. The bed too is grey as is the background. The actor is Max Gillies, performing a scene from 'Endgames', a trio of short modernist plays or play extracts at Melbourne venue fortyfivedownstairs.
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Theatre review: Endgames, fortyfivedownstairs

Three short works from modernist playwrights Chekhov, Beckett and Hibberd.

Five schoolboys in white shirts gather around a water trough.
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Theatre review: Boys on the Verge of Tears, fortyfivedownstairs

An exploration of identity and masculinity from youth to adulthood.

A woman standing at a podium. Behind her is an American flag.
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Theatre review: POTUS, fortyfivedownstairs

A satirical farce with a conceit and style very similar to 'Veep' that can’t quite compare.

A transwoman, Bayley Turner, in a black dress is seated. Below her are scattered Barbie dolls on the ground. Thirty-Six
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Theatre reviews: Thirty-Six and Medium, midsumma festival

Two very different shows at midsumma festival.

In the production of 'Ilarun' a black woman in white, with a white turban, is sitting down wit h her arms apart. On the right is a tuft of plants.
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Theatre review: ILARUN: The Cutting Comb, fortyfivedownstairs

A story of decolonised power based on a 18th century Jamaican matriarch.

Six cast members of 'Rhinocerons' in elaborate costuming.
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Theatre review: Rhinoceros, fortyfivedownstairs

The second in the beast trilogy, 'Rhinoceros' is a rampaging success.

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