The Stage Show

When dancer Amy Hollingsworth was just 18, she suffered a potentially career-ending injury. Yet, she didn't just recover — she flourished. She's now the artistic director of the Australasian Dance Collective, which is about to make its return to the stage.

Also, we hear a scene from Andrea James and Catherine Ryan's Australian gothic play Dogged now at Sydney's Griffin Theatre and we consider the journey of social dance, particularly hip-hop, from the streets and clubs to the theatre with Erin Brannigan.

David Ireland writes very funny plays that often descend into bloody chaos and despair. Most, including his controversial play Ulster American, reflect the legacy of sectarian violence in his homeland of Northern Ireland and the fractured cultural politics of today.

Also, with Opera Australia back on the road, we hear Natalie Aroyan perform an aria from Verdi's Ernani ahead of its Melbourne season, and we meet Roslyn Oades: an artist who uses interviews and other recordings to create unique works of documentary theatre.

Choreographer William Forsythe didn't take a ballet class until he was 17 years old, but he quickly built a reputation for breathing new vitality into the historic art form. His Artifact Suite features in The Australian Ballet's Counterpointe, on now at the Sydney Opera House.

Also, two actors bring a whole town to life in Emily Steel's complex and heartfelt ode to regional South Australia, Euphoria, and A Fight for Survival at the Yirramboi Festival revisits a community's efforts to save a largely Indigenous school in Melbourne from closure.

British playwright Mark Ravenhill made a huge splash in the mid-90s with his first play, Shopping and F***ing. He's since become one of the most produced writers in the UK. His recent play The Cane is on now at Melbourne's Red Stitch.

Also, what does it take for an Australian to make it on Broadway? We ask Carmel Dean, a composer and musical director who spent 20 years working on huge shows. And we pay tribute to the architect Viv Fraser, designer of some of Sydney's most iconic venues.

Playwright Joanna Murray-Smith reflects on her storied career ahead of the world premiere of Berlin at the Melbourne Theatre Company and a revival of Honour at Sydney's Ensemble Theatre — a play that had its first reading with a cast that included Meryl Streep.

Also, MasterChef meets The Hunger Games in the new Australian opera Chop Chef and we discuss the state of Australian playwriting with Currency Press founder Katharine Brisbane and the CEO of the newly formed Australian Plays Transform, Louise Gough.

Mark Trevorrow created Bob Downe in 1984 and the Prince of Polyester continues to reign — at this year's Adelaide Cabaret Festival, Bob Downe is bringing the classic variety television show Adelaide Tonight back to life on stage.

Also, the Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore hit romantic comedy The Wedding Singer is now a stage musical and Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre have launched Because the Night — 'an immersive theatre adventure' — so, what does that mean?

Scottish comedian Daniel Sloss has been pushing the boundaries of stand-up since he was a teenager, raising topics like toxic relationships, sexual assault and the death of his sister on stage. But what toll did this material and relentless touring take on his mental health?

Also, the flamboyant actor Coral Browne left Melbourne for London in the 1930s and became a huge star, later mentoring the likes of Judi Dench and Maggie Smith. Now, performer Amanda Muggleton and director Nadia Tass are telling her unbelievable story on stage.

For the last decade, Widjabul woman Rhoda Roberts has been reshaping how First Nations stories are seen and heard at the Sydney Opera House. Now, as she steps down as head of First Nations programming, how far have we travelled and what remains to be done?

Also, with comedy festival season upon us, musical comedian Jude Perl lifts our spirits at the piano, and we look at the new Spanish and English audio play Romeo y Julieta and learn how Shakespeare's plays take on new layers of meaning in Latin America.

Oliver Twist is a comedian with a very challenging past — he was born in Rwanda as the country was being torn apart by civil war. Now he's an Australian and he's telling his story in a one-man show called Jali at Sydney's Griffin Theatre.

Also, Australian composer Carmel Dean writes songs for history-makers in Well-Behaved Women, and playwright Anchuli Felicia King discusses how the Royal Shakespeare Company's digital productions are changing how we perceive theatrical space.

Hamilton is about to burst onto the Australian stage. We meet the musical's Tony Award-winning director Thomas Kail, whose friendship and collaboration with Lin-Manuel Miranda stretches back twenty years.

Also, we meet the show's George Washington, Māori performer Matu Ngaropo, and find out what it means to play this complex historical figure, and we phone a stranger in A Thousand Ways — but what makes it theatre? We ask creators 600 Highwaymen.