SYDNEY: Neil LaBute once said he relished being the “naughty child of playwriting”. Well, he can certainly ruin a night out for a hapless theatre-goer. Imagine the humiliation of being escorted from the theatre after verbally assaulting a performer because you forgot you were watching a play. Now, I so wish I could tell you this happened last Sunday in Potts Point but alas, it was during the Broadway run of this play. It is, however, a testament to LaBute’s writing. He knows what boils the blood and he can solidly construct a play. Of course, his true gift is his unerring ear for dialogue. 

ADELAIDE: Indigenous elder, convicted criminal, gifted artist, drug addict and gay: The music from Jack Charles’ award-winning stage production Jack Charles v The Crown is a Cabaret Festival exclusive.

SYDNEY: Strange Interlude was written by a drunkard who turned the American theatre scene on its head in the first half of the last century. He could think and drink.

Rob Chuter is the director of All That I Will Ever Be, a play about people behaving badly written by Alan Ball, the man behind TV’s True Blood and Six Feet Under. Chuter spoke to Andrew Shaw about hustlers, drugs and Kylie covers.

Food is a domestic tale set appropriately in a kitchen. It opens with grub being prepared for truckies and travellers in need of sustenance for the next 100km on a lonely highway. It’s the kind of place where the deep fryer sees a lot of use. But it’s not all about crap food. In fact, Steve Rogers’ funny and tender play is really about longing. The characters are desperately seeking intimacy and experiences that will truly sustain them.

ADELAIDE: The Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning rock musical Next to Normal will premiere in Adelaide during May 2012 at the State Opera Studio.

State Theatre of SA presents one of the great 20th century plays, Tennessee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie. Peter Burdon spoke to director Adam Cook about his swansong with the company.

SYDNEY: Simon Stone, one of AXN’s favourite directors, has got his hands on Eugene O’Neill’s 1923 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Strange Interlude. With a stellar cast performing Stone’s brand-new adaptation, the production is set to be a transformative night at the theatre. Actor Mitchell Butel sat down with Garrett Bithell.

With an ARIA award under his belt, End of Fashion frontman Justin Burford goes cabaret – with Kurt Cobain!

Peter Burdon spoke to Cabaret Festival regular Eddie Perfect about his appearance in 2012.

Ten years after the brutal murder of a gay student in Laramie, Wyoming, the town is again put under the theatrical spotlight with The Laramie Project: Ten Years Later. Andrew Shaw spoke with director Gary Abrahams.

Writer and performer Bojana Novakovic, in this latest collaboration with her Ride On Theatre cohort and director Tania Goldberg, introduces us to the provocative Mary Maclane (born 1881).

SYDNEY: Physical theatre master Kate Champion is teaming up with Steve Rodgers to bring his story of obsession, sex and nourishment to Belvoir’s downstairs theatre, writes Garrett Bithell. 

This take on the Bard’s tale of ambition and murder gets off to a great start with a creepily atmospheric opening.

Fans of the movie and fans of musical theatre generally will be queuing up for the SA premiere of the top Broadway musical Kiss of the Spider Woman.