WHAT'S ON

What if Juliet’s story didn’t end in tragedy? In a Canberra first, Free-Rain Theatre Company brings the international hit musical & Juliet to The Q in 2026, reimagining Shakespeare’s most famous love story with a bold new twist.

In this review, Eric C. Nash reflects on Lee Knight’s Oscar-nominated short film A Friend of Dorothy, tracing how a simple mishit football and an unlikely friendship between Miriam Margolyes’ Dorothy and teenager JJ (Alistair Nwachukwu) quietly reopen an old coded question—“Are you a friend of Dorothy?”— for a new generation navigating queer identity, history and belonging.

What does it mean to raise your voice when the world refuses to listen? Daniela Koulikov from FUSE spoke with Mitchell Butel about reviving Larry Kramer’s landmark play, honouring queer history, and why theatre is still a powerful space for empathy and change.

Free-Rain Theatre’s production of '& Juliet' explores the question: what if Juliet didn’t die for Romeo and instead chose herself? This remix of Shakespeare is energised by hit pop songs from Max Martin and features a talented cast. In this reimagining, Juliet gets a second chance, while her best friend May, portrayed by Josh Kirk, steps into the spotlight as a non-binary character who navigates issues of identity, community and self-acceptance on their own terms.

Maxi Shield was the kind of queen it was hard to imagine Sydney without — a fixture on Oxford Street. A drag legend who lit up stages from the Darg Race to the Olympics closing ceremony to late‑night karaoke at Palms. News of her death at 51, following treatment for cancer, has left the queer community grieving a performer many saw as both a drag icon and a friend.

Reverie tells the story of Gregory, a newly divorced man in his 60s who finally confronts the truth he buried while growing up gay in 1970s Australia, when homosexuality was criminalised. What begins as a one-night encounter becomes a deeply human exchange between generations — a story about listening, vulnerability and late-life courage.

Set inside one of sport’s most emotionally restrictive worlds, the series dares to imagine what happens when tenderness, consent, and queer joy are allowed to exist where hypermasculinity has long ruled. Its power lies not only in the love story at its centre, but in how that joy challenges everything hockey — and society — has taught men to suppress. In doing so, Heated Rivalry opens up new ways of thinking about masculinity, intimacy, and the kind of futures we might still be brave enough to imagine.

Funny, tender, goofy. Beloved LGBTQ+ ally and queer icon Catherine O'Hara will be very much missed. She was celebrated for her unmatched comic timing and chameleon-like character work.

★★★★☆ “A spellbinding dive down the rabbit hole. Bold, beautiful and brimming with wonder.” FUSE Magazine