Time Out Melbourne Arts & Culture Awards 2024: Critics' Choice winners

The “Matilda for grown-ups” comparisons were true: this Australian premiere burrowed all the way down into the depths of despair and climbed triumphantly back out again, all within two snappy acts. A musical adaptation of a film about becoming a better person runs the risk of feeling twee. However, Tim Minchin’s zingingly clever lyrics and Danny Rubin’s gutsy book took the essence of the film and extracted considerably more depth and grit to give the musical its own more mature personality.

Read the full review here.

Courtney Monsma’s G(a)linda is slap-your-knees, let-out-a-squeal funny. She re-shapes the virtue-signalling mean girl role and makes Glinda that much easier to redeem with her masterful timing, quirkiness and propensity for revealing the good witch’s vulnerable side. From soaring operatic highs from within her perfect bubble to a delightfully unexpected grunt or two, Monsma is a delight.

It’s hard to imagine how a memoir spanning Maxine Beneba Clarke’s formative years could translate from page to stage. Yet, in the very capable hands of Beneba Clarke herself, alongside her creative team, this theatrical adaptation of The Hate Race not only tapped into what’s so special about the source material but also stood as a powerful piece of storytelling in its own right. 

Read the full review here.

Exploring the destructive depths of mental illness on the stage is no easy task, but it's one Max McKenna executed with devastating skill. Their portrayal of Anna's never-defined yet ever-present psychological struggle was as heartwrenching as it was layered, from grandiose youthful vigour to desperate depression.

Robotic dogs. Yoko Ono. A dragon-imprinted McDonald's sign. Paris haute couture house Schiaparelli. The NGV's Triennial returned bigger and better in late 2023, an electric fusion of contemporary art, design and architecture. It featured creations from 100 artists, and included more than 25 world-premiere projects commissioned exclusively by the gallery. The exhibition allowed leading and emerging artists and designers to creatively respond to the most relevant and critical global issues of our time.

Opening in April 2023, ACMI's Goddess: Power, Glamour, Rebllion exhibition celebrated daring and disruptive women on and off the screen. The landmark showcase unveiled and examined the shifting representation of femininity across film history through provocative cinematic moments. It featured never-before-seen costumes, original sketches, interactive experiences and cinematic treasures from the icons of the silent era to classic Hollywood heroines and the stars of Bollywood blockbusters. 

Connection at the Lume provided an opportunity to experience the sights and sounds of Australia’s First Nations artists like never before. From intricate dot paintings to watercolours and wood carvings, the immersive exhibition explored themes of Land, Water, Sky and Country. It spanned 3,000 square metres of gallery space and featured projections four storeys high from celebrated artists like Tommy Watson, Gabriella and Michelle Possum Nungurrayi, Clifford and Emily Kame Kngwarreye. And it was all set to a soaring score of First Nations music.