In 2024, Melbourne’s arts scene has never felt more exciting. From world premieres of award-winning musicals and blockbuster exhibitions to indie operations involving wildly talented individuals, our city is alive with awe-inspiring cultural offerings.
All year round, Time Out’s dedicated critics are busy catching musicals, plays and exhibitions around Melbourne to give readers the juicy coverage they want: independent critical reviews. What better way to shine a spotlight on the talented artists and performers we love to write about than by launching the very first Time Out Arts & Culture Awards, celebrating the best of the arts in our city from May 2023 to May 2024.
For the Best Play category, we looked for outstanding theatre productions that impressed us with their pacing, direction, originality, wow factor and the actors’ performances. We were in search of plays that really made us think – the ones that make you need to sit a moment with your thoughts before you head out to the busy foyer afterwards.
And the winner is…
The Hate Race has been awarded Critics' Choice Best Play of 2024 in Time Out Melbourne’s inaugural Arts & Culture Awards.
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.
From the lighter moments of sneaking treats into your mum’s shopping cart to the raw reality of microaggressions and outright aggression, this production delves into the nuances of growing up diasporic in Australia. While you might expect a tender exploration of human connection and the struggle to fit in and more pertinently to survive, what takes you by surprise is the humour that springs from this truly joyful production. Ultimately, this play does what great art should do – it invites you to think, to laugh and as Beneba Clarke says, to carry the story forward.