THE irrepressible Catherine Alcorn is back in town with “The Divine Miss Bette Christmas Special”, at Bicentennial Hall, next door to The Q, 253 Crawford Street, Queanbeyan, 8pm, December 18-21. Bookings at theq.net.au or 6285 6290.

TEMPO Theatre’s radio play “An Interstellar Christmas”, written by Michael Weston, will be aired on Radio 1RPH at 3pm on Christmas Day. But first from 6pm on Christmas Eve, December 24, the two previous plays in the “Black and White Detective Agency series” will be broadcast, with “Who stole Christmas” followed by “A Town Called Christmas”. All streamed on their website radio1rph.org.au and full details at tempotheatre.org.au

THE National Film and Sound Archive is screening Christmas favourites “Home Alone”, “Die Hard” and the Frank Capra classic, “It’s a Wonderful Life”, on December 20 and 21 to get people in the mood the week before Christmas. Also, as part of the festive mood, the National Film and Sound Archive is having a “Pay What You Can Day” for entry to the archive’s big “Game Masters” show on December 21. Bookings at nfsa.gov.au

BELCONNEN Community Gallery series presents, “I Am, Because We Are”, a mixed media exhibition by the young artists of the Ginninderra Early Childhood Centre. At Belconnen Community Centre, Swanson Court, Belconnen, 9am-5pm, Monday–Friday, until January 10, with an opening celebration 3.30pm Wednesday, December 18. All welcome.

“SHREK the Musical” brings the hilarious story of everyone’s favourite ogre to life in Sydney during the holidays. Starring Ben Mingay as Shrek, Lucy Durack as Princess Fiona, Todd McKenney as Lord Farquaad and a guest appearance by Marcia Hines as The Dragon, the show will open at the Sydney Lyric Theatre, Darling Harbour, on January 2. Bookings at ticketmaster.com.au

BILK Gallery will take a break when its current lease in Manuka expires at the end of February. Its last exhibition in Manuka will be opening next year in late January, but before that, there’s still the current exhibition of creative jewellery, “The Big Dry”, open in Palmerston Lane, Manuka shops, right up to December 24.

THE Queanbeyan Art Society’s Christmas exhibition of more than 150 works, including sculptures, is up in the Riverside Gallery at 6 Trinculo Place, under the Queanbeyan bridge until late January. Open daily except Christmas Day, all welcome.

THE Royal Opera House live cinema season presents a family treat for the festive season with Peter Wright’s production of the Christmas classic, “The Nutcracker”, recorded in 2016, screening at Capitol Cinemas Manuka, December 23-24. Bookings at eventcinemas.com.au