Arts editor HELEN MUSA selected her five best experiences this year, saying: “It’s been a strong year for highly original art in Canberra and that’s what we like, although our artists occasionally tweak a few good ideas from overseas…”

VISUAL ART/PHOTOGRAPHY

“Voices and Veterans”, National Press Club, May-June.

PHOTOGRAPHER Mike Armstrong, a veteran of the Australian Army who served in East Timor, Afghanistan, Iraq and also as part of the Tactical Assault Group East, created extraordinary photographic images of veterans swathed in molasses, to give voice to those living with post-traumatic stress.

MUSIC

“Changi Songbook”, The Street Theatre, May and July. 

CHRIS Latham and Neil Pigot invited audiences to watch them record 24 of the songs by Slim De Grey and Ray Tullipan, originally performed by the AIF Changi Concert Party during World War II. The songs, presented by some of Australia’s top musicians and singers, were interspersed with humorous stories and were recorded before a mixed audience of music lovers and representatives of the Japanese community.

AUSTRALIAN THEATRE

“Whitefella Yella Tree”, Courtyard Studio, September-October. 

ONE of Canberra’s rising talents, playwright Dylan Van Den Berg’s ability with dialogue goes from strength to strength as he depicts two 15-year-old First Nations boys – somewhere back in history – capturing the banter, their taunts and their loving physical encounters, all the while conveying a strong, contemporary meaning and sense of danger.

THEATRE

“Hand to God“, ACT Hub, August.

FROM the US comes an outrageous script by Robert Askins, set in the American Bible Belt and staged by Jarrad West at the new ACT Hub in Kingston. A mixture of human acting and puppetry, the show included a wicked sex scene between the two puppets, Tyrone and Jolene, easily the funniest moment in Canberra’s theatres this year. 

DANCE

“Unravel”, Erindale Theatre, July.

From Verona via the studios of Suzy Piani and Bonnie Neate’s sophisticated ballet school The Training Ground came the story of Romeo and Juliet, reinterpreted in contemporary ballet form with a film backing. The performance by Ali Mayes as Juliet, all in red, was so beautiful that it dominated everything else happening on stage.