HELEN MUSA casts the arts net and comes back with an Artsweek column full of events and performances.

The Listies Make Some Noise is presented by maestros of mirth, Rich and Mat. Billed as a hilarious mixtape of silly songs, zany sketches and classic clowning, it is suitable for humans aged four to 400. The Q, Queanbeyan, September 13-14.

The Gaudy Ball is a night of drag, burlesque, cabaret, and extreme silliness. The Polo, Turner, September 14.

Puzzling out Picasso is an illustrated talk by Alan Read. National Library, September 16.

Makarra, (meaning “rain” in Barkindji) is a debut poetry collection by Barrina South published by Recent Work Press, will be launched at Smith’s Alternative, Civic, September 16.

Flowers in the House is a Floriade-inspired tour of historic interiors at Lanyon Homestead, Tharwa, September 18-October 11.

Concerts

• Canberra Symphony Orchestra’s Australian series presents Nardi Simpson’s yesterday, today and tomorrow, Bree van Reyk’s Light for the First Time and Liza Lim’s The Heart’s Ear. National Museum, Gandel Atrium, September 12.
• Fifeteen-year-old, award-winning pianist May Li will present a program featuring works by Bach, Beethoven, Glinka, and Hyde. Wesley Music Centre,  September 12.  The world premiere of Jakub Jankowski’s Ritornello, commissioned by the Australian Chamber Orchestra, will be performed at Llewellyn Hall, September 14.
• Listening with the Body: A Harp Journey is a classical harp recital and sensory meditation by mother and daughter duo, Alice Giles and Moran Wiesel, Smiths Alternative, September 14
• Connexion Big Band’s 64-Bit Big Band Videogame Music Night is at Harmonie German Club, on September 14.
• In Gardens of Spain, Sarahlouise Owen and Stuart Long will be explore arrangements of the Spanish folksong repertoire. Wesley Music Centre, September 14.
• Musica da Camera  focuses on  Australian women composers. Holy Covenant Church, Cook, September 14 and Gunning Shire Hall,  September 15.
• Ellery String Quartet  will join with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra’s principal bassoonist, Ben Hoadley, to present a recital of works old and new. Wesley Music Centre,  September 15.
• Canberra Symphony Orchestra presents Cottis Conducts Mahler – Celestial Visions. Llewellyn Hall, September 18-19.
• A relaxed lunchtime concert by ANU School of Music Jazz & Contemporary Performance students will be held in The Big Band Room, ANU School of Music, September 18.
• RMC Band Rhythm Group will perform Music from the Screen as the Wednesday Lunchtime Concert, Wesley Music Centre, September 18.

Stage

• The Cut by Mark Ravenhill will immerses audiences in a dystopian society where a mysterious procedure, known only as “the cut”, promises salvation, but at a moral cost. The Seeing Place, Dairy Road, Fyshwick, September 12-21.
• Bang. Kiss from Melbourne Theatre Company, shows what happens when a video, a speech and a kiss go viral and make international news. The Q, Queanbeyan, September 11.
• Bell Shakespeare: In a Nutshell: The Poetry of Violence is at The Playhouse, September 13-14.
• Silly Old Queen Productions is bringing their drag parody Kath & Kim play Fountain Lakes in Lockdown, with Art Simone as Kath and Thomas Jaspers as Kim. Erindale Theatre, September 13-15.

Galleries

• Euan Macleod: Flux, features en plein air works created on the Haupapa Tasman Glacier in NZ and studio paintings inspired by the same location, opens at ANU Drill Hall Gallery on September 12.
• Wrappers is an evolving, experimental work by artist Ham Darroch. Canberra Contemporary Art Space, Manuka, opens September 12.
• Tuggeranong Arts Centre is offering seed funding for collaborative projects. Ideas can range from pop-up performances to art workshops, recordings, or murals. A Micro Funding Pitching event will be held at the centre on September 12.
• Spring Exhibition: A Work of Art will feature works by Isla Patterson and Barbara Torkington (fine china) at Cockington Green Gardens, Gold Creek. September 14-October 13.
• Hanging by a Thread by the ACT Textile Arts Association will feature textile art, embroidery, crochet, knitting, felting, mixed media, dyeing, printing, sewing, and dressmaking,  Queanbeyan Art Society Gallery, Trinculo Place, September 13 – 22.
• Ever Present: First Peoples Art of Australia will show more than 150 works by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists. National Gallery of Australia. September 14-August 24, 2025.
• CAPO is offering 24 grants valued at $43,500, plus a fellowship worth up to $15,000. Applications for grants close September 15.