“Play School” star Justine Clarke has been cast as Julia Gillard and the world premiere of “Julia” will be in Canberra, reports HELEN MUSA in her latest “Arts in the City” column. 

CANBERRA Theatre Centre joins forces with Sydney Theatre Company for the world premiere of Joanna Murray-Smith’s new play “Julia”. Australia’s first female prime minister is played by “Play School” star Justine Clarke. Expect to hear something of the famous misogyny speech. The Playhouse, March 18-25. 

NATIONAL Opera has announced it will not produce a major production in 2023, but will announce mid-year an April 2024 production. However, coming up is “From Broken Hill to Bel Canto”, a recital concert by Canberra-trained soprano Louise Keast, who has returned to town after treading the boards in Sydney and Germany. Wesley Music Centre, 5pm, March 19.

CANBERRA playwright Dylan Van Den Berg is once again on the shortlist for the $30,000 Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting, part of the 2023 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, this time for his play “Whitefella Yella Tree”. He won it in 2021.

CHRIS Latham will join Musica da Camera and a star-studded cast of soloists to tell the story of the peacekeeping mission, complete with War Memorial projections, music from Abba and the Beatles to FS Kelly, Kats-Chernin, Haas and Beethoven. Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture, Barton, 3pm-5pm, March 25. Unsuitable for children. 

DANE Lam is back with the CSO to conduct Stravinsky, Beethoven, and the “Dances with Devils Percussion Concerto” by Australian composer Iain Grandage, performed by percussionist, Claire Edwardes. Llewellyn Hall, 7.30pm, March 22-23. 

GOLD and silver-smithing maestro Johannes Kuhnen, who now works from his Carwoola studio, is a finalist for the 2023 Loewe Foundation Craft Prize for his work, “Vessel – Red Centre”, to be exhibited in the Noguchi Museum, New York, May 17-June 18. 

NEWLY-formed local early music ensemble, Apeiron Baroque, is the brainchild of husband-and-wife team John Ma and Marie Searles, who have recently returned after years performing in Europe. Their first concert included a sonata of wild-animal sounds by Heinrich Biber, a dance tune from Scotland and music from a cloistered nun trapped in a time bubble – as well as some Handel, Telemann, and JS Bach. Wesley Uniting Church, Forrest, 5pm, March 25.