belvoir

Productions from Sydney's Belvoir St Theatre have dominated this year's Helpmann Awards with big wins for Counting and Cracking and Barbara and the Camp Dogs, Peter Carey's Booker Prize and Miles Franklin Award-winning novel Oscar and Lucinda comes alive in a new opera, Playwriting Australia board member Andrew Bovell explains the organisation's decision to suspend operations and undertake an independent review, and skateboarding and theatre collide in Big hART initiative SKATE — a big show with even bigger ambitions.

In this Helpmann Awards special, we revisit some of our favourite moments with this year's crop of nominees. S. Shakthidharan's massive play Counting and Cracking presents a Sri Lankan family's experiences in Australia and during the civil war, Ursula Yovich's Barbara and the Camp Dogs takes us on a wild musical road trip from Sydney to Katherine, Australian Dance Theatre's Beginning of Nature moves to the rhythm of Kaurna, and Willy Wonka throws open the doors to his chocolate factory in a new stage musical.