Jo Porter

The Queen Victoria Women's Trust, led by Chair Van Badham, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jo Porter as CEO of the Trust. The announcement precedes a very busy period for the organisation, which includes a free lunchtime conversation with Leta Hong Fincher, award-winning author of Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China, as well as further celebrations to mark International Women's Day on March 6, 7 and 8.

Fresh from a sold out Sydney season, Arts Centre Melbourne presents Dan Giovannoni's Green Room Award winning adaptation of Christos Tsiolkas ' Merciless Gods. The two-hour production is a brutal and tender examination of queer immigrant experiences in Australia, and will take over the Fairfax Studio from 6 - 10 February 2019. This collection of eight vignettes based on Tsiolkas' work shows how humans are prey to the cruel and capricious Ancient Gods, taking audiences into worlds both strange and familiar.

On Friday, May 25, Amazon will premiere all six episodes of original mystery drama series Picnic at Hanging Rock, starring Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Parts 1 and 2), on Prime Video in the US. Based on Joan Lindsay's iconic Australian novel of the same name, Picnic at Hanging Rock is a limited series surrounding the mysterious disappearances of three schoolgirls and one teacher on Valentine's Day in 1900. The series revolves around the subsequent investigation and the event's far-reaching impact on the students, families and staff at Appleyard College, and on the nearby township. The series has already received critical acclaim following its recent premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival and has been selected for the upcoming Tribeca Film Festival this month.

Creede Repertory Theatre's 2017 Young Audience Outreach Tour (YAOT), Albert Porter: Boy Explorer (Niño Explorador), kicked off on August 26th during the acclaimed Headwaters New Play Festival. Celebrating 34 years of bringing excellent bilingual musical theatre to schools across the Southwest, Creede Repertory Theatre's Young Audience Outreach Tour (YAOT) is one of the largest providers of educational theatre to the rural Southwest, serving over 24,000 children in over sixty communities. Albert Porter: Boy Explorer (Niño Explorador) is written by Lojo Porter, directed by Melissa Firlit, and features original music by Ian LeRoy. CRT sat down with playwright Lojo Simon to ask her a few questions about her process and the themes of this year's YAOT tour.

PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK is the latest series to be added to the Amazon Prime Video US line-up following a deal with FremantleMedia International. The epic new series, starring Natalie Dormer (Game of Thrones, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Parts 1 and 2, In Darkness) as English headmistress Mrs Hester Appleyard, is a re-imagining of Joan Lindsay's timeless Australian novel.

"The Great Gatsby" and "The Rocket" top this year's race for the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (AACTA) awards.