Fans of John Lennon sing tributes to the songwriter in a video installation by Candice Breitz. Beached, a parody of reality television, is at the Stables Theatre, Sydney. Picture: Brett Boardman Einstein on the Beach, State Theatre, Melbourne. School Dance, about teenage anguish, is at the powerhouse, Brisbane. A ROUNDUP of the best things to do and see in Australia during the next 48 hours. STAGE: Beached Shocking Fat Stories is the title of the imagined reality television show this play satirises and, as with all satire, seems complicitly to celebrate. A lot of TV is in fact worse than this. Melissa Bubnic's script is full of gross comic detail about extreme obesity. How does Arty, a 400kg teenager who consumes 33,000 calories a day and can scarcely move, do anything other than eat? Shannon Murphy's production, in the small space at the SBW Stables Theatre, uses live projected video to show how such TV shows exploit their victims, but also to involve the live audience in the voyeurism. There is a serious attempt in Murphy's production to dig beneath the media manipulations and the public stereotypes, to find individual stories underneath all the hype. There are moments of tenderness towards the end, for each of them, but these are overwhelmed by this happily grotesque carnival of the body. - John McCallum SBW Stables Theatre, 10 Nimrod Street, Kings Cross. Today, 2pm and 7pm. Tickets: $15-$49 (returns only). Bookings: (02) 9361 3817 or online. Duration: 1hr 40min, no interval. Until August 31. OPERA: La Traviata Emma Matthews is Violetta, the courtesan who sacrifices personal happiness for the sake of her lover's reputation. Sydney Opera House. Saturday, 1pm. Tickets: $44-$306. Bookings: (02) 9250 7777 or online. Duration: 2hr, with two intervals. EXHIBITION: Working Class Hero Preview: John Lennon fans singing songs from his 1970 solo album Plastic Ono Band feature in Candice Breitz's video installation. "I think Plastic Ono Band is probably one of the most emotionally raw albums that has ever been made," she says. Breitz seeks to explore the relationship between stars and their fans, and to show how the portrayal of celebrity consists of accumulated interpretations. In the work, Lennon's voice and all music have been omitted in favour of 25 fans singing a cappella. Breitz says almost 900 people responded to the audition advertisement in Newcastle, England. "There have been fans who were incredibly self-confident . . but also fans who were nervous to the point of throwing up," she says. Anna Schwartz Gallery, 245 Wilson Street, Darlington. Sat 1pm-5pm. Wed-Fri 10am-6pm. Until September 28. OPERA: Einstein on the Beach Preview: People talk about Einstein on the Beach - the opera by Philip Glass and Robert Wilson - and how there is no story, the music is repetitive and the whole 4 1/2 hours will be a big yawn. But consider the positives. Compared with Verdi's convoluted plot lines, there's no guesswork about who's who and who did what. There are just some scenes about a train, a trial, a supermarket and a spaceship, and a violinist in a wig who could be a famous physicist. Compared with Wagner's long-winded music dramas, there's no heavy mythology, no Germanic angst. And this is the real genius of Einstein: patrons are free to wander in and out during the performance. There's no interval to hold up proceedings, just an invitation to enjoy at leisure. Einstein is a rare thing in the performing arts: an abstract opera. - Matthew Westwood State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne. Saturday, 5pm. Duration: 4hr 30min, no interval. Ends Sunday. STAGE: The Bloody Chamber Alison Whyte stars in The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter, the tale of Bluebeard and his missing wives. Merlyn Theatre, The Malthouse, 113 Sturt Street, Southbank. Preview Saturday, 7.30pm. Tickets: $30-$59. Bookings: (03) 9685 5111 or online. Duration: 1hr 20min, no interval. Until August 10. EXHIBITION: Interior Exterior Preview: An exhibition of Robert Ashton's photographic triptychs titled Interior Exterior is showing the Edmund Pearce gallery. Ashton - who lives on Victoria's west coast - explores themes of order and chaos in his series of recent landscapes and interiors. He says the interiors "are a metaphor for the intricate tangles within all of us." Edmund Pearce Gallery, 37 Swanston Street, Melbourne. Wed-Sat 11am-5pm. Admission: free. Inquiries: (03) 9023 5775. Until August 17. EXHIBITION: Roy Lichtenstein: Pop Remix Roy Lichtenstein was an American pop artist famous for repainting kitsch images borrowed from lowbrow comic books in the 1960s, including soldiers firing guns and flying warplanes and tearful co-eds overcome by their romantic feelings for boys with names such as Brad. This exhibition, devoted to the artist's printed work, reveals the limitations of an art based on material that was cliched in the first place. Dimly aware, perhaps, of the dead end he found himself in, the artist tried to find a way out in the direction of stylisation and abstraction, but the work cannot avoid an impression of sterility. - Christopher Allen National Gallery of Australia, Parkes Place, Canberra. Daily, 10am-5pm. Until next year. DANCE: Elegance Preview: Queensland Ballet's artistic director Li Cunxin has curated this program of four works. Ershter Vals, by US-based choreographer Ma Cong, pays tribute to the resilience of the human spirit. Ben Stevenson's Three Preludes features two dancers exploring love, set to music by Rachmaninoff. Greg Horsman's Verdi Variations pays homage to Russian classical ballet. Completing the program is Sweet Beginnings, a new ballet from Brisbane-based choreographer Gareth Belling. Playhouse, QPAC, Brisbane. Today, 1.30pm and 7.30pm. Tickets: $45-$85. Bookings: 136 246 or online. Duration: 2hr 20min, including two intervals. MUSICAL: Blood Brothers Preview: Willy Russell's Blood Brothers - which won an Oliver Award in 1983 - is the tragic story of Mrs Johnstone and her two sons who are separated at birth. As her sons' lives continue to intertwine, social divisions lead to a shocking conclusion. Directed by Tim O'Connor and starring Amanda Muggleton (Prisoner, Shirley Valentine). - Cremorne Theatre, QPAC, Brisbane. Saturday, 2pm and 7.30pm. Tickets: $55-$99. Duration: 2hrs. STAGE: The Glass Menagerie Preview: La Boite Theatre Company presents Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie: the story of a family bursting at the seams. Directed by David Berthold, with Julian Curtis, Helen Howard, Jason Klarwein and Kathryn Marquet. La Boite's Roundhouse Theatre, 6-8 Musk Avenue, Kelvin Grove Village. Opens tonight, 7.30pm. Tickets: from $25. Bookings: (07) 3007 8600 or online. Duration: 2hr 20min, including 20min interval. STAGE: School Dance The school dance is a big deal, and an ordeal if you are not one of the anointed popular. Windmill's captivating new work not only explores the status anxiety of teenagers, it takes them through a hole in the fabric of time to make things right. School nerds Matthew, Luke and Jonathan (Matthew Whittet, Luke Smiles and Jonathon Oxlade) join forces to stare down school bully Derek Sturges (the imposing bodybuilder Jim Rose), and Matthew even gets the girl. Whittet's zany script features 1980s pop culture and power ballads, Smurfs and My Little Pony. Tightly directed by Rosemary Myers, with inventive design by Oxlade, Windmill has all bases covered. School Dance is a hit. - Murray Bramwell Powerhouse Theatre, 119 Lamington Street, New Farm. Ends today, 12pm and 7.30pm. Tickets: $28.50-$39.50. Bookings: (07) 3358 8600 or online. LIVE MUSIC: At Last: The Etta James Story Preview: Melbourne singer Vika Bull sees something of herself in American soul and blues legend Etta James. "It's that trying to act tough, putting on a 'don't mess with me' attitude," she says. Having enjoyed success for the past 25 years as a performer, mainly alongside her sister Linda, Bull admits she isn't really a toughie, but she's hoping to bring to the show something of James's character as well as her talent. At Last documents James's career spanning almost 50 years and tells the story of her turbulent life, plagued by drug addiction at the peak of her success. The veteran American star, whose hits include At Last, Something's Got a Hold on Me and I'd Rather Go Blind, died a year ago aged 73. "It's not dull," Bull says of the story. She had it tough. The story deals with that, but it comes across that she was always a fighter and also had a great sense of humour. You don't come away from it thinking 'poor Etta'." - Iain Shedden Her Majesty's Theatre, 58 Grote Street, Adelaide. Saturday only, 2pm and 8pm. Tickets: $59-$69. Bookings: 131 246 or online. Duration: 2hr 10min, including interval. CLASSICAL: Masters 8 Arvo Volmer and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra complete their Mahler symphony cycle with Symphony No 9. - Festival Theatre, Adelaide Festival Centre. Saturday only, 6.30pm. Tickets: $20-$88. STAGE: Other Desert Cities Other Desert Cities reverses the usual young-old liberal-conservative estrangement narrative in which the opinions of the rebellious kids are privileged and the oldies are "other" and often downright evil. It is a lament for the lost American century. The parents in Jon Robin Baitz's play were heavyweight Republican Party figures in their day. Now retired and living in Palm Springs, the likable and well-heeled couple are looking after a recently lapsed alcoholic and are about to celebrate Christmas with their grown-up children. The writing is sophisticated and often scintillating, the characters vivid and credible, and the narrative arc is aerodynamic. With Rebecca Davis and Robert Coleby. - Chris Boyd State Theatre Centre of Western Australia, 174-176 William Street, Perth. Saturday, 2.15pm and 7.30pm. Tickets: $29.50-$69.50. Duration: 2hr 15min including interval. EXHIBITION: The Red Queen Preview: Why are so many artists chick magnets? This question is raised in typically provocative fashion in The Red Queen, the latest exhibition at the Museum of Old and New Art. The Red Queen exhibition, comprising more than 100 artworks by 46 artists, has involved a radical rehanging of 75 per cent of MONA's collection.The wildly eclectic show juxtaposes ancient Indo-Greek coins with works including a life-size trampoline. - Rosemary Neill Museum of Old and New Art, 655 Main Road, Berriedale, Hobart. Tickets: $15-20. Bookings: (03) 6277 9900 or online. LIVE MUSIC: Yothu Yindi Tribute Preview: Archie Roach, Gurrumul, members of the Medics and others will pay tribute to Yothu Yindi by performing the band's best known songs. This event is part of the National Indigenous Music Awards and the Darwin Festival. George's Green, Garden's Road , Darwin. August 10 only, 7pm. Tickets: $25-$30. Bookings: (08) 8943 4222 or online. The World's End (MA15+) Edgar Wright delivers a new variation on his classic Shaun of the Dead in this horror-comedy about five former friends, pushing 40, who embark on a lengthy pub crawl in their home town only to discover the community has been taken over by aliens. With a cast headed by Wright regulars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, this is lots of fun and filled with low-tech effects, though it runs out of steam a bit before the end. (3.5 stars) - David Stratton 100 Bloody Acres (MA15+) This pays homage to Texas Chainsaw Massacre, while maintaining a distinctly Australian sense of humour, with nods to Slim Dusty, Rebecca Gibney and Wolf Creek. Lindsay and Reg run an organic blood and bone business. Young lovers Sophie (Anna McGahan) and James (Oliver Ackland) and their raffish English travelling companion Wes (Jamie Kristian) are on their way to a music festival when their car conks out. This film will put a smile on your face and send a shudder up your spine. (3 stars) - Stephen Romei Beyond the Hills (Dupa dealuri) (M) Based on real-life recent events involving exorcism and fundamentalist religion in a remote Moldovan monastery, this masterly, award-winning film from Romanian director Cristian Mungiu is a superb follow-up to his 2007 Cannes Palme d'Or winner, 4 Months, 3Weeks, 2 Days. Mungiu handles the potentially sensational material with restraint, pointedly comparing the dictatorship of the communist era with the era of strict Orthodox religion. With wonderful performances from two young actresses and outstanding cinematography, this is a major film and well worth tracking down. (4.5 stars) - David Stratton