The Show of the Year 2016, Part Two

The horror, the glory, the sublime and the ridiculous – 2016 served it all up in enormous doses. Join us for part two of the Wheeler Centre's annual Show of the Year – celebrating a year’s worth of highlights and lowlights.

Benson Saulo — Photo: Jon Tjhia

What happened in 2016? Well, the Panama Papers dropped. The Louvre flooded. A woman in New Jersey got stuck up a tree while playing Pokémon Go in a cemetery. And Brangelina was reduced to its component parts. What else? England voted for Boaty McBoatface … then Brexit. Brazil impeached its president. Ceasefire attempts failed in Syria and we were rocked by attacks in Brussels, Paris, Orlando and Baghdad. This was the year the United States elected Donald Trump. It was also the year we said goodbye to David Bowie, Muhammad Ali, Harper Lee, Leonard Cohen and Prince. 

Closer to home, Turnbull was returned (only just) as Prime Minister. Our census was a mess, but Chloe Esposito triumphed in the modern pentathlon at Rio and the Western Bulldogs won the AFL Grand Final. We were the crowd favourites at Eurovision and we fell in love with Matilda all over again with Tim Minchin’s Matilda the Musical.

Your host for the Show of the Year is silver-tongued songbird Casey Bennetto. For the second half of the year, he's joined by Benson Saulo, Geraldine Hickey, Tim Flannery, Cal Wilson and Danny McGinlay – tackling Indigenous leadership, Leonard Cohen's death, Donald Trump, the Western Bulldogs' win, climate and #censusfail.

Sit back, relax and relive the best and worst as a bevy of Australia’s finest writers and entertainers farewell the year that was – in five-minute bursts of stories and song.

Listen to part one   Podcast episode

The Show of the Year 2016, Part One  /  Performing arts & pop culture

Geraldine Hickey takes the pulse of the nation — Photo: Jon Tjhia

Danny McGinlay celebrates some big wins of the year — Photo: Jon Tjhia

Casey Bennetto sings us home — Photo: Jon Tjhia