Hayes theatre, Sydney This irreverent love letter to a national treasure is big on horse jokes, dad jokes and dad joke-style horse jokes, while taking gentle aim at racing culture * Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email Forget Flemington. This November, the only race that matters is from 1930, and it’s galloping back to life every night at Sydney’s Hayes Theatre. That’s right, Phar Lap – the racehorse underdog turned champion with an enormous heart who took the cup just once but burns brightly in our national consciousness in museum taxidermies, postage stamps and a film from 1983 played during countless wet-weather days at primary schools – is now the star of his very own musical. We meet the legendary horse – played with bright-eyed and winningly sweet naivety by Joel Granger (The Book of Mormon) in a horse-eared jockey cap and long red braid – as he arrives on Australian shores from New Zealand. His Kiwi accent is thick, he’s on the skinny side and, while he’d be happier doing dressage, he’ll race – if only because it’s fun – but he can only dare to dream as far as coming second in the Melbourne Cup. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading...

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Australia's first genetically modified banana has been tweaked to protect it from a disease that's on the verge of wiping out crops around the world. Researchers hope it may be on our shelves by 2027.

In which I attempt to convince myself that dark beers are not, in fact, extinct.