Deciding what to do with your spare time can be a difficult task. And it only gets more challenging when you're deciding between live music, incredible food, luminous lanterns and vibrant art activations — like at the upcoming Sydney Lunar Festival. Luckily for you, we consider ourselves experts in having a good time and have pored over the the festival program to bring you our top picks. Whether you want to master the art of dumpling making or to go on a self-guided treasure hunt around Haymarket, there are plenty of excellent ways to celebrate the Year of the Tiger in the CBD. So, if you're wondering what should be at the top of your list, read on to find our favourites from the festival. NIK ADDAMS: Branded Content Manager Did you ever think you had the chops to win The Amazing Race but the idea of your private disagreements with a loved one being televised was too embarrassing to actually apply? Well, for Lunar New Year in 2022, you can go on your very treasure hunt — sans broadcast rights — at the Chinatown Bites and Culture treasure hunt experience. To get involved in the self-guided treasure hunt, you'll need to download the app. Then, simply follow the clues, decipher the riddles and complete the tasks along the trail to unlock the hidden treasure. It'll make a fun addition to your next date night and a great way to reacquaint yourself with city. COURTNEY AMMENHAUSER: Branded Content Manager When it comes to selecting an excellent festival event to attend, I look for variety. And, if you head to Lunar Lanes, that's exactly what you'll find. On Saturday, January 29, the bustling streets of Haymarket will be filled with live music, DJs, roving performances, art activations and delicious food, of course. There'll even be a luminous, ten-metre-long LED dragon on the loose, winding its way through the streets to add to the lively street festivities. You'll be spoilt for choice when it comes to dinner options, too. For me, I'll be heading to Ho Jiak for a feast followed by a cocktail at Bancho Bar. MELANIE COLWELL: Branded Content Editor I set myself quite a few cooking challenges in the depths of lockdown to evade boredom in last year — I rolled pasta, I fed my sourdough starter, I baked way too many cookies. But I never managed to perfect the art of dumplings. I tried. Oh, how I tried. But those tiny little morsels of joy are trickier to master than they may appear. But master them I will, with help from the legends at The Gardens by Lotus. The two-hour dumpling masterclass sees you making mushroom spring rolls, chicken sui mai and a surprise LNY-inspired dumpling in the glorious heritage-listed teahouse in the Chinese Garden of Friendship. There'll be libations throughout (read: bottomless rosé) and a take-home kit so you can impress your mates with your newfound skills. BEN HANSEN: Staff Writer Chat Thai is an iconic takeaway spot that I often turn to when in need of some next-level Thai food. The Sydney chain is celebrating the Year of the Tiger with a special lucky Lunar New Year menu available across all five of its standout venues. Whether you're dining at Neutral Bay or Chatswood, you'll find a selection of dishes designed to promote happiness throughout the new year. The menu will be split into four sections — wealth, longevity, prosperity and fortune — each featuring tasty dishes pulled from the Chat Thai handbook. Highlights include the crab fried spring rolls on the wealth menu, fried garlic pork belly to promote prosperity, fried snapper stir-fry promoting fortune and an array of noodle dishes on the longevity menu. SUZ TUCKER: Editorial Director Hello Kitty might be my favourite media franchise (apologies to Star Wars!). With her benevolent low-affect, pinafore 'fit and comforting inability to age, hers is an empire where cult and mass collide. I am very much looking forward to getting fully immersed in dead-eyed cuteness when Darling Square gets taken over as Hello Kitty Town. There will be art works. There will be products. There will be cosplay. There will be Hello Kitty branded food specials in the restaurants. And it's running until the end of April. Slap a bow on me and call me kawaii, this is going to be good. For more information on Sydney Lunar New Year, visit the website. COVID-19 safety plans are in place for all City of Sydney Lunar New Year events and all NSW Health regulations will be followed. The City of Sydney strongly encourages all visitors to be vaccinated and to wear masks. If you're feeling unwell, please stay home.
Get ready for a hot cultural injection of all things art, performance and conversation, because Art Month Sydney is back for another year from March 1–25. The month-long, city-wide festival curated by Kate Britton has got something for everyone — from divaz and dogs to free shows, films and full-day immersive experiences. So clear your schedule, gather your art pals and flex your conversation muscles at this program packed with incredibly talented local and international artists coming to you by way of galleries, art precincts, studios and artist spaces around the city. To help you sift through the arty month, we've rounded up the top ten things to put in your diary for the upcoming cultural fete. [caption id="attachment_657656" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Katthy Cavaliere: nest 1, 2010. Courtesy the Estate of Katthy Cavaliere.[/caption] COLLECTORS' SPACE Have you ever wondered which works your favourite local artists have hanging on their walls, but didn't want to risk going to jail for breaking into their house in the middle of the night? Well before you get your catsuit on, head to Collectors' Space This famed exhibition offers you a glimpse into the personal art collections of MVP artists and curators like Abdul Abdullah, Tony Albert, Tess Allas, Daniel Mudie Cunningham and Emma Price, all without having to take the B&E route. Art Month Artistic Director Kate Britton says of the intimate exhibition, "Collectors' Space looks beyond the accumulation of objects and explores the relationships each collector has with the works in their care and the artists who created them". MAY SPACE, March 1–17. THE OTHER ART FAIR Fancy living the life of a hotshot art collector but don't really know where to start? Well, thankfully The Other Art Fair has returned for a fourth year to cater to all your art buying needs. Mosey on down to the Australian Technology Park on the last weekend of Art Month, where you'll be able to meet the artists and chat to them about their work and creative processes, then purchase work directly from their sweet little art hands. The fair will feature works by 100 of Australia's best independent and emerging artists, as well as a number of free artist talks and behind-the-scenes tours. Australian Technology Park, March 23–25. [caption id="attachment_635944" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Katje Ford.[/caption] BLACK DIVAZ AT THE BEARDED TIT This year marks the 40th anniversary of Mardi Gras and the first year in our history we aren't forced to debate whether or not everyone should be afforded the same right to marry the person they love. So needless to say, the Month of Rainbows is going to be a big one. To celebrate how far we've come as a nation in the past year, The Bearded Tit is holding a show dedicated to the inaugural Miss First Nations Drag Pageant that took place in September 2017 and the making of Black Divaz, the documentary that captured the story of the pageant. The glittering event saw six queens from around the country journey to Darwin to compete for the crown. The intimate Bearded Tit show is a celebration of the personal journeys that each of the contestants undertook to arrive in all their glittering glory on that stage, sharing behind-the-scenes moments and insights into the making of the doco. The Bearded Tit, January 25 to March 3. [caption id="attachment_653206" align="alignnone" width="1920"] DNSW.[/caption] INNER WEST OPEN STUDIO TRAIL Slap on some sunscreen and your trendiest duds, and head to the Inner West Open Studio Trail for two full weekends of exploring the secret studios and creative spaces nestled around Newtown, Enmore and Marrickville. For two weekends in March, these artist spaces and studios will swing open their doors and feature group exhibitions, artist talks and a showcase of performance works. Make a day of it by spending a few hours chatting to the local makers and talented creators, taking in art and stopping off at a few breweries and pubs along the way for a couple cheeky bevs. Various locations in the inner west, March 9–11 and 17–18. [caption id="attachment_652451" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kitti Smallbone.[/caption] LIFE DRAWING AT THE TOMM BASS PRIZE It's impossible to soak up all the incredible work on display during Art Month without thinking, "maybe my life would be infinitely improved if I quit my 9–5, invested in a beret and became a full-time artist." But before you commit to kicking your job to the curb, why not sample the artist lifestyle by spending a few hours life drawing at historic Juniper Hall with artist Monika Scarrabelotti. Open to everyone from duds to Da Vincis, spend an evening learning how to draw from life, surrounded by the inspiring works of the 2018 Tom Bass Figurative Prize. Juniper Hall, March 8 and 15. [caption id="attachment_653317" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kimberley Low.[/caption] THE YEAR OF THE DOG EXHIBITION 2018 is the year of the pup, and though many would argue every year is the year of the dog, this year it's official. So to celebrate our furry best friends, The Robin Gibson Gallery has curated a family-friendly exhibition dedicated to all things pooch — featuring works by Geoff Harvey, who's well known for his found-object sculptures; ceramics by Karen Choy; sculptures by Richard Byrnes, who brought us the Inner West dog bollards; and pooch-themed paintings by Brett Whiteley, Guy Gilmour, Peter Baka, Ted Hillyer, Zoe Tweedale and many more. Robin Gibson Gallery, February 17 to March 7. [caption id="attachment_657821" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Kyle Levett: Bionic Junk Sculpture.[/caption] EXPRESS YOURSELF 2018 Anyone who works in marketing knows that unlocking the secrets of what the youth thinks is cool will put you on the fast track to making a billion dollars. So rather than spending your time loitering around Instagram smying (yes, we just made up this word, and yes, it means social media spying) on unsuspecting kids, why not see first hand what the next generation really think about the world by visiting Express Yourself. A collection of work from Northern Beaches HSC students curated by Ross Heathcote and Katrina Savage, the exhibition will feature works by super promising young artists using various media from paper to digital media to film. Make sure to memorise their names, because we'll surely see a lot more of them in years to come. Manly Art Gallery & Museum, February 23 to April 1. [caption id="attachment_657849" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Julie Vulcan: Redress #6 hinc illae lacrimae. Photograph by AnA Wojak.[/caption] THE OPEN BODY If you prefer your artwork to be of the performative variety, look no further than The Open Body, an all-day performance event curated by artist Tom Isaacs. Featuring highly emotive works by Kate Brown, Stella Chen, Tom Isaacs, Robbie Karmel, Danica Knezevic, Vivienne Linsley, Alex Talamo, Malvina Tan, Julie Vulcan, Yiorgos Zafiriou and Mariia Zhuchenko, the collection of challenging physical works will explore the body as a theme, addressing the notion of self, visibility, representation and the way we interact with others. The event will take place at Scratch Art Space in Marrickville, which is conveniently located across the road from Batch Brewing Co. for all your post-art show liquid needs. Scratch Art Space, March 18. PARRAMATTA ARTIST STUDIO TOUR Not all events during Art Month are clustered around the CBD. In its tenth year, this Parramatta artist hub is opening to the public and putting on a big old show complete with live music and artist talks. Having seen many incredible young creators pass through on their way to great successes, this leading production space offers both domestic and international residencies, enabling a whole lot of wildly ambitious projects. Artists in the PAS 2018 program include Khadim Ali, Tom Blake, Jessica Bradford, Rosie Deacon, Chris Dolman, Emma Fielden, Rebecca Gallo, Caroline Garcia, Anthony Macris, Emily Parsons-Lord, Lisa Sammut, Shireen Taweel, Garry Trinh and Justine Youssef. Parramatta Artist Sutdios, March 24. [caption id="attachment_657845" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Get To Work.[/caption] PRESENT EXHIBITION There are so many incredible local artists it's impossible to keep track, especially when they're not always exhibited in local gallery spaces. The new initiative Present aims to up your artist knowledge ante with a curation of challenging works by a handful of slick contemporary artists who are killing it despite not having gallery representation, including Kalanjay Dhir, Caroline Garcia, Get to Work, Samuel Hodge, Claudia Nicholson and Athena Thebus. According to Art Month Artistic Director Kate Britton, the new show aims to "connect artists working outside the realms of commercial gallery representation with new audiences". Darren Knight Gallery, March 3–31. Art Month Sydney takes place across the city from March 1–25.
Grab your diary. Call your mates. Reserve your horse. Secret Garden has just announced its tenth anniversary dates for 2018. And we're happy to tell you that Australia's beloved, grassroots, made-for-mates-by-mates festival will be taking place over 48 hours, across Friday, February 23 and Saturday, February 24. You have less time, however, to scrape your cash together. Ticket sales kick off at 9am on Thursday, September 28. If you're a regular gardener, you'll know that they sell out pretty damn quickly, so don't dilly dally. Good news is, though, that, were you at the festival in 2015, 2016 or 2017, you're in for a sweet surprise in the form of pre-sales. To find out exactly what that involves and when it'll be occurring, keep a close eye on your inbox. As usual, we won't know anything about the lineup or festival program until tickets are sold out. But, we can tell you that, as always, Secret Garden will bring you an immersive experience, a long way out of the city, within a magical natural setting transformed into a wonderland. You'll find yourself wandering through a forest maze, getting lost in massive installations, discovering unexpected pop-up performances and coming across tucked-away parties in custom-made rave caves. Maybe even getting married. All we know for sure? As always, you're invited to wear your craziest, most dressed up fancy dress. Start planning. Secret Garden will run from February 23–24, 2018. Tickets on sale 9am Thursday, September 28. More details on the festival's (insanely awesome) website. Image: Tim Da Rin.
This article is sponsored by our partner The City of Sydney. If Sydney and Melbourne were sisters, Sydney might sometimes feel like the Jan of the family; often looked upon as Melbourne's less-fashionable younger sibling — the kind that tries hard but will never be as effortlessly hip, nor as popular, as Marcia. But during August and September, Sydney will prove her worth plus some, with celebrations of style happening throughout the CBD and within a select group of Sydney's hippest, most eclectic villages — Newtown, Paddington and the famously trendy Surry Hills — for the Sydney is Fashion festival. It's undeniable that Surry Hills has a distinct fashion flavour. Unconventional style has blossomed there over recent years, with a tilt towards the artisanal rather than brand labels. Saturday, 31 August, will showcase this uniqueness, with many of Surry Hills' most popular fashion boutiques such as The Standard Store, Grandma Takes a Trip, Paris Texas, Cota Gallery and Somedays offering a range of in-store events, designer appearances and deals set to welcome fashion-hungry visitors from all over Sydney as well as reward devoted locals. Then on Saturday, 7 September, visit Surry Hills Markets for a day of VIP events and discount offers on a range of vintage, handmade, pre-loved and recycled goods. Check out the Surry Hills is Fashion website for further details. I always liked Jan better anyway. Image: Lyndal Irons
Who doesn't love being treated like a VIP? No matter your reason, getting to enjoy the finer things in life is always a treat. With an exclusive menu planned, Coogee Bay Hotel is giving you an excuse to treat yourself to its VIP lunch as it celebrates the Melbourne Cup Day on Tuesday, November 5. Get ready to relax with a glass of bubbly in hand and enjoy the views of Coogee Beach as you settle in for three courses of top nosh. To start off, you'll tuck into an entree of manuka smoked monkfish or lamb shoulder and pistachio terrine. Following on, you can expect a choice of stuffed chicken or beef and smoked eggplant. If you're vego or vegan, Coogee Bay has got you sorted, too. For a starter, you can request smoked eggplant zucchini boats, then tuck into a main of truffled porcini mushroom risotto-stuffed tomato with (even more) veggies. To round out the meal, indulge your sweet tooth with some Corsican mousse and almond wafers. Once you've worked your way through lunch, you can head out into the Garden and enjoy the rest of the festivities. You can take part in 'fashions on the field' by donning your showiest outfit and celebrate all things spring. Or, if fashion isn't really your thing, there'll be live music all day, so you can bust out some moves or settle back and enjoy the tunes. While entry to the Garden — and the other festivities — is free, you'll need to nab your ticket for lunch here. At $120 a head, it's the perfect excuse to bring a date or plan the next big get together.
Sound West is a brand new event headed to Sydney's west in mid-2022, and will combine a two-day SXSW-inspired conference with three days of live music events. Networking, workshops, mentoring, big tech brands and music industry leaders, performances by local, national and international talent are all on the bill. Mark August 20–28 in your diary, when large, small and unique venues in the Parramatta area bring together the music and tech industries, and both recognise and develop the next generation of talent in the two fields. So far, we know Dylan Alcott OAM, L-Fresh The Lion, Khaled Rohaim and Serwah Attafuah will all pop up among Sound West's presenters and performers. Alcott will chat about his accessibility-focused music festival Ability Fest, L-Fresh The Lion will collaborate on a number of singer-songwriter initiatives, Rohaim will discuss his work with Rihanna, Ty Dolla $ign and The Kid Laroi (including working from his western Sydney bedroom), and Attafuah will cover her moves in the NFTs and their relevance to the music industry. The program will also feature keynote addresses, panels, one-on-one sessions, live podcasting and interactive activations. And, brand-wise, plenty of big music and tech names will be represented, such as NEC Australia, TikTok, Shopify, Warner Music, Universal Music Australia, Live Nation, Apple Music, ARIA and APRA AMCOS. [caption id="attachment_831234" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Khaled Rohaim[/caption]
Vivid Sydney's annual lineup might be synonymous with bright lights, performances around the city and interesting chats, but the Harbour City festival is just as much of a treat in the culinary space. Thanks to Vivid Food since 2023, it's heaven for your tastebuds, too — and it's why 2024 attendees can enjoy Manoella Buffara of Brazil's Manu Restaurant showing off her gastronomical prowess. This is the first time that 2022's Best Female Chef in Latin America is hopping into the kitchen Down Under, taking the Vivid Residence slot by teaming up with Kiln at Ace Hotel Sydney. On offer for three nights only from Tuesday, June 4–Thursday, June 6: Buffara showcasing her focus on local produce and sustainability 18 floors above Surry Hills, with Mitch Orr and the Kiln crew assisting. [caption id="attachment_959026" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Steven Woodburn[/caption] As you peer out over the Sydney skyline — Sydney Opera House glimpses included — you'll tuck into a choice of two tasting menus. The first spans five courses and will set you back $195, while the second adds an extra two courses for total price of $245. Each also sports the option of paired wines for another $80 (with the five-course spread) or $130 (with the seven-course menu). If you've ever had Orr's Jatz snack and wondered what it might taste like Brazilian-style, you'll find out; as part of Buffara's visit, it comes with salt cod and green ants. Other bites range from sweet potato paired with mud crab salad and pasta to scallop accompanied by artichoke and wild mushroom consommé. Or, if you'd like to try coconut bacon, it's a feature of the tucupi, coconut cake and milk flower ice cream dish.
Australia's undying love of gin is set to be front-and-centre next month when the inaugural Sydney Gin Palooza comes to King Street Wharf. Hosted by the Australian Gin Distillers Association, the mini festival will bring 40 craft gin distillers from around the country under one roof on Friday, March 8 and Saturday, March 9. Apart from bottomless tastings, punters will also have the chance to chat directly with the makers. There will be 40 stallholders hawking over 200 gins, including Sydney locals Archie Rose and Manly Spirits Co., Tasmania's Lark Distillery, Yarra Valley's Four Pillars and Margaret River's The West Winds Gin. Representing NSW, there will be Karu Distillers, which will demonstrate the best way to mix gin and iced tea; Hemp Gin, which is one of the first Australian distilleries to create hemp seed-infused gin; and Distillery Botanica, which will share its internationally award-winning drops. Once you've picked your favourite, head to the gin shop, where you can purchase bottles for takeaway. Tickets will cost $70, with five tasting sessions to choose from across the two days. Each entry ticket includes unlimited gin tastings, mixers, and canapés. If you're keen to get in early on Saturday, a shorter two-hour brunch session will run from 11am at a discounted $55 per ticket. Apart from all of the above, the ticket will also include a coffee, croissant and a G&T to boot.
When Sunset Song opens, Chris Guthrie (Agyness Deyn) reclines in a field of wheat, her golden locks matching the crops around her. The young Scottish woman both stands out and blends in — and as her gentle narration tells of her heart beating in this land, it's clear that no other option is possible. Just as the ground around her will be plucked bare during the harvest and then grow another bounty, repeating the same cycle over and over again, so will her tale continue to wither and blossom. Chris is the daughter of a farmer, and as resilient as the rural patch of earth she can't tear herself away from. It's that concept of strength and endurance that sits at the heart of Terence Davies' latest feature, which the writer-director adapts from the 1932 Scottish novel of the same name. Time passes, as the filmmaker stresses in the changing colours of his nature-filled visuals, in circular shots that sweep around the property, and in elegant transitions between pivotal moments. And still, as both tragedy and happiness flavour Chris' days, she remains. Set in the early 1900s, the particulars of the plot test that notion, starting with Chris' cruel father (Peter Mullan). When he's not imposing his might upon Chris' brother (Jack Greenlees), he's forcing himself upon her mother (Daniela Nardini) and creating more mouths to feed as a result. After a series of tragedies, it's his shadow Chris tries to escape – not by giving up her home, but by bringing it back to prosperity. Then she starts to notice local lad Ewan (Kevin Guthrie). But just like everything around them in a time characterised by poverty and blighted by the Great War, their romance will change with the seasons. With the quiet, devastating The Deep Blue Sea the last listing on Davies' resume, the British filmmaker is no stranger to simmering stories that whisper their emotions. In fact, his 40-year career is full of them. Sunset Song doesn't shy away from its condemnation of the ways in which men shape Chris' existence, nor from celebrations of her determination to fight to make her own choices. Nevertheless, his approach remains as subtle and low-key as ever. Indeed, it's his masterly way of drawing strength from episodic events and understated sentiments that makes the sensitively crafted film seethe with such potency. The patient pace and painterly images mark the feature as one of Davies' best, but it's his perceptive casting choices that likewise prove pivotal. Better known as a model, Deyn brings a composed but never passive or impenetrable air to her protagonist that couldn't encapsulate the underlying narrative better. Guthrie's previous screen credits may be similarly sparse, but there's a sense of rawness simmering within his character's struggle to choose strength over weakness. Never dwarfed by Mullan's intensity, together their performances capture just the balance of harshness and beauty that this moving tale demands.
Sydney’s spiritual home of film appreciation is back for 2015. With weekly Monday night screenings at the Chauvel Cinema in Paddington, The Chauvel Cinematheque is the movie buff’s equivalent of a Michelin star restaurant, boasting a tantalising menu of rarely seen screen gems guaranteed to sit well on your palate. This season’s program was curated by Sydney Film School director Ben Ferris, and is focused primarily on movies made in Australia. It begins on March 2 with Nicolas Roeg’s quintessential Walkabout, the film that launched the career of actor David Gulpilil. Other Australian films in the lineup include Peter Weir’s The Last Wave, Oliver Howes’ On Sacred Ground and Sue Brooks’ Japanese Story. Titles from further afield include Andrei Tarkovsky’s eerie sci-fi classic Stalker, Akira Kurosawa’s genre-shaping adventure film The Hidden Fortress and Satyajit Ray’s baroque Begali drama Devi. Each screening will also be accompanied by a carefully paired short film. Think of them like celluloid hors d’oeuvres. Cinematheque memberships start from $17.50 and gain you access into four screenings of your choice. Single session tickets are also available for groups of two people or more. Image: The Last Wave.
Amy Herzog's Obie Award-winning, Pulitzer Prize-nominated, talk-of-New York 4000 Miles is a play about death, cross-country cycling and how you move on from either. At 3am, unannounced, Leo (Stephen Multari) arrives at the Big Apple apartment of his grandmother, Vera (Diana Mclean), having cycled from the west coast. She chides him that his mother has been worried sick but lets him lie low a little longer in her spare room. It's clear he's fleeing trouble both at home and on the road, and she'll get the details out of him in due course. You have to unload before you can go back. Till then, 4000 Miles is an odd-couple comedy that at every turn is fresh, vibrant, wonderfully observed and captivating. Twenty-year-old Leo and 91-year-old Vera are both progressives of their age — she a savvy, dyed-in-the-wool Communist whose generation liberated women on paper but not wholly in practice and he a sustainability-touting nomad who both exalts Marx and will drop $50 to visit a specialist gym. They clash, but they bond even more. And then when you think their tete-a-tete can't possibly reach higher heights, they smoke a doobie together. Sydney's big theatre companies don't really take on new international writing. (Belvoir's focus is new Australian writing and reimagined classics. Griffin, this year at least, is all Australian. The Sydney Theatre Company considers new international writing but is not staging any itself in 2013.) This local dedication is not without fair reason, but the downside is that audiences can miss out on seeing some extraordinary stories from overseas produced to a professional level. Those audiences should be flocking to this indie production, which — under the auspices of ATYP and the direction of Anthony Skuse (2012 winner of the Sydney Theatre Award for Best Direction of an Independent Production for Punk Rock) — was always set to be a knockout. It's a beautiful script, gracefully done. Skuse has a warm, playful but unpretentious touch that's particularly visible in scenes such as Leo's imperfectly connected Skype chat with his sister, Lily (Aileen Huynh). This crosses over into outright bravery for the unusually staged climactic scene, and the risk pays off. 4000 Miles has an almost episodic rather than traditionally theatrical structure (TV fans, hi), and the pacing of it is superb. There are great performances across the board, including in smaller roles filled by Huynh and Eloise Snape (both of whom also charmingly, organically double as stage managers). Huynh, in particular, has one scene in which she's licensed to hilariously chew up the scenery, and it's a total joy. (Outside of 4000 Miles, she seems to channel a similar energy into her YouTube videos.) 4000 Miles is a rarity, a play in which light and dark are jammed in close to each other and yet achieve a precious sense of symbiosis. A treat. Photo by Gez Xavier Mansfield.
While the sun is shining and the rain has stopped (for now), commuters hoping to get home via public transport this afternoon, Monday, February 10, should still prepare for some delays. Record-breaking rain over the weekend — which, thankfully, saw dam levels swell by more than 20 percent — has caused havoc for train and Sydney Metro services over the past 24 hours, with flooding, fallen trees, infrastructure damage and landslips leading to cancellations and major delays across the networks. Transport for NSW is telling commuters to allow for plenty of extra travel time with delays and service changes expected to continue through Monday peak hour. A landslip in Artarmon is causing delays on the T1 North Shoe & Western Line and T9 Northern Line, with trains running at a reduced frequency between Berowra and Hornsby. Buses may supplement some services. https://twitter.com/T1SydneyTrains/status/1226723387952656384 No trains are running in either direction on the T5 Cumberland Line, with TfNSW advising commuters to change at Granville to complete their journeys, and buses are replacing trains on the T7 Olympic Park Line between Lidcombe and Olympic Park due to flooding. https://twitter.com/T5SydneyTrains/status/1226735651325763586 Ongoing delays are happening across the T2 Inner West & Leppington Line, T3 Bankstown Line, T4 Eastern Suburbs & Illawarra Line and T8 Airport & South Line, too. Sydney Metro hasn't gotten off scot-free, either, with buses replacing metro services between Chatswood and Macquarie University due to flooding at Chatswood Station. It's suggested commuters catch the T9 Northern Line to Epping, then change onto the Metro. https://twitter.com/SydneyMetro/status/1226719852846559234 Whatever line you're hoping to catch, it's suggested you allow for plenty of travel time, check alerts on the Transport for NSW website, keep and eye on real-time apps and check screens when at the station. To stay up-to-date with delays, check the Transport for NSW website and real-time apps. Top image: Quinn Connors
If the last nine months of COVID-19 restrictions have left a dance floor sized hole in your heart, you can now rejoice as restrictions surrounding dance floors have been rolled back, allowing, among other things, 50 people on an indoor dance floor at one time. To celebrate the momentous occasion, Sydney party collective Heaps Gay is throwing a dance party on the rooftop of the Coopers Hotel from 5–10pm today, Monday, December 7. Throughout the night, various DJs and artists will provide the tunes, soundtracking what's sure to be a joy-filled evening. If you need a break from dancing, the rest of the Coopers will be open for seated drinking with the pub's weekly drag bingo hosted by Ms Penny Tration on offer downstairs from 7pm. Access to the rooftop dance floor is free and registration is not required, so you can pop in for a quick celebratory boogie or stay and work up a sweat by showing off your dance moves. Drag bingo will cost you $10 with cash and vouchers to be won and $10 beef, chicken and veggie burgers available, so you can recharge from all the moving and shaking you'll be doing. For the Love of Dance runs from 5–10pm.
The Hills district loves its food trucks — so much so that it dedicates a free two-day festival to the best of the bunch every year. Well, twice every year. In 2020, Park Feast is returning to Bella Vista Farm on Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19 and again in spring. You'll find 30 of Sydney's best food trucks parked over the weekend, serving up everything from slow-cooked barbecued meats to paella, Nutella-heavy desserts and soft serve-filled doughnuts. While this year's lineup has not yet been announced, some of the big names in attendance last year included The Cannoli Truck, Tsuru, Pimp My Chimey and Chur Burger. When you're not busy eating, you can visit an amusement park for all ages — filled with roller coasters, dodgem cars and inflatable obstacle courses — and listen to live music throughout the day and night. All for free. It's dog friendly, too, so bring your fur baby if you wish. Park Feast runs from 12–9pm daily.
Even if you really, really can't stand films/TV/books about self-involved twenty-something-year-old white people trying to figure their lives out, Frances Ha is poised to charm. Its secret? That's not easy to pin down, although it almost certainly has to do with star Greta Gerwig, and the total her-ness that pervades the film. It's full of energy and optimism and is, for a black-and-white arthouse film, utterly devoid of pretentiousness. Gerwig wrote this script together with director (and love friend) Noah Baumbach (Greenberg). Though she didn't necessarily envision herself in the lead role, it fits her perfectly, serving as a vehicle for an actor who doesn't quite fit the Hollywood mould to show off her charms. Goofy, socially awkward and totally "undateable", Gerwig's Frances Halladay is one of the most loveable characters you'll meet this year. Her 28th year ends up being a difficult one, as her best friend Sophie (Mickey Sumner) drifts away and she misses out on a position at the dance company she's been training with. These two challenges — BFF break-ups and self-actualisation — are the ones that matter here, though there's also the peripheral distraction of boys: the one who leaves her when she won't move in with him (Michael Esper), and friends Lev (Girls' Adam Driver) and Benji (Michael Zegen), who end up her (sometimes awkwardly) platonic roomies. Frances Ha is a story about coming of age, the late way we tend to do it now. Our heroine is sorting through which parts of so-called maturity are sensible to leading a good life, and which parts are just bullshit. And she's doing it with a scrappy pluck we can all get behind. It's all wonderfully tangential, sweet and unerringly funny, and it will have you dancing to Bowie's 'Modern Love' for days and days. https://youtube.com/watch?v=cw1euaNtuXM
The New South Wales Government has announced that it's putting $50 million into parks and public spaces to improve access to swimming and outdoor recreation across the state. The investment has been unveiled as part of the government's plans for post-lockdown economic recovery and, according to Premier Dominic Perrottet, will lead to more places to swim, explore and enjoy yourself outdoors. "We're setting aside $50 million for new places to swim or paddle, improved playspaces and more trails that connect communities to their parklands," said Perrottet in a statement. "With Greater Sydney offering some of the most beautiful river, lake and bushland environments, this package will mean everyone can discover more of the hidden gems in their own backyard." Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes also noted that the money would help ensure that western Sydney residents and those who currently live in areas with less natural swimming and hiking areas — including Parramatta and those surrounding the Nepean River — would have greater access to these forms of public spaces. "While lockdown is over, it highlighted that people living closer to the coastline have far more natural swimming spots than those living in our west," Stokes said. The grants have been divided into three different programs, starting with $16.7 million for new swimming and kayaking spots in Greater Sydney's lakes, rivers and harbour. Another $16.7 million is earmarked for providing additional public spaces across NSW, while a third tranche of $16.7 million is being invested in new and upgraded walking trails in regional NSW, as well as in connected bushlands and parks in Greater Sydney. This investment will contribute to the government's goals of increasing the number of urban homes close to quality green spaces by ten percent across NSW by 2023, and also planting one million trees in Greater Sydney by 2022. Earlier this year, former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian announced a new national park and feral predator-free zone would be established in wester Sydney. A 500-hectare site between Penrith and Windsor has been earmarked, with the park expected to open in early 2023. For more information about the Open Spaces Program, head to the NSW Government's website. Images: Destination NSW.
Have you ever needed to convey an important message to someone in a big way, but sweated to find the perfect gift to do so? Maybe you needed to say, 'sorry for being a jerk', 'thanks for being a great mate', or simply, 'I love you'. Well, perhaps not surprisingly, there’s a website to fix that problem. Sorry Thanks I Love You is an online store that’s working to reignite the culture of giving. By taking a short personalised shopping quiz based on the person in mind (with questions such as ‘What were they like a kid?’ or ‘What would they do with 24 hours in NYC?’), Sorry Thanks I Love You has everything you could ever need to help you say any of those five little words (you'd hope). The site features handmade accessories, homewares, gourmet foods, fresh flowers from boutique florists and craft beverages sourced from around the world. This holiday season, you’ll be able to see and try out all these goodies for yourself at Sorry Thanks I Love You's new pop-up store on Crown Street in Surry Hills. The store will features tons of products, including knives carved from Scandinavian reindeer antler, hand-woven Kashmiri scarves and traditional Japanese furoshiki wrapping cloths. Gourmet goodies include wheels of Bruny Island cheese and premium single malt whisky distilled in highland Tasmania, which you can taste test in the store. Sorry Thanks I Love You will also be featuring wares from the iconic Finnish design brand Marimekko. The shop will offer gift wrapping for gold coin donation, with proceeds donated to Motor Neuron Disease Australia as part of Sorry Thanks I Love You’s Random Acts of Kindness project. Shopping, tasting, free wrapping and supporting good causes? ‘Tis the season, indeed.
Sure, we're all feeling a little less than impressed that summer is drawing to an (already rainy) close. But Newtown Hotel is one venue determined not to give up on its summer vibin'. In a first for the Newie, it will hold a one-day Cider Fair, a celebration of the humble apple brew. Making a name for itself as the I-dub's 'home of cider', Newtown Hotel will transform its outdoor Cider Yard into a playground for both connoisseur and novice, with stalls and samples aplenty. The Cider Fair is an opportunity to meet the makers and taste over 25 different ciders, with featured brands including Bilpin, Batlow, Kopparberg, Strongbow and the local Young Henrys, as well as several other delicious drops. With live tunes provided by the likes of Achoo Bless You and Betty & Oswald and coal-roasted pig rolls courtesy of The Animal, the Newtown Hotel Cider Fair is set to be an afternoon of beautiful folk music and educated inebriation. Free entry will be provided all day, with tokens for tastings to be purchased inside.
It's no mean feat getting DBC Pierre's epic black comedy, Vernon God Little onto the stage. The novel won the Booker prize for fiction and the Whitbread first novel award and also has something of a cult following. UK playwright Tanya Ronder has wrestled the story into a two-hour play that requires a large ensemble with a whole lot of energy. I haven't seen an independent show with such a large cast for a while, and it's certainly an ambitious undertaking. Director Louise Fischer has managed in turn to wrangle the tale into a solid night in the theatre. We're invited into the small Texan town of Martirio, where Vernon's best friend, Jesus Navarro, has just killed 16 of his classmates. When Vernon finds himself a suspect, he embarks on a thrills-and-spills adventure. The farce is a difficult form. Everybody likes a black comedy — if it's funny. This play asks a lot of the performers and most of them don't have the comic chops to quite deliver. Exceptions are Emma Harris playing Vernon's hysterical and useless mother, Julia Rorke playing the vicious young Ella, and actor and musician Cassady Maddox. No dialect coach is listed in the program notes, and it shows. Harris's grasp of the southern accent is spotless, but the rest have varying degrees of success. Luke Willing playing Vernon has a wonderful physical presence, but his accent needs work. Technical difficulties aside, the production offers an unsettling insight into the (very American) treatment of violence as spectacle. I was reminded of that excellent scene in Natural Born Killers where Oliver Stone goes a bit meta and suggests that we're all culpable when it comes to our appetite for violence as entertainment. The humanity beneath the spectacle is best evident in an intimate scene flashing back to Jesus Navarro's memory of his classroom bullying. He dresses alone in a spotlight, as disembodied voices taunt him from upstage. Stefan Gimenez's performance here is still and poised. There are certainly some excellent laughs in this show, and some standout moments of gravity. No doubt with a few more performances under their belt the ensemble will tighten up and find its feet.
The Art Gallery of NSW will be showing Australian-based composer David Chesworth's Richter/Meinhof-Opera for two nights only on June 8 and 9. Its base material is the life of German Red Army Faction terrorist Ulrike Meinhof and painter Gerhard Richter, whose 1988 set of paintings depicted scenes of the Baader/Meinhof Group, as they were also known. Meinhof (October 7, 1934 to May 9, 1976) has become a mythical figure in Germany, inspiring Elfriede Jelinek's outstanding play, Ulrike Maria Stuart as well as the less interesting Baader Meinhof Complex starring German hottie Moritz Bleibtreu. The RAF was active during a fascinating period in German history when some of the postwar generation responded to the capitalist recovery by committing violent atrocities in the name of revolution. It promises to be a short, sharp snapshot of this time.
It's hard to get through Good Food Month without slipping into the fairyland that is Hyde Park's famous Night Noodle Markets. But, for a more boutique experience, try out Little Eat Street's offerings. This alternative night market takes over Dixon and Little Hay Streets every Friday evening throughout October from 5pm. Without walking more than a few hundred metres, you'll get to take a culinary journey from Hong Kong to Hanoi. Name an Asian dish and you'll find it — yum cha, teppanyaki, takoyaki, sushi and spicy Sichuan are all on the agenda. While you're there, give our Chinatown cheap eats list a test run.
Alaskan-bred, Portland-based indie foursome Portugal. The Man will be hitting the road for an epic string of Australian dates this November. We're talking a whopping 25 dates — and all free. Presented by Corona Extra, the tour kicks off in Western Australia on October 31 and travels through Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria before finishing up in Melbourne on November 30. With seven albums under their belt — including their most recent, Danger Mouse-produced, 2013 album Evil Friends — and playing up to 200 shows a year since they started, Portugal. The Man aren't ones to shy away from a long touring stint. They're big ol' festival favourites, making highlight lists at all the big guns from Coachella, Lollapalooza to Laneway Festival and Splendour. After their huge US tour wraps up, the foursome are going to bring their psychedelic, indie outdoorsiness to Australia's snuggly pubs and bars. Corona's last epic Australian tour saw Sydney's beloved Cloud Control hit the road for an unfathomable amount of free shows, so we'll see how the Portland locals go with such a schedule. Get along, burl out 'Got It All', 'Evil Friends' and 'So American' like you're front and centre for a P.TM festival set. It's freakin' free. Corona Extra Presents Portugal. The Man National Dates: Western Australia Friday, 31 October — Caves House 18 Yallingup Beach Rd, Yallingup at 6pm, then Settlers Tavern 114 Bussell Hwy, Margaret River at 10pm. Saturday, 1 November — The Left Bank, 15 Riverside Rd, East Fremantle at 3.30pm, then Northshore Tavern, Shop 66, Whitford City Shopping Centre, Whitfords Avenue, Hillarys at 6.30pm. Sunday, 2 November — The OBH, 1 Eric St, Cottesloe at 3.30pm. Queensland Friday, 7 November — Sol Bar, Ocean St, Maroochydore at 6pm Saturday, 8 November — Paddo Tavern, 186 Given Terrace, Paddington at 3pm, then Jubilee Hotel 470 St Pauls Terrace, Fortitude Valleyat 9pm. Sunday, 9 November — The Boardwalk Hotel, Marina Village Shopping Centre, Santa Barbara Rd, Hope Island at 3pm, then The Coolangatta Hotel, Marine Pde, Coolangatta at 7pm. Friday, 14 November — Komune, 144-146 Marine Parade, Coolangatta at 7pm. New South Wales Saturday, 15 November — Hotel Brunswick, 4 Mullumbimby St, Brunswick Heads at 3.30pm, then Beach Hotel Crnr Jonson & Bay St, Byron Bay at 7.30pm. Sunday, 16 November — Park Beach Hotel, 84 Ocean Parade, Coffs Harbour at 5pm. Friday, 21 November — Towradgi Hotel, 170 Pioneer Rd, Towradgi at 7.30pm. Saturday, 22 November — Bucket List, Shop 1, Queen Elizabeth Drive, Bondi Pavilion, Bondi at 2pm, then Manly Wharf Bar, East Esplanade Shop 19, Manly at 10pm. Sunday, 23 November — Watsons Bay Hotel, 1 Military Rd, Watsons Bay at 3.30pm, then Old Joes, Crnr Kingsway & Erouera Rd, Cronulla at 8pm. Victoria Friday, 28 November — Torquay Hotel, Bell St, Torquay at 9pm. Saturday, 29 November — Westernport Hotel, 161 Marine Pde, San Remo at 9pm. Sunday, 30 November — The Deck, 2-4 Davey St, Frankston at 8.30pm. All tour dates are 18+ only and free entry. More info here. https://youtube.com/watch?v=EITwxJrZKj0
Very briefly, Electra is the myth in which Clytemnestra (Cat Martin) kills Agamemnon so that she can continue sleeping with his cousin Aegisthus (Dominic McDonald), which doesn't make her daughter Electra (Amy Scott-Smith) very happy. Electra decides to stay outside the castle with the slaves and yell about the injustice. Her weak-willed sister, Chrysothemis (Nicole Wineberg), remains obedient to her mother and tries unsuccessfully to convince Electra to tone down her protestations. Electra’s only hope for revenge is her estranged brother, Orestes, who comes back and, well, does the thing. In this production at the TAP Gallery, the first thing we hear upon entering the upstairs theatre is Scott-Smith's powerful voice as she ululates Agamemnon's death, standing head bowed with her back to us in a corner. More singing from Scott-Smith throughout would be my request. She is attended by a chorus of three Women of Argos: Naomi Livingstone, Emily Elise and Rose Maher. Movement director Amanda Laing has helped them establish a tangible sense of ensemble as they breathe and move through the narrative together with disarming sincerity. Their use of physical theatre in depicting relayed stories such as Orestes's reported death are striking but would have greater impact if they were more sustained. In general the piece would benefit from stronger physical choices, as the tiny space makes any wandering extremely obvious and false exits hard to sell. Dominic McDonald makes an impressive, unrecognisable transformation from Orestes's messenger to Aegisthus and is a strong member of the cast along with Scott-Smith. The costumes will take you right back to high school drama, with a heavy reliance on the only sartorial choice for a Woman of Argos, the black legging. This simplicity is preferable, though, to Chrysothemis's over-the-top strapless number accessorised with the world's noisiest necklace. Richard Hilliar has a hands-off style of directing, letting the play speak for itself, but at times it seems too lenient, particularly in regard to the cast's tone and diction. Their breadth of accents ranges from Clytemnestra's arch Received Pronunciation to Chrysothemis's throw-another-shrimp-on-the-barbie twang. This is a clear, no-nonsense production from No White Elephant Productions. If you're feeling slightly matricidal, get your catharsis on and see this play. Society will thank you.
Nicholas Kazan's Blood Moon is a naturalistic play reaching for the poetic level of a Greek tragedy. We're told it's based on a true story, but this is more poetic myth than documentary theatre. Like Neil LaBute's Medea Redux or Tom Holloway's Love me Tender, Kazan marries myth and domesticity to create an epic tragedy set in the suffocating confines of the everyday. Manya, a 19-year-old college student played by Victoria Beck, is shown around town by her uncle, Gregory (Fabrizio Omodei), who betrays her trust by leaving her alone with businessman Alan (Ted Crosby). Newly formed theatre company Unpathed, led by director Christopher Stollery, has given the timeless topic of sexual violence strong cathartic form in this production at the TAP Gallery. Designer Tom Bannerman has created a sparse but functional set that doubles as Alan's high-security apartment where the inciting incident occurs and later as Manya's student apartment where the revenge takes place. Bannerman has placed a large work by photographer Mauro Palmieri on the back wall of a woman standing naked with a sack over her head. Titled Undisclosed, the piece evokes both Guantanamo-style torture and the fragile beauty of Botticelli's Venus. It's a silent witness to the drama and stands as a symbol of the violation of innocence. This artwork is the most mature element of the production. Kazan's text is generally overwritten and reveals plot points well before they're due. Revealing your plot early is fine if the writing is a poetic mediation on events, slowing down time to give the audience a moment for reflection, but Kazan's dialogue doesn't tell us anything particularly novel. Instead, it's a drawn-out build-up to something we saw coming 15 minutes ago. Revenge is only satisfying to watch if there's genuine retribution. Despite Beck displaying genuine satisfaction in the final scene, Crosby playing Alan remains as he has been. Kazan has written little into the denouement that would allow Crosby to transform, and Stollery has directed the final moment with Crosby's back to the audience, denying us the chance to imagine even a glimmer of suffering or reckoning in his face. Manya's revenge does not appear to touch Alan, leaving him in the same position of power he's been in from the start. I doubt that this was the desired effect of the piece. A welcome counter to his immobility is Beck's poised performance as Manya — she is clear and powerful.
Michael Gow really likes Bertolt Brecht. In Once in Royal David’s City, the protagonist Will, a theatre director, delivers an impassioned homily on political theatre and the tenets of Brecht’s Marxist project. Gow’s adaptation of Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children, directed by Eamon Flack, is similarly reverential towards Brecht, staying faithful to the play, with the addition of original music composed by Stefan Gregory. Robyn Nevin is in fine form in the lead role of Mother Courage, belting out Gregory’s music with gusto and leading her family through the capitalist marketplace. She tows one of the more spruced-up wagons I’ve seen in a production of Mother Courage, more food truck than dinky cart. Designer Robert Cousins has opted for bright red with rainbow lights and shiny domestic cleaning products cover the walls inside. Paula Arundell playing the opportunist sex worker Yvette delivers an excellent comedic performance, and we’re reminded that she’s also a fantastic singer. Anthony Phelan as the chaplain is a calm, steady presence in among the rough and tumble of the action, as is Emele Ugavule, playing Mother Courage’s mute daughter, Kattrin. This is a great cast, doing great acting, in a slightly beige production. I’ve always found Mother Courage a bit stuffy and believe that didactic theatre is best consumed like a bitter pill — quickly. But much like Gow’s Once in Royal David’s City, his adaptation of Mother Courage is heavy with meaning and lengthy. Michael Gow’s adaptation and Eamon Flack’s direction are perfectly good, but the production’s relevance or novelty in 2015 is elusive. Flack purports that the play is timely because we live in a capitalist society with wars in Syria, Ukraine and Iraq, but that’s as much current-day commentary as we get. In Royal David’s City, Gow writes that the face of today’s capitalism has changed; that there “are no more men in top hats smoking cigars and driving the workers into their satanic mills” and yet Flack’s production of Mother Courage could easily be from 1970s East Germany. If the class war has indeed changed shape, its new identity is not to be found in this production.
A co-production with ILBIJERRI Theatre Company, Coranderrk will come to the Belvoir stage in December. The year is 1881. The scene is set at a Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry. Indigenous men and women gather, taking on the Aboriginal Protection Board. Their aim? Simple: to be allowed to continue their personal experiment in self-determination. Coranderrk features an all-Indigenous cast, recreating this inquiry for stage. In what is set to be a wonderful piece of theatre and an effective history lesson for all Australians, Coranderrk is an indication of the power of the written word, reviving the voices of those past, those fighting for a better future for Australia.
Even when you put your mind to it, cutting down your kitchen waste can be a challenging undertaking. But with the help of Cornersmith — ethical food producer, cafe and professional pickler — you won't have a problem turning the sad looking vegetables at the bottom of your fridge into something hearty and delicious. Head along to this hands-on workshop hosted at the MCA on Saturday, June 1 and you'll quickly find out the best way to make a rich stock made entirely from kitchen castaways. You'll also learn how to make versatile apple cider vinegar that's great for pickling or turning basic salads into something a little fancier. Once you've completed this 90-minute class, take home your hard work and find a new appreciation for your downtrodden produce. Cornersmith's workshop will take place on Saturday, June 1 across three sessions: 11am–12.30pm, 1.30–3pm and 4–5.30pm. Tickets cost $80 per person ($64 for members) and booking is required. This event forms part of the Museum of Contemporary Art's Conversation Starters 2019: Temperature Rising program. To see the full program, head this way. Image. Steve Woodburn.
If more good music and more delicious food are among your New Year's resolutions, then the CBD's Restaurant Hubert is ready to give you a helping hand. Nightly throughout January, the French eatery will be serving up a three-course dinner, soundtracked by live jazz. But, if you're not that hungry, you can go a la carte. Put together by Hubert's resident jazz man Stefan, the program will bring you jazz of all kinds — from vocalists and duos to hard-swinging bands. If you're into singers, be sure to catch jazz-soul powerhouse Virna Sanzone on January 16, singer-songwriter Emma May (who you might've seen on Love Child) on January 22 and Nic Jeffries (who you might've seen on The Voice in 2016) on February 1. Among the offerings on the three-course menu are stracciatella with stretched cow's curd, tomato and dill; chicken fricassée (a deeply comforting French-style stew); and the Floating Island: meringue with creme anglaise and seasonal fruit. Reservations are required, and Le Jazz January runs from 7–11pm each evening. Image: Daniel Boud.
Investigated in this show is the 'perfect woman' as a construct, both psychically and as an assemblage. Out of dissected dolls, furnishings, often-strange appliances and household products from the '40s, '50s and '60s, O'Doherty makes mordant visual puns: a set of scales as torso in The Perfect Weight, a light-bulb as a head in Bright Spark and the fairly self-evident Baby Machine. Such caustic obviousness is applied not so much to ideas of femininity generally, but to self-evaluation in relation to other women; in Roses and The Male Gaze bouquets of skewered Barbie heads represent a sense of rivalry and interchangeability as a basis for social relationships. Medical home remedies in the open cabinet-torso of Mother's Little Helper and cosmetics filling the equivalent shelves in Glory Box suggest that family life trains girls to view maturing as a sickness. Wear and tear on the figures, and flaking peach, teal and cream in the roughened but well-fitted wood-panel backdrops speak of exposure, but this critique is an 'inside job', domestic and anatomical. There is sympathetic irony as well as cruel absurdity to its literalisations.
Spring has officially sprung, which means it's time to pack away your slow cooker, unpack your picnic hamper and get ready for entertaining and dinner parties galore. Darlinghurst's Studio Enti wants to help you prepare for all this hosting — or just lots of fancy al fresco dinners for one — with its annuals seconds sale. The semi-hidden ceramics studio is offering up to 80 percent off a huge range of its tableware, lighting and accessories on Saturday, October 19 and Sunday, October 20. Pop by and score yourself one-off, sample and seconds plates, cups, vases and fancy lighting without burning a hole in your wallet — saving a few coins here and there is always a good thing in the lead-up to the busy summer holiday season. Studio Enti's ceramics are all made to last from Australian porcelain, which means they have more chance of surviving an accidental knock after a couple of spritzes. As it goes with all sales, the good stuff often goes first, so make sure you head in early. The Studio Enti annual seconds sale runs from 10am–4pm. Image two: Steven Woodburn
With pioneers of avant-garde electronica and general oddity, Kraftwerk already announced as the headline act of Vivid LIVE 2013, the bar has been set stratospherically high for the Vivid LIVE Studio Parties. But it will come as no surprise to those of you who raised the Opera House's iconic sails at last year's celebration of underground nightlife that 2013's lineup is again jam-packed full of club-shakin', dance-till-your-feet-hurt talent. Over four nights four of Sydney's most innovative dance collectives will be lighting up the Opera House's Studio and Western Foyers. On Saturday, May 25, the house music disciples Future Classic will showcase the stylings of UK beatmaker Lapalux, Norway's bombastic fusion of hip hop and house Cashmere Cat and Van She founder Michael Di Francesco's genre-hopping Touch Sensitive. Next up are the purveyors of basement partying Goodgod Danceteria! whose biggest drawcard is the skeezy, greasy social media sensation RiFF RAFF. With his highly addictive brand of chest-beating hip hop and dirty-as-hell beats, RiFF RAFF has earned himself a whopping 33 million YouTube views and guest spots from the likes of Snoop Dogg and Skrillex. If musical innovation and trippy acid-house-techno-minfuckery are more your style (and whose isn't?) then your best bet is Detroit's Omar S and his extended Astral People set. The night will also feature a healthy dose of drum 'n' bass in the form of Britain's John Corvex and off-kilter robotronics of Africa Hitech. While the final event, featuring Sydney's premiere queer institution Club Kooky, has already sold out, the rest of the events are on sale now, so head to the Vivid LIVE website to get your hands on the hottest after-hours party Sydney has to offer this winter.
Nick Enright's Daylight Saving knocks over the pedestal of professional bliss in Pittwater. It's a play that premiered in the late '80s, but remains relevant. Head to the Darlinghurst Theatre Company to see past the fine wine and grilled lobster of the northern beaches... these successful characters are actually confused and alone. The play pries into the tribulations of uber-successful Sydney couple, Felicity and Tom. Right from the start, many foreboding details indicate the drain down which their marriage is going. Tom (Christopher Stollery) is constantly on the move, has forgotten their anniversary and receives a phone call every time his wife needs to talk. Meanwhile, Felicity (Rachel Gordon) blushes at the word 'fidelity' and decides she'll have her anniversary dinner with her high school sweetheart Joshua (Ian Stenlake) instead. The watertight facade constructed by Gordon is quite heart-wrenching. She portrays the long-suffering wife who pleases everyone and is selfless till breaking point. She's utterly lonely, and willing to do anything to rediscover intimacy/sensation. This desperation is echoed by the supporting characters whose intrusions are equal parts hilarious and painful. Felicity's Mum Bunty (Belinda Giblin) needs to be needed, next-door neighbour Stephanie (Helen Dallimore) falls in love with all the wrong men, and tennis hotshot Jason Strutt (Jacob Warner) craves praise and paternal influence. All the technical elements of the production run seamlessly, and inconspicuously, in order to pull off this domestic Aussie drama. Quirky '80s nostalgia can be seen in Tom's unwieldy brick of a mobile phone and VHS recordings. The centrepiece of the set is the balcony window, where a brilliant sunset fades into night, almost in real time. The majority of the action, and Felicity's moral dilemma, take place on the evening before daylight saving. The diminishing rays of sunlight (of Gavin Swift's lighting design) tantalise Felicity to commit indiscretions during that 'extra hour'. Daylight Saving reveals some aspects of our society: ordinary men suffer sport-gasms over professional athletes, and everyone is too busy talking about themselves to listen to anyone else. The characters have no time for self-awareness or reflection; they employ clairvoyants for that. We learn to hate the presence of that obnoxious telephone — constantly ringing and making meaningful connection impossible. It's a well-timed re-staging of Nick Enright's play, made possible through the support of his family. It made me consider those couples you see out to dinner — each partner completely absorbed in a smart phone. Daylight Saving forces us to ask: how often are we really, properly listening to someone else? Will we prioritise the important people in our life before it's too late?
If Shakespeare were alive today, what would he be doing? According to the Q Brothers, the creators of Funk It Up About Nothin', with his love of rhythm, rhyme and wordplay, he'd be a hip hop MC. And of all his works, perhaps Much Ado…, already riddled with ribaldry is the most fitting for some funking up. In this production from Chicago Shakespeare Company, Don Pedro and his boys Claudio and Benedick have just returned victorious from their latest hip hop battle, and love is in the air. With a cast of six plus a DJ on the decks, the performers rap their way through this hilarious and high-tempo adaptation. The performances on the single-set stage are buzzing with energy, and with several quick costume changes required, the cast aren't afraid to camp it up or milk a slapstick moment. Claudio's rejection of Hero at the altar and the entrance of Sheriff Dingleberry were particular highlights. Staying largely true to Shakespeare's plot, the lines have been transformed into a rap just over an hour long, complete with smut, innuendo, and parody — just the way the bard would have wanted it. The production is drawing quite a varied audience: young and old, theatre and hip hop fans alike and all of them leave smiling, which is no mean feat. After all, when was the last time you actually laughed at a Shakespearian comedy? https://youtube.com/watch?v=yB3_OLaA56w
Brokenwood Wines has been a staple in the Hunter Valley for nearly four decades, and its cellar door has just undergone its first revamp since the modest building's construction way back in 1975 — and the redevelopment is a big one, worth a whopping $8 million. Opening this Saturday, December 8, the massive new digs span 1400 square-metres. Sydney-based architecture and design firm Villa + Villa are responsible for the striking timber structure, which took one year to complete and is now one of the largest cellar doors in the region. It's expected to accommodate over 250,000 guests per year. So what have they done with all this space? Well, apart from the circular tasting pods and two private tasting rooms, there are also two distinct restaurants, a large outdoor terrace and a lounge. Plus a wine museum that overlooks the Brokenwood barrel hall and will host tastings, blending masterclasses and one-off events. Chefs Andrew and Janet Wright are at the helm in both kitchens. The first, Cru Bar + Pantry, is the venue's casual offering. It's located in the lounge and is open for breakfast and lunch daily. Expect moreish snacks like homemade pies, cheese and charcuterie platters, toasties and woodfired pizza to accompany bottles of Brokenwood — alongside a self-service, by-the-glass dispenser that will pour some of the winery's rarest drops. The second dining option is the The Wood Restaurant, a 90-seat modern Australian offering that'll open for lunch daily and for dinner on Friday and Saturday. The menu is centred around fresh seafood. Starters like shucked oysters, sashimi, caviar and salt cod fritters sit alongside larger menu items like spanner crab linguini and market fish with clams, salumi, capers and anchovy butter. Located in Pokolbin, a two-hour drive from Sydney, the fancy new cellar door is worthy stop-off during a weekend getaway in region. For more wineries to hit up while you're there, check out our guide to cycling and drinking your way around the Hunter. Find Brokenwood Wines' cellar door at 401-427 McDonalds Road, Pokolbin, from Saturday, December 8. Images: Chris Elfes
This year has seen Sydney's beaches closed for a multitude of reasons. Bondi temporarily shut when beachgoers flouted gathering restrictions back in March. Then beaches across the city closed as restrictions tightened. In May, an overboard shipping container saw Randwick City Council's beaches flooded with face masks and plastic containers. Now, on the Labour Day long weekend, another Sydney beach has closed — but it's got nothing to do with COVID-19. On Saturday, October 3, Murray Rose Pool (FKA Redleaf) was evacuated due to concerns about contaminated water. In a statement on social media, Woollahra Council said the beach would be closed for the rest of the long weekend "due to a sewage issue". Sydney Water expanded on the specifics of the issue in a statement to The Sydney Morning Herald, saying "A blockage in a public toilet wastewater line operated by Woollahra Municipal Council caused a wastewater overflow this morning in Double Bay." https://www.facebook.com/WhatsOnWaverley/photos/a.110321562354040/3596156633770498 Further east in Bronte, The Bogey Hole at the southern end of the beach was also closed on Saturday due to a sewage issue and will remain closed for the entire long weekend, according to a statement from Waverley Council. With the mercury hovering in the high 20s across the long weekend, some sandy spots across the city have reached capacity, too. NSW National Parks and Services started turning around cars at 9.33am when Wattamolla hit peak vehicle capacity and Camp Cove was full at 11.50am on Monday, October 5. When you do head to a beach, remember to follow NSW gathering limits and to practise social-distancing when possible. You can check out all the current COVID-19 restrictions over here. Murray Rose Pool (Redleaf) and The Bogey Hole at Bronte Beach will remain closed for the rest of the long weekend. Image: Flickr
Most of us probably can’t fathom going a day without a smartphone. These devices, so neatly integrated into the fabric of everyday life, have come a long way in a few short decades. So how do companies make complicated technologies so slick and easy to use? This major exhibition at the Powerhouse Museum, part of Sydney Design, explores just that, tracing the history of technological innovation. Interface will feature iconic products from some of the world’s biggest manufacturers. Crammed with methods, philosophies and inspirations, the exhibition will navigate between design visionaries of the 20th century. There will be work by the German industrialist behind Braun, Dieter Rams, as well as household names and Apple revolutionaries Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. If you need guidance through this world of obsolete gadgets and timeless technologies, curator Campbell Bickerstaff will be leading a tour and unpacking some of the main themes. In teasing out the finer details, expect an insight into how design is shaped by the maker's values and which methods of the past have stood the test of time.
UPDATE — FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 27: Fever-Tree is offering Concrete Playground readers $20 off the ticket price for Friday night tickets — just use code: CPFRI. This year, you'll have another excuse for enjoying a cheeky springtime G&T — Australia's biggest ever gin and tonic festival is heading to Centennial Park. Descending on the park's Rose Gardens from Friday, September 27, to Sunday, September 29, the Fever-Tree Gin & Tonic Festival is a huge tasting event dedicated to the classic tipple. Here, you'll have the chance to sample over 30 different gins — South Australia's award-winning Never Never Distilling Co to Melbourne's Four Pillars and international favourite Hendricks — matched with top tonics from Fever-Tree's range of mixers. Explore the pop-up Gin Village, then grab a snack from one of the food trucks or kick back with a gourmet picnic hamper. You'll even spy a limited-edition G&T-infused frozen treat from Mr Goaty Gelato. Rounding out the springtime fun will be live entertainment, lawn games and activities, as well as a series of complimentary drink demonstrations, expert-led workshops and product discovery sessions, where you'll have the chance to scout out some new favourites. Tickets to the Fever-Tree Gin & Tonic Festival clock in at $65 (or $55 if you get in quick), which'll score you entry and six mini gin and tonics. Fever-Tree Gin & Tonic Festival will run from Friday 4–10pm, Saturday 2–9pm and Sunday 2–8pm. For more information and to purchase tickets, head this way. Fever-Tree is also offering Concrete Playground readers $20 off the ticket price for Friday night tickets — just use code: CPFRI.
Spring is (almost) in the air, and we all know what that means: it's time to kick back with some friends and a nice bottle of vino and enjoy a movie under the stars. We've been spoiled for choice when it comes to outdoor cinemas in recent years, and now The Greens in North Sydney is getting in on the action. Flicks at the Greens is your latest destination for classic, cult and new release cinema with a little bit of lawn bowling thrown in. The film program runs Wednesday to Sundays for four weeks across late September and early October, beginning with OTT action comedy Kingsman: The Secret Service. Other recent titles include Ant Man, Trainwreck and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, while those of you looking for a dose of nostalgia can enjoy the likes of Mean Girls, Dirty Dancing and Howl's Moving Castle. The movies start at sundown, but there'll be plenty to keep you occupied until then. The recently refurbished Greens Kitchen will be open for pre-film feasts, with a lot more than just stale popcorn on offer. Nothing like slow-cooked lamb or a thick rib-eye steak to put you in the mood for a screening of Jurassic World — although we can't imagine Indominus Rex would bother with the herb and garlic butter. They'll also be operating bars of both the candy and alcohol varieties, so there's no danger of you running out of things to eat or drink. Screenings on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays will be preceded by live music acts — and if you want to get really fancy, you can grab yourself a VIP ticket which gets you a bean bed in the reserved area along with a complimentary bottle of wine and box of popcorn. Wednesday to Sundays
With just a few weeks left of winter, you might have thought you'd survived the worst of it. But nope, the Bureau of Meteorology has announced a severe weather warning across Australia's southeast, saying the region looks set to cop the strongest weather system it's seen all season over the next few days. That means blustery winds, pouring rain and some very low temperatures, so you'd best start plotting a weekend of Netflix and couch time. SEVERE WEATHER UPDATE: strongest weather system this winter for SE Australia, with possible sleet/snow on #NSW #Qld border. Video current at 12 pm AEST, 7 August 2019. Check warnings at https://t.co/0iBm75CO79 & follow advice from emergency services pic.twitter.com/0rzydto2yC — Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) August 7, 2019 A severe weather warning for Victoria reveals the state's due for some damaging winds, with gusts of between 90 and 100 kilometres per hour developing across western regions today and moving into eastern parts by tonight. NSW is forecast to cop the same wild, windy conditions from this afternoon, with plenty of showers across the southern inland parts spreading further up the coast to Sydney tonight. https://twitter.com/BOM_Vic/status/1159081331378262016 A series of cold fronts are set to hit most of NSW through until Sunday, so you can expect blustery conditions for your weekend, with possible thunderstorms to match. Sydney's expected to dip to lows of 11 degrees tomorrow and to 8 degrees across the weekend, though that wind chill factor will make it feel a whole lot frostier. (It may be a little chilly at the City2Surf start line.) It's good news for snow bunnies, however, with solid snowfalls forecast for Thredbo and Perisher. https://twitter.com/BOM_NSW/status/1158583525051969537 Down south, Melbourne's in for even chillier conditions, with a temperature top of just 13 degrees today, 11 degrees on Friday and Saturday, and 12 degrees to round out the weekend. Rain is pretty much a given across all four days and there's a strong chance of thunderstorms. Alpine regions even look set to score blizzards tonight and again Friday morning, including snow fields Hotham, Falls Creek and Mt Buller. Between 50 centimetres–one metre of fresh snow is forecast to dump across those slopes. But even if you're not hitting the mountain, you could still see some of the white stuff — there's potential snow forecast for low lying areas across Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales. Top image: Thredbo
It's that time of year again — the Good Food and Wine Show is back for 2019. This year, it'll span 800 wine varieties and over 250 exhibitors in a weekend full of live cooking demonstrations, chef's lunches, masterclasses and a whole heap of wine tastings. The event will take over the International Convention Centre Sydney across three days from Friday, June 21–Sunday, June 23. Some of Australia's top chefs will be in tow, including Sydney's chef extraordinaire Matt Moran (Barangaroo House, The Paddo Inn), who will team up with celeb chef Maggie Beer to cook the perfect roast chicken. Other big names include Kylie Kwong (Billy Kwong), Anthony Puharich (Vic's Quality Meats), Colin Fassnidge (Four in Hand, 4Fourteen), Masterchef's George Calombaris, television host Miguel Maestre and Brisbane's Alastair McLeod. Most of the chefs will also run three-course chef's lunches, paired with matched wines for $80. For other eats, visitors can wander down cheese alley, participate in meet-the-makers events and visit artisan food stalls by the likes of Butcher and the Farmer, Olio and Meat & Wine Co. For VIP ticket holders, the lounge includes Margaret River wines, lunch by Matt Moran and desserts by Maggie Beer. On the wine side of the show, the drops span regions all across Australia, including the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Mudgee, to name a very few. To try the best of the bunch, head to the Riedel drinks lab for one of its free tasting sessions on daily. Apart from wine, there's also a Champagne garden with masterclasses and a Glenfiddich whisky lounge inside a vintage Leyland bus. Tickets are still available for all three sessions, starting at just $27 per day. Images: Joseph Byford, James Ambrose, JWyld Photography
Recently to point-and-click was our primary mode of interacting with devices; now it's being usurped by the tap, swipe and pinch. What will be next? The Haptic Interface Pop-Up Exhibition is a chance for the public to experience a type of technology that, right now, is still largely unknown and experimental — and can take a lot of googling to understand. The exhibition is held at Hong Kong House and is part of this year's Vivid festival. Essentially, the user interacts with haptic technology through touch, usually in the form of something you wear that translates your movements or pulses into some kind of effect. Things like hats that light up and move when someone speaks, or shoes that allow you to feel someone else walking, or cuffs that read pulses and allow you to sense another person's presence even if you can't see them — they even come with stylish ostrich feather plumage. A lot of the ideas are in pretty early stages. It's hard to imagine a situation where you'd think, "Wow, I wonder what walking feels like?" Though one practical item might be the wearable pillows that tell you when you're snoring — just think how many arguments between couples it would settle. Haptic Feedback is open 9.30am - 4.30pm on the Ground Level Function Room of Hong Kong House (right next to the QVB).
Little has changed since the 2016 leak of the Nauru Files, which detail 2116 incident reports of assault, sexual and child abuse, self-harm and horrible living conditions suffered by asylum seekers on Nauru, one of Australia's offshore refugee detention centres. With the centre continuing to operate regardless, 33 award-winning artists have teamed up to create All We Can't See: Illustrating the Nauru Files, which will show at Yellow House gallery from Friday, February 2 through Saturday, February 10. The exhibition illustrates the suffering of detainees through creative expression, with each artist having chosen a specific Nauru file to interpret. The exhibition's renowned Australian artists include painter Ben Quilty, 2017 Bvlgari Art Award recipient Tomislav Nikolic, Tim Maguire, Sulman Prize winner Aida Tomescu, and multi-discipline artist Belinda Fox. Two free panel discussions will be held alongside the exhibition on February 3 and February 10. The first will be moderated by Elaine Pearson from Human Rights Watch Australia and include discussions with Mohammad Ali Baqiri, an advocate, refugee and former detainee on Nauru. Award-winning journalist Paul Farrell — a lead member of The Guardian's reporting team on the Nauru Files — will also be in attendance, as will participating artist Angus McDonald. With a complete lack of media access to the island, the artists hopes to raise greater awareness through their art in this sure to be powerful exhibition. Image: Work by Pia Johnson.
Skip the airfares, hefty ticket spends and get-to-the-front crowd panic, you can stream Chicago's Lollapalooza festival right from your own snuggly warm bed. Thanks to the legends over at Red Bull TV, you'll be able to stream the entire three days worth of live shenanigans from their exclusive channel. Chicago's historic Grant Park will play host to some pretty big ol' must-streams this weekend. With the recently Splendour-victorious OutKast headlining alongside Lorde, Arctic Monkeys, Foster the People, CHVRCHES, Interpol, Childish Gambino, Calvin Harris, Kings of Leon, Glen Hansard, Chromeo, The 1975, Jenny Lewis, Courtney Barnett and a severe bucketload more (over 100 woah-inducing names) on the lineup, that's the best excuse for staying home and cleaning your house to tunes we've ever heard. With three channels of ridiculously solid programming over five stages, you'll be the worst remote pest ever (but warranted). There's over 200 hours of exclusive content as well as the sets, so you can duck backstage for some Lolla tomfoolery, artist interviews, unique POV angles and festival highlight throwbacks. It's a new era for Lolla. Since Perry Farrell started the whole thing in 1991, they've regularly rivaled Coachella for lineup steeze and have now extended to Lollapalooza Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. Now they're teaming up with Red Bull TV to take Lolla global, we're pretty stoked to feel all included in the 'palooza festivities (and we don't even have to buy a token inappropriate headdress to get involved). The livestream will kick off at 5am AEST tomorrow morning until 1pm AEST on Monday. Red Bull TV is accessible via the web at www.redbull.tv and its Android and iOS applications, as a pre-installed channel on Apple TV, and as a free, downloadable app on Samsung Smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV, Kindle Fire, Xbox 360, Chromecast, and iOS and Android devices.
"This sounds like a retrospective. But do I admit I don't know who Kent State is? Why don't I know who Kent State is? Oh crap, I am totally festival-addled." Turns out, while I definitely am festival-addled, Kent State is not a person but a university in the US where unarmed student protesters against the Vietnam War were shot and killed by the National Guard 40 years ago, and the title of this artwork by Richard Hamilton. "Richard Hamilton! British Pop artist! Maker of that really famous collage! Represented by that art dealer who got arrested with Mick Jagger that time! Designer of the artwork for The White Album!" I exclaimed. "So I am just ignorant about politics and history, not art!" Phew. The work in question is a photo Hamilton took of news coverage of the Kent State shootings: one of the first screencaps, and extremely Baudrillard. Five thousand prints of the image were made, and the one held in the University of Sydney's collection is used as a curatorial springboard for this exhibition. It's both thematically and physically central to the show, with artists working in various media responding to the image, the event and the history and culture of student politics and viewers being asked to engage with ideas of engagement itself in terms of activism and politicisation. A lunchtime artist talk will be held at noon on Wednesday, July 7.
John Doyle (aka Roy Slaven) may never top the artistic triumph that was his co-coverage with HG Nelson of the Sydney Olympics men’s gymnastics, but that doesn’t mean his second play, Vere, isn’t a good runner-up. The memorable terms ‘battered sav’, ‘hello boys’ and ‘crazy date’ have made the world a happier place. With Vere, Doyle has made the world a wiser place. It’s a sensible, heartfelt contribution to the necessary discussion of how to die well. Vere is a world apart from the tender testes of Russian gymnasts. It follows the mental decline of eminent physicist Vere (Paul Blackwell), after he learns he has a rapidly progressing form of dementia. You can almost smell the mustiness of boffins at their toil in the excellently drab office created by Pip Runciman. Vere celebrates the last day of semester with his physics colleagues as well as the lecherous vice chancellor, Ralph (Geoff Morrell), and an admiring, nubile female student, Gina (Matilda Bailey). He hands out advice, gifts and wine as he comes to terms with the prospect that he may not be able to travel to the Cern hadron collider to see if his beloved Higgs Boson, or ‘God’ particle, indeed exists. The second act sees the same cast take on mirror characters from the first act, as we travel to the family home of Vere’s son, Scott (Yalin Ozucelik), whose own son Michael (Matthew Gregan) has decided to marry into a family of religious buffoons. Rebecca Massey makes a particularly fantastic idiot as the wife of a minister. The double casting works well to show Vere’s slipping faculties and the cast takes the opportunity to show off some impressive transformations, each of them embodying very different characters in the two halves. For a play that cherishes rational humanism, sound designer Steve Francis’ treatment of Delibes’ Flower Duet is positively sentimental. The significance the duet holds as Vere’s late wife’s favourite song is diminished by the version’s closeness to pan-pipes and air freshener commercials. Similarly, Runciman’s multiple doors opening as a metaphor for mental clarity is a bit much. Doyle’s comedy is interspersed with intellectual tangents, which are mostly at home within the action, though the befuddled-man-of-the-cloth-versus-awe-inspired-scientist construct is not particularly sophisticated. Sarah Goodes has struck a good balance between comedy and intellectual argument with her direction. The father-son relationship played out so well by Blackman and Ozucelik is the ultimate defence of humanism and the reason the play has an impact. A fine man faces the void in the care of his son who loves and understands him; there’s no afterlife, just the deep respect they have for each other’s minds. It’s pretty great. Image by Matt Nettheim.
When cinemas are running as normal, getting a glimpse of the other side of the world is as easy as stepping into a darkened theatre. While lockdowns have impacted picture palaces around the country, and Australia's huge lineup of film festivals have moved online, that experience has shifted into our lounge rooms. The latest virtual film fest to make the leap to digital: the Czech and Slovak Film Festival of Australia. In 2021, it's streaming a five-movie lineup via ACMI's online Cinema 3 platform — and it won't just evoke your travel yearnings for Central Europe, but for Antarctica as well. That look at frostier climes comes courtesy of the stunning Frem, with director and cinematographer Viera Čákanyová peering out over its icy expanse in a film that blends reality and fiction. No, you won't find sights this striking elsewhere on your normal streaming queue. Or, you can also watch book-to-screen adaptation Gump and its tale of canine companions; documentary Athanor: The Alchemical Furnace about acclaimed Czech filmmaker Jan Švankmajer; and 70s classics The Ear and Pacho, The Thief of Hybe. Top image: Hypermarket Film
One year on from launching its first Sydney store, Melbourne restaurant group DOC will be bringing another of its much-loved menus north to Sydney, but this time for a limited time only. Earlier in 2021, DOC launched Bio, a new outpost dedicated to plant-based, vegan and gluten free creations. After a successful few months down in Melbourne, Bio is getting a run in Sydney as a pop-up menu full of all vegan treats. Running from Monday, March 22 until Saturday, April 10 out of DOC's Surry Hills spot, the pop-up features a menu created by Bio head chef Tommaso Bartoli. You'll find three popular Bio mains on the lineup: vegan lasagne made with spinach pasta sheets, bechamel and lentil ragu; grilled vegetable tartare with capers and truffle paste; and chilli and garlic broccolini scottati served on top of macadamia mousse. And for dessert, you can order vegan tiramisu made with crumbled savoiardi, cashew cream and dark chocolate. DOC is open for lunch Thursday–Saturday and for dinner every night except Sunday. Book online to ensure you nab a spot.
The Sydney Portugal Community Club in Marrickville is set to host their second annual Festival de Sardinha and it's sounding undeniably tasty. Don't worry, you don't have to be as obsessed with sardines as we are to think so. Despite the name, sardines aren't the only item on the menu on February 4, though you can grab yourself a big ole plate of Portuguese-style sardinhas, served with roasted veggies, bread and salad for $15. Other savoury specialties include half a Portuguese chicken with chips and salad for $15 and a bifana (popular pork steak sandwich) and chips for just ten bucks. Alongside an array of Portuguese desserts, market favourite Dos Churros will also host a stand, turning out their Spanish-style treats, deep-fried to order and served with the classic dipping sauces. The drinks offering will go with the country theme as well, and will include Super Bock and passionfruit mojitos on tap, along with three flavours of Sumol (a Portuguese soft drink). To add to the festivities, local band Pop Orchestra will be rocking an unusual combo of tunes. The kids area sounds genuinely fun as well, with $10 giving youngsters all-day access to giant snakes and ladders, a giant velcro dart board, double-play basketball shootout, roaming farm animals, face paint and a jumping castle. Unfortunately 'kidults' are only allowed access while accompanying a child — so, if don't have any, this would be the ideal time to borrow your niece or nephew for the day. Limited parking is available for members only, but the venue is easily accessible from Sydenham Station. With 1500 in attendance last year, it's best to get in at noon to secure yourself the tastiest bites.
Northern Beaches residents rejoice — if you've already made your way through the area's current selection of top-notch beachside breweries, there's a fresh new spot to add to your must-try list. Freshwater Brewing Company has just unveiled a 120-capacity taproom and restaurant pouring its array of approachable craft beer creations. This fresh new face on the local brewing scene was established in 2020, releasing its first beer, the Freshie Pils, in July of last year. Since then, the Freshwater Brewing Company stocklist has expanded to include two more pilsners — the Pacific Pils and the Duke's Czech Pilsner — the Mexican-style Wedge Cerveza and the Secrets Hazy Pale. All five of these beers will be available across the brewery's 14 taps, accompanied by a bright, welcoming space and a memorable food menu crafted by Michelin-trained chef Daniel Wilson (ex-Dandy London). The eats are designed around backyard barbecue classics like prawn skewers, seafood platters, fish finger sandwiches and pork, cumin and harissa sausage rolls served with a fennel mayo. Over time, the team promises the menu will grow, with a continued focus on fresh, seasonal and locally-sourced ingredients. Behind the bar sits a range of wines, curated alongside a bright summery spritz to accompany frothy beers on warm Sydney days. "Community is in the brand's DNA, and this gives us an opportunity to create a space for our friends, family and neighbours, and create a brewery for all that embodies the Australian surf lifestyle," Freshwater Brewing Company co-founder Jonny Bucknall says. The best part of all this? Freshwater is pooch-friendly, so you'll never have to leave your best four-legged mate behind again. Freshwater Brewing Company is located at 4 Powells Road, Brookvale. Its taproom and restaurant is open 4–11pm Wednesday–Thursday, 4pm–midnight Friday, midday–midnight Saturday and midday–10pm Sunday. Images: Luisa Brimble
Say 'aye' if you trust the word of the Chaser crew, and watch tumbleweed drift between our internet connections. The team have made us laugh, think and scoff all at once, and a quick look at the Museum of Words website — both puzzling and tongue-in-cheek — will tell you that this Charles Firth creation is no different. The two-week exhibition premieres on Saturday, November 16, at a Potts Point terrace hidden along Challis Avenue. Basically, Australian words and passages written by Australians will be mounted in a museum-style format (audio tours and all) with, err, "only the best words that Australia — and Sydney — has to offer". Supported by the City of Sydney in conjunction with Sydney Writers' Room, it will leave use punters to reflect upon the meaning of words taken out of context. Apparently. This writer can't help but think the website's pulling her leg. Is this a joke on the art world? A mock of the ridiculous things Australian faces have said (see: Alan Jones)? An actual linguistic study? An investigation into Australian and Sydney culture? No? Who can tell. Maybe we'll rock up to the Potts Point terrace come Saturday, November 16, to find we've been punk'd by one of the masters. https://youtube.com/watch?v=IKjxGMGH_LU
