Summer isn't even here yet, and 2023's Meredith Music Festival hasn't happened so far either, but it isn't too early to start thinking about autumn 2024. The reason? That's when the Aunty team unleashes its other big annual festival at the same Victorian spot, with Golden Plains just announcing its packed lineup. Music lovers, next year's pilgrimage to the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre to dance among the autumn leaves will take place from Saturday, March 9–Monday, March 11, 2024. So, mark those dates in your diaries ASAP. Then, go enter the ticket ballot, as the second round is up and running until 10.16pm AEDT on Monday, October 23. This Golden Plains will mark the fest's sweet 16th, and comes with The Streets, Yussef Dayes, King Stingray and Black Country, New Road leading the bill. So, that means one of the defining voices of 00s-era Britain in Mike Skinner, Dayes' drumming and jazz prowess, a Yolŋu surf‑rock favourite that Aunty has been trying to get on the lineup for ages and one helluva post-punk band — and that's just the first four acts. Joining the above is everyone from Cymande, Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul, Wednesday and Regurgitator to Boris, RVG, Kutcha Edwards and WITCH (We Intend To Cause Havoc). The list still goes on from there, too. Catering to 12,000 punters each year across three days and two nights, Golden Plains has long proven a favourite for its one-stage setup, which skips the need for frantic timetabling. How does the Aunty crew describe 2024's fest? "Come as you fancy. Time and space to wibble. A soundtrack built for wobble. Autumnal autonomy. Two days and two nights at the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre, with controls set to premium mode," they advise. "The Sup' has been designed and refined over 30‑odd years for the sole purpose of hosting something truly remarkable. It's one of the best places on earth to spend a long weekend with friends and lovers — finding yourself, losing yourself and losing yourself again." GOLDEN PLAINS 2024 LINEUP: The Streets Yussef Dayes King Stingray Black Country, New Road Cymande Charlotte Adigéry and Bolis Pupul Wednesday Regurgitator Boris RVG Kutcha Edwards WITCH (We Intend To Cause Havoc) Braxe + Falcon MAVI Anz MJ Lenderman DJ Koco Sarah Mary Chadwick Elsy Wameyo Soju Gang Split System The Belair Lip Bombs Storytelling with Uncle Barry Golden Plains will return to the Meredith Supernatural Amphitheatre from Saturday, March 9–Monday, March 11, 2024. Head to the festival's website for further details, or to enter the ballot's second round before 10.16pm AEDT on Monday, October 23. Images: Benjamin Fletcher / Theresa Harrison.
The Athlete's Foot pride themselves on helping you find your fit, and if you haven't found a fun run that suits your exercise style yet, you're in luck — we're coming up to the major running event season for 2013. While nothing like an actual marathon, fun runs range from the absolute crazy to the absolute gruelling. Whether you're in costume, taking a stroll, or crawling through mud, some things remain the same: it's a great way to get fit, socialise, and have some fun. If you're planning to do one or more of these, make sure you've got the right shoes to tackle all the obstacles. The folks at The Athlete's Foot pride themselves on excellent service and really know what shoes you need. Drop into one of their 130 stores nationwide or shop online. They have footwear solutions for muddy runs and colour runs, and they know all about the shoe technologies to keep you ahead of zombies, Spartans, and more. 1. The Zombie Escape Survival Challenge One of the most inventive fun runs around, and in keeping with the current zombie fad, the Zombie Run pits runners against zombies. Runners must brave various obstacles while pursued by 'zombies', who have professional make-up applied before being let loose to go after the runners' brains. The organisers' recommendation for preparation is "Run. Watch zombie movies. Run some more." Spectator tickets are available for those who wish to purely watch the action. When and where: 13 April (Brisbane, Gold Coast), 13 May (Sydney), 13 June (Melbourne, Perth)Length: 5kmCost: TBC, pre-register here. 2. Cupid's Undie Run Purported as putting "the hilarity back into charity", the Cupid's Undie Run tells hopefuls to leave their Sunday best at home and don nothing but their underwear. Participants raise money for the Children's Tumour Foundation of Australia, an organisation dedicated to fighting neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder which can cause deafness, blindness, cancer, and chronic pain. Runners are rewarded for their good deeds with prizes, post-race entertainment, drinks, and awards. Get in the spirit with some cool red, pink, or purple Nike Frees — flexible footwear in great colours for the run. When and where: The weekend before Valentine’s Day at Bungalow 8 and the Barangaroo Foreshore Walk, SydneyLength: 1.5kmCost: $30 3. The Color Run The Color Run certainly puts the fun into the run. Decked out in white shirts, runners are blasted by volunteers, staff, and sponsors with a new colour each kilometre: pink, orange, yellow, blue, then a mishmash of colours for the final stretch. Stick around at the finish line for more colour, food, and activities. Participants are encouraged to raise money for charity; the Color Run has a different charity partner for each city. The run in Sydney supports HeartKids Australia, which provides support to children with heart disease and their families. When and where: 10 February (Sydney) at Sydney Olympic Park, with other capital cities throughout the yearLength: 5kmCost: $55 (solo) or $50 (4+ group) 4. Tough Mudder The Tough Mudder run means taking a cup of tough with a spoonful of humour. Designed by British Special Forces, the run is an obstacle course which tests strength, endurance, and solidarity but is more enjoyable than a marathon. 'Mudders' work in teams, with the option of wearing outrageous team costumes, and are greeted at the end with live music, beer, and good cheer. A season pass is available for entry to all Australian events, including those already sold out. When and where: 13 & 14 April (Sydney), 17 & 18 August (Sunshine Coast), 14 & 15 September (Melbourne), 12 & 13 October (Sydney) or 26 & 27 October (Perth)Length: 18–20kmCost: $80-$180 5. Spartan Race The Spartan Race is no joke. In a bid to transport participants back to ancient times, the race, a little sibling of the Spartan Death Race, is set on harsh terrain with obstacles of fire, water, mud, and barbed wire. The first races in the season are 'Sprints' of 7km, which progress to 'Super' of 14km and 'Beast' of 21km. People can fly solo or register as a team, and the Spartan Kids race allows children to experience some of the challenges. The race is followed by food, drink, and stalls. When and where: 2 March (Melbourne), 16 March (Sydney) and 22 June (Brisbane)Length: 7km (Sydney, Melbourne) or 14km (Brisbane)Cost: $85-$95 6. Mother's Day Classic - Sponsored by The Athlete's Foot Kill two birds with one stone by getting fit and raising money for breast cancer research. People can choose to run or walk the easy Mother's Day Classic course, which has a 4km or an 8km version. If you are one of the fastest, or have the largest school team, corporate team, or friends and family team, you could score a trophy. It's a perfect day out for the family, with entertainment, food vendors, and kids’ activities, such as face painting and jumping castles, on site. Participants can be sponsored for their run or walk by setting up an online fundraising page. The Athlete's Foot is one of the major sponsors of this event, and you should look out for their stand after you complete the race to score awesomely rewarding treats (like their 'I did it!' medals last year). Make sure you get fitted properly for your training in your nearest store, and join them on Facebook — we hear rumours they are giving away lots of tickets for free, plus training tips, training nights, and more very soon. When and where: Mother's Day, 12 May, at The Domain, Sydney (other capital cities and regional areas also hold events)Length: 4km or 8kmCost: $20-$50, with special prices for families 7. True Grit If you’re looking for minefields, 4 metre high cargo nets, rivers of fire, and crisscrossing routes, True Grit is for you. The term 'fun run' is used loosely for True Grit; with over 30 obstacles in each military-style event specially designed by Australian Special Forces, it is not for the faint-hearted. Two training programs assist participants in their preparation, as well as improving fitness and body strength. Their promotional videos will either entice you or scare you away from the challenge. When and where: 11 & 12 May (Adelaide), with other capital cities to be announced soon. Pre-register here.Length: 10–12kmCost: $70-$120 8. Greatest Athlete The Greatest Athlete Challenge is much more than a fun run: participants compete for the chance to appear on the Greatest Athlete TV Series which will appear on the Nine Network from September 2013. The challenge is an obstacle course with 16 obstacle stations, ranging from easy to advanced. The top 50 men and women win a place on the TV series, where they will battle against each other and well-known sporting legends for $200,000 in cash and prizes. TV-shy athletes can take the 'Adventure Challenge', a modified, non-TV version of the course. When and where: 18 May (Gold Coast, Brisbane), 25 May (Sydney), 1 June (Canberra), 8 June (Melbourne), 15 June (Adelaide), 29 June (Perth)Length: 5kmCost: $110 (Adventure), $145 (TV Series) or $350-$500 for a season pass 9. The Warrior Challenge This is an obstacle course for people who don't mind getting dirty. Stretching over forest, bitumen, mountain terrain, mud, and snow, the Warrior Challenge organises tough challenges throughout the year, regardless of the seasons. The Samurai Challenge is coming up in March, with large mud pits, huge walls, cable climbs, commando crawls, a snow pit, and prizes for the winners. Accommodation and food packages are on offer, and there's no need to worry about the kids, who can be left to amuse themselves in a jumping castle. When and where: 2 March at Lake Mountain Alpine Resort, VictoriaLength: 15kmCost: $55 (early early bird), $69 (early bird) or $79 (regular admission) 10. The Great Tribal Chase Working in tribes of two to six, people scour Sydney's streets for 'checkpoints' by solving riddles on their clue sheet. At each checkpoint, there are two activities to be completed, which might be a history question or a puzzle. Tribes raise money for Good Beginnings Australia, a charity that provides support to disadvantaged children and their parents. There are great prizes for those who solve the most puzzles and raise the most money. When and where: 5 May at Sydney CBD and foreshoreLength: 4 hoursCost: $24 (individual), $49 (family) If you need some inspiration to start training, make sure you visit The Athlete’s Foot. We're also loving their latest Brooks Float or Feel range, in stores and online now.
Rare champagnes, a cocktail featuring absinthe jelly and lobster rolls are all on the menu at Solera, a luxe small bar in Barangaroo. Working on the rather exotic drinks list is international hot shot Marian Beke, formerly of The Gibson, London. One example is the Apple of Louisiana, an original take on the sazerac, with apple brandy, absinthe jelly and rock sugar. "[We're] serving up some of the city's best cocktails... pushing the cocktail-making boundaries," said Roman Kristek, who co-owns Solera with Scott Bayly and Ty Van Emden. Beke has also been busy sourcing champagnes that you're unlikely to find anywhere else in Sydney. Look out for drops by Leclerc Briant, Jerome Dehours, Benoit Dehu and Ulysse Collin. Keeping them at the ideal temperature is the Kaelo, a high-tech cooling system that works at your table. Meanwhile, the kitchen is whipping up easy-to-share cheese and cured meat grazing boards. To match the decadent menu, designers Steel and Stitch (Lobo Plantation, Chula) have dotted the 100-seater, heritage-listed space with green velvet couches and splashes of marble. If you're keen to catch some sun, grab a table on the outdoor terrace. Appears in: Sydney's Best Underground Bars for 2024
One of the oldest buildings in the Central Coast — and its surrounding 3000-acre property — is home to an adventurer's playground of outdoor activities that's become something of a tourist hotspot over the years. Glenworth Valley is operated by the Lawler family, who own the sandstone house and expansive eucalypt forest and open pastures around it. The Valley has dramatic rocky cliffs that you can abseil down, creeks you can quad bike across, and lakes you can kayak over. You can even book in a laser skirmish session, right before you bed down for the night in one of the site's glamping tents. But we think the real attraction here is the daily Running of the Horses. At 4.30pm every day, 200 horses run free through the paddocks and you can watch on (from a distance) as they gallop over creeks and live their best lives. [caption id="attachment_775353" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Judith Bennett[/caption]
Disney is back in the fairy princess business, and by god it wants you to know it. Except, it doesn’t want young boys to know it, which is why this film is called Frozen instead of The Snow Queen. When Disney finally bought Pixar in 2006, the deal essentially saw Pixar's creative team taking control of Disney’s animated output. Given the strong quality control Pixar has over its products, this was no bad thing. But not all of the experiments worked. Determined to resurrect Disney's tradition of hand-drawn animation, they made The Princess and the Frog in 2009, a tremendously underrated film which moved the classic tale to 1920s New Orleans. The film’s undeserved financial failing made Disney gunshy, and their takeaway was this: stick to computer animation, and no more princesses in the titles. In fairness, this shift didn’t kneecap the quality of the films. 2009’s Rapunzel film Tangled is an outstanding work, with rich characters, beautiful animation and incredibly catchy songs. Tangled really worked, which is why it appears to be the template Disney has used for its newest animated feature, Frozen. Based loosely on Hans Christian Andersen’s The Snow Queen — a story Disney has been trying to adapt since the 1940s — the film follows Anna and her sister Elsa, two princesses who are left alone when their parents die at sea. The relationship between the two is difficult: Elsa has magical powers, which due to an unsatisfactorily explained plot contrivance, have been wiped from Anna’s memory. To keep Anna safe, Else keeps her at arm’s length as they grow up. But on the evening of Elsa’s coronation, she accidentally creates a permanent winter in the kingdom and retreats to a remote ice palace of her own making. It’s up to Anna to save her sister and her kingdom. The parallels with Tangled are striking. Both changed the name of their original story to a more marketable, generic title. Both feature a similar working-class man developing a love-hate relationship with a princess. Both have a crazy, anthropomorphised horse/moose for company. Both even feature a princess whose power is represented by a streak of colour through the hair. The comparisons, though superficial, reveal an attempt at a modern formula. And although Frozen is enjoyable enough, the characters aren’t quite as engaging as they ought to be, the songs not quite memorable enough. The animation, however, is superb. On a technical level, it’s a marvel. Frozen represent the middle of the bell curve in terms of animated features. It’s a far cry from the insufferable toy-selling, pop-culture spewing, catchphrase-ridden films churned out during at the beginning every school holiday period, but nor does it hit the heights of Disney’s best output. It is admirable, enjoyable, but ultimately unmemorable.
There's no Academy Award solely for vocal performances. If there was, Lupita Nyong'o might've added another of Hollywood's prized statuettes to her mantle when the 2025 ceremony rolls around. A decade after taking home an Oscar for 12 Years a Slave, her first feature, and following standout work in everything from Black Panther and Us to Little Monsters and A Quiet Place: Day One since, she's the voice of Roz — short for ROZZUM unit 7134 — in the big-screen adaptation of Peter Brown's The Wild Robot. Unsurprisingly, she's marvellous and moving, taking viewers on an emotional journey even while playing a robot without facial expressions. When Roz is fresh out of the box, powering up on an animal-filled island devoid of humans in a futuristic vision of earth, Nyong'o lends her vocals to the perky Siri and Alexa peer that audiences will wish spoke back to them from their own devices. As the task-oriented mechanical helper learns that there's more to life than her programming — as she befriends a gosling that she names Brightbill (Kit Connor, Heartstopper) and a fox called Fink (Pedro Pascal, Drive-Away Dolls), too, and wins over other wild critters who are initially fearful of the metallic interloper — the warmth that begins to infuse Roz's tones couldn't feel more genuine. The Wild Robot doesn't only prove a gem thanks to Nyong'o's pivotal performance, but it wouldn't be even a fraction of the film that it is without her. In 2024, the actor has had two movies in cinemas. In A Quiet Place: Day One, speaking was one of the worst things that anyone could do. In The Wild Robot, Nyong'o's entire portrayal comes down to talking. "I love that you made that comparison. I hadn't even thought about it that way," she tells Concrete Playground when we point out the contrast, and also ask what she seeks out in new projects at this point in her career. "What gets me excited? I think about the character that I've been offered to play, and I think about what I will require to play the character — and what I could learn as well from playing the character, what I'm curious about. If the character makes me ask questions of the world and of myself and I'm excited to find out the answers, then I want to play that character," Nyong'o explains. When The Wild Robot came her way, she didn't say yes immediately, however. For Nyong'o, voicing Roz was always going to need to be a creative collaboration; just showing up to speak her lines and leaving it at that isn't how she wanted to work. "I don't know how to be just a voice for hire. I have opinions and I want to share them, and I want to make sure that the person I'm sharing them with wants to hear them," she notes. Nyong'o joined the film after meeting with director Chris Sanders and understanding his vision. "You shape these things together. You go on this journey together, and she is a creative force just like every other artist in this film, for sure," he tells us. "And I have to say, she's an absolute genius. Taking Roz apart bit by bit to understand her thinking kept me honest as a writer," he continues. The Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon and The Croods director — and voice of Stitch — couldn't be more enthusiastic about the latest picture that now sits on his packed resume (also on his filmography from the 90s when he was starting out: production design on The Lion King, visual development on Beauty and the Beast, and story credits on both alongside Aladdin). Before signing on for The Wild Robot, Sanders describes himself as "book-adjacent" to Brown's illustrated tome, as his daughter had read it. "I saw it sitting around the house and I'd actually forgotten about it until the day I came into DreamWorks to look at what was in development. And there was the book, and they described it, and I thought 'that's the one I'm interested in'," he advises. As the feature's writer and director, he's crafted a version that takes inspiration from Hayao Miyazaki's enchanting Studio Ghibli fare, classics such as Bambi and the work of painter Claude Monet, too — and a gem for all ages. How does Nyong'o tackle a voice-acting part — and, whether she's seen on-screen or heard echoing from it, how does she find the right voice for a character? What kind of thinking and planning goes into expressing Roz's inner journey? How important was it to Sanders that the film didn't shy away from animals being animals, not just in appearance but also into recognising the food chain and cycle of life? We chatted with the pair about all of the above as well, and more, including how animated movies trade in big emotions —because we all have that flick, or several, that we'll never forget — and how that sits in your mind when you're making one. On How Nyong'o Approaches a Voice-Acting Part, Especially Playing a Character Without Facial Expressions Lupita: "I think the animators did a great service to Roz — and a great service to an audience — by not giving her facial features. Because then we stay truer to the fact that Roz is not a feeling entity. She is a robot and has a goal — she's goal-oriented and her goal, luckily, is to be of service to whomever purchased her. So that lends itself to kindness. And she's also very adaptable, so she's able to adapt to the behaviours and expressions of the wild animals that she is now living with. And through that, you can adopt sensibilities akin to emotional expression. I like figuring that out cerebrally. How do I play a character without emotions but still be able to convey a bunch of emotions, and then trust that an audience will project their emotions onto her? We are given that license because she doesn't have facial expressions, so she's not doing it for us. We were very much a part of the performance." On Finding the Right Voice for the Right Character Lupita: "It starts off with understanding the given circumstances of the character. What are the facts, right? And so for Roz, one of the main facts that was very important was that she is a programmed robot. That was very informativem and it led me to listen to automated voices like Siri and Alexa, the voices on TikTok and Instagram — they were an inspiration, their relentless, positive vibrancy was the inspiration there. For someone like Red in Us, I knew that there had been a strangulation at some point, and so that fed my imagination on what could that sound like if you were strangled. Things like that. Then I also work very closely with a vocal coach, and I worked with her on both Us and The Wild Robot, and that's really helpful to just externalise my ideas and make sure that I'm doing it in as healthy a way as possible to stave off injuries." On What Sanders Was Excited to Bring to the Screen in Adapting The Wild Robot Chris: "The story for sure. I've always wanted to do a robot movie. And the other thing that I never thought I'd get a chance to work on would be an animal movie like this. This is a lot like Bambi — the forest, the animals, the creatures. And it's a real forest, they're only slightly anthropomorphised. Bambi is a huge favourite. It always will be. One of the things I think that you cannot understate is the emotional power of that film. It has a staying power and a beauty that we wanted to emulate. Aspire to it, actually, is a better way to say it — that and the art of Miyazaki films. These are things that have a huge influence on us as animators and filmmakers. So we had big boots to fill if we were going to equal the power and the scale of those of those stories. Our animators really took to it, by the way. I didn't understand until they started working on the film the level of excitement that they had to do animals that were animals. That kind of movement, I guess, is really a huge thing for an animator. They're usually doing animals carrying cell phones and they have jobs, etcetera. Animals that are animals, there's a purity to the motion that I was really struck by. The animation went unusually quickly because of the lack of things, like jackets and coats and stuff. And so it was a joy to see all of this come to life day by day." On the Importance of Not Shying Away From the Reality of Animals Being Animals Chris: "It was critical because if there isn't consequence, then the story is just not going to work. We don't want to shy away from any of those things because we need that kind of ballast. I would actually harken back to things in The Lion King — if you don't have consequences, you're not going to have that emotional resonance, and I don't think you going to have a movie that works. So death shows up several times in this movie. The first time, of course, is the critical and pivotal event where Roz accidentally, quite literally, runs across this goose's nest by accident and that sets this whole story in motion. Later on, we revisit it, but we often revisit it with humour. We get a laugh out of it. It's a dark kind of humour, but boy is it effective. The animals on this island have programming, and that's the way that Roz looks at it. She's a creature of human programming, and she sees the animals as running programs as well. I thought that was a really interesting way to look at the world, and one of the load-bearing ideas and themes of the film is the idea that someday you may have to change your programming in order to survive. In our lives, we are creatures of habit, we resist change, and we may have to change the way we think. I think that sometimes we're so fearful of losing ourselves for some reason. I think we're very protective of ourselves. I can only speak for myself, but I get that — but whenever I've been forced to see things in a different way, I've been better for it." On What Goes Into Conveying Roz's Inner Journey Through a Vocal Performance Lupita: "I would say the intention was set at the beginning. Before I took on the role, I asked Chris why he thought I would be good for it, and he said he liked the warmth of my voice. So that was very good information for me, so that I knew what I had for free to offer Roz, and so that was where we would end up — that's the voice when Roz has taken on and embraced the role of mother most fully, that she sounds most like me. And then in the process, a two-and-a-half-year process, the script is developing, and along with it our understanding of who Roz is and how we experience her evolution is also developing. That was really quite technical, and we had certain markers, certain benchmarks for where the quality of my voice was shifting. And I did it quite technically, so it dials up in a way that when you're watching the performance is perhaps, hopefully, quite subtle and unnoticeable — until you meet the robots that are more like the other robots like her, towards the third act of the film." On the "Miyazaki by Way of Monet" Visual Approach to the Natural World Within the Film Chris: "All these things we've been talking about, what a perfect line of questioning actually, all these things are linked together like spokes of a wheel. I felt that it was absolutely critical, and I pushed very hard for this level of sophistication in the look of the movie. Think back to what we were talking about with Bambi, that level of sophistication, I felt, would make our audience see this film in the right way, if that makes sense. This is a film that kids will love. Kids should go see it. Families should go see it. But it's not a little kids' film — it's a film. And that's how Walt Disney looked at those stories as well, he always said so. So that level of sophistication helps us to get into the film in a certain way, and it really immerses us in a way that I've never seen a film like this accomplish. I have gotten so much feedback since we finished the film that it really blurs the line between a live-action film and an animated film, frankly, the way that you see it — and that was very deliberate. And I have to credit the artists and the incredible advances that DreamWorks had made technologically that allowed this look. The funny thing is all that technology opened this film up so that humans are more present than ever before. Literally everything is hand-painted. It would be as if I took out a brush and started painting dimensionally in space. That's exactly what they were doing. So there are no forms underneath the trees or the rocks. It's free handed. So the beauty that you get from that, there's no substitute for it. There's an analogue warmth that we reconnected with on this journey that we've taken through CG." On How Animation Allows Audiences to Have Big Feelings — and Thinking About That When You're Making an Animated Film Lupita: "You have to keep the audience in mind. One of the things that I remember us discussing, Roz has a lot of robotic language, just mumbo jumbo that she says — and you want to keep that in a way that allows for children to grow their vocabulary, and also a way for adults to understand and appreciate what she is saying. But you can't make it too difficult that you lose the children altogether. So those were fun workshops where we tried different words. I remember in the script, there was a time when a character asks Roz something and she goes 'hmm, let me see'. But 'hmm', that's a very human expression, and so I said 'processing' and everybody broke out laughing, and it became part of Roz's vocabulary. For children, that is perhaps maybe a new word — children never say processing, I can't imagine they do. But in that sense, you've expanded their vocabulary and stayed true to the character." Chris: "It's something I don't know if I'm really thinking about it, but in a sense I'm striving for it as I'm working on scenes. I'm scaling things. I think one of the neat things about taking a story like Peter Brown's to the screen is the potential for how big these feelings can be. I'm always going for audacity and scale. And I will run a scene over and over and over in my head, modifying it before I even commit anything to paper a lot of the time, until I'm feeling I've found every edge of the boundaries of that particular moment, and I've built it as large as it possibly can be. Because why wouldn't you, you know? Why wouldn't you? And then the really amazing thing is, I take it only so far, and then we have our actors and our and our animators — and eventually the cinematographer, the lighting, and then eventually Kris Bowers [who composed The Wild Robot's soundtrack]. I cannot overstate his contribution as well. I credit him for, I think, the gosh-darn best score I've ever heard in a movie ever." On What Nyong'o Makes of Her Career Over the Past Decade Since 12 Years a Slave Lupita: "I was sitting at the premiere of The Wild Robot at TIFF [the Toronto International Film Festival], and there was a moment, I think it was a moment when Brightbill is flying away and a feather floats into Roz's hands. And it's a very emotional moment within the story. But in that moment, I was just caught, I was struck by the truth that I have been living out my dreams and this project is another dream come true. I was just filled with gratitude, because not everybody gets to live out their dreams so exactly. And I've had that wonderful, wonderful privilege, and I just don't take it for granted. It's been deliberate. It's sometimes been scary. I've had to say no before I knew I could in order to wait for the project that felt like it would give me the kind of expansion I was looking for. And those times that I've said no have paid off. And looking at the last ten years, I'm very, very proud of the work that I've been able to do, and I look forward to continuing to live out my dreams one decision at a time." The Wild Robot opened in Australian cinemas on Thursday, September 19, 2024.
The long-closed Academy Twin is reopening, but not as a cinema. Paddington's beloved Palace-owned twin cinema closed its doors in 2010 after alleged landlord disputes, now the space is in the hands of musical creator Chris Dockrill, who plans to reopen the theatre with his pretty messed up-sounding rock musical The Island of Doctor Moron. Giving a shout out to its original 1911 name, the revamped theatre is called The New Olympia. "We've registered that name, a lot of your listeners will know it as the old Palace Academy Twin Cinema on the corner of Oxford and South Dowling Streets," he said in a radio interview with told Cameron Marshall on ABC MNC. "That theatre was really the home for so many movie lovers and moviegoers, not only in Sydney but people from all over the place would go there." According to the archive-trawlers at Cinema Treasures, the two-tiered Academy Twin originally opened in 1911 as West's Olympia Theatre. The theatre claims to be Sydney's first suburban cinema to show 'talkies' and has undergone a huge number of renovations since the '20s, was massive for Greek films in the '60s and became the cult and surf film-loving Mandala Cinema in '69. In '73, the whole place was transformed and reopened as Sydney's very first twin cinema, opening with the double feature of Fritz the Cat and Roman Polanski's Macbeth. Over the years the cinema's various bits were sold off and converted into apartments, shops and restaurants. Finally, the Academy Twin Cinemas were sadly closed by the Palace Cinemas group (Verona, Chauvel) on June 27, 2010 after alleged landlord disputes. Now, Dockrill has invested his dosh into the New Olympia, putting on his weird and wonderful rock musical The Island of Doctor Moron with the help of some serious (and as yet unnamed) backers. "A unique and rare opportunity came to us to lease this building and we just couldn't say no," he told the ABC. "We had to jump at it because its location is perfect and the building itself is perfect... The previous tenants, the Palace Cinema Group, literally took everything out of it. For us now, when you walk into the foyer of the theatre, we can set it out in such a way that you will be walking into The Island of Doctor Moron; even before you get into the theatre, you'll be part of that crazy journey where you walk into Doctor Moron's crazy world." Thematically channelling H.G. Wells' The Island of Doctor Moreau but sounding a little like a PC-dubious Rocky Horror Picture Show, The Island of Doctor Moron was originally put on at Kempsey High School (of all places) in September 1998. Make what you will of this insanely whack blurb: Edwyna and Douggie are shipwrecked on a mysterious South Sea island. They are captured by a crazy tribe of Rastafarian voodoo natives who are led by the larger-than-life, Voodoo Valma. They are drugged with Jungle Fever juice, almost cooked in the sacrificial cauldron and then auctioned off by Rubber Gloves, the whip-cracking, leather-squelching Slave market junkie Doctor Moron buys the couple as new experimental subjects. However completely and utterly WTF (and possibly hinging on offensive) that sounds, the show has quite the budget behind it — and a thumbs up from legendary actor Jack Thompson. "We're talking hundreds of thousands of dollars. We've been lucky in that so far we’ve actually received some backing from sponsors and people have been coming on board with as little as $100 up to many thousands of dollars. "Trying to get backing for a brand new musical is almost impossible, especially in Australia," he said. "I’ve been knocking on some of the biggest doors... Our whole plan with this pilot season is to expose the show and to that end we are planning to fly in at least two production scouts from the USA to actually see the show — and of course, we’ll be inviting production scouts, producers and backers from all over Australia." In final exciting news, the team are deadset on stocking the old candy bar up and restoring it to former glory, with a few nasty surprises. "The home of Doctor Moron will be filled with more than just candy before too much longer! Be there if you dare," says the team's Facebook page. Freaky candy always gets 'em in the door. The Island of Doctor Moreau opens November 4. Proceeds from ticket sales will go to help the Arts Health Institute. Head to the website for more details. Images: Palace Cinema Group and The Island of Doctor Moron.
Any reason to take a holiday is a good reason to take a holiday, but a little bit of international acclaim certainly doesn't hurt when it comes to choosing a getaway spot. So, if you've been thinking about heading to Kangaroo Island at some point, or making the trip to Australia's Red Centre to soak in Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park's wonders, here's the push you might've been waiting for: they've both been named by The New York Times as two of the best places to visit in 2023. The publication has put together a '52 Places to Go' list for this year, with the pair of Aussie destinations earning mentions. Even better: Kangaroo Island, the South Australian landmass that's also the nation's third-largest island, landed in the top ten. The location came in seventh, and was specifically called out for its "incredible wildlife, breathtaking ocean views, and its status as an ecological haven". [caption id="attachment_688401" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Vivonne Bar/SA Tourism Commission[/caption] If you're wondering exactly where the NYT says you should check out on the island, that'd be the Kangaroo Island Koala and Wildlife Rescue Centre, especially its private tours of its animal hospital facilities and bottle-feeding a joey while you're there — and watching sea lions at the Seal Bay Conservation Park. The Southern Ocean Lodge also scored a shoutout for when it reopens. Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, Australia's second spot on the list, ranked 29th. It was recognised for being "the shape-shifting sandstone heart of a continent and its Indigenous heritage" — and yes, its world-famous monolith obviously got a mention. [caption id="attachment_869882" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism NT[/caption] Still Down Under but across the ditch, the entire city of Auckland pipped both Australian locales by coming in fifth, and was dubbed New Zealand's "culinary capital". According to the NYT, travellers should add visits to Hugo's Bistro, Cazador, Omni and Little French Cafe — which serves up "mille-feuille rivaling Paris's best" — to their itineraries. Elsewhere around the globe, London came in first for being "a buzzing city ready for a coronation, a brand-new airport link and a prehistoric colossus"; with Morioka in Japan sitting in second; Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park taking out third place; and Scotland's Kilmartin Glen in fourth. Rounding out the top ten, alongside Auckland in fifth and Kangaroo Island in seventh: California's Palm Springs at sixth, Vjosa River in Albania at eighth, Accra in Ghana sitting ninth and Tromso in Norway at tenth. Other places named include Brazil's Lençóis Maranhenses National Park, the Namib Desert in Southern Africa, Flores in Indonesia, Nîmes in France, Vilnius in Lithuania, and Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina. [caption id="attachment_886033" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Little French Cafe[/caption] For The New York Times' full 52 Places to Go list for 2023, head to the publication's website. Top image: Ben Goode via South Australian Tourism Commission. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world — including Kangaroo Island.
There's been a big, fat question mark hanging over the future of The Midnight Shift, ever since Sydney group Universal Hotels snapped up the beloved gay bar for $12 million back in July. But now, it's been confirmed that the Oxford Street pub will be resurrected this October — with a three-day launch party, no less. But things will be a little different. For one, the new venue will be called Universal, with the new owners leaving the name to rest in peace. "Universal will be an evolution of the Midnight Shift, rather than a revolution," explained owner Jim Kospetas. He did, however, confirm that the group — which conducted an online survey to gauge what the community wanted them to do with the venue — plans to respect the "special role that it has played for the LGBTIQA+ community" and continue its and long-held legacy of inclusivity. While the full suite of Universal offerings is yet to be revealed, the jam-packed opening program — which lands on the October long weekend — should give you a pretty good hint of the fun to come. On Friday, September 28, catch a sneak preview of new monthly party FAB, featuring live performances, DJs and drag shows, while new weekly event Satori launches with a bang on Saturday, September 29, promising a healthy dose of creativity in all forms. And on Sunday, September 30, the entire venue's set to fire up for Heaps Gay Resurrection, with a lineup of the city's finest queer talent helping to simultaneously wrap up Sydney Fringe Festival and welcome Universal to the 'hood. In the past 18 months, Universal Hotels has not only bought The Midnight Shift, but Darlinghurst haunts The Brighton Hotel, Kinselas and The Oxford Hotel, too. These make up its already-large 11-venue stable, which also includes Civic Underground and Middlebar. It's clear that the group has big plans for the area — we just hope that it tries to keep Oxford Street's spirit alive, rather than trying to reinvent it. Universal will open on Friday, September 28 at 85-91 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst. We'll keep you updated on any more details or parties that are announced.
Well, I think my enduring memory of Ballet Revolucion may be my friend, who is in a long-term relationship, exclaiming at the top of her voice, just as the audience went quiet, "seeing all those chiselled bodies is making me want to be promiscuous again!", followed by a fit of giggles from both of us. The fact that we laughed out loud, though, not only made it more fun but also is testament to how out of the mould this ballet experience is, and her comment describes just how mesmerising it was to watch these lithe bodies cut breathtaking shapes across the stage. Instead of the usual respectful silence, it was liberating to be able to whoop and cheer whenever a dancer performed a particularly stunning feat of technical brilliance, as some of the dancers' infectious enthusiasm and Latin exuberance spilt over into the audience. The show, which features some of Cuba's most talented ballet dancers, hits the State Theatre in Sydney after making its world premiere in Perth. Producers John Lee and Mark Brady enlisted the help of acclaimed choreographers, Roclan Gonzalez Chavez (Cuba) and Aaron Cash (Australia), to create a work which captures Cuba's joie de vivre, and its people's passion for music and dance. Borrowing as it does from influences as diverse as R&B and hip hop, acrobatics and martial arts, Ballet Revolucion fuses these elements expertly with both traditional ballet and Cuban folklore dance to create an eclectic medley individual of dance pieces. The entire performance is accompanied by a full band, who belt out a diverse mix of music with skill and panache. The sounds span from flamenco and Cuban Jazz to hits by artists such as Enrique Iglesis, Shakira, Santana, Ricky Martin, Usher, Beyonce, Gotan Project and, one of the highlights of the show, Prince. 'Purple Rain' is surely a song meant for interpretive modern ballet? The performance certainly was revolutionary in terms of its wonderful juxtapositions of music and dance culture, though perhaps the gaps between Cuban beats and urban pop were just a little too large to allow it to be truly coherent. Nevertheless, the choreography was superb, the dancing extraordinary, most of the music infectious (R&B aside) and the atmosphere absolutely electric. A dazzling performance that will leave you reeling.
We're teaming up with Intrepid for a season of adventure throughout 2024, and we need your help to put it all together. If you've got a craving for a food-fuelled adventure and are pretty savvy with a camera and video tools, you could secure your place on a ten-day tour of Vietnam with Intrepid Travel as our newly-appointed roving reporter, capturing every moment of the experience and helping us share the wonders that travel has to offer. This adventure will take you from one end of the country to another, seeing famous sights like Ha Long Bay and the Mekong River Delta. Along the way, you'll sample the specialty cuisines the country is known for, seeing the sights fly by on an overnight train ride, explore quiet fishing villages and the busy streets of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City alike. Just remember, keep that camera charged and ready for the money shots and the little snippets you can't see coming. We'll need your footage and creative skills to put together a video to showcase the trip and others like it. To enter, you just need to fill out the form below and submit an original video entry to prove you've got what it takes to get behind the camera and shoot a video as a roving reporter for Concrete Playground. It doesn't need to be a travel video, just as long as it shows you've got an eye for good content and have the practical skills to film and edit footage. Good luck, winners will be contacted by midnight on Friday, August 30. [competition]965314[/competition] Images courtesy of Intrepid Travel
It took more than 25 years for Twin Peaks to revisit its moody, otherworldly and all-round odd small-town mysteries — and if you're not done diving into the television show's wonderful and strange world just yet, don't stress. Whether there'll be any more episodes is anyone's guess, but you can spend an evening with the show's stars in the interim, with five of the series cast members heading to Australia later this year. Although David Lynch famously refuses to talk in-depth about any of his work, including Twin Peaks' three seasons to date and the film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, expect Sheryl Lee (Laura Palmer), Kimmy Robertson (Lucy Moran), Michael Horse (Deputy Hawk), Al Strobel (Philip Gerard) and Dana Ashbrook (Bobby Briggs) to be much more forthcoming as they chat about their experiences both on- and off-screen. In fact, maybe Lynch will be too — while he won't be there in person, he'll be Skyping in to answer questions live. On Saturday, September 1 at ICC Sydney's Darling Harbour Theatre, Lee, Robertson, Horse, Strobel, Ashbrook and the via-video Lynch will be joining forces with Twin Peaks producer Sabrina S. Sutherland for a 'Conversation with the Stars' discussions. If you've ever wondered what it was like to be wrapped in plastic, or to line up piles and piles of doughnuts, or to play the other half of the series' evil entity, here's your chance to find out. While Twin Peaks' lead Kyle MacLachlan won't be making the trip, the lineup is still a Peaks-lover's dream come true. Lee played Laura Palmer, the teen sweetheart whose murder sparked the whole series, while Ashbrook swaggered through highs-chool hallways as her boyfriend Bobby Briggs, and then turned unlikely cop in the latest season. Robertson is best known as bubbly police station receptionist Lucy, and Horse played the enigmatic Deputy Hawk — and had one of the most recent series' most moving scenes. As for Strobel's Phil Gerard, he was pals with Bob before becoming a resident of the Black Lodge. If all of the above gets you thinking about damn fine coffee and the Double R Diner's cherry pie, then you'll be keen to nab tickets to the intimate chat, which is in town for one night only. No word yet if the cast members will be sitting in front of red curtains or being interviewed by someone called Diane, but we can only hope. And if you're an absolute die-hard Peaks fan with some spare cash (around $500 in spare cash), meet-and-greet tickets are also available. Updated August 5.
Before getting a glimpse into everyone else's lives was as simple as logging into your social-media platform of choice, a game arrived that let its players do something similar with computerised characters. A spinoff from SimCity and its city-building follow-ups, The Sims allows whoever is mashing buttons to create and control virtual people, then step through their existence. First hitting in February 2000, it has spawned three sequels, plus a whole heap of expansion and compilation packs for each — and online, console and mobile versions as well. A quarter of a century since its debut, The Sims still keeps dropping new releases. To mark its 25th birthday, there's now The Sims: Birthday Bundle. That's one way to celebrate the game's latest anniversary. Here's another: stepping inside a three-day Australian pop-up dedicated to the beloved life simulator, which is heading to Melbourne's Australian Centre for the Moving Image from Friday, February 21–Sunday, February 23, 2025. Despite The Sims' more-recent titles, thinking about the game usually means thinking about the 2000s. So, this pop-up is taking that truth to heart by celebrating the Y2K era, too. Going along involves entering inside a 2000s-era pre-teen bedroom that's been decked out by Josh & Matt Design with all of the appropriate touches. Yes, it'll be nostalgic. Yes, there'll be CD towers and blow-up couches, just to name a few decor choices. The pop-up will also feature free stations where you can play The Sims: Birthday Bundle, if the best way for you to commeroate the occasion is by diving into the franchise virtually. In addition, there'll also be a free panel about the game on the Saturday, with speakers including Josh & Matt Design's Josh Jessup and Matt Moss — who are big The Sims fans — and EA/Firemonkeys' Simulation Division General Manager Mavis Chan. "As Australia's home of videogames, ACMI is so chuffed to be celebrating the 25th anniversary of The Sims! For 25 years, The Sims has provided a platform for so many kinds of imaginative play for multiple generations, allowing them to achieve great feats of digital architecture, guide their Sims to dizzying success — or cruelly remove their pool ladders. With each new expansion and sequel, The Sims has expanded its complex social world, reflecting changes to real-life society, and facilitating even more forms of self-expression in its passionate player base," said ACMI Curator Jini Maxwell, announcing the pop-up. "As a long-term Sims player myself, I'm so thrilled to celebrate the game's cultural legacy and personal significance in this event and free talk hosted by ACMI." EA Presents The Sims 25 is popping up from Friday, February 21–Sunday, February 23 at ACMI, Federation Square, Melbourne — head to the venue's website for more details.
SXSW is taking over Sydney between Sunday, October 15–Sunday, October 22. It's the first time that the world-renowned music, film, tech and gaming conference has left the US — and it has a jam-packed eight-day program in store. Included on the lineup is a slate of over 700 speakers, who will be appearing on talks and panels during the festival's massive conference. You can browse the full schedule at the SXSW Sydney website, but it's pretty overwhelming with plenty of not-to-be-missed sessions popping up each and every day. In order to help you plan out your fest, we've compiled our picks for the cream of the crop — ten absolute must-catch conference sessions at SXSW Sydney 2023. Our recommendations include looks at Australia's arts and culinary scenes, big-name creatives sitting down for exclusive chats, and even a panel that we've pulled together ourselves pondering the future of journalism and digital learning. APPETITE FOR DISTRACTION: YOUTH, INFORMATION AND THE DIGITAL AGE Gone are the days of "I read an article about". Gone are even the days of "actually, I just saw the headline". We're now well and truly in the age of "I watched a TikTok". The way that we absorb information is constantly changing, and right now video is ruling — especially among gen z and millennials. Concrete Playground's very own SXSW Sydney panel is looking at just this, pulling together a group of video-first creatives to discuss how young people are consuming info in the digital age. The panel will feature Pedestrian.TV's Issy Phillips to discuss news and journalism in the era of short-form video; astrophysicist and scientific communicator Kirsten Banks to chat about the role of TikTok, Reels and YouTube in sparking people's love in all things space; and Concrete Playground's very own Ben Hansen to talk about how we're searching for recommendations and deciding how to fill our calendar in 2023. Catch Appetite for Distraction: Youth Information and the Digital Age at 2pm on Wednesday, October 18 at Room E3.9, ICC Sydney. [caption id="attachment_917272" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Anthony Quintano via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIP HOP FEATURING CHANCE THE RAPPER "As we celebrate 50 years of hip hop in 2023, I'm reminded of the transformative power this culture has had, not just on the world stage, but on the streets of Chicago's South Side," said Chance The Rapper, announcing his SXSW Sydney appearance. The three-time Grammy winner is appearing on the event's lineup to discuss the global impact of the genre five decades after DJ Kool Herc first isolated percussion breaks, then repeated them — and made history. "Chance The Rapper is renowned for both his chart topping and community advocacy. There's few out there like him, who take what they've made and use it to build the dreams of others," noted SXSW Sydney Managing Director Colin Daniels. The conversation should be top of the must-see list for all hip hop heads and music lovers in general. It also stands as the marquee session in a program full of hip hop — including other panels like Hip Hop How a Generation Is Changing the World, films like OneFour: Against All Odds, and boundary-pushing sets from rappers Redveil, Barkaa, Zion Garcia and Flyanna Boss. Catch 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop ft. Chance the Rapper at 1pm on Thursday, October 19 — check the website for venue details. [caption id="attachment_856346" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Dan Boud[/caption] THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY — MICHAEL CASSEL AM AND KIP WILLIAMS IN CONVERSATION After selling out multiple Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland runs, and before it hits the UK's West End with an iteration starring Succession's Sarah Snook, Sydney Theatre Company's The Picture of Dorian Gray is being dissected at SXSW Sydney. Premiering in Sydney in 2020, this take on the tale uses video and theatre to get its star playing 26 characters. In the Australian runs, Eryn Jean Norvill has done the honours, and brilliantly, with Snook following in the actor's footsteps abroad. Renowned producer Michael Cassel AM will sit down with Sydney Theatre Company's Artistic Director Kip Williams to discuss the imaginative, groundbreaking and thought-provoking stage show. Developed right here in Australia by a local creative team during the pandemic, the The Picture of Dorian Gray is a real success story for Australia's arts scene — and this is your chance to take a look under the hood and hear what's next for the production. Catch The Picture of Dorian Gray — Michael Cassel AM and Kip Williams at 4pm on Tuesday, October 17 — check the website for venue details. [caption id="attachment_820444" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Nine Perfect Strangers, Vince Valitutti/Hulu[/caption] A SPOTLIGHT ON BLOSSOM FILMS In a late addition to the SXSW Sydney program, Australian icon Nicole Kidman is joining the event. Adding one of the nation's most famous acting names at home and in America to perhaps the biggest tech, innovation, screen, music, games and culture festival that Australia has ever seen is fitting. 2023 marks 40 years since Kidman starred in BMX Bandits, but that's not why she'll be taking to the SXSW Sydney stage as part of its massive speaker lineup. Instead, she'll be chatting with her producing partner Per Saari about her production company Blossom Films. On its resume: the Nickers-starring Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers, The Undoing and Rabbit Hole, as well as this year's Elizabeth Olsen (Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness)-led Love & Death. Catch A Spotlight on Blossom Films on at 11am on Thursday, October 19 — check the website for venue details. DERRICK GEE — HOW TO TALK MUSIC (ON THE INTERNET) You may have come across the soothing tones of Derrick Gee's voice on your TikTok or Instagram feeds chatting about Erika De Casier, audio equipment or the international influence of yacht rock. If you haven't, this is your sign to get lost in his videos right now. Gee will be hitting the SXSW Sydney stage to discuss the wonders of discussing music on the world wide web. Sometimes music feels like this indescribable thing, but other times genres feel like they've been talked to death; however, Gee has a distinct way of finding the story and the humanity in the music he chats about. This is a must-see session whether you're a band or promoter looking to change up how you communicate your music online, a lover of all things sound or just like Derrick Gee's videos. Catch Derrick Gee — How to Talk Music (On the Internet) at 11.30am on Friday, October 20 at The Guthrie Theatre, UTS Building 6. INDIGENOUS COLLABORATION: MAKING FILMS THAT HEAL Māoriland Film Festival, the world's largest Indigenous film festival, joins the SXSW Sydney lineup in conjunction with UNESCO Wellington City of Film with a panel featuring award-winning talent from across the film industry. The focus: discussing Indigenous collaboration, plus creating films that facilitate change, and help the audience and the filmmakers heal. On the panel: writer and director Chantelle Murray (My Name is Mudju, Elvis, Thor: Love and Thunder); Chelsea Winstanley (Jojo Rabbit, What We Do in the Shadows, Moana Reo Māori, Talk to Me), the first Indigenous woman to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar; Māoriland Film Festival Director and producer Libby Hakaraia; and independent film and television producer, director, writer and presenter Tainui Stephens. Catch Indigenous Collaboration: Making Films That Heal at 3.30pm on Monday, October 16 at Cinema Theatre, UTS Building 6. BETTER THAN YESTERDAY WITH OSHER GÜNSBERG TV personality and author Osher Günsberg is bringing two live episodes of his podcast Better Than Yesterday to SXSW Sydney. The man of many talents — including the host of Australian Idol and The Bachelor, creator of the satirical news parody NTNNNN: Night Time News Network Nightly News and narrator of Bondi Rescue — will take to the stage for two long-form interviews about how we can work towards a brighter tomorrow. The first, on Wednesday, October 18, will be with psychotherapist and holistic counsellor Diane Young. Günsberg and Young will discuss the ramifications of addiction — however, they'll do so with the hope of creating a constructive conversation that will leave the audience feeling "better than yesterday". The following day, Günsberg will sit down with activist, politician and Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett. The conversation will traverse Garrett's storied career and also see the musician announce a brand new musical project. Catch Better Than Yesterday with Osher Günsberg at 10am on Wednesday, October 18 and 10am on Thursday, October 19 — check the website for venue details. [caption id="attachment_917939" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Netflix[/caption] CHARLIE BROOKER IN CONVERSATION If you're a bit wary of technology's ever-growing influence in humanity's daily lives — be it artificial intelligence, streaming algorithms, social media, drones, augmented reality or online dating, to name just a few examples — then Charlie Brooker and Black Mirror might be one of the reasons. Since 2011, they've been spinning dystopian nightmares about what might happen as tech evolves. In plenty of cases, they've been satirising and interrogating innovations we use today, and what their next step might be. Yes, that makes Brooker the perfect speaker to get chatting at SXSW Sydney. "Black Mirror consistently leads the cultural conversation on what we face in the now or may confront in our future, offering a chance for reflection and change. Charlie embodies what attendees can expect from SXSW Sydney: creativity and innovation," says SXSW Sydney Managing Director Colin Daniels. Catch Charlie Brooker in Conversation at 1pm on Wednesday, October 18 — check the website for venue details. [caption id="attachment_759108" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alana Dimou[/caption] WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF CHINATOWN? Sydney's Chinatown finds itself in an interesting situation. In some ways, it's continuing to thrive, with the streets packed every Friday night and a fleet of new venues arriving post-lockdown. At the same time, urban sprawl, the cost of living and changing migration patterns have seen the city's Asian diaspora move out to the suburbs more and more. Moderated by Soul of Chinatown's Eddie Ma, this panel will break down where Chinatown is now and what's to come for the bustling inner-city district. The roster of experts joining Ma includes acclaimed chef and Chinatown resident Dan Hong (Mr Wong, Ms. G's, MuMu), property developer and Chinatown advocate Brad Chan, and award-winning architect Qianyi Lim. Catch What Is The Future of Chinatown? at 10am on Wednesday, October 18 at Theatrette, Powerhouse Museum. HORROR & AUDIENCE: WHY WE LOVE TO BE TERRIFIED Whether you love them, hate them or love to hate them, people flock to horror movies — and thanks to studios like A24 and an exciting batch of homegrown horror filmmakers, the genre is having a real moment right now. This panel features four leading voices in horror movies, discussing why they find the genre enthralling, the art of horror storytelling and where the spookiest of films are heading. Daley Pearson leads the lineup of speakers, bringing experience from his eclectic career to the stage, including executive producing Bluey, creating the concept for Danny and Michael Philippou's Talk to Me and playing Thor's roommate Darryl on Team Thor and Team Daryl. Joining Pearson will be Wyrmwood director Kiah Roache-Turner, filmmaker Natalie Erika James (Relic) and Causeway Films producer Samantha Jennings (Talk to Me, You Won't Be Alone, Of An Age). Catch Horror & Audience: Why We Love to Be Terrified at 2pm on Thursday, October 19 at Cinema Theatre, UTS Building 6. SXSW Sydney runs from Sunday, October 15–Sunday, October 22 at various Sydney venues. Head to the SXSW Sydney website for further details. Top image: Brittany Hallberg.
Pack your camp gear, fishing rods and multiple sets of swimmers and visit this Sapphire Coast gem. You'll find idyllic inlets like Nelson Beach or Moon Bay, perfect for swimming, surfing and fishing. Picnickers and those prepared to paddle with a canoe or kayak should head to Nelson Lagoon. Or, if it's sea life you seek, stroll along the walking track to Wajurda Point lookout and spy whales and dolphins among the endless blue. Park your pack at the campgrounds at Gillards, Picnic Point or Middle Beach for a canvas room with an ocean view. Or, you can book the historic Myer House by Lake Wapengo for up to 12 people. The nearby towns of Bermagui and Merimbula are good spots to stay for the less intrepid, too — and you can even fly straight into the latter if you're short on time. [caption id="attachment_802263" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption] Image: National Parks
Sure, picnics are a common enough pastime for Sydneysiders. But now that double-vaxxed residents of NSW can get together in groups of five outdoors, it's high time to champion the return of the humble BYO picnic. In partnership with Rosie Spritz, we're helping you jump on the picnic fever that's taking over the city this spring. Whether you want to simply lay in the sun and read Sally Rooney's latest novel or to plan a full-blown al fresco feast with four mates, we've got you. And for northern beaches folk, that means uncovering the most idyllic parks, bays and beaches where you can throw down a rug — and BYO booze. So, grab your wicker basket and head to these top spots to fill your gob with cold cuts and sip an ice-cold spritz in the afternoon sun. [caption id="attachment_827080" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Elliott Kramer[/caption] CLONTARF RESERVE, CLONTARF Despite beaches reigning supreme on this side of town, there's no shortage of beautiful bays and parklands either — and Clontarf Reserve, on the fringes of Balgowlah, ticks all of the worthy park boxes. Beach? Check. Leafy tree-filled space? Yep. Netted swimming zone to keep any purported finned friends at bay? Yessir. It also overlooks the Spit Bridge (in case engineering marvels are your thing) and features a play area for fully vaxxed picnickers with young kids in tow. Physical attributes aside, the reserve is also BYO booze-friendly from 8am–8pm, making it perfect spot for a spritz. [caption id="attachment_827079" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Elliott Kramer[/caption] CLAREVILLE BEACH RESERVE, CLAREVILLE If sun and sand is more your speed, get on down to Clareville Beach for your next picnic. This lesser-known (but equally impressive) stretch of beach tucked away near Avalon is the kind of sandy serenity you no doubt seek. Expect calm waters, lightly bobbing sailboats, shady pines and a soft seabreeze to keep you cool long into the afternoon. Add four vaxxed mates, a picnic spread of prawns rolls and freshly shucked oysters, and a cooler full of rosé spritzes and, congrats, you've mastered the casual beachside picnic. You'll just have to quit any boozing from 8pm–8am. [caption id="attachment_827078" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Elliott Kramer[/caption] WINNERERREMY BAY, MONA VALE If you're looking for the most family-friendly picnic spot on the northern beaches, feast your activity-hunting eyes on Winnererremy Bay. It's got an epic flying fox ride for one, plus a skate park, playground, picnic shelters and barbeque facilities, so you can throw a shrimp on the barbie and sip a spritz (from 8am–8pm). There's also a swimming area and trails featuring stone carvings if you want a quick dip or walk before you tuck in. Then, roll out a blanket under one of the many shady trees at this relaxed spot and you'll feel a world away from the bustle of the more publicised picnic spots in the area. [caption id="attachment_827076" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Elliott Kramer[/caption] DES CREAGH RESERVE, AVALON The northern beaches lays claim to quiet, sandy coves by the dozen. But if you're looking for somewhere a bit livelier to lay down a picnic spread, head to Des Creagh Reserve in Avalon. This stretch of tree-lined park is right opposite Avalon Beach, meaning there's plenty of action to be witnessed, as well as uninterrupted ocean views. Plus, it's just a short stroll to some of the sweetest Avalon eateries on offer for all your takeaway picnic needs. So, live out your Puberty Blues dreams with a Chiko Roll and watch the surfers duck and glide along the waves as the sun starts to set. Like much of the northern beaches BYO-friendly spots, alcohol is banned at Des Creagh Reserve from 8pm–8am. [caption id="attachment_827088" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Elliott Kramer[/caption] THOMAS STEVENS RESERVE, CHURCH POINT As far as remote-yet-accessible picnic zones go, you'd be hard-pressed to find a better pick than Thomas Stevens Reserve. Located on the shores of Pittwater and overlooking the alluring Scotland Island, Thomas Stevens Reserve is laden with shady spaces and secluded coves to meander until you find the perfect picnic possie. Booze is usually off-limits, but you can imbibe on Fridays, weekends and public holidays between 3pm-9pm, so plan accordingly if you're looking to BYO booze. Thankfully, snacks are allowed any day, any time. [caption id="attachment_825771" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Barrenjoey Lighthouse, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, Michele Cooper/DPIE[/caption] BARRENJOEY HEAD, KU-RING-GAI CHASE NATIONAL PARK Everyone's favourite natural backdrop from Home and Away, Barenjoey Head and its famed lighthouse are also home to an unbelievable picnic spot with views for days. It's a bit of a trek — around 30 minutes from the car park — but once you're there, you're gifted with 360-degree views of pristine coastline stretching from the Central Coast and long sandy beaches to the south. Across the water, there's the winding bushlands of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park and the dazzling bays of the Hawkesbury. If that's not the backdrop for a picnic cheers, we don't know what is. [caption id="attachment_827083" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Elliott Kramer[/caption] EAST ESPLANADE RESERVE, MANLY Located on the harbour side of Manly, East Esplanade Park is one of the most-loved parks on the northern beaches. While the majority of the park is an alcohol-free zone, there is one small pocket where you can sip a cold one (responsibly, of course). Locally known as 'The Office', this section of grass is in East Esplanade Reserve and it's one of the very few outdoor areas where you can BYO booze in Manly; however alcohol consumption is banned between the hours 8pm–8am. So, we recommend coming here to watch the ferries to and fro across the harbour and sip a spritz at sunset, then get dinner from one of the local restaurants, like Queen Chow or Chica Bonita (which are both currently serving up takeaway options, too). Rosie Spritz is an ideal springtime sip and is available at BWS, Dan Murphy's and First Choice Liquor stores across Sydney. For more picnic inspiration, check out our guides to idyllic picnic spots where you can BYO booze in Sydney's inner west, inner city, lower north shore and eastern suburbs. Top image: Clareville Beach, Elliott Kramer Remember to Drinkwise.
For every Australian that was a toddler from the 90s onwards, and their counterparts worldwide as well, heroes wear blue, yellow, red and purple skivvies. Since the early 90s, The Wiggles have been one of the biggest Aussie names in children's entertainment, and one of the country's most-successful global hits. Alongside Bananas in Pyjamas and Bluey, they're part of a trio of homegrown icons in pop culture's early-childhood space, all thanks to the decision by Anthony Field, Jeff Fatt, Greg Page and Murray Cook to turn their university studies in the area, plus their experience in music — Field and Fatt were part of The Cockroaches, while Page was in Dead Giveaway and Cook in Bang Shang a Lang — into an album for kids. The rest is history, which The Wiggles just keep making. In Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2021, three decades after the group's self-titled debut album, they topped the poll with a cover of Tame Impala's 'Elephant'. Also among the troupe's recent achievements and highlights: appearing at the Mardi Gras parade, playing Falls Festival, earning some love from Lil Nas X and bringing the OGs back together for adults-only shows. Premiering at the first-ever SXSW Sydney, documentary Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles — which is now streaming via Prime Video — has joined their resume as well. Onstage for today's toddlers — plus every batch of preschoolers since 'Get Ready to Wiggle' and 'Dorothy the Dinosaur' first started echoing — The Wiggles serve up business as usual. Whether playing at home or around the world, the Aussie entertainers put on a child-pleasing live show. Other than Field, the folks donning the skivvies have changed, with the troupe becoming bigger, more culturally diverse and championing gender balance. At gigs specifically focused at 90s and 00s kids who are now well past The Wiggles' prime demographic, Field, Fatt, Page and Cook have reformed for reunion tours. As seen in Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles, both types of concerts draw huge crowds. For Field, Fatt, Page and Cook, life has been shaped by wearing bright colours, singing to fans young and older alike, and getting 'Hot Potato' and 'Fruit Salad' lodged in everyone's brains — and lives have been moulded by their efforts in turn. Early-childhood teaching philosophies have always sat at the forefront of The Wiggles, which the OG four attribute to their success. Young devotees who dance along to their tunes then become adults who still think fondly about their first-ever favourite group. Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles clearly has much to cover, then, all within a 104-minute doco that does much more than trade in nostalgia: as directed by Valerie Taylor: Playing with Sharks and David Stratton: A Cinematic Life filmmaker Sally Aitken, it chronicles how four friends started a phenomenon that's taken them everywhere from small Aussie shows to Madison Square Garden, and sparked a beloved group that shows no signs of stopping. With the movie now delighting audiences, Field, Fatt, Page and Cook spoke to Concrete Playground about all things Wiggles, including reflecting upon their careers via the doco, the whirlwind last few years for the OGs and why they're so beloved. And if you're wondering if Fatt, Page and Cook wear skivvies or their famous colours now, Page bought yellow sneakers just for the film's premiere "to have something yellow in my wardrobe", Fatt says he "definitely avoids the purple" and Cook does "have some skivvies though, but they're black". ON THEIR RESPONSE TO A DOCUMENTARY BEING MADE ABOUT THE WIGGLES Anthony: "This New Zealand company approached us about doing it. So they were filming us for the last couple of years and being with us, and then got all this archival footage, and got fans to send in a whole lot of stuff — and just got all these incredible photos right through our career. We were all a step away from the actual creatives of it, and the storytelling. It was pretty well Sally [Aitken] and Fraser [associate director Fraser Grut] with the guys in New Zealand who put it together. But I was a bit scared to see it. I found it very emotional and beautiful — and sad and happy, all that stuff. A lot of great memories." Murray: "When someone's going to make a documentary about you, you're not involved in the decision-making. There's a bit of trust involved and you just hope that they do the right thing. But once we met the filmmakers, Fraser and Sally, we got to know them a bit, and I felt very trusting that they'd tell the story honestly. You don't want to whitewash — you just want the the truth to be told, I think." Jeff: "And Fraser grew up with The Wiggles. So, he held us in very high esteem." Greg: "I think, too, that because he did, because he was a fan as a child, he got the essence of what the documentary is, and that is showing that connection between us and the children, and that connection that continues on today with the new Wiggles. I think that really sums it up beautifully. And I think the overall tone of the picture is one — can you believe I said picture, like moving picture? — the tone of the documentary is one of joy and happiness. Really, that's what it's about. And I think he's done a great job, and so has Sally." ON REFLECTING ON THEIR CAREERS VIA THE FILM Greg: "It must have been such a challenge to try and cram 30 years into probably 100 minutes or so. But they've done a really good job at capturing those high points and the low points along the way — the milestone moments of The Wiggles. To sit there and watch it back for us, I know personally it was really interesting because living it from the inside, you see it very differently to how other people have seen it. But then to step outside of that now and watch it in a different perspective, it's really quite fascinating." Anthony: "You see little bits on YouTube of things we did 15 years ago, but this was like a line of just what happened. And just at the end of it, I was overwhelmed by it all." Murray: "I thought it was quite moving at at times. There was a lot of joy there, but there were a few tears. It does give you an opportunity to reflect on what it was that we achieved and what we created. I think it's really great for the world to see the people behind The Wiggles — that it's not just four goofballs, although we are that — but that there's theory and philosophy behind it. But also just seeing the journey that we went on together, it was really lovely to be able to see that." Greg: "It's interesting because when people ask us questions like they did in the documentary, they're asking questions that we probably never asked each other. And a lot of things we kind of took for granted that we're on the same page about, or we just felt that we would all feel the same way about, but I think there were some differences — not major differences at all. It's kind of funny, like we never sat around and shared a lot about our own feelings about things. A lot of the time, we were talking about the show, the production that we were going to do, there was a lot of that stuff. So I think for me it was really a chance to hear the other guys' perspective on what The Wiggles was to them." ON REALISING THAT THE WIGGLES WERE BECOMING A PHENOMENON Anthony: "In Australia, we went from birthday parties to playing fundraisers for the Nursing Mothers Association, which was really good. They'd sell the tickets and get a percentage of the tickets, they were fundraisers for them and it was great because, basically, it just was word of mouth. The Wiggles in those days, we weren't on television and we weren't on the radio. But the big step up in America, when I knew that things had changed, was when we went over and the people in customs recognised us — not in a bad way. That's when I went 'things have changed here'. It was because Disney took our TV series and put it on four times a day on their channel. And we became massive in America and Canada, and it was amazing." Murray: "I don't think we thought it would go around the world until we actually spent a bit of time in America. For us in the 2000s, from about 2002 on, America was a fairly big focus because it was very successful there. Once we started doing things like playing Madison Square Garden and doing the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, it became a little bit surreal, for me anyway. We'd be sitting on buses going to these cities in America that in a lot of cases we've heard of but never been to, and it was a great adventure but it was also a little bit hard to get your head around." Jeff: "From the early days, for example, when we put out the first video and it really made a connection with our audience — and just little steps like that. We'd quite often play for the Nursing Mothers Association in little halls, and that started getting traction. So the audience was continually building in those regional areas and in the city. So there were these little steps along the way, so it wasn't like a huge leap — it was a very gradual thing for us." Greg: "I think, too, it's interesting that people use words like 'global phenomenon' or 'global empire'. For us, it was never about that. It was just about being able to do something that we loved and do it well. And for that reason, every time we had a little bit of success, it felt like we had achieved so much more than what we ever set out to do. And every step along the way, it just kept building and building. So on reflection, I think that was probably the biggest thing about the doco — to sit back and watch those milestone moments be played back. It's like 'well, god, I can't believe we did that because we never set out to do it' — it was just all these happy bonuses that came along. We've had a a blessed time and I think, I hope, that people take away from the doco the fact that when you do something in life that you really enjoy, if it brings joy to other people and that joy is something that's shared both ways, and if everybody's life can be filled with joy, then it's a really great thing." ON THE WIGGLES' ONGOING SUCCESS Murray: "I think that what made The Wiggles successful in the first place is a few things. One of them is that we had this philosophy that was being child-centred, which is a philosophy from early-childhood education where you put the child first and you think about where they're at in terms of their development. We tried to use that in The Wiggles, I think quite successfully. Also just things like we're pretty genuine about it. We're very genuine about what we're doing and what we're trying to achieve. And the songs are good, I think, and really connect with the audience. What's happened after we moved on is that mostly Anthony's seen to it that those things are intact, that the philosophy's still there, that the way of speaking to the audience is still there, the songs are there. So I think that has carried on through the decades and kept The Wiggles in the forefront." Anthony: "I think the bottom line for us is that we have to entertain, and keep children interested and educate them if we can. We're more about pro-social skills, and I think that we've kept the early-childhood philosophies at the forefront, and we haven't gotten too carried away with too many bells and whistles. When we play a live show, we can go off the script at any time, as opposed to a lot of children's shows that are taped. We can, if a child calls out something, we can go with it. That keeps it interesting for us as well. I think that for all those reasons we still love it. I love it still." ON THE WIGGLES' TARGET DEMOGRAPHIC GROWING UP, BUT REMAINING WIGGLES FANS Greg: "I think for those fans, it's the connection to their childhood, when they were young — hopefully carefree and innocent. It's a time of your life where, if you can connect to that inner child when you're in your 20s or 30s, it's something to celebrate. And if The Wiggles are that connection for people, it's a great channel to be able to play music for them and come to our shows, and it's great for us too, actually." Murray: "Oh it's fantastic." Greg: "Because it connects us to that time of our lives as well, when we were doing something that we absolutely loved doing and very privileged to be a part of so many people's lives in a way where they did embrace us and they still do." Jeff: "And for Australian fans, us topping the Triple J, Hot 100, that certainly boosted things with our older audience now." Anthony: "We get told that it was a positive part of their childhood. And when those shows, when we do those adult shows, we don't change our show at all. I mean, pretty well, we're just the same — in the documentary, Paul Paddick, who plays Captain Feathersword, thought it was going to be a chance to swear on stage. And we said 'no, it's got to be exactly how it was or we're going to ruin what these people think about us'." ON THE HOTTEST 100, LIL NAS X AND THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE LAST FEW YEARS Anthony: "It's been awesome. I'm still going with The Wiggles, so the eight Wiggles, and I'm loving that we've had Jeff come on stage, Murray come on stage, Greg come on stage with us — and it just proves that we're all part of the Wiggles family. Lil Nas was amazing. He made a couple of fun tweets that he'd like to do a collaboration — I really did think it was tongue in cheek — but we did get to meet him at Falls. Falls Festival was just the best, and hanging out with Australian bands that are in their 20s that grew up with the Wiggles, it's just been great. The Hottest 100 was surreal. And musically, it was great because I got to experience Tame Impala, who I knew nothing about — so it was educational for me." We're ready to wiggle with you! 💛💜💙❤️ — The Wiggles (@TheWiggles) April 27, 2022 Murray: "It's funny that so much of what we've done over the years, like going to America, quite a lot of the things we've done have been uncharted. And we've always had this sense of doing things for the adventure of it — and I think this is again something that we never expected. We never expected the initial success that we had, and we never expected that 30 years later we would be playing for those kids who grew up — and no one ever thought that we'd be on Triple J at all, let alone topping the Hottest 100. So it's just wonderful. It's like some sort of icing on the cake, I guess, that we can still get together and have fun with our audience, but also to spend time with each other, and really go back and do this thing that we loved and this amazing thing we created together. Jeff: "At the time we didn't even know who he [Lil Nas X] was. I was totally out of touch with all. But looking at it now, it's crazy." Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles streams via Prime Video. Read our review.
You don't have to travel far to find a little tranquillity in Byron Bay. Even just getting the sand between your toes on Main Beach or heading further afield to Wategos can make you feel more at ease. Yet a new adults-only boutique hotel — appropriately called Hide — offers a luxe spot to connect with yourself and nature. Best of all, it's in the middle of town. Designed by architect John Burgess, the stay's highly intentional design is crafted for a gentler pace of life, where slowing down is part of the experience. Featuring only six rooms and suites, each combines calming minimalism and thoughtful details, offering a peaceful atmosphere to rise in and retreat at the end of the day. You'll find king-size beds dressed in premium Cultiver linen, Salus bath products, in-room coffee and a carefully curated minibar filled with locally sourced goods — it gets restocked daily with everything from fine wine to chocolate. Plus, there are rooms with private balconies, outdoor baths and full-scale kitchens, elevating the comfort even more. But the mindfulness extends well beyond your room's four walls, as pleasant as they are. Hide offers a fully kitted wellness bathhouse, featuring a heated magnesium mineral pool and a Stoked outdoor spa. There's also nourishment of the hot and cold variety, with a Clearlight infrared sauna and an Odin ice bath helping guests recover and recharge. Wellness stays aren't exactly uncommon in Byron Bay. But what sets Hide apart is how it offers that retreat-style stay without placing you on the fringe of town. Tucked into the backstreets only a short walk from Byron's main drag, keeping that laidback feeling going isn't an issue when it's time to roam. Enjoy a morning dip in the mineral pool, then head to Baloney's for an Italian-style sandwich or Bar Heathers for natty wines. Crafted for rejuvenation, it's no surprise Hide has made sustainability a core part of its design. Eighty rooftop solar panels help power the property, while the bathhouse welcomes in sunlight for warmth. Rainwater is harvested for use, and plastic is kept to a minimum. Together, this shapes a low-impact environmental footprint that fosters a serene solo or couples escape ripe for relaxation. Images: Jacquie Turk.
We sometimes take for granted just how spectacular our harbourside city is, but from on high it's hard to deny. A rooftop bar at sunset is the ideal place to take in Sydney's views as day slips into night. With the help of our friends at Jim Beam, we've put together a list of seven of the best spots to enjoy a twilight drink, from bustling pubs to aerial gardens and beachside lookouts.
Sitting grand above Woolloomooloo, the Art Gallery of New South Wales is one of the largest in the country. Its permanent collections include everything from paintings to photography, audio clips and short films by both Australian and international artists. All up, there are five permanent galleries which you can check out for free, from the Yiribana Gallery showcasing artworks by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, to the Australian, European, Asian and Contemporary galleries. It also hosts a number of temporary exhibitions every year. To check out what's coming up, head here. The Art Gallery of NSW is open daily, except Christmas Day and Good Friday.
One of the most spectacular must-sees on any Tokyo trip will soon be back on every tourist's itinerary: digital-only art gallery teamLab Borderless. When it opened in 2018, the stunning spot instantly became one of Japan's top destinations. Since mid-2022, however, the venue has been closed while it shifted to a new site. Thankfully, wandering through its dazzling array of artworks is about to become a reality again from January 2024. Breathtaking, kaleidoscopic, glorious, delightful, worth a trip to Tokyo all by itself: all of those descriptions apply to teamLab Borderless, which became the most-visited single-artist museum in the world during its first year of operation. Expect all those gushing terms to flow again when it reopens at Azabudai Hills in central Tokyo, relocating from its past Odaiba base. [caption id="attachment_912403" align="alignnone" width="1920"] teamLab, Sea of Clouds © teamLab[/caption] First, the bad news: to get there, you'll no longer be crossing over Tokyo's gorgeous Rainbow Bridge. That's the only negative aspect of move, however. Among the excellent news, the new teamLab Borderless will feature both evolved and brand-new artworks. So, even if you've been before at its old digs, you won't just be seeing the same things — even though they're definitely worth enjoying more than once. [caption id="attachment_912401" align="alignnone" width="1920"] teamLab, Microcosmoses (tentative title) © teamLab[/caption] If you were lucky enough to mosey around the OG spot before the pandemic, you'll know that the Borderless experience involves vibrant, constantly moving, always-changing interactive digital art keeps that keeps glowing and rearranging before your eyes. As the name makes plain, nothing is fixed or static here. Pieces move from one space to the next, and interact with other works. Sometimes, several different projections and installations mingle together. For attendees, peering at the end results isn't merely a passive experience, with the venue encouraging patrons to "wander, explore and discover". While the full list of works that'll feature at teamLab Borderless 2.0 hasn't yet been revealed, the pieces announced so far include the jaw-dropping Light Sculpture series — which cycles through an array of light formations and colours — as well as an eye-catching mirrored infinity room-style space that's tentatively been titled Microcosmoses. teamLab might be best-known for its Tokyo site, but it doesn't only operate in Japan. A second teamLab Borderless has already been open in Shanghai since 2019, and others are slated for Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and Hamburg in Germany — the former without an exact opening date, the latter slated to launch in 2025. The organisation also operates a different museum in Macao, and has its first teamLab Phenomena on the way for the Saadiyat Cultural District in Abu Dhabi, again targeting a 2024 launch. The list goes on, with teamLab's works a drawcard wherever they pop up. [caption id="attachment_868130" align="alignnone" width="1920"] teamLab Borderless: MORI Building DIGITAL ART MUSEUM, Azabudai Hills, Tokyo © teamLab[/caption] [caption id="attachment_912400" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Birth © teamLab[/caption] [caption id="attachment_912402" align="alignnone" width="1920"] teamLab, Microcosmoses (tentative title) © teamLab[/caption] teamLab Borderless Tokyo: MORI Building Digital Art Museum will reopen at its new location at Azabudai Hills, Garden Plaza B B1F, 1-2-4 Azabudai, Minato-ku, Tokyo sometime in January 2024 — for more information, visit the museum's website. Top teamLab, Universe of Water Particles, Transcending Boundaries; teamLab, Flowers and People, Cannot be Controlled but Live Together © teamLab.
In her first solo exhibition at the Australian Centre for Photography, Justine Varga invites viewers to experience a large-scale installation that immerses them in photography's unique means of production. A deeply thoughtful artist who uses analogue techniques, sometimes with a camera and sometimes without one (oh, what, you didn't know cameraless photography was a thing?), Varga is interested in complicating a viewers experience of both time and 'looking', inviting them to join her in interrogating the photographic process itself. In Photogenic Drawing this process is put on display through a dense layering of test strips – incomplete pieces of a photo that the artist explains as 'not quite photographs'. The result is a rare insight into the decisions made in a photographer's studio and lab, where photographs are 'tested, transformed, rejected, reprinted, found wanting and destroyed'. Intrigued? Head along to the ACP between September 8 and October 21 for an insight into the parts of a photographer's work that aren't usually given public exposure. Image: Installation view (cropped), Memoire, Hugo Michell Gallery, Adelaide, September 2016. Photo: Steph Fuller. Courtesy of the artist and Hugo Michell Gallery.
Over on Crown Street, Night Parrot leans into top-notch wines from the likes of Lo-Fi Wines' Das Juice, Adelaide Hills' Vinteloper and Yarra Valley's Punt Road Winery. The bar recently changed hands but things remained unchanged for now, so you can sip funky natural drops alongside a selection of Asian-style snacks, including handmade dumplings, bao and Korean popcorn chicken. Images: Stefan Posthuma
As far as unnerving settings go, The Third Day's couldn't be better, with the HBO miniseries unfurling its story on Osea Island. The real-life locale boasts an intriguing history, including its purchase in 1903 by brewing company heir Frederick Nicholas Charrington, his passionate efforts to turn it into a treatment centre for addicts and alcoholics, and the fact that he was once apparently suspected of being Jack the Ripper. Osea also spans just 1.5 square kilometres, sits within an estuary along England's east coast and is connected to the mainland via a Roman-built causeway, which can only be accessed during low tide. Both within the show and in reality, that means that cars are limited to making the journey during two four-hour windows each day. At all other times, travellers can only get to and from the island by boat. So, if you venture over but don't time your return drive just right, you'll end up stuck there until the tide next subsides — whether you like it or not. That's exactly what happens to Sam (Jude Law, The Nest) and Helen (Naomie Harris, Spectre). The Third Day tells its main tale via two separate halves, with its three 'summer' episodes focusing on Sam and its trio of 'winter' segments switching to Helen. Their experiences have unmistakable parallels, but start out differently. Sam doesn't intend to visit the island, only making the trip after he rescues a teenage girl nearby. Helen books a holiday rental with her daughters Ellie (Nico Parker, Dumbo) and Talulah (debutant Charlotte Gairdner-Mihell), but those plans don't pan out. Accordingly, both Sam and Helen are forced to adjust to a sudden change in circumstance, and miss their initial windows to leave Osea in the process. The longer they stay — and the more they interact with the island's residents, such as pub proprietors Mr and Mrs Martin (The Outsider's Paddy Considine and Chernobyl's Emily Watson) — the harder it becomes to head home. Each of The Third Day's halves takes place over three days, as per the show's title. Each day proves even more chaotic than the last, too. And, each altercation that Sam and Helen has with Osea's inhabitants only plunges them both deeper into the small island's many big mysteries. Here, Osea is a place of distinctive traditions, beliefs and rituals. The locals are not only fighting among themselves to retain their way of life, but will do whatever it takes to preserve the customs they proudly claim date back to ancient times. So, when Sam notices that a bathroom floor is covered in salt, and Helen and her daughters keep spotting the same symbol graffitied on the island's buildings, that's just the start of their strange journeys. Both groups keep seeing dead animals, too — and they're hardly greeted warmly by the insular community, including those who do and don't wear masks. If you're already thinking about Midsommar, you won't stop while you're watching. As horror's creepy cabin subgenre has shown, good things rarely happen when someone finds themselves in a secluded spot on-screen. That idea proves just as true in tales of island trips gone awry — including shows that ran for too long such as Lost, terrible horror remakes of decades-old TV series like Fantasy Island and now The Third Day. The details vary (no one in Lost intended to end up on a beach, for instance), but the underlying concept is simple. Take a picturesque setting, fill it with folks eager to escape their troubles, then use those gorgeous surroundings and that bliss-seeking mentality to augment their underlying woes. When done well, however, the notion is far from straightforward. And, thanks to the exceptional work of its main screenwriter and co-creator Dennis Kelly (Utopia) and his colleague Felix Barrett (director of Britain's Punchdrunk theatre company), The Third Day takes to the idea in an instantly engaging and involving way. Plenty about the miniseries' storyline feels familiar at first, by design. An unsettling tone radiates from The Third Day's opening moments, though, working hard to push everyone out of their comfort zone. For Sam and then Helen, that happens easily as their trips to Osea just get weirder and weirder. For the show's viewers, the efforts of directors Mark Munden (The Secret Garden) and Philippa Lowthorpe (Misbehaviour) and their cinematographers Benjamin Kracun (Promising Young Woman) and David Chizallet (Mustang) couldn't be more crucial. The Third Day is a striking piece of folk-horror TV all round, but what often proves most staggering is its constant ability to immerse its audience so firmly in its characters' headspace. Roving visuals that feel cast adrift, toying with focus and perspective, placing the camera unnaturally close to Law's face, letting Harris's stare bore through the screen, colouring the island's forest with almost-otherworldly hues — they're all deployed here, and they all work a treat. Also excellent are Law and Harris, with the former turning Sam's swift unravelling into riveting viewing, and the latter as steely as she has ever been on-screen. The Third Day's entire supporting cast is terrific, too, which includes Katherine Waterston (Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald) as an American visitor obsessed with the island's history and the imposing John Dagleish (Farming) as a local who doesn't take kindly to strangers. It isn't streaming in Australia along with the show's six main parts, but The Third Day also boasts a third section. 'Autumn' screened overseas as a twelve-hour live event, and is set during the big festival that Osea's residents are preparing for during Sam's half of the story. You don't need to have seen it to get the full tale, but even just knowing it exists paints a picture — because this is a series that dives headfirst into its sea of eeriness. Check out the trailer for The Third Day below: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T43V6z9wYyE The Third Day is available to stream via Binge. Images: Liam Daniel/HBO.
Nothing short of a feast will be had at Al Asseel. This is the place to come with your nearest and dearest when you want to eat so much you can barely walk back to the car. Here, you'll find all the share-style dishes that make Lebanese cuisine a great choice for group meals. You'll want to make sure you order the dips such as baba ghanoush, hummus and garlic dip; finger food like vine leaves and falafel; and mains like shish tawook (grilled chicken), laham mishwi (grilled lamb), kofta and lamb shanks. For salads, think tabouli and Al Aseel's signature fattoush. And, you'll of course want some flatbreads to soak up all the dip and sauces. Images: Cassandra Hannagan
When Wine Machine and Snow Machine first popped up, pairing vineyards and alpine settings with live tunes, one of each event's big drawcards was right there in their names. Dream Machine's moniker isn't quite as descriptive; however, it still sets the scene. Fancy hitting up a music festival in a tropical setting? That's on the bill at this dream event — including in 2023. Dream Machine first took place early in 2022, at a secluded beachside resort in The Whitsundays, after initially planning to go ahead in 2021 but getting waylaid by the pandemic. For its next event from Thursday, June 8–Monday, June 12, it's still going tropical, this time in Nusa Dua in Bali. If you've been longing to hear your favourite tunes while surrounded by your friends and while taking a trip to a beachside resort in Indonesia, this fest has you covered. 2023's dest will take place over a five-day, four-night run again, too, and bring together a hefty lineup of must-see talent. On up the party-forward bill: 1300, Boy & Bear, Client Liaison, Girl Talk, San Cisco, Spacey Jane, Sycco and Vera Blue, as well as Harvey Sutherland and Peking Duk hitting the decks for DJ sets. Yes, the list goes on. If the simple activity of grooving to tunes in tropical surroundings, including by the pool and ocean, isn't enough motivation for you, festival-goers will have a range of resorts to choose from in the fest's ticket package options. Keen to treat yo'self to a beachfront stay? You can add that to your itinerary. At the 2022 event, you could also enjoy other activities, such as kayaking, paddle boarding, jet skiing and waterside cocktails — fingers crossed they're on the roster as well. [caption id="attachment_873059" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sam Hendel[/caption] Unsurprisingly, this isn't a cheap festival to attend, but accommodation, transfers and festival tickets are all included in the fest packages. Folks feeling particularly flush can also upgrade their tickets to gain VIP access to the festival's compound to watch the main stage shows, where there'll be a cocktail bar, chill zone, table service, fancy toilets and sit-down dinner options. And, you'll score luxury airport transfer upgrades and access to an exclusive pool party at Manarai Beach Club, complete with special guest DJs. DREAM MACHINE 2023 LINEUP: 1300 Boy & Bear Client Liaison Girl Talk (USA) Groove City Harvey Sutherland (DJ Set) Holy Holy Hot Dub Time Machine Illy Jimi The Kween Ldru Mell Hall Northeast Party House Peking Duk (DJ Set) San Cisco Sideboob Spacey Jane Stace Cadet Sycco Tori Levett Tyson O'brien Vera Blue Winston Surfshirt Dream Machine takes place from Thursday, June 8–Monday, June 12 at Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia, with pre-sales from 6pm AEDT on Tuesday, October 18 and general sales from 12pm AEST on Wednesday, October 19 via the festival's website. Dream Machine images: Brittany Long / Pat Stevenson. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world. That includes a Bali escape surrounded by nature, if you're keen to extend your stay around Dream Machine,
When news first broke of Sacha Baron Cohen's new film about a Middle Eastern dictator, it was difficult not to feel like the greatest idea for a comedy had been staring us all in the face and only he'd been clever enough to see it. Despots and madmen like Hussein, Kim Jong-Il and Gaddafi, wait … Kaddafi? Qadhaf- … like bin Laden were already so ripe for parody that the script would almost have written itself, not to mention the added benefit of not having to worry too much about allegations of slander. Add to that the phenomenal events of the Arab Spring and the overthrowing of both the above leaders and their contemporaries and The Dictator seemed poised to be the perfect film for the perfect time. Unfortunately, however, it instead feels like the kind of film a real dictator would have penned and put into production without anyone offering any sort of constructive criticism for fear of being executed. There are definitely some funny moments, and even a few brilliant ones, but on the whole it's a disappointingly infantile film lacking in so much of the subtlety that's underscored Baron Cohen's previous work. "Subtlety?" you say. Well yes — beneath the trademark political incorrectness and gross-out humour of a movie like Borat lurked Baron Cohen's artful capacity for revealing the ludicrous nature of his interviewees' prejudices. Perhaps it was the ambush nature of his earlier films — something no longer possible due to the notoriety they earned him — but exposing a person as a bigot is quite a different beast to simply creating a character and having him say the same sorts of derogatory things. In that sense, The Dictator is consistently offensive, and not in a way that should automatically be excused as 'edgy' or 'provocative'. If anything, it's just lazy. When it's not being so misogynist or homophobic, the jokes largely fall under the three broad areas of urination, defecation or masturbation, and one can only laugh so much at that kind of humour before it grows tiresome. Traditionally we call that period: 'puberty'. https://youtube.com/watch?v=cYplvwBvGA4
Book in a date with 2 M3GAN 2 Furious now: even if it doesn't take that name, which it won't, a sequel to 2023's first guaranteed horror hit will come. Said follow-up also won't be called M3GAN 2: Electric Boogaloo, but that title would fit based on the first flick's TikTok-worthy dance sequence alone. Meme-starting fancy footwork is just one of the titular doll's skills. Earnestly singing 'Titanium' like this is Pitch Perfect, tickling the ivories with 80s classic 'Toy Soldiers', making these moments some of M3GAN's funniest: they're feats the robot achieves like it's designed to, too. Although unafraid to take wild tonal swings, and mining the established comedy-horror talents of New Zealand filmmaker Gerard Johnstone (Housebound) and screenwriter Akela Cooper (Malignant) as well, this killer-plaything flick does feel highly programmed itself, however. It's winking, knowing, silly, satirical, slick and highly engineered all at once, overtly pushing buttons and demanding a response — and, thankfully, mostly earning it. Those Child's Play-meets-Annabelle-meets-The Terminator-meets-HAL 9000 thoughts that M3GAN's basic concept instantly brings to mind? They all prove true. The eponymous droid — a Model 3 Generative Android, to be specific — is a four-foot-tall artificially intelligent doll that takes the task of protecting pre-teen Cady (Violet McGraw, Black Widow) from emotional and physical harm deadly seriously, creeping out and/or causing carnage against everyone who gets in its way. Those Frankenstein-esque sparks, exploring what happens when humanity (or Girls and Get Out's Allison Williams here, as Cady's roboticist aunt Gemma) plays god by creating life? They're just as evident, as relevant to the digital age Ex Machina-style. M3GAN is more formulaic than it should be, though, and also never as thoughtful as it wants to be, but prolific horror figures Jason Blum and James Wan produce a film that's almost always entertaining. In her job for toymaker Funki, working under brash CEO David (Ronny Chieng, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings), Gemma is responsible for three of the movie's most perturbing aspects. Yes, M3GAN is one of them. But the "cyborg puppet show", as David initially dubs it dismissively, comes about after his star employee installs listening software in the company's bestselling PurRpetual Pets — aka furry, troll-like trinkets that chat back, poop if you overfeed them and, as a parody-leaning ad openly says, bests IRL dogs and cats by never dying. As technology advances, ignoring how insidiously it's surveilling us is the bargain we've generally struck, but M3GAN doesn't forget it. Fleshing out a story co-conjured up by Saw, Insidious and The Conjuring's Wan, Cooper doesn't forget the other deal we've made with our smart gadgets and even just our ever-present screens, letting them make our lives easier by eradicating plenty of our human interactions. Gemma is meant to be working on a new, cheaper but shinier version of PurRpetual Pets, with a competitor undercutting Funki with a more affordable knockoff to David's dismay; however, her heart belongs to M3GAN. Then, via a tragedy, she's suddenly Cady's guardian — and because she wears flannelette, keeps collectibles and gets cranky about her overbearing neighbour's wandering pooch, she's immediately coded as anything but the mothering type. So, getting M3GAN functional serves multiple purposes, including giving Cady the kind of caregiver that her aunt instinctively isn't. "We're gonna kick Hasbro's dick!" David exclaims when he sees M3GAN in action as a walking, talking, bonding, nurturing, do-it-all bestie-slash-nanny that he can sell for $10,000 a pop. While the doll itself doesn't ever utter anything similar — she's murderous, but also child-friendly — as its AI learns and evolves, it's gonna knock about everyone who threatens Cady and its own existence. Hasbro's wares have scored the movie treatment in the Transformers, Power Rangers and GI Joe flicks and more, and M3GAN makes junk of most. They all largely did that themselves anyway, but none have this film's namesake, who makes one helluva horror nemesis. Clearly the product of ample time meticulously getting the specifics exactly right, M3GAN sports a lifelike-enough appearance that dwells deep in the uncanny valley, and could never visibly be confused for actual flesh-and-blood up close. And yet, the size is right, it pals around with Cady like they're peers and it dresses more like a stylish 70s Barbie than a standard doll. Its physical movements are preternatural, and its arch retorts and reactions — and often just its voice — would make Mean Girls' Plastics wither. Young actor Amie Donald (Sweet Tooth) plays the part, while TikTok star Jenna Davis (Maggie) provides M3GAN's vocals, with every detail pitch-perfect. Execution: M3GAN chiefly slays it, but because Gemma fluffs it (rushing to get the job done, overlooking parental controls as well as parameters for morals and ethics, and being too eager to avoid her guardian responsibilities), M3GAN savagely and repeatedly slays. As the brutal plaything's inventor and main target, Williams is fascinating, too, especially given that she comes to the part — any part — with her most famous past role's considerable baggage. She isn't playing Marnie Michaels as an expert coder here, obviously. In fact, the fact that the deranged toy she's facing patently resembles Williams is a savvy way of having the actor tear down the idea that she's crafted herself an on-screen type. Gemma isn't the uncomplicated hero of the piece, though, as a workaholic who happily outsources caring for a child to an untested gadget, revels in creating AI life to help cope with loss, then finds herself firmly standing in Victor Frankenstein's shoes. There's bite to Gemma's path, and to M3GAN's musings on motherhood, work-life balance, corporate culture and 21st-century chaos, as familiar as they all are — and, even when simply jerkily tilting its head or stealthily sneaking up unexpectedly, to M3GAN. There isn't as much blood to the film, sadly, with needing to appeal to a teen audience ensuring that it never fulfils its gory and deranged potential, including when the body count starts ramping up and the final act goes for adolescent-appropriate broke. What this sci-fi nightmare lacks in splatter, it compensates for with that gleefully campy, tongue-in-cheek and utterly self-aware vibe, forceful as it can be; M3GAN's trailer and its choreography didn't go viral months before the movie hit cinemas by accident. Indeed, Johnstone evokes the right sardonic atmosphere with the efficiency of his central robo-slasher. 2023 was already set to be the year of the big-screen doll thanks to Barbie, but M3GAN stalks the cinematic toy chest formidably and fiendishly first.
It's often said that modern technology is ruining our lives; turning us more and more in on ourselves in a dangerous spiral of introversion, narcissism and disconnection from the physical world. And can you blame us? An iPhone can look significantly more appealing than the other sweating, mouth-breathing humans we sit next to on public transport or pass on the morning commute. But, occasionally there comes along a real reminder that the human race isn't totally doomed to becoming robotic unfeeling drones. A new project by Sydney photographer Pete Hawk is one such reminder. In Stranded Corridors, Hawk takes to frequented 'corridors' about town – the tunnel at Central, Newtown's King Street, and the wind tunnel opposite Redfern station. Using one light, he photographs people passing by and asks them to write something about themselves. Think Humans of New York, but in black and white, and coming to you from your own backyard. It's a simple idea, but Hawk's photographs are really quite beautiful. And the captions people have written offer snippets of their lives, aspirations and worries, which range from life advice ("Wear colour and enjoy your night.") to confession ("I fell in love. Twice."), and where they're going to (Zumba) or coming from (Japanese class). If the popularity of projects like HONY has taught us anything, it's that we love to peek into other people's lives. It speaks to some of those good old-fashioned human pastimes — like voyeurism and eavesdropping — but packaged in an artful, socially acceptable format. It's the perfect way to people watch without the awkward eye contact. All images via Pete Hawk.
Before Dolly Parton's own musical about her life makes its theatre debut, premiering on Broadway in 2026, always loving the music icon on stage is easy thanks to Here You Come Again. Telling the story of a massive fan of the legend and their imagined version of a star like no other, this fellow song-fuelled production is filled with Parton's tunes. It has her stamp of approval, too, and it's coming to Australia in 2025. Here You Come Again has locked in stops in six cities, starting with Melbourne, playing at the Comedy Theatre from July. From there, it'll enjoy a stint at Theatre Royal Sydney from September, before touring to Perth, Newcastle, Canberra and Adelaide at yet-to-be-announced dates. There's no Queensland season so far, but cross your fingers that one gets added. At each of its Aussie destinations, get ready to hear 'Jolene', '9 to 5', 'Islands in the Stream' and 'I Will Always Love You', among other tracks, as the show's protagonist navigates the ups and downs of life with his own fantasy of Dolly by his side. Playing that pivotal part, so slipping into the rhinestones and blonde hair, is Here You Come Again co-creator Tricia Paoluccio — and yes, she's also a Dolly fan. "I've loved Dolly my whole life and have been singing her songs since I was a little girl. It's been my dream to create a musical comedy that celebrates her music while imagining how she might help someone in a real-life way," said Paoluccio, who conjured up the show with Emmy Award-winning comedy writer and songwriter Bruce Vilanch, plus director Gabriel Barre. "Having Dolly's personal stamp of approval on this piece makes it even more special, and I can't wait to bring this production to Australia!" In the US and UK, Here You Come Again has played soldout seasons — and expect it to prove popular Down Under, too. Alongside Paoluccio, Australian Dash Kruck (Little Shop of Horrors, Jesus Christ Superstar) stars, with the local run also set to feature an all-Australian ensemble, plus a live band helping to bring Parton's music to life. Here You Come Again Australian Tour From Thursday, July 10, 2025 — Comedy Theatre, Melbourne From Friday, September 12, 2025 — Theatre Royal Sydney, Sydney Dates TBC — Perth Dates TBC — Newcastle Dates TBC — Canberra Dates TBC — Adelaide Here You Come Again starts touring Australia from July 2025, with ticket presales for Melbourne and Sydney from 9am on Wednesday, March 12 and general sales from Friday, March 14 — head to the production's website for more details, and for waitlists for other cities. Images: UK production, Hugo Glendinning.
It's pretty hard to ignore the hype surrounding restaurant/market/all-round empire The Grounds of Alexandria. Whether it be through the award-winning coffee, the extraordinary food or the multiple kidnappings of Kevin Bacon the pig, The Grounds has garnered something of a cult following. It's inner-city Sydney's ultimate garden estate — and soon, it'll have booze. The Grounds stable is expanding, with The Potting Shed, a late-night bar and eatery, set to open on Monday, March 24. In what is sure to be another outstandingly popular move by the team, the Potting Shed will be an extension of the unique Grounds experience, mirroring the impressive design aesthetic and staying true to its comfortable charm. There's a lot still in the works before opening, but what we do know is that the bar will be open 11am till late (later than the CBD lockouts? That remains to be seen), seven nights a week. Expect to see the fresh herbs and produce-driven techniques specific to the Grounds experience reflected in the cocktail list. Boutique wines and craft beers will also feature. The food menu, meanwhile, will be aiming at simplicity and affordability, with plenty of share options. The Nursery, at the rear of The Potting Shed, will continue to hold functions after the opening. The leafy, romantic space is in high demand for corporate events, private parties and weddings. Image: Gui Jorge.
"The worlds that we create are heightened and slightly larger than life," says artist, designer and maker Jonathon Oxlade. It's a credo he's carried across multiple stage productions, including Faustus with Bell Shakespeare and Wizard of Oz with the Windmill Theatre Company. Helpmann-nominated for his work on School Dance and Pinocchio, he's been covered in design gongs, notably the prestigious Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship this December and an AACTA award for Best Costume Design. Oxlade's most high profile project is Windmill Theatre's production of Girl Asleep, the coming of age story of Greta, 14, very shy and starting life at a new school. On her first day there she meets the geeky Elliott and they develop an unlikely friendship. Her life and all its inherent confusion stays private until her parents throw her a massive 15th birthday party and all her internal chaos spills over. Together with writer Matthew Whittet and director Rosemary Myers, Oxlade helped bring the stage play to life in Adelaide in 2014 before translating the play into a widely celebrated feature film. Currently, the trio are masterminding a run of the play at Belvoir. We caught up with Oxlade to talk film, design and what this renaissance man has planned for the future. ON WAKING UP GIRL ASLEEP Without a doubt, Oxlade is one of Australia's most whimsical theatre designers, having studied illustration and sculpture at the Queensland College of Art. "A lot of my work is in magical realism and fantasy," he says, listing Jean-Luc Godard, Japanese film and even Bjork as creative minds that ignite his own. Each of Oxlade's projects exudes a certain nostalgic eccentricity, almost lending a living, breathing personality to the set itself. "With most of the shows that we make at the Windmill Theatre, the scripts or the ideas treat the sets and design like a character," he says, and you can see what he means with the set of Belvoir's current run of Girl Asleep, a bold, playful personality dressed in the bright, phantasmagoric garb of the 1970s — just look at that bright purple wallpaper. Oxlade is quick to stress, however, that, "it's our version of the '70s — it's not an historic piece." The play's script lends itself to a vivid reimagining on stage. "Matt [Whittet] writes, very visually," he says, and a whole swathe of unexpected influences combine to create evocative aesthetic of the play. "The whole team is heavily influenced by a lot of different genres," he says, "including film. A lot of our references when we make theatre are film references, and a lot of the other references are photography and graphic novels." The design of the play shares a stylised composition that's heightened in colour, illuminating shared influences with legendary director, Wes Anderson. "They're his signatures," Oxlade says, "but people have been doing that for a really long time." ON TRANSLATING STAGE TO SCREEN Onstage, Oxlade's bright, Wes Anderson-like designs physically frame lead character Greta's world, a whimsical but recognisable landscape sitting on the cusp of adulthood. Moving this kind of set into a cinematic situation was a welcome challenge for Oxlade. A success with critics and audiences alike in 2016, Girl Asleep was Oxlade's first foray into the world of film, allowing his stage design to develop into new, free territory. "The film has a really obvious, kind of fractured space that works for the psychology of what Greta is going through," he says. "Visually, we could do so much more, so we did so much more!" Not bound by the need to create a space on stage that "forms a metaphor for every space in the script", Oxlade found a certain freedom in bringing the play to the big screen. "In terms of the design, it grew a lot more," he says. "In theatre, there's an abbreviated design world, but in film we have the opportunity to make some really special places." [caption id="attachment_602287" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Original costume design from Girl Asleep. Courtesy of Jonathon Oxlade.[/caption] ON WHAT'S NEXT In early December, Oxlade was awarded the prestigious Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship — a peer reviewed fellowship granted for outstanding talent and exceptional courage. "It's an amazing privilege," he says, though Oxlade is clearly not a man to rest on his laurels. Instead, the plan is to keep on keeping on. "It's a compulsion for me to make things," he says. "So I'm just going to keep on doing it and hopefully people like it." And, with a work ethic and a creative eye that sees more than the Eye of Sauron, it's hard to see how people won't. Girl Asleep runs at Belvoir Theatre until December 24. Book tickets and find more info on Belvoir's website. By James Whitton with Imogen Baker.
Family-run for three generations, Woy Woy Fishermen's Wharf is one of those longtime, NSW Central Coast institutions, famed statewide for its top-notch fresh seafood offering and its idyllic patch of waterfront real estate. And this year, the Woy Woy legend's launched the latest iteration of its wharfside restaurant, swapping the former digs for a new dining space — the work of locals LAW Building Design, Parkwood Homes and Verve Building & Consulting. You won't find a much better spot than this for chowing down on the day's freshest catch and sharing a jug of something light and fresh. Floor-to-ceiling glass windows boast views across the water and a custom-made fish trap, crafted by Maningrida artists Bonny Burarn.gara and Freda Ali Wyartja, presides over the dining room. With this menu, the Cregan-Clayton family are continuing that long tradition of feeding their fans' seafood obsessions in style. The seasonal lineup might find you kicking off with local oysters and a sashimi plate of the day's best, tucking into some Singapore-style chilli crab, or settling for a family feast, sharing hot and cold seafood platters, barbecued scampi and spicy tomato mussels. There are endless crabs, mountains of prawns and a daily-changing carpaccio, though there'll always be room for the classic, no-fuss fish and chips. To match, you'll find an award-winning booze offering that holds its own against all that seafood — wines from across Australia and Europe, a sprawling selection of beers and a crop of classic cocktails, including share-friendly jugs of negroni and Pimms. Find Woy Woy Fishermen's Wharf just over an hour's drive from Sydney, at The Boulevarde, Woy Woy. Images: Nikki To
Remember the days when the only meat-free options on menus were side salads, fries and sad-looking garlic bread? Us too. While some days definitely still call for carb-loading, Sydney's growing list of plant-based cafes means the options available now are anything but beige. And to help you find your new favourite, we've create this round up of Sydney's very best vegetarian and vegan cafes — home to tasty grain bowls, vege burgers and plant-based pastas and pizzas. [caption id="attachment_798216" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cassandra Hannagan[/caption] DAILY GREENS, PADDINGTON If veggie-packed shakshuka on hearty, homemade bread, fresh pastries, and vanilla-whipped ricotta with raspberry preserve sound like your thing, make sure you visit Daily Greens in Paddington. Feeling creative? There's also an option to build your own bowl, complete with an extensive list of ingredients for you to customise your own warm or cold dish — here, selections include baked tofu, charred cauliflower, spiced crispy chickpeas and dressings like avocado ranch or miso caramel. When the sun is out, soak up the rays in the plant-based cafe's leafy courtyard which has a tree growing right through its centre. [caption id="attachment_707088" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Sam Ali[/caption] KHAMSA CAFE, ERSKINEVILLE The inner west is arguably Sydney's ground zero for plant-based dining, and Khamsa Cafe is the kind of place you'll want to visit more than once. At this all-day diner, every plate of photo-worthy Palestinian food is generously packed with fresh, flavoursome ingredients. Must-tries include the signature Jerusalem Bowl, stacked with hummus, baba ganoush, quinoa, fattoush, falafel and cauliflower and a mushroom-packed shawerma pastry. There's also a range of traditional sweet and savoury pastries — think a musakhan with sumac, mushroom and onion and semolina cake with orange blossom syrup — as well as a rotating daily lunch special of a traditional Palestinian dish. The best part? You can take your dog along with you, too. It is a clear front-runner for the best vegan and vegetarian cafe in Sydney. CORNERSMITH, ANNANDALE This thriving, family-run casual dining spot is living proof that from little things big things grow. Starting as a humble eatery, the Cornersmith empire now includes cooking classes, cookbooks and plenty of homemade pickled and preserved goods to take home. The Annandale plant-based cafe has a simple, seasonal menu which includes decadent toasties, fresh salads and a particularly delicious tahini granola bowl with roasted pears. You'll can sit down and enjoy your meal in the friendly, laidback surrounds or preorder an adorable picnic box to enjoy in one of the nearby Sydney parks. SHIFT EATERY, SURRY HILLS Surry Hills locals love Shift Eatery. Office workers and city dwellers alike frequently crowd the pavement waiting for a lunchtime pick-me-up from Sydney's first meat-free deli. The Sydney vegan cafe's ethos is simple: it's all about making the shift to a plant-based diet as easy as possible. And that's exactly what it does. Known for its meat-free takes on popular dishes — think a plant-based reuben and meatball sub — this cafe will have even the biggest sceptics converted. Sample the self proclaimed 'best vegan bacon and egg bagel in the whole world' and find out if it's as good as a traditional one. Spoiler alert: it's better. [caption id="attachment_613611" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Alana Dimou[/caption] TWO CHAPS, MARRICKVILLE Two Chaps is the kind of place you can visit on the reg and yet dine on something different every visit. The cosy Marrickville plant-based cafe and bakery has an ever-changing, seasonal menu designed to reduce food waste, support local producers, and keep its hungry customers coming back for more. While the dinner menu's fresh, homemade pasta packed with nuts and vegetables has amassed a cult-like following, things during the day are just as delicious thanks to some of Sydney's best plant-based doughnuts and homemade pies. And did someone say dulce de leche-filled brioche? Whether you stop in for a little pick-me-up or a full-blown feast, you'll walk away feeling satisfied. RUBY LONESOME, PETERSHAM This little local cafe has a whole lot of heart — and a simple menu featuring meat-free versions of all the classics. The Cheeze Burger will have you asking why you didn't try plant-based earlier, while specials might include the melt-in-your-mouth Sloppy Jocelyn — it will get all over your face but is so tasty you won't mind. Order the Big Boi for breakfast if you're hungry or a Buddha Bowl if you're looking for something lighter, then peruse the countertop for super cute and tasty take-home goodies like pickled veggies, relishes, cashew cheese and daily-made baked goods. Heck, even order yourself an entire fairy bread cake, really indulging at one of Sydney's best vegetarian and vegan cafes.
Technology is now a player in how we carry out one of the bare necessities of life: eating and drinking. We've lately been enraptured by the thought of being able to 3D print our food (the 3D chocolate printer is already among us, while the 3D pizza printer is just around the corner). And the excitement isn't just based on our own appetite for novelty foodstuffs; these are technologies with the capacity to help us through the global food shortage. Yet the internet and mobile technology that's ubiquitous right now has already changed the way we eat — in some very positive ways. We take a closer look at the apps and websites that are helping people reduce waste, save time and be better informed. We Can Make Less Waste According to the 2009 study, What a Waste! from the Australia Institute, Australians throw out 4.45 million tonnes of food every year, or in dollar terms, $5 billion. If this makes you wince a little, but not enough to start composting or dumpster diving, the internet may be your saving grace. Websites such as Germany's Foodsharing.de are harnessing the web to connect individuals who would prefer to share their excess food than turf it. Their only rule is that you offer food you would eat yourself. Here in Australia similar sites like Fare Share and Second Bite, aimed at collecting food from supermarkets and farmers to be redistributed to those in need, are reducing this inefficiency. Taking a different tack, Sydney's HelloFresh, a new online service, is making judicious grocery shopping easier. With new menus each week, they deliver only those ingredients required for a particular meal. As Tom Rutledge from HelloFresh put it to us, "By packing precise amounts of ingredients we supply only what is required for the recipes. Gone is the need to buy a big jar of capers when you only need a tablespoon. The customers save money and there are no nasty surprises lurking at the back of the pantry when it comes time for a spring clean." Aussie Farmers Direct makes a good case for the internet's role in reducing waste, as their buying is done after customers' orders are placed online. Internet grocery shopping in general wins over bricks and mortar outlets, because perishable products are not simply displayed on the off chance that a shopper is making leak soup this week. We Pay with No Money Apps such as Beat the Q allow queue-averse customers to pre-pay for their coffee en route. They simply pick it up and go. CLIPP app allows barflies to run a tab from their phone without ever flashing cash or card. While this may be extremely convenient, it will also encourage higher spending — a phenomenon called hyperbolic discounting means people are likely to buy more if they don't have to pay until the end of the night. Apps such as these, along with Paypal's payment processor and Square.com are making a cashless future not only possible but, according to Adam Theobald of Beat the Q, inevitable. "In coming months, consumers will be presented with a large number of e-wallet alternatives," he told us. "Imagine your bank, telco, ISP, Google, Apple, Mastercard, Visa, Amex all offering you a great incentive to use their mobile wallet." Though the payment interaction is being reduced to the touch of a screen, Theobald doesn't think that technology is taking away from the human interaction. "I'm not sure about you, but I am much better to talk to if I haven't waited, and have a coffee in my hand!" he says. He figures the 10,000 customers registered with his app must feel the same way. We Know All the Things And then, of course, technology is giving customers better access to information. The internet is allowing smaller ventures to succeed by connecting with punters to let them know their changing hours and locations. Hungry Mondays is a collection of Sydney restaurants (started by El Capo) who slow cook meat on a Sunday and offer vacuum packed meals the following Monday for pickup from a range of changing venues (the Hollywood Hotel, the Lord Wolseley), which are spruiked on Facebook. The nomadic food trucks of Sydney rely on their online communities to advertise times and locations, as do pop-up venues. While bloggers and review sites such as Urbanspoon and Eatability may strike terror in the hearts of restaurateurs, they give a fuller picture of a venue for diners. As well as advice on where to eat, technology is helping customers with what to eat. The Traffic Light Food Tracker app, released by Cancer Council Victoria, allows consumers to scan the barcode of a product and immediately receive a red, orange or green light from the app according to the product's nutritional value. Prevailing ideas about the future of food culture tend to polarise into either a fast food dystopia of mindless Cheezel consumption or a slow food utopia in which we harvest quinoa each morning from our organic hobby farm in Tasmania. But there is a happier medium, where technology speeds up boring activities like shopping and paying and gives us more time to enjoy food. Top image by Binpress.
You could've been forgiven for thinking that Bentley's former Crown Street shopfront was a corner pub. Of course, once you walked inside the darkly lit, restaurant-bar with designer Pascale Gomes-McNabb's famous wire mesh petal light shades, it was evident you were in one of Sydney's best fine diners. At their new digs in the heritage-listed Radisson Blu Hotel building with its grand entrance off O'Connell Street, there's certainly no mistaking Bentley for your local. Gomes-McNabb has been at it again, painting over a perfectly good ceiling rose with black and grey triangles straight out of a marvel comic strip. She's flung a bunch of black metal scaffolding through the space and has lit it with an assortment of diamond frosted shades, as well as a large revolving cube light installation at the entrance. In fact, walking into Bentley feels like you're stepping into a cubist painting to find, serendipitously, that freeze-dried foie gras with scallops is the order of the day. It's not a bad way to finish off the working day, which is what hordes of punters, solo and in groups, are already doing on a Monday night. So Brent Savage's food can be fussy, and who needs to freeze-dry foie gras anyway? Well, someone who wants to pair it with an otherwise texturally unsuitable Queensland scallop ($14). Foie gras crystals, brioche crumb and raspberry powder comprise the necessary contrast to make the scallop shine. A bowl of cold pea soup with frozen buttermilk and hidden spanner crab ($24) is oddly out of step with the rest of the excellent tasting menu. Quail with smoked celery and white soy ($28) is a neat little number and the pork cheek with jamon crumb that follows has a classic sweet match not in fruit but with charred leeks and crispy radicchio. A main of kangaroo ($42) with purple carrot has a kind of Australian Christmas feel to it, with a riberry jus that's all cloves and booze. The star accompaniment of the meal is Iggy's bread, the kind of sourdough that will make your teeth happy, with its chewy crust and tangy, savoury wholesomeness. There's been a delicious efficiency gain in the pastry section, with the replacement of finicky petit fours with one large honeycomb crunch landing on the table at meal's end. I don't speak French but if this is 'petit' I'll eat my mini oven. The service at Bentley 2.0 is decidedly friendlier than the Crown Street haunt, which had a bit of a Nick Cave Appreciation Society vibe. With Yellow and Monopole well and truly established as late-night Potts Point favourites, the addition of Bentley in the city means the Savage-Hildebrandt combo have this city covered for smart, grown-up dining. Photo gallery by Lindsay Smith.
Back in 2019, Sydney fine-dining institution NEL introduced tastebuds to a whole new culinary world: a decadent Once Upon a Time degustation inspired by all things Disney. Unsurprisingly, it provided a magical meal and proved a massive hit, returning in 2020 and 2022 with themed dishes created by the Surry Hills' restaurant's created by Executive Chef and namesake Nelly Robinson. Come winter 2023, it'll be back again for a fourth chapter. Amid NEL's creative spreads, this one now feels like a tasty tale as old as time — repeatedly popping up amid KFC-inspired dinners, Moulin Rouge!-themed and Christmas degustations, and one heroing native Australian ingredients as well. But whenever it unleashes its 11 courses upon plates, the Once Upon a Time serves up new and fresh dishes riffing on the Mouse House's favourites. Accordingly, even if you've been before, you haven't feasted your way through the latest menu. An alfredo linguini that nods to Ratatouille? Yes, that twist on the classic dish — and flick — featuring a lasagne-style structure layered with confit vegetables, pasta sheets, béchamel, mozzarella cheese foam and basil dust is on the lineup. So is The Tugley Wood, which combines mushrooms and fresh Australian truffle to nod to Alice in Wonderland. And when things get sweet, there's a honey-soaked sponge with a nest of honey curd topped with bee pollen, then served in a honey pot, that Winnie-the-Pooh would clearly covet. As for what else will be bothering your appetite in the best possible way, discovering the full range is part of the fun of heading along — no matter whether you're a Sydneysider with more than a few nights' experience tucking into Robinson's creations or a Disney fan keen to make a date on a future interstate trip. The Once Upon a Time menu's fourth chapter will start serving on Tuesday, May 30 and run for eight weeks only, with bookings available now. Price-wise, this childhood-inspired feast will require an adult salary, costing $185 per person, with beverages matched for an extra $165. Reserving a spot ASAP for dinner Tuesday–Saturday from 5.15pm is recommended — this unsurprisingly always books out.
Named after Australia's renowned thoroughbred company, William Inglis and Sons, Western Sydney's latest hotel is a sure thing if you're after a mini Sydney staycation. The William Inglis Hotel's centrepiece is its rooftop bar, which offers a spot to relax by the pool with a drink — and to soak in the stunning panoramic views of the surrounding Warwick Farm. Once you've built up an appetite, head downstairs to the Newmarket Room, the hotel's dining room overlooking the gardens and riverside horse stables. It serves up everything you want on a carefree staycation, from oysters to prawn linguine and NSW Riverina Black Angus steak. Whisky fans will be at home here, too — the mezzanine's 1867 Lounge serves high-end cocktails and boutique wines. But that ain't all. The William Inglis Hotel also houses a luxury spa facility, gym and work out spaces and rooms for holding meetings and conferences. They've got it all under one roof(top pool). All of these inclusions help make it one of the top hotels in Sydney.
First, the bad news: Australia's most-envied job, aka Tourism Australia's Beach Ambassador, is sadly already taken. Now, the excellent news, especially if you're keen on a beach holiday or several (or ten) throughout 2023: that lucky coast lover, beach expert Brad Farmer AM, has just named Australia's best beaches the year. Australia has 11,761 sandy spots according to Tourism Australia, so narrowing down the most stunning to a mere ten is no small feat — even if you've spent four decades focusing on the absolute best, as Farmer has. The number-one place to hit the shore this year from that hefty list? South Australia's Stokes Bay, which is located on Kangaroo Island. Being named Australia's best beach is the second huge piece of praise that Kangaroo Island has received already in 2023, after The New York Times included the entire landmass among its 52 places to visit this year. Farmer has gotten more specific, however, singling out Stokes Bay for a number of reasons — its location, safe swimming options, overall atmosphere and clandestine entrance among them. [caption id="attachment_886634" align="alignnone" width="1920"] South Australian Tourism Commission[/caption] "Most of the island's 50 or so glorious beaches are all relatively secluded, yet accessible, so visitors are much more likely to encounter paw prints of the many furry lounging locals than footprints of the work weary human," notes Farmer of Kangaroo Island, announcing his picks for Australia's best beaches for the year. "Stokes Bay Beach on the gentler north coast, with its long 500-metre sandy sweep of low impact waves, features a generous and safe tidal swimming pool for wading or snorkelling with its aquarium like atmosphere. There's a timeless hint of mystique about this hidden treasure with a shimmering reward when the curtains lift. From the western entry carpark and seasonal cafe, this veiled beach is reached through a 'secret tunnel' — a hand-hewn cavernous carved trail finally revealing a stunning scene as if rewarding the adventurer. Stokes Bay is long overdue to be recognised as Australia's Best Beach in 2023," he continues. [caption id="attachment_886635" align="alignnone" width="1920"] East Coast Photography[/caption] Stokes Bay claimed top position after Misery Beach in Western Australia scored the honours in 2022, Cabarita Beach in New South Wales did the same in 2020, Nudey Beach on Fitzroy island in Far North Queensland achieved the feat in 2018, and Cossies Beach in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, in the Indian Ocean, earned the title in 2017. This is the first time that a South Australian beach has earned the honours. Still, among the 2023 list's highest-ranked spots, Stokes Bay is joined by beaches in every Australian state and territory, including Christmas Island in the Indian Ocean Territories. [caption id="attachment_886636" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Tourism and Events Queensland[/caption] Coming in second in Australia's best beaches for this year: Boomerang Beach on New South Wales' mid-north coast. NSW is the one of only two states to take two places in the top ten, too, with Balmoral Beach on Sydney Harbour in tenth position. Elsewhere, Rainbow Beach on Queensland's Cooloola Coast ranked third, Apollo Bay on Great Ocean Road in Victoria slotted in fourth, Adventure Bay on Bruny Island in Tasmania came fifth and Hamelin Bay in Western Australia's southwest notched up sixth position. Then came Little Bondi Beach in East Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory at seventh, British Admiralty Beach on King Island in the Bass Strait in Tasmania at eighth and Flying Fish Cove on Christmas Island in ninth spot. [caption id="attachment_886637" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Visit Great Ocean Road[/caption] Wondering how Farmer makes his picks? This year, he was particularly interested in beaches with a unique cultural connection to First Nations Country, as well as outstanding locations that don't always come up when folks are searching for Australia's best beaches online. "Australia really is just one big beach and there are simply so many surprises to be discovered in our own sandy backyard," Farmer says. So pack your togs, round up some mates and start ticking these off. We see many road trips in your future — not that anyone ever needs a new excuse to head to the beach, whether they're one of Australia's best or not. THE TOP TEN BEST AUSTRALIAN BEACHES FOR 2023: 1. Stokes Bay, Kangaroo Island, South Australia 2. Boomerang Beach, Mid North Coast, New South Wales 3. Rainbow Beach, Cooloola Coast, Queensland 4. Apollo Bay, Great Ocean Road, Victoria 5. Adventure Bay, Bruny Island, Tasmania 6. Hamelin Bay, South-West, Western Australia 7. Little Bondi Beach, East Arnhem Land, Northern Territory 8. British Admiralty Beach, King Island, Bass Strait, Tasmania 9. Flying Fish Cove, Christmas Island 10. Balmoral Beach, Sydney Harbour, New South Wales For more of Brad Farmer's beach tips, head to his Best Australian Beaches website. Top images: Tourism Australia / @ihaig72. Feeling inspired to book a getaway? You can now book your next dream holiday through Concrete Playground Trips with deals on flights, stays and experiences at destinations all around the world — including Kangaroo Island.
Since opening at the end of 2018, Totti's has become a cult favourite among eastern suburbs locals and Sydneysiders citywide. With chef Mike Eggert at the helm, the Bondi eatery is a go-to for bowls of pasta and its highly popular wood fire oven bread. In the years since, Totti's has been expanding westward, opening its CBD iteration Bar Totti's last year, and now popping up with its third Sydney outpost in Rozelle. This time, the Merivale venue has found a home in the beloved, temporarily closed inner west pub 3 Weeds. At Totti's Rozelle you'll find the expected assortments of favourites from the OG Bondi spot, including spinach pappardelle or chittara and clams pasta. An assortment of charcoal oven treats are also on offer, including whole roasted fish, half-smoked chicken and of course, the wood fire bread. Those looking to come in for a snack can take their pick from the antipasti menu which features kingfish crudo, chicken liver parfait and burrata, or if you've booked in with a group of meat-eaters, split 1.5-kilograms of Brooklyn Valley rib eye steak. The drinks menu doesn't steer far from what you'd expect, but you'll still find an enjoyable array of classy cocktails and some fun natty wines that are sure to pair perfectly with a big bowl of pasta. Setting this inner west iteration apart from its counterparts is a new dessert bar with Italian classics like gelato, tiramisu, coffee granita, pistachio cake and panna cotta, as well as ice cream sundaes to finish off your night on a sweet note. Merivale acquired 3 Weeds back in 2019, teasing at the time that it had big plans for the venue. While Totti's has now opened inside the space, the pub area remains closed two years on. The Sydney hospitality giant maintains that the beloved pub will reopen, with the property's next iteration to be announced soon. Totti's Rozelle is located at 3 Weeds, 197 Evans St, Rozelle. It's open Wednesday–Sunday, 12pm–late. Images: Steven Woodburn
This article is sponsored by our partners, the Sydney Festival. Ah, Town Hall. Site of so many dorky private school Speech Nights. Who knew it could chill out and show us a really good time? In fact, the sandstone Victorian architecture and epic Grand Organ set off Sydney Festival's live music offerings in a manner most spectacular, creating a marriage made in acoustic heaven similar to the Becks and Keystone Festival Bars at Hyde Park Barracks. The popular Paradiso at Town Hall returns this year with a dream line-up, aiming to do its iconic, namesake rock venue in Amsterdam proud. Here's the plan: first you head out from work, gather partners in crime, make a beeline for the Terrace Bar (free entry, open from 5.30pm) and shake off the day's stresses. The bar's light hot dishes help you to conserve your strength for the long night of awesome ahead. Then from 8pm — appeased by alcohol, protein, carbs, the bar's DJ and attractive locals — you can enjoy the building atmosphere as a support act takes the stage with main fare to follow. The huge talent includes John Grant, Modular, Orquesta Tipica Fernandez Fierro, Mick Harvey, Kurt Vile & the Violators, Georgia Anne Muldrow & Dudley Perkins, Future Classic and Soil & Pimp Sessions. Bonus: Paradiso is free after 11.30pm, with DJ sets by Tyson Koh, Blair Stafford, Matt Vaughan and more to set the late-night vibe. Just another reason why Summer in Sydney is the best. Standing tickets only, 18+. Paradise Lates is free from 11.30pm (10.30pm 19 and 26 January). Image by Jamie Williams.
Berowra Waters Inn holds a semi-mystical position in Australian culinary history. Arriving on a summer's day with remnant bushfire smoke over the sparkly water of the Hawkesbury river, the restaurant is concealed in a fitting magical haze. Dusthole Bay is filled with dinky boats that seem to be straight out of a Dr Seuss storybook — a boy putts past us in a rusted red tinnie with his kelpie sitting at the helm as we take the short ferry trip to the restaurant, which has been operating under Irish-born chef Brian Geraghty for a bit over a year now. Only an hour out of the city, with a feeling of timelessness and food to rival any city establishment, Berowra Waters is just the ticket for city slickers in need of a day's rural rejuvenation. The sandstone icon, originally designed by Glenn Murcutt, hovers on the cliff edge like a genteel houseboat that might sail off at any moment. Inside we're welcomed by modest formality: the famous Fritz Hansen Series 7 chairs at white linen tables, a sage green banquette with black trimming set into the sandstone, a silver vase of proteas. The Australian decor, including expansive watercolours by local artist Chris Kenyon, is elegant and successfully resists Australiana. Geraghty's partner, Victoria, leads a bright, professional team on the floor. Thirty-year-old Geraghty's experience at Quay, Pied a Terre and Bilson's informs a classic approach to the four- or seven-course degustations on offer. Australian poet Martin Langford wrote a poem called Mahler in Midsummer, in which he describes Mahler's heavy European music vanishing in the Australian heat. The same might be said of French food in an Australian summer. White borage, baby coriander and shiso expire before they reach the table, and a creme fraiche boudin amuse-bouche only just holds its form in the heat. However, the trout mousse in a salted caramel tuile withstands it — a little barrel of sophistication. The menu hits its straps at the third course with swordfish, avocado and squid arriving under a layer of cucumber jelly. The al dente cubed squid is a textural bridge between the avocado puree and firm swordfish. Geraghty's umber squid consomme and jelly is deep sea serious, matched well by a 2011 Joseph Cattin Gewurztraminer, the lychee and passionfruit notes holding their own against the umami of the squid consomme. Beef short rib in anchovy crust with watercress is a satisfying end to the main course and the 2010 Coto de Hayas Crianza Tempranillo Grenache is a suitably weighty match. Before dessert we're presented with goat's cheese, Corella pear jelly and hazelnut mousse, unhappily accompanied by toasted muesli. Geraghty's defence of the offending muesli is that his Irish childhood was full of oatcakes. We'll forgive him the nostalgia because the Old Rosie Cloudy Cider is such a good match for the cheese itself, the lactic kick from the cheese and grassy funk of the cider a perfect combination for a hot day on the river. To avoid the ignoble task of driving back to Sydney through peak hour, either catch the seaplane home with all your gold bullion or book a couple of days at the Calabash Bay Lodge just up the river. The charm of Geraghty and team's refinement in a bush setting proves that Berowra Waters Inn hasn't finished making history yet.
As far as publicity stunts go, this one is as literal as it gets. For its next big fundraising/marketing venture, Aussie company AMP is pulling out some transparent but undeniably ambitious moves, announcing plans to launch a mildly terrifying-sounding building-to-building zipline in Sydney this October. Dubbed The AMP Foundation Big Zipper, the 125-metre zipline is set to stretch between AMP's two CBD skyscrapers, perched 75 metres above Circular Quay, and propelling riders through the air at up to ten metres per second. Registrations are now open for the casual plummet, which will be held on October 20 and 21. It's not a cruisy public affair though. To be involved, participants will need to raise at least $5000 in funds for one of The AMP Foundation's 15 non-profit partners like Wesley Mission, The Stroke Association of Victoria or Cancer Council NSW. If you reckon you can make that kind of coin for charity and want to actively participate in a major corporation's marketing campaign, sign up here.
Northies has been keeping the party happening in Cronulla since 1888, now belonging to the beach-loving Sydney Collective. Just as with the other venues, the Group has given this one a serious spruce up, without taking away its casual feel. One addition is Old Joe's, a summery, pastel-coloured room that pays homage to Joe's Milk Bar (a longstanding local favourite) styled by design legend Sibella Court. Whether you're hanging out there or in one of Northies' other spaces, the mighty menu will conquer your post-surf starvation, with its burgers, pizza, steaks and seafood hot pots.
Cosy up by the fire sipping Margaret River cabernet at Empire Retreat and Spa or embrace Sydney’s industrial past at 1888 Hotel. Either way, you’ll be chasing away winter blues and indulging at each of these top ten Mr & Mrs Smith hotels in Australia and New Zealand. Stay three nights (or more) to save 30 percent on stays until the end of September — but get in quick; these exclusive offers must be booked by July 31. Hotel Hotel, Canberra Overlooking Lake Burley Griffin in the cultural heart of Canberra, Hotel Hotel is the designer pad you’ve always wanted — on a greater scale. Out of the 68 individually styled rooms, the Meandering Rooms are by far the biggest and best, with a tub for two and double rain showers. Housed in the Nishi Building in NewActon, the hotel is part of a new development that combines contemporary art, landscaped gardens and the bespoke modern living that’s becoming popular in Australia. The courtyard cinema is closed in winter, but don’t fret: you can still get your arthouse cinematic fix at Palace Electric, just downstairs. Spicers Vineyards Estate, Hunter Valley A tapestry of vines and veggie patches surrounds this handsome hotel in the Hunter Valley. Spicers Vineyards Estate is just two hours from Sydney and draws on its location to provide you with a romantic, culinary-themed getaway. Here, fresh regional produce teamed with the latest vintages (featuring grapes harvested from the estate’s vines) will have you mellow in no time. An added bonus is Spa Anise, where you can replenish mind, body and soul with organic honey-and-cocoa treatments or hot-stone massages. Ground-floor King Spa Rooms open onto an inviting verandah: first-floor rooms will earn you views all the way to the Brokenback Mountain Range. For cosy nights by the fire, opt for a Luxury Spa Suite. QT Gold Coast Bright pops of colour and retro furniture complete the Miami-esque feel at QT Gold Coast. Just a stone’s throw away from Surfers Paradise beach, you can soak up some sun and set yourself free from the weight of those winter woollies. Sample international cuisine at Bazaar, the hotel’s restaurant, styled with a bustling marketplace in mind. All rooms are fun and flirty with bonus DIY lemonade kits, but the QT King Ocean View rooms take the cake with seascape vistas and surfer-spotting potential. The Gold Coast is known for being a party playground, so join in the fun at the hotel’s bar, Stingray, where cocktails flow in an industrial-chic setting. Eveningwear is a must when the sun goes down: no board shorts allowed. The Prince Hotel, Melbourne Situated in the vibrant St Kilda precinct in Melbourne, The Prince Hotel is an edgy designer’s dream. Its modern, contemporary rooms feature timber floors, artfully placed throws and stand-alone bath tubs for peaceful soaks. You’ll get 30 percent off the Boutique and Deluxe rooms here, so take those savings and sample some of the fantastic restaurants that St Kilda has to offer. Stroll past nearby Acland Street for delectable treats at Monarch Cakes or sample the menu at the hotel’s restaurant, Circa, which champions seasonal eating using the freshest produce from Victorian and Australian farmers. If you fall in love with any of the artworks adorning the walls, you might be able to take them home (for a price, of course). The walls, curated by Utopian Slumps’ Melissa Loughnan, allow art to be seen in a more social, everyday environment. Spicers Peak Lodge, Qld A mountain retreat on the Scenic Rim of Queensland, Spicers Peak Lodge is a place where you can surround yourself in nature without sacrificing luxurious comforts. Set on a 9000-acre cattle station, the hotel has bushwalking and mountain bike trails for adventurous types and gourmet picnics on offer too. Five of the seven luxury lodge suites have warming stone fireplaces, perfect to snuggle by on a winter’s eve. The earthy, natural tones are calming and fuss-free, drawing you outwards to the natural beauty of the area. Dining at the lodge is a must. The cuisine highlights seasonal and organic produce, including honey, which stars in delicacies such as the chocolate, caramel popcorn and honeycomb dessert. Empire Retreat and Spa, WA A relaxing oasis among the southern wilderness of Western Australia, Empire Retreat and Spa combines a level of luxury and seclusion among the gum trees. The retreat’s villas and suites are set in and around a restored farmhouse — once the owner’s family home. Both rustic and modern interiors work well with timber and natural stone accents that celebrate the beauty of the surrounding native bushland. The main house has an open fireplace, timber decking and a secluded Jacuzzi and sauna for extra entertainment. Some of the nation’s best cabernets and pristine beaches can be found in this pocket of the west, so it’s well worth hiring a car to explore. The Spire, Queenstown The Spire is an urban hideaway in the midst of Queenstown, the adventure capital of New Zealand's South Island. Interiors of dark wood and rich, candy-apple red highlight create rooms that are inviting sanctuaries away from wintry winds. Room six has an exclusive view of the spire that the hotel is named after, but all have stone-clad fireplaces and private balconies. Sip a cocktail while enjoying some Mediterranean- and European Alps-inspired tapas at No5 Church Lane, the hotel’s laidback lounge bar, or venture to the waterfront for some of the freshest seafood Queenstown has to offer. The hotel is more than happy to arrange some adrenaline-pumping activities such as bungee-jumping or jet-boating, but a simple hike and picnic lunch is also on the menu. The Farm at Cape Kidnappers, NZ Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand is a pristine natural wonder. Rolling green hills stretch from The Farm at Cape Kidnappers all the way to the churning water’s edge. A par-71 golf course is on hand, along with 180-degree views of the spectacular Pacific Ocean. A luxurious barn-like conversion worthy of a Grand Designs feature, the Owner’s Cottage has added seclusion away from the main lodge, a large stone fireplace and an open kitchen for entertaining. Tawny interiors throughout add to the farmhouse style, and invoke a homey, welcoming environment. The lodge even has its own winery located in the Gimblett Gravels region, with regular wine tastings. There’s an onsite pastry chef and a new vegetable garden that provides head chef James Honore with fresh produce to accompany the locally sourced meats and seafood. 1888 Hotel, Sydney An eclectic industrial conversion, 1888 Hotel turns Sydney’s past into a stylish inner-city hangout. In a prime location for visiting Sydney’s famous harbour and the captivating Powerhouse Museum, this historic wool store offers a vibrant resting place that moulds together the best of days gone by and modern Australian design. Three-metre-high ceilings and original wooden beams are featured throughout rooms, and the Attic room has a sun-kissed patio and sociable lounge for entertaining. A philosophy of simplicity encompasses the menu at 1888 Eatery & Bar, where meals celebrate wholesome and sustainably sourced ingredients. There’s also a monthly photography competition for all you avid Instagrammers, so don’t forget to tag the hotel in any snaps as it could win you a free night’s stay. Islington Hotel, Tasmania A Regency house situated just outside of Hobart in Tasmania, Islington Hotel sports views of Mount Wellington and hosts manicured gardens. A sustainability motto that will knock your socks off, paired with an 80 percent organic decree, sets this hotel above the rest with its eco-friendly practices. The moreish dishes at the hotel’s restaurant — such as maple-and-whisky-glazed pork loin and Tasmanian wallaby shank — are definitely set to spoil. Rooms in the old house are generous and elegant with bespoke bedding and contemporary artworks from the owner’s worldwide travels adorning walls. This is the perfect getaway for curling up by the outdoor open fire and settling in with a good book while sipping on some of the hotel’s swill-worthy wines. Browse all Smith’s winter warmer offers or see all available hotel offers online. Contact our expert Travel Team on 1300 896 627 for further details on the hotels and their deals.
Without a shadow of a doubt, Surry Hills is one of the most varied suburbs in Sydney. You'll find a sneaker shop serving fried chicken and champagne alongside an underground saloon bar complete with taxidermy elk and endless whisky — it's creative, pushes the boundaries and is always two steps ahead — in glitter stilettos, no less. So, whittling down a long list of must-see spots to just ten essentials was never going to be an easy process. In fact, it felt a little like Sophie's Choice. But, with the help of City of Sydney, we got there. If you're ready to see the very best of Surry Hills, don your most fashion-forward threads, make sure you have an empty belly and get set to tick off some stellar spots. Plus, for a few more hot tips, check out our video above for owner of Yulli's Karl Cooney's favourite spots around the suburb.
Good news hasn't been easy to find in Sydney of late. Being in lockdown to combat the COVID-19 pandemic — and having those stay-at-home conditions expanded, extended and tightened as case numbers rise — will do that. But one infectiously adorable bundle of joy has just entered the world, and it's the heartwarmingly cute kind of sight that we all definitely need right now. If you're reading this from elsewhere in the country, trust us — you need this, too. Taronga Zoo has announced the arrival of a southern hairy-nosed wombat joey that was born in October last year. Yes, that's more than a few months back now, but the as-yet-unnamed baby critter has only just started to emerge from her mother's pouch in recent weeks — so she's still big news. The joey was born to experienced mum Jetta. Wombat joeys are the size of a jellybean when they first enter the world, and then they remain in their mother's pouch for between seven and nine months as they grow. "The little joey has just reached the size where she no longer fits in the Jetta's pouch; we have seen her try to get back into the pouch a couple of times, but Jetta just won't allow it — she is just too big!" advises keeper Rebecca Russell-Cook. "At the moment the joey is out and about quite regularly exploring both the burrow and outside areas, on her own as well as with mum and sister Wanyi," she continued. "In the next few weeks, the joey will become even more active — so once Taronga starts welcoming guests back, they will definitely get the chance to spot the little joey at Taronga's wombat burrow at our Backyard to Bush precinct." That's enough words about this loveable little critter, because we all know that you're here to get a glimpse — and Taronga Zoo has helpfully released a video that shows the joey just doing super-cute joey things. Check it out below: [video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://cdn.concreteplayground.com/content/uploads/2021/07/Taronga-zoo-ES-edit-09072021-78.mp4"][/video] If you're after further information, you can also watch keeper Rebecca Russell-Cook chat about the joey — if you can hear her above all the "awwwwwwwwwws" you'll be exclaiming, that is. [video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://cdn.concreteplayground.com/content/uploads/2021/07/Wombat-Joey_VNR_P2C.mp4"][/video] Taronga Zoo is currently closed during Sydney's lockdown, but you can check out more videos of its cute animals via its online Taronga TV channel.
Originally from the trendy Melbourne suburb of Windsor, concept restaurant and cocktail bar Sash has fully embraced the concept of fusion cuisine. Overseen by Kyle Stagoll, it marries the Japanese palate with familiar dishes from other countries. Think pizza, tacos and sliders dished up with a Japanese twist — and it's coming to Sydney in April 2018. Sash's most eye-catching dish is the black pizza. Topped with sticky pulled pork, hoisin duck, orange ginger, spanner crab, eggplant miso and strawberries, the menu explores territory that no other pizzeria considers. And the bases are dyed with squid ink to give it that charcoal-black colour. Sash's pizzas are all about texture. "The experience starts with a slightly crunchy, thin base, balanced by textures of soft fish and wasabi mayo. There's also a contrast in temperature. The pizza has a hot base topped with cold fish," explains Stagoll. "Even though the combination of sashimi and fruit in poke bowls is now common in Sydney, the way we do our pizzas provides a much richer flavour and totally different experience." In terms of drinks, the original Melbourne pizzeria was designed as simply a place to enjoy an extensive range of Japanese beer, sake and wine. But since head barman Kyle Rose (Chin Chin) was brought in and given free rein over the cocktail menu, Sash became known for their yuzu and sake-heavy cocktails — such as the Japanese Spritz made from sake, Aperol, yuzu and sparkling rose; and the Geisha Girl with cranberry, plum yuzu, gin and lemon juice. "Kyle Rose definitely brings that Melbourne look and feel to the restaurant," notes Stagoll. Style-wise, Sash Sydney will take on a different visual look to its dark-lit, narrower Melbourne sister. "We absolutely fell in love with a big, white brick, heritage building in Surry Hills with stunning arched pillars running through the venue," says Stagoll. "Three retail shops have been pulled down to open the whole place into one." Sash opens in the first week of April 2018. Keep an eye on their website and Facebook page for further details.
When the first season of Deadloch came to an end, it set the scene for all that anyone who'd been watching wanted: more of the ace — and very amusing — series from Australian comedy queens Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan. It's taken a year, but now that dream has finally been locked in. Prime Video has announced that season two of the AACTA-winning show is on the way, taking the action to the Northern Territory. This time, when the mystery-comedy shifts from Tasmania to the Top End, there'll be six episodes rather than eight. Still, any new Deadloch is better than none, especially after it proved one of the best new TV arrivals of 2023. Subverting the usual crime-drama setup with more than just laughs, the series' first season began with a sleepy small town, a body on a beach, a local detective trying to solve the case and an outsider dropping in to lend their expertise — and then transformed that very familiar scenario into both a satire and a statement. "We are so excited to head to the Top End for a sticky, sweaty and filthy season two," said McCartney and McLennan, who created, write and executive produce the series. "Both of us are thrilled to be teaming up again with comedy angels Kate Box, Madeleine Sami, Nina Oyama and Alicia Gardiner, and we can't wait to work with a new bunch of cast members and some massive fucking crocodiles." As The Kates mentioned, Box (Boy Swallows Universe) will return as local senior sergeant Dulcie Collins, as well as Sami (Our Flag Means Death) as Darwin-based senior investigator Eddie Redcliffe — plus Oyama (Utopia) as junior constable Abby Matsuda and Gardiner (The Clearing) as Dulcie's wife Cath York. The story this time will follow Dulcie and Eddie looking into the death of Bushy, the latter's former policing partner. While they're in the NT digging around, a couple of bodies are found, sparking a new investigation. McCartney and McLennan are writing the new season again, and also back executive producing, while Beck Cole (High Country) and Gracie Otto (Seriously Red) will return as directors. There's no word yet when Deadloch season two will hit streaming queues, but filming will start in the Northern Territory later in 2024. There's no trailer yet for season two, obviously, but check out the trailer for Deadloch season one below: Deadloch streams via Prime Video, with no release date announced as yet for season two. Read our review of season one, and our interview with Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan. Deadloch images: Bradley Patrick / Prime-Video.
