Mexican holiday Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead (Saturday, November 2), is a celebration of long-standing tradition that is, first and foremost, a way for communities to honour family and friends who have passed on and to celebrate life both past and present. But the holiday has also come to represent the very best of Mexican culture — from tasty food to elaborate costumes, motifs and music. So, to celebrate the day, The Argyle has teamed up with the world's oldest operating tequila distillery Jose Cuevo to put on a two-day fiesta. Head down to the Rocks' historic building and you'll be able to get in on the festivities on Friday, November 1 and Saturday, November 2. For two nights, performers, UV face-painters and themed decor will fill both storeys of the bar. There'll also be specialty cocktails featuring Jose Cuevo tequila. Better yet, grab a Los Meurtos margarita and you'll get a token you can redeem for a Jose Cuevo-based drink. The Argyle has got some top-notch music acts planned for the occasion, too. On Friday night, you can catch DJ Keyes and R&B acts Mike Champion and DJ Helena Ellis. Or if you go on the Saturday night, you'll be dancing to the tunes of DJ Tigerlily alongside some other local acts. If you arrive before 9pm on the Friday — and are in suitable dress — entry is free. Or you can join the guest list here. Saturday is a ticketed event; to nab yourself a ticket, head here.
From the poster, you’d assume The Haunting of Daniel Gartrell is a one-man meditation on the perils of drinking solo and shirtless after Mardi Gras. In reality, the lights go up on a gleefully naked Daniel Gartrell (Mark Sheridan) sitting in a vinyl lounge chair. He is playing the famous bush poet of the title, a reclusive but remarkable wordsmith who is – in Gartrell’s hands – alternately whimsical and venomous. The writer, Reg Cribb, is a NIDA graduate who co-wrote the Bran Nue Dae screenplay. He is arguably best known for his feature film adaptation, Last Train To Freo, which was nominated for an AFI award for Best Adapted Screenplay, and went on to win the 2005 WA Premier’s Script award. It seems fitting that Cribb is now dealing with the poetic pretensions of the deeply disturbed Daniel Gartrell given that his play Last Cab to Darwin won the 2003 Patrick White Playwright’s Award, a prize one presumably has to be as stubborn-minded as Patrick White himself to win. At the Old Fitzroy Theatre, the width of the stage is the width of the seating, and the set design is used to great effect to pull you into the characters’ past. A towering pile of moldering books and collapsing chairs cover the stage, signaling Daniel Gartrell's decrepit mental and physical state. Craig Castevich (Joshua Morton), an ambitious actor who is preparing to play the haunted hermit in a forthcoming biopic, arrives with industrious intent to gain intimate insights into the man's poetry, and is clearly immediately out of his depth. Gartrell’s stormy bush poetry stems from disappointment and heartbreak, and once Castevich starts dredging up dissolving details, it's uncertain whether he'll deal well with his discoveries. Despite the poetic intensity of the script, there is a lot of humour to be found in this play, particularly in the daughter who provides psychologically creepy comic relief. The impressive mirroring of the two men’s characters is done subtly - after all, only one of them gets naked.
Who knew that the next great Australian film would actually be a constellation of 17 smaller ones? The term 'producer' seems insufficient for Robert Connolly, the driver of this daring and innovative cinema project. He has pulled together the most visionary creative artists, filmmakers, cinematographers, choreographers and theatre-makers to bring Tim Winton's The Turning to the screen. Connolly's brief to his collaborators was simple: choose a short story from Winton's book and develop it in any style you wish. It's a bold and crazy concept. A curated, anthology film shouldn't work, but here it is. This film is about the crossroads, the moments when we turn to face ourselves and force ourselves to change track. The returning patterns of self-realisation are alcoholism, Christianity, Indigenous culture and identity, our relationship with the land and air and water, and the inability to put the past to rest. Video artist Shaun Gladwell and actors Mia Wasikowska and David Wenham make their directorial debuts. Justin Kurzel (Snowtown) directs an especially creepy episode. And every story turns on sharp moments of awakening: Rose Byrne's battered, trailer-park wife encounters God, Hugo Weaving's alcoholic hermit reunites with his estranged son, Cate Blanchett's suburban everywoman finally clicks with her mother-in-law. Until these moments, our characters are moving forward, but still in the past, and they all come together with unexpected narrative unity that balances open-endedness with diamond-cut clarity. In these plaited stories, I found a film of rare adult complexity, and strands of hope and trauma woven together with a compassionate, humane thread. I found moments of astonishingly troubling beauty. And with a sensitive touch, The Turning does all this without overdosing on dark-night-of-the-soul melodrama. Rarely do we see a film with such a startlingly singular and confident mandate, and this is all the more courageous given the pressure on Australian filmmakers to dedicate themselves to producing more 'entertaining' commercial product. Some viewers will feel The Turning's three-hour length. I did at times, and I thought some of the early chapters could have been omitted with little impact. But what the hell, go with it. It's not easy viewing but it is beautiful viewing. While you're watching it, this is a film to zoom in and zone out to. After you're finished, it's a film to dissect and discuss and linger on. Yes, this is an art film, but it's not the one you think it will be. So bold is Connolly's vision, he's designed a new distribution strategy to accommodate it: The Turning will play for only two weeks in special-event screenings — some with Q&As with the creative contributors — and audiences receive a luxe little full-colour booklet to help make sense of the braided narrative structure. The Turning will probably make you cry and you probably won't know why. It will stay with you. And I think it will claim a place in cinema history — for the innovation of its style, and the frankness of its substance. https://youtube.com/watch?v=rGVweOZA2zg
The newest addition to Sydney's annual blockbuster cultural and arts festival, Vivid Food has just dropped its full program, announcing a slate of events celebrating the best of New South Wales' culinary scene — and pulling together big-name chefs from Sydney, Australia and beyond. As with the previously announced lights, music and talks programs, Vivid Food will run across the duration of the fest between Friday, May 26–Saturday, June 17. "This is a celebration of NSW food culture. If tourists are not coming to NSW for our food, they should be," said Minister for Jobs and Tourism John Graham. The lineup is multi-faceted, headlined by a two-week residency from New York chef Daniel Humm at Matt Moran's Aria. Humm, the owner of the three Michelin-starred Eleven Madison Park, a restaurant that has previously sat at number one on the World's Best 50 Restaurants list, will take over the Aria kitchen between Tuesday, June 6–Saturday, June 17. Humm and company will be offering a nine-course tasting menu for $550, and a reduced lunch menu for $395. If you want to secure your spot, tickets go on sale on Friday, April 28. Similarly, international chefs will be taking part in a range of collaborations as part of the Vivid Chef Series. Singapore's Rishi Naleendre (Cloudstreet) is working with boundary-pushing plant-based fine diner Yellow, London's Jackson Boxer (Brunswick House) teaming up with Fred's, and Jeremy Fox (Rustic Canyon and Birdie G's in Los Angeles) cooking up a series of dinners at the Ace Hotel's new sky-high Mitch Orr-led eatery Kiln. The Vivid Fire Kitchen will be keeping you toasty throughout the winter festival with a selection of the world's best pitmasters including Firedoor's Lennox Hastie, Jess Pryles of Aussie Barbecue Heroes, Dave Pynt of Singapore's Burnt Ends and Byron Bay's Pip Sumback all cooking up a storm at The Cutaway in Barangaroo. Following a successful debut edition as part of last year's Vivid, the Vivid Sydney Dinner will return to the Ivy Ballroom in 2023. Eddie Perfect will host the night with performances from Montaigne, Julian Belbachir, Christine Anu and Kate Monroe being paired with eats from Merivale Executive Chef Ben Greeno and Danielle Alvarez (ex-Fred's). Rounding out the program is Chefs on the Harbour, a view-heavy overwater dinner on the luxury superyacht The Jackson with Nel's Nelly Robinson, plus popular chefs Khanh Ong and Mark Olive; Carriagework's Warakirri Dining Experience, at which the founder of Mudgee's Indigiearth Sharon Winsor will take you through a five-course meal celebrating Gadigal ingredients; Mary's Group's one-day HERE NOW food, wine and music festival; and the Vivid Rooftop Experience 32 floors up at Aster Bar. [caption id="attachment_898422" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Aster Bar[/caption] Vivid 2023 runs between Friday, May 26–Saturday, June 17. Browse the full program at the Vivid website.
The top-tier wine and stellar produce of the Mudgee wine region is headed to Sydney, courtesy of the annual Lane Cove Food and Wine by the River event. On Sunday, November 3, Sydney's gastronomes should head to Burns Bay Reserve on the North Shore, where they can sample a tempting selection of top drops from vineyards whose bottles speak for themselves. With a winemaking tradition that dates back to the mid-1800s, Mudgee has earned a reputation for producing some of Australia's best pours, including award-winning riesling, chardonnay, shiraz, and a plethora of Italian and Spanish varietals. At Lane Cove Food and Wine by the River, the winemakers behind these superb sips will share the secrets of their craft. While these locally produced wines are a major drawcard, the event is also a showcase for the region's other delicious delights, including beers, spirits and gourmet treats — set against the backdrop of the Lane Cove River. With more than 20 different vendors creating a pop-up market, as well as live music performances, yummy street eats and fun activities for the kids, there's plenty to keep the whole family smiling. Mudgee Wine Association president Deborah Clear says the event is a chance to show off the region's renowned wines and produce. "Mudgee has long been a top destination for Sydneysiders looking for a weekend escape filled with delicious food and wine served in a stunning landscape, surrounded by genuine country hospitality. This event continues to offer a unique chance to bring a slice of Mudgee's charm to the city, showcasing what makes us special—exquisite food, superb wines, and exceptional service".
It's possible that after directing the pastoral idyll that was the Olympic Opening Ceremony, Danny Boyle felt the need to dirty things up. That would explain Trance, a gangster/heist movie that takes a turn into the unexplored psychosexual corridors of Inception. James McAvoy stars as a young art auctioneer, Simon, who gets mixed up in some bad business. Charged with hiding the most valuable artwork on the auction block in the event of a heist, Simon cops a severe bump on the head after Franck (Vincent Cassel) and his men breach the building. He now has amnesia and doesn't know what's what. It's soon made clear to him, however, that this was an inside job of his orchestration, and that he's the only one who knows — knew? — where the painting is hidden. In an attempt to retrieve the buried information, Franck sends Simon to a hypnotherapist, Elizabeth (Rosario Dawson), who soon inserts herself into the gang. Things get crazy from here on in. Boyle might never have made a bad film (or play or Olympic spectacle). His titles range from Trainspotting to 28 Days Later and 127 Hours (how is that range possible, even?). Slumdog Millionaire was universally adored. But Trance will divide people. A film like this really rests on the payoff of its twist, and the Trance twist is limp and signposted early on (and I'm not one of those actively thinking cinemagoers who can usually guess the ending). There seems no good reason for the lack of subtlety throughout. On top of that, some debasing things are inflicted on the single female character, and you'd really like that kind of treatment to only happen with good narrative cause. That said, Trance is definitely interesting. You should see it just so you can have a healthy argument about it with your movie date. It's dark, complex, challenging and so inventive as to demand attention. Above all, it has a distinct and mesmerising visual style. Most of the shots you see are indirect; you are not looking at the actors as they stand in front of the camera lens but at their image as reflected off potentially several mirrors or other reflective surfaces. At one point, it's such that I swear I can see a pool cleaner crawling along the kitchen ceiling. What we think we're looking at is literally not what we are looking at. It could be a kitchen. It could also be a pool. It's a beautifully accomplished metaphor for the hypnotised state that Boyle has realised together with cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle, a frequent collaborator. Their saturated blue-orange colour palette is a stunner. Another frequent collaborator of note is Rick Smith of Underworld, the iconic electro band who have worked on Boyle's Trainspotting, Sunshine and, yes, the Olympic Opening Ceremony, among other things. Smith adds another literal dimension to Trance — the music. Those demanding, racing beats are one unsubtle touch that works. Read our interview with Danny Boyle and the cast of Trance here. https://youtube.com/watch?v=L4_bdS3_gr0
Sydney's permanent ice rinks tend to be pretty far out in the suburbs, so for the most part ice skating is one of those things you did in school holidays or for birthday parties as a kid then forget about when you grow up and move near the city. Luckily, there have been a few pop-up ice skating rinks around inner-city Sydney in the past few years, and the latest is set to open at World Square. It's cheap, too — $10 will get you 45 minutes on the ice. It's open until 9pm so it's a perfect after-work or uni-break activity and easy to combine with dinner or drinks at nearby bars and restaurants, including a Belgian chocolate cafe serving fondues, waffles and hot chocolate to keep you warm post-skate.
This year, one of the biggest events on the Sydney calendar is a joint birthday party for an 18-year-old and a 40-year-old. Homebake has announced their 2013 lineup, and while there's plenty of bands to get excited about, the biggest changes are to the festival itself: to celebrate their 18th birthday, the festival's been expanded to three days instead of one, and the location's moved from The Domain to the forecourt of the Opera House, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary around the same time. As usual, the lineup celebrates the best of Australian music, both past and present. The 2013 lineup includes The Presets, Paul Kelly, Eskimo Joe, Beasts of Bourbon, Gurrumul, Architecture in Helsinki, Birds of Tokyo, Bernard Fanning and The Rubens. Tickets go on sale at 9am Wednesday, 26 September (so prepare to set your alarm for 8.50am and press F5 repeatedly until you see that 'Buy Tickets' link), and they're expected to go fast. While the smaller space will definitely make for a more intimate festival experience, it does mean that tickets for each day will be strictly limited due to capacity. You can check out the full lineup here.
The latest edition of Firstdraft Gallery's Night Depot series focuses on the idea of advanced technology, inspired by an article written by Sydney writer and thinker, Nick Keys, in which he explores the links between humanity and technology. The event will feature artists who have created sound-making devices using everyday objects — 'advancing' both their own creative goals, and technology in general. Curated by Tom Smith as a sideline to ISEA, the event will consist of performances by artists Benjamin Kolaitis, Peter Blame, Alex Cuffe, Pia van Gelder and Firstdraft's current resident artist collective, Golden Solution, all on Saturday night. Then artist talks on Sunday afternoon. The artists will be in conversation with Keys, discussing their practices, processes and strategies. As well as their thoughts on the technology they use to create their art.
Start spreading the news, because the Art Gallery of NSW's summer film season is here. Running from November 8 to February 4, Lost New York will showcase landmark gritty street films depicting New York City in the '70s and '80s — and all screenings are free. The season kicked off with Midnight Cowboy (1969) and will feature cinema classics from pioneering directors such as Scorsese, Lumet and Cassavetes. For the sweet price of $0, you can see films like Cassavetes' Gloria (1980) and Scorsese's Taxi Driver (1976) in rich 35mm. Films will show on Wednesdays at 2pm and 7.15pm and Sundays at 2pm. In addition to those screenings, AGNSW will host a series of special Saturday events. The next is a screening of Charlie Ahearn's landmark hip hop film Wild Style (1983) on November 25. Clear your Saturdays in January too, as there will be two weekends dedicated to showcasing the radical feminist cinema of the period, including a screening of Bette Gordon's landmark film Variety (1983). Lost New York screens in tandem with the gallery's current exhibition of Robert Mapplethorpe's photography from the '70s and '80s New York art scene. A huge Rembrandt exhibition has also kicked off so you can really make a whole day of it. But you can't book online — tickets will only be available at the gallery's Domain Theatre one hour before each screening.
Come into the Sol LeWitt’s world of ideas. It’s a pretty nice place — one of artworks devoid of decoration, but not of beauty. The beauty's there, just look harder: it's in the systematic and the cerebral. Massive kudos to the AGNSW for allowing free entry to Your Mind is Exactly at That Line, a retrospective from the artist who dubbed the term ‘conceptual art’ and indelibly imprinted himself on the rest of 20th and 21st century art history. LeWitt was all about the idea, the concept, taking precedence over the execution of the artwork. He aimed to scrub out all sign of the artist’s hand and was obsessed with linear, geometrical forms — the ones least open to expressive interpretation. As you'd expect from someone so devoted to paring back and shaving down, the works in exhibition ranges from the dull-y intellectual to the quietly sublime. LeWitt spent years dedicating his artistic practice to the square — that most basic of geometric forms. During his life and since his death in 2007, he permitted other artists or even technicians to recreate his works from instructions, and some local ones have done so in the AGNSW (Wall Drawing No. 303), in the same way that musicians interpret composers’ works. Think of these massive instructed wall drawings as ‘linear ultra’. They’re cold, impenetrable and alienating in the same way that some installation art can be. But that's LeWitt's aim: to extinguish all emotion from art. But it's not all slick and distant. Other works like Wall Drawing #1274 invite the viewer into what seems like an expansive cosmic oblivion, but up close is really fine-point irregular curves. Either way, those whose tastes curve to narrative imagery, sublime symbolism and romantic spontaneity should look elsewhere. As with all things careful and considered, pleasure is derived from diving into the detail, like the tiny cubic white-on-white shadows of Tower 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 (2000). It’s reductive, essential, clinical. And yet amidst the OCD-like attention to detail, there’s something beautifully child-like in the grown-up lego vibe of Incomplete Open Cube (1974) and the fine Etch A Sketch-like Yellow Circles and Arcs from Four Sides (1972). The show goes beyond the usual retrospective thing by displaying some works by Aboriginal artists from LeWitt’s own collection. These help us make sense of LeWitt’s. Emily Kam Ngwarray’s abstract paintings debunk the idea that Indigenous art is in its own, passed historical bracket of pre-history; in fact, they are as contemporary and of-this-moment as anything you’ll see in the Museum of Contemporary Art. I've always thought Indigenous artists abstracted their works in a way that reminded me of viewing the patched land from a plane — a view clearly impossible in pre-colonial Australia. It's nice to see the work of Indigenous artists like Gloria Tamerre Petyarre alongside LeWitt's — to provide context and parallels, and also to say that Indigenous art is contemporary art, not some ancient relic. I found one final, unexpected parallel in this exhibition. Though LeWitt’s work is most clearly aligned with architectural carving of space and mathematical metering of time, there is also a parallel with the natural world. LeWitt’s “structures” (he refuses to call them sculptures) are their own ecologies with their own strange set of logics and recurring forms — in the same way that the wilderness is ostensibly without structure, it reveals upon closer analysis Fibonacci numbers, gravity-led spheres, perfectly symmetrical helixes and spiral patterns. That parallel with nature allows an unexpectedly sublime experience. Look closer at the work of LeWitt. This is big work for quiet contemplation.
In 2018, Surry Hills' acclaimed Belvoir Theatre launched 25A — a new program dedicated to supporting independent theatre and emerging artists. The seven-part season saw shows created and marketed by independent theatremakers on a strict budget of $1500. In return, Belvoir offered up the theatre for free and creators received 100 percent of the box office earnings. After a successful inaugural season, Belvoir has just announced the 2019 program, which will once again take over the Downstairs Theatre. The season will begin on Wednesday, February 6 with a production of the satirical play Tuesday by Louris van de Geer. This show first premiered in Melbourne back in 2012 and explores the concepts of social alienation and suburban life. Subject matters vary wildly throughout the lineup, from the pyschological thriller Extinction of the Learned Response to Te Molimau, a futuristic story of a young woman on a sinking island in the Pacific Ocean. Tickets are priced at an extremely reasonable $25 (online or at the door), with previews costing only $20. Check out the full program below, then head to the website to nab tickets. BELVOIR THEATRE 25A 2019 LINEUP February 6–23: Tuesday March 13–30: Jess and Joe Forever May 7–25: Extinction of the Learned Response June 12–29: The Astral Plane July 11-20: Skyduck: A Chinese Spy Comedy August 7–24: Te Molimau October 16–November 2: Slaughterhouse November 20–December 7: Kasama Kita Image: 'Te Molimau', Taofia Pelesasa.
Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and a panther circle around a film, and each other. Who will come out alive? That’s the crux of Serena, a romantic melodrama tantalisingly bleak, though too beholden to its too-obvious symbolism. It strives for the emotional complexity of times and films long since passed, but can only offer a shaky — albeit pretty — approximation. Starting in North Carolina’s golden-hued Smoky Mountains in 1929, a wilful woman and a wild cat enter the life of a Depression-era logger; of course, for all their sleek allure, they’re both omens of worsening times. She is the titular Serena, determined to become involved in a waning timber empire beyond the bounds normally expected of her gender. He is George Pemberton, in love not only with his new wife but with making as much money from his woodland as he can. The feline threatens their livelihood, but no more so than their own vices. Adapting Ron Rash’s 2008 novel of the same name, Serena charts the troubles and tragedies that spring in their wake: feuds, premonitions, medical emergencies and illegitimate children among them. Tangled up in the drama are a jealous business partner (David Dencik), interfering sheriff (Toby Jones), single mother (Ana Ularu), and loyal enforcer (Rhys Ifans). If that sounds over the top and outlandish, that’s because it is. A host of problems and people test the lovers’ fates well into the realm of contrivance and convenience. Serena aims to hark back to features of the Golden Age, where spirited femmes headlined tales of moral corruption as fully realised figures. Here, as the catalyst for drama, the central sultry dame is only ever painted as brash or unhinged. As a love interest, she is only ever idolised or maligned. Starkly absent is the nuance needed to render the film a throwback in anything more than superficial terms — and the insistence upon linking Serena’s untamed nature with the creature stalking through the trees certainly doesn’t help matters. With 2010 foreign-language Oscar winner In a Better World among her output, director Susanne Bier is no stranger to heightened circumstances and the quandaries that arise as a result, though her pedigree amounts for little. A clumsy script proves her undoing, alongside an approach favouring slow reveals at the expense of tension. Plot machinations aplenty aren’t the same as a genuinely involving narrative. Reunited after Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle, both Lawrence and Cooper are effective, suffering as they are from the same over-stretched material. Too often, they are reduced to smouldering separately or sliding through a series of sex scenes, always looking the part but never really fitting in. Alas, that’s the attractively shot and staged Serena from start to finish, lumbering along and constantly felling any source of interest. As everything builds towards the inevitable finale, audiences will strain to care just who lasts the length of the feature’s running time.
When Surry Hills' Golden Age Cinema and Bar peers backwards into film history, Sydney cinephiles should take notice: whatever it finds, curates and fashions into a new retrospective movie program, it's always a treat. The latest impressive blast from the past: Japan Underground, aka a deep dive into Japanese cinema's cult classics. J-horror? Tick. An ace recent Godzilla flick? Tick again. The most hallucinogenic forest you've ever seen, on-screen or IRL? Keep ticking. Kicking off on Friday, August 11 and screening on various dates until Saturday, October 28, this lineup is a treasure trove of Japanese features that everyone needs to watch once. Ringu, Ju-On: The Grudge, Audition, Pulse, Retribution: they all have the thrills and scares covered (and if you've only caught the English-language remakes of some of them, this is your chance to enjoy the originals). The Japan Underground program also heads back to the 60s with Funeral Parade of Roses, Branded to Kill, Tokyo Drifter, Youth of the Beast and Kwaidan. Love kaiju? Shin Godzilla and Shin Ultraman have that part of Japanese cinema covered, both sending the genre roaring into the 21st century. Also recent-ish: Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes, Funky Forest: The First Contact and its pseudo-sequel The Warped Forest, Pornostar and Videophobia. Spanning iconic directors such as Takashi Miike, Seijun Suzuki, Masaki Kobayashi and Kiyoshi Kurosawa, every title here is a must-see.
In films, the plight of the widowed and bereaved is to see their current moments combine with their cherished memories. When Garrett (Ed Harris), husband of Nikki (Annette Benning), drowns, her mournful gaze looks beyond her constant glass of wine and her no-longer-used backyard pool, everything in sight sparking recollections of his untimely passing. Five years later, the pain may not be as prominent, but in places and people she remembers his presence. Visiting an art exhibition aptly entitled The Pursuit of the Past, Nikki spies a man who could be Garrett's doppelganger (also played by Harris), then seeks him out to start a relationship. Thick, syrupy grief seeps through every frame of The Face of Love, in idea and execution. In the story, the unlikely nature of the central concept is glazed over in favour of furthering that oft-used romantic utopia — the ever-lasting connection. In the style, all things soft invade the parade of sentimental imagery, every sequence lensed with the warm hue of the fetishised. There's never any question that the film is presenting an exercise in wish-fulfilment of soap opera proportions, albeit with more restraint and overt attempts at evoking an air of resonance. It has been a long time between cinematic drinks for director Arie Posin, with his first and only other feature, The Chumscrubber, released in 2005. His return to filmmaking marks an obvious change of pace, and it seems ill fitting, not just in the contrast but also in the heavy-handed approach to the content. While The Face of Love endeavours to dwell in quiet moments of contemplation, it shouts its themes with the loudest voice possible. There's no emotion left unturned, nor any effort to elicit sympathy missed. Perhaps much of the misfiring emanates from a premise that, if gender roles were reversed and the narrative still rendered in the same fashion, would be seen as creepy rather than compassionate. The idea of obsession beyond the grave is hardly new, but outside of movie-of-the-week territory the bulk of comparable offerings have aroused something other than mawkishness and misguided melodrama. Bening and Harris certainly try to rise above the schmaltzy material, their performances tenacious even when uttering the most ridiculous lines of dialogue. Shades of subtlety exist in both portrayals, reaching past characters written by Posin and co-scribe Matthew McDuffie (A Cool Dry Place) in a single dimension. Alas, not even the most invested portrayals — or the strangest of supporting slots, with honours going to Robin Williams as an interested but rebuffed neighbour — can salvage an effort concerned only with the most blatant emotional manipulation. The depiction of mourning on screen, as well as the cast, simply deserve better than this broad, bland fantasy. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Dwpt8LiiSMc
Want to spend your summer in the cool aircon of an art gallery? The Art Gallery of NSW's blockbuster exhibition, Japan Supernatural: 1700s to now, is a pretty good place to while away the holidays (and humidity). The tenth Sydney International Art Series, it's an exploration of the spirit world in Japanese art, made up of more than 180 works from all over the planet. And, to celebrate this massive showcase of legendary Japanese art, we're giving away ten double passes. Leading the show is a monumental piece by Tokyo-born (and international rockstar) Takashi Murakami, who's renowned for bringing together fine art and popular culture — much like Jeff Koons, Damien Hirst and Andy Warhol. Look out, too, for works by historical artists Utagawa Kuniyoshi, Tsukioka Yoshitoshi and Kawanabe Kyosai, as well as contemporary pop artist Chiho Aoshima and photographer Miwa Yanagi. So, expect an immersive experience involving paintings, sculpture, prints, film, animation, comics and games. The exhibition is running until March next year. So, should you get your hands on this prize, you've got plenty of time to make your way to the gallery. If you're keen to head to one of this year's most anticipated art shows — which you obviously are — enter your details below to be in the running. [competition]748534[/competition] Images: An installation view of the exhibition Japan Supernatural at the Art Gallery of New South Wales, November 2, 2019 until March 8, 2020. Photo: AGNSW/Jenni Carter
Opened in early 2017, London cocktail bar Scout quickly made the World's 50 Best Bars list. It stands out for two main reasons: every ingredient in every cocktail comes from the British Isles and every leftover ingredient (every straggling bit of garnish) goes into the food. To put that in more trendy terms, Scout is hyperlocal and closed-loop. Last year, Sydney hospitality heavyweight Maurice Terzini — founder of Icebergs, Bondi Beach Public Bar and the Dolphin Hotel — let slip that Scout founder Matt Whiley is coming Down Under. More specifically, he's setting up a Sydney outpost of Scout in a disused section of the Dolphin's top floor. And if you've been eagerly awaiting the results, Scout Sydney will open its doors on Wednesday, February 28. That means you'll soon be drinking highly unusual cocktails made with native ingredients in a space that's being described as part science laboratory, part bar. In the purpose-built lab, which Whiley hopes will become a training ground for Australian bartenders, the Scout Sydney team will whip up Aussie-focused drinks list. Although the full list of local recipes hasn't been revealed as yet, expect a vodka and soda made with green ants and strawberry gum, and new takes on trusty classics like the ever-popular espresso martini and old fashioned. Also on offer: drinks using distilled versions of pepperberry, watermelon and wax leaf. One of Scout's huge hits in London, its fruit wines, will also be featured on the Sydney menu. They include a banana 'wine' , which is made from bananas that've been roasted, juiced and fermented with wattle seed and macadamia, creating a rich fruit wine with banana, chocolate and nutty flavours. There's also an orange variety, using fermented orange, mandarin and cumquat, as aged in an oak barrel. In London, tipples such as the Apple of God (a savoury concoction of butternut squash liqueur, disarmed chilli, coriander and sparkling wine) and the Black and Yellow (bee pollen, sunflower seed, Deawars 12, meadowsweet and liquorice) have graced the lineup — so whatever the final local rundown turns out to be, it won't be like anything you'll find elsewhere. Scout Sydney will also sling an accompanying food selection, with Monty Koludrovic cooking up a range inspired by Whiley's beverages. Prepare to tuck into a modern take on small plates, bar snacks and finger food. Although Scout shares space with the Dolphin, the two will operate as independent businesses, with separate entries and aesthetics — with Whiley leading the charge in the design stakes, too. It's Sydney's latest venue-inside-a-venue with Mary's Pizzeria opening inside the Lansdowne Hotel last year, and Terzini opening Bonnie's Wine & Food inside Bondi Beach Public Bar. Scout Sydney opens inside the Dolphin Hotel, 412 Crown Street, Surry Hills, on Thursday, February 28, with bookings now available Monday–Sunday from 5pm.
From Wednesday, May 29 to Monday, June 3, various venues across the Central Coast will become the scene for a celebration of stories and ideas, Words on the Waves Writers Festival. Like any good literature festival, you can attend events and talks by big-name authors, book launches, and writing workshops. However, there are a few things that set this event apart. Firstly, there's the location. The Central Coast is known for its stunning scenery, and here, you can attend events at Umina, Ocean Beach, and Ettalong Beach. Secondly, there's the literary cruise. Leaving from Woy Woy Wharf on the morning of June 3, it's a two-hour journey through literature and water, affording you an experience you won't find at any other festival. Thirdly, and for the first time ever, there's The Dip. A program stream featuring affordable and free events, The Dip is about discovery and accessibility. You can listen to best-selling authors like Judy Nunn, Anna Downes and Nat's What I Reckon — the enemy of both censors and jar sauces — all for a low price.
Just like Ron Swanson and Leslie Knope, whisky and dessert is a power duo for the ages. Sipping a single malt and snacking on a deliciously rich sweet treat is one of life's great pleasures — and if you're going to indulge in that particular pairing, you may as well aim high. Enter Glenmorangie, purveyors of top-notch single malt from the Scottish Highlands. The label is creating a pop-up that all whisky lovers and sweet tooths will want to get behind. Arising in Sydney for just three days in late September, the pop-up will see Glenmorangie join forces with pastry chef Reynold Poernomo (aka Masterchef dessert king and founder of KOI Dessert Bar) and three top Sydney bars (Smoke, Button Bar and Kittyhawk). This bonanza of good things will celebrate Glenmorangie Signet, the first single malt Scotch whisky to use high roast 'chocolate malt' barley in its production. The high roast barley brings with it that beaut flavour of roasting coffee and mocha goodness — so, it's halfway to dessert heaven already. So why not honour it with an entire bar devoted to it, hey? Featured on a menu carefully designed to explore the chocolate, espresso and mandarin flavours at the heart of Signet, Poernomo has created three bespoke desserts to perfectly complement the whisky. You can opt for a dessert 'flight' for $36, featuring mini versions of all three desserts. Or get a full-size serving of the Nomtella for $30. Both options come with a Signet neat, on ice or in a cocktail (+$3). To help with the decision-making, here's some insight into the recommended pairings: the Fire and Ice, featuring mandarin mousse and milk chocolate ganache, works well with Kittyhawk's mandarin curd old-fashioned. Meanwhile, the espresso mousse in the Nomtella is an obvious pairing for Button Bar's espresso martini, and Barangaroo House's jaffa sour cocktail complements the nutty Chocolate Delight. The Glenmorangie Signet x KOI Pop-Up Whisky and Dessert Bar will run across September 26–28 from midday to 10pm, on a walk-in only basis.
Enjoy a bespoke cocktail at Sydney’s latest pop-up bar, where it's Happy Hour all night long. The new outdoor appendage of The Governor’s Table in the CBD will serve premium bevs at markdown prices, making it the perfect place to unwind after a busy week at work. Open Thursdays and Fridays from 5pm to 8pm, The Governor’s Shout! is located on the corners of Bridge Street and Phillip Street, right outside The Governor’s Table, opposite the commemorative metal bust of Governor Arthur Phillip. And really, what better way to celebrate Sydney's colonial founding father than with cheap beverages right beside the Museum of Sydney? Each week, the pop-up will showcase a new bespoke cocktail, for the terribly reasonable price of $10 each. This week, it's The Forgotten Bridge, a blend of passionfruit, fresh lime, vanilla and a healthy dose of Pampero rum. The pop-up's drinks menu also features a wide selection of wines, including The Lane 'Lois' Blanc de Blanc, La Prova Pinot Grigio, Mt Macleod Pinot Noir, Voyager Cabernet Malbec and Laughing Jack Shiraz, all at just $6 a glass. Yep, that's $6 after-work wines. It gets better. Asahi and Sydney Cider will be available for just $5, and they’ll be serving an array of bar food and snacks to keep you tied over until your inevitable dinner at The Governor's Table. This is a very, very smart move from the Governor's team, timing-wise. Once the pop-up shuts its doors for the evening at 8pm, patrons have the option of heading indoors, where they can peruse the Governor’s Table dinner menu at their leisure. The bar has just announced the launch of their monthly Winemaker Dinner series, which pairs a selection of local wines with a five-course degustation. The first takes place on Thursday, March 4, with wines from Ross Hill in Orange and a dinner by Chef Marco Adler. Find The Governor's Shout! outside The Governor's Table on the corners of Bridge and Phillip Street, next to the Museum of Sydney in the CBD. Open Thursdays and Fridays 5 - 8pm.
It's the main reason most of Sydney has made their way to Good Food Month over the last couple of years, and in 2016, the ever-popular Night Noodle Markets are back — and they're bigger and better than ever. Sure, every event says that these days — but the fact that 37 different stalls will converge on Hyde Park for a whopping 18 nights this October makes the claim seem pretty accurate. Among the spoils will be all manner of noodles, dumplings and other delights from Bao Stop, Din Tai Fung, Mamak, Ghost Kitchen, Hoi Pinoy, Sake and — for the first time — House of Crabs and Queenies. For dessert, Gelato Messina will predictably be back with a menu of pure wonder and deliciousness, and Black Star Pasty will team up with N2 Gelato again for some strawberry watermelon cake smash. You can view the full menu here. The markets will run from Thursday, October 6 until Sunday, October 23. They'll be open Monday and Tuesday 5-9pm, Wednesday and Thursday 5-10pm, Friday 5-11pm, Saturday 4-10pm, and Sunday 4-9pm. Entry is free but the place — if other years are anything to go by — will be packed. Want more noms? Check out our other picks of Good Food Month.
Dynamic young company Sydney Chamber Opera teams up with Sydney Theatre Company resident director Sarah Giles for a Sydney Festival contemporary double bill. First up is Gyorgy Kontag's ... pas a pas - nulle part ..., a contemplative yet virtuosic solo piece inspired by Samuel Beckett's absurdist poetry. Second is George Benjamin's Into the Little Hill, presented as the score to a new version of the Pied Piper, as interpreted by playwright Martin Crimp. He's taken the legend and transformed it into a politically themed tragedy. Expect an immersive journey into sound and drama. Formed in 2010 by artistic director Louis Garrick and music director Jack Symonds, Sydney Chamber Opera is committed to presenting fresh takes on the opera repertoire. They put together two to three performances each year in a program featuring Australian composers, new international works, song cycles, cantatas and daring interpretations of the classics. We loved their production of Exil, performed at CarriageWorks in December. Want more Sydney Festival events? Check out our top ten picks of the festival.
Theatre companies set their programs often a year before a play opens, and sometimes it means the things we see on stage don't directly speak to current events. Not so Fury, the Sydney Theatre Company's commission from prominent Australian playwright Joanna Murray-Smith. Opening, coincidentally, in the same week as the heartbreaking Boston Marathon bombings, it deals deeply with the mindsets of teenagers who commit ideologically driven acts of violence. Eighteen is the age of criminal responsibility, we know. But how do we judge a culprit who is seventeen? How about nineteen? Fury's central character is Alice (Sarah Peirse), a scientist about to be honoured with an award for her contribution to cancer treatment. She and her supportive novelist husband, Patrick (Robert Menzies), lead beautiful, privileged, liberal-leaning lives — and those lives are shattered when their only son, Joe (Harry Greenwood), is caught graffiting a mosque. They don't know what to blame: Evil nature? Their failed nurture? The influence of Joe's meathead best friend? Their troubles are made even more fraught by the hovering of Rebecca (Geraldine Hakewill), a student journo with a rigour more suited to Four Corners. Critics seize on Murray-Smith for her middle-class preoccupations, and it's hard to argue with that via Fury. Her one attempt to introduce salt-of-the-earth working-class types is definitely the low point of the play, a crude stereotyping that's uncomfortable to watch alongside the individually shaded educated characters that get to occupy the rest of this world. Still, you can't dismiss Murray-Smith; she is a formidable writer. The story is fierce, the dialogue electric. If the characters act in service to big ideas, in Fury at least, it's a symbiotic relationship. Peirse's Alice is a big, seductive, mercurial character, and Menzies' Patrick is the warm, empathic heart of the thing. But the most compelling figure on stage is actually teen riddle Joe, brought to life in a breakthrough main-stage debut from NIDA grad Harry Greenwood. Whether he's being introduced to us in sullen silence, going off on bigoted rants or naively big-noting himself to pretty strangers, there are always further layers to the character glinting just beneath the surface, and it makes a huge impact on the play as a whole. Hakewill is a similar talent, but some of her scenes seem undercooked; Rebecca is a loose cannon in these people's crystal lives, and her manipulations rarely get a chance to reverberate. All up, I found myself both loving and hating Fury, which is much better than those plays that make you feel nothing at all. I disagree with what could be called Murray-Smith's 'theses' here — that the root of youthful idealism is in rebellion against one's upbringing, that left-wing and right-wing radicalism are equivalent — but they're part of an enjoyable, challenging, satisfying ride. I loved small things — Alice's clean-lined Jil Sander outfits and grey-streaked blow-wave for starters (my upper-middle-class bias comes out that way). And I loved weighty things — the critical confrontations between characters tear you apart with their moral dilemmas. Fury is a mixed bag, but a mixed bag worth chewing over.
Sissy Ball, one of the biggest events on the Mardi Gras Festival calendar, is taking over Carriageworks once again on Saturday, February 23. Hit the ballroom-inspired dance floor and spend the night making shapes to a 'disco house bounce pop' soundtrack powered by international DJs. Plus you'll watch an epic vogueing championship, which will see four houses compete across six categories. Curator Bhenji Ra and Red Bull Music have lined up sets from New Jersey-based ballroom DJ MikeQ, New York ballroom DJ Byrell the Great, Brisbane-based Fijian rapper Jesswar and American ballroom rapper Precious. Meanwhile, the four houses of Slé, Fafswag, Luna and Iman will be battling it out to prove their mettle as hand performers, runway models, glam faces, sex sirens and voguers to judge Leiomy. With the action kicking off at 5pm, you can grab final release tickets for $75.
Our antipodean cousin is officially recognised as a foremost composer with a career spanning seminal post-pop-punk band Blam Blam Blam; art experimentalists The Front Lawn; platinum-selling pop-rockers The Mutton Birds; and several film soundtracks.McGlashan was recently a guest musician at Neil Finn’s 7 Worlds Collide project and he had some added Finn-fun opening for Crowded House on their recent American tour. In July his second solo album, Marvellous Year, will be released to coincide with his first solo dates in Australia, including a special one-off concert as part of the Winter Wonderland series at the Opera House Studio.https://youtube.com/watch?v=Px9-fJJzYrI
Vivienne Walshe's poetic drama This Is Where We Live (winner of the 2012 Griffin Award) is set in a country town where nothing happens, a lonely place for a nubile, dyslexic, 'polio poor' girl who gets beaten at home. Chloe (Ava Torch) pairs up with the reclusive Chris (Yalin Ozucelik), who also has a crappy home life, involving relentless badgering from his pompous curmudgeon of a father. She rescues him from his self-doubt and he her from the taunts of the schoolyard 'skanks'. Walshe has captured the impulsiveness of adolescence without condescending to her subject matter. She uses rhythmic motifs like 'gravel, gravel crunch' to propel the actors through the schoolyard and beyond. Torch and Ozucelik succeed in maintaining a tight rhythm and through line amid the poetic meanderings from inner thought to memory to immediate dialogue. Walshe's writing is unashamedly pretty in parts, with lines like "laudable, audible, laughable love" standing out as consciously flowery prods. She happily uses rhyme in obvious places and the piece has a sense of humour about its form; this is not an attempt to emulate Martin Crimp. Thanks to the quality of the acting, these poetic bouquets are never too obtrusive. Francesca Smith has directed (or, pretentiously, "shepherded" according to the program notes), the piece with effective simplicity, but there are some jarring incursions of glitter and chairs. Chloe sprinkles glitter across the stage in a rapture, only to turn around and sweep it up. Chris sets down four chairs to signify a classroom that has already been established and then retrieves them sharpish. The Griffin's black wedge of a stage requires no adornment with these two capable actors treading its boards. Torch and Ozucelik get to show off their impressive acting chops in their transformations into other peripheral characters, as well as in the movement sequences, which support the story for the most part. In particular, Torch's abstracted rendering of the violence inflicted on her is excellent. Chloe explains that violence is bound to sexual attraction for her, it's part of her "white trash DNA" and the undoing of her innocent romance with Chris. Walshe threads this into the play casually and Torch embodies it with appropriate offhandedness, only wondering briefly, what happens to girls with this kind of attraction? In a story about teenagers, sexuality and violence, it's impressive that there's not even a whiff of paternalism present. Props to Walshe and the team for talking about teenagers as young humans, not aliens. Image by Peter Greig.
Songs for the Fallen is one of those excellent finds that gives you faith in human ingenuity. It is one of many artistic imaginings of the life of Marie Duplessis, the 19th-century Parisian courtesan best known as the protagonist of Moulin Rouge. Sheridan Harbridge has devised the original piece with fellow actors Ben Gerrard and Garth Holcombe, director Shane Anthony, and composer/musican Basil Hogios. The team is obviously dynamite together as the result is a hilarious, self-aware piece of sophisticated debauchery. We enter the dinky Old Fitz Theatre to find designer Michael Hankin has decked it out with a luscious, satin-covered bed of sin in front of a gorgeous red velvet backdrop and theatrical 19th-century music hall facade. There is of course also a fourth wall, but this is taken down pretty quickly, as Harbridge declares to delighted audience member Linda that she's "taken it down and it's not going up again!" Self-reference in theatre can sometimes be painful and indulgent, but here any references to the show itself are pointed and funny. For example, as Harbridge switches from a French accent to posh Australian, she tells us she simply can't be bothered keeping the French up. Fair enough, she has a lot else keeping her busy. Men, in particular — many men. Gerrard takes the lion's share of playing the gentleman customers, while Holcombe narrates nobly from upstage, translating the words pomme and frites ad infinitum. This farrago of a show has pop tunes galore, most of which have been composed by Hogios with Harbridge's lyrical input. Using a microphone bound in pink velvet and white satin ribbon, Harbridge bursts into song in many awkward positions and is supported royally by Hogios at his little musical station in the corner. His opening sequence is particularly clever, as he morphs his way seamlessly between baroque interpretations of Nirvana and Blondie on what sounds like an electronic harpsichord. Like the burlesque master Meow Meow, Harbridge has a gift for being at once vulgar, intelligent, and elegant. It's a rare thing. She and her gang of bohemians have produced a triumph of indie theatre. This is a review of the first run of Songs for the Fallen, which ran at the Old Fitz from December 5-16, 2012. The show returns for an encore at the Seymour Centre's Reginald Theatre.
Fragmented storytelling might be all the rage, but it takes a work like Spur of the Moment to remind you of the rewards of a tautly written play that charges on forwards. British playwright Anya Reiss wrote Spur of the Moment at age 17 and it was first performed at London's Royal Court Theatre in 2010. This ATYP production is evidence that well-made plays allow actors to really flex their performance muscles. Reiss is on point in her characterisation of a tired middle-class marriage that has been pushed to its limits by money troubles and infidelity. Nick and Vicki Evans (played brilliantly by Felix Williamson and Zoe Carides) have managed to ensconce themselves in a pattern of amusing but nasty banter. Their 12-year-old daughter, Delilah (Holly Fraser), seems to take the whole palaver in her stride. To make ends meet, the Evanses have had to rent out a room to university student Daniel (Joshua Brennan), who is, in the parlance of Del and her friends, "so hot". The drama that follows is hilarious and excruciating. What’s immediately satisfying upon entering the large, draughty space at ATYP is the bourgeois cosiness that designer Adrienn Lord has created. The split-level set gives a view into Del’s room on the right and Daniel’s room on the left, with the kitchen and living room below. It’s a jam-packed design that fulfils the play’s need for private spaces as well as claustrophobic intimacy between everyone in the house. Director Fraser Corfield, assisted by Sophie Kelly, has thankfully muted the slight whiff of plaintiff moralising in the writing and chosen instead to revel in the absurd behaviour of a 'fucked up family'. And the cast is more than happy to abide by this interpretation; they look like they’re having fun. The acting champion of the evening is Williamson. Dressed in high-waisted slacks and knitted vests, he has nailed the bumbling, hopelessly out-of-touch dad. I recommend sitting as close to the front as possible so you can see his facial gymnastics, in particular his excellent TV watching face. Del’s group of bratty girlfriends, played by Simone Cheuanghane, Madeleine Clunies-Ross and Antonia Lewin are a fantastic support to the drama, as is Lucy Coleman playing Daniel’s irritating girlfriend, Leonie. Corfield mentions in his notes that young people’s theatre is for everyone, not just the young 'uns. He’s absolutely correct. This is up there with the best indie theatre you’ll see all year.
If you’re in the mood to dance why not take your gyrations on a perambulatory tour of Sydney while you’re at it? discoDtours, as the capitalisation of the ‘D’ might suggest, transform the streets of Sydney into your very own dancefloor. Running tours during Fair Day, and through The Rocks and Surry Hills, discoDtours will provide you with your own headphones, some Hawaiian leis for good measure, and then, after a brief warm up, you will be unleashed on the unsuspecting city. The Mardi Gras Parade eve dress up drag queen tour sounds like a particular highlight. Saturday, Feb 21, 2pm — Victoria Park, Camperdown (Fair Day) Sunday, Feb 28, 6.30pm — Cadmans Cottage, George Street, The Rocks Wednesday, Mar 2 and Friday, Mar 4, 6.30pm — The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills
Kate Grenville's 2005 novel, The Secret River, is the arresting story of William Thornhill, an English convict sent to Australia for the term of his natural life in 1806. The life he makes for himself and his family on the Hawkesbury River after his subsequent pardon is an example of clumsy and ultimately brutal 'settling' of Aboriginal land. Andrew Bovell's adaptation for the stage matches Grenville's novel with full force, and Neil Armfield's direction delivers a powerful blow to the gut. The story has been given its proper weight and significance in all elements of the production. Set designer Stephen Curtis has transformed the main stage at Sydney Theatre Company into a bush setting — a majestic, dusty-white swathe of canvas tumbles from the ceiling, evoking paperbarks or cliff faces. Eucalyptus foliage frames the space and a live fire crackles away throughout. Iain Grandage's music is a faithful support to the narrative such that it's an emotionally charged production. Music that follows storyline like a film score in theatre can be emotionally manipulative, but in this case the music is owned by all members of the cast, with Trevor Jamieson regularly picking up the guitar to accompany Grandage on the piano and others assisting with percussion. Grandage's arrangement of an English folk song overlapping a traditional Aboriginal tune, sung by the entire cast, is superb. The importance of this story cannot be overemphasised. On the one hand, it is a historical account of a tragic event, but on the other it's a crucial conversation with a persistently painful present. Armfield quotes actor Ursula Yovich in his programme notes from her letter to him about the generational damage caused by events such as the murders in this story: “The trauma is so deep that we believe in our own worthlessness." This large cast brings the tragedy to the stage with humanity and extraordinary courage. Jeremy Sims's characterisation of the vile Smasher Sullivan is brave for its extreme ugliness. Similarly, Daniel Henshall playing convict Dan and Matthew Sunderland as Sagitty both portray a confronting level of unthinking callousness. In contrast to this trio is the young Thornhill family, who for the most part try to live by some sort of morals. Thornhill’s characterisation by Nathaniel Dean is one of a decent man who can't quite command his own mind. Anita Hegh as his wife, Sal, is rough and warm, a smart woman counting down the days till her return to England. Their initially cordial but confused relationship with "those that are there" in the end gives way to violence. Roy Gordon as the elder, Yalamundi, is a dignified, gentle presence, as is Ethel-Anne Gundy playing Buryia. Last seen in The Sapphires, Miranda Tapsell is a versatile and captivating performer. Bruce Spence as a kangaroo is magnificent. The couple embodying reason and sense in this story are Thomas Blackwood (Colin Moody) and Dulla Djin (Ursula Yovich). Blackwood's advice is always, "give a little; take a little." In a potent moment, Yovich playing Dulla Djin responds to Thornhill's offer of a gift by saying calmly, "you could leave our place, William Thornhill." Yovich also performs as Dhirrumbin, the narrator. She is a gentle and steadfast witness, observing scenes at a knowing distance. STC has put a lot into this production, and it shows. Each aspect is carefully executed to form a moving whole. On opening night it fittingly received a standing ovation. This is the sort of epic theatre that can shape national identity. Photo by Heidrun Lohr.
The Pillowman by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh (also the screenwriter of Seven Psychopaths and In Bruges) is a well-made play. Such plays can often be squeaky clean, with every theatrical nook and cranny exposed, each laugh well-placed and plot points expertly positioned, making for a tidy night in the theatre. But well-structured as The Pillowman is, its ambiguity and horror save it from being one of those plays. In a nondescript totalitarian regime, short story writer Katurian (Oliver Wenn) has found himself a marked man, labelled a dissident writer despite his claim that his writing is apolitical and any 'messages' are purely incidental. His accusers admit that they like executing writers, because it 'sends a message'. His macabre short stories such as The Little Jesus and The Little Apple Men seem uncannily similar to two child murders that have occurred in the town. Katurian's inspiration for his well-written horror tales is a childhood spent listening to his brother, Michal, being tortured in the room next door by his parents. His cathartic stories are all well and good until Michal feels inspired to re-enact them. It turns out these stories are not as innocent as Katurian thought. The play is a defence of artistic expression, but an absurd one. The initial evidence that his art is directly responsible for two murders seems to support the argument that violence in art is incitement. But the ensuing violence and farce turn that argument on its head as Katurian chooses his stories over his own life. Even bad cop Ariel (Jeremy Waters) decides the tales are worth saving. The play has a lot of meat to it and requires equal measures of heightened comedic and tragic energy from the cast. Waters offers an appropriately high level of energy that is not matched by other members of the cast. Wenn is at his best when reciting stories to the audience, but during the guts of the drama we're never sure how high the stakes are. He slips into noble resignation of his fate a bit too easily and the tragedy of his story doesn't find its full expression in his performance. Peter McAllum playing good cop Tupolski strikes an appropriate laconic chord but doesn't deviate from this even in the climactic moments. Overall the piece lacks rhythmic variation and the pace lags in the second half. The cast is so close to the level of raging, hysterical farce that the piece calls for. Maybe they just need a loud, hooting audience to encourage them. Get to it .
Step inside White Rabbit Gallery for their 10th milestone exhibition, Reformation, and you'll undoubtedly spend a good slab of time staring up at the spectacular Salon Hang in the foyer. From Bingyi's I Watch Myself Dying, throbbing with Frida Kahlo-esque torment, to Chen Chun Hao's meticulous landscape of glittering nails, it's a glorious quilt of past favourites, stretching from floor to ceiling. Although, do make sure you tear yourself away eventually, because the upper floors are crammed with more marvellous acquisitions. Reformation is a meditation on the cultural explosion that has burst forth from the ‘opening up’ of China. These works are full of wild experimentation and daring new directions. However, there is also an emphasis on painterly craft, which is perhaps residual of the rigour of Soviet art training. In this way, it’s interesting to see how traditional techniques and subversive ideologies coalesce to produce dramatic results. There is a current of optical trickery that courses through this exhibition. Take for example, Zhou Xiaohu’s silicon business men frozen in mid-conversation. These arrestingly realistic sculptures are partnered with ‘mirrors’ that reflect animated paintings of their facial expressions. I have to say, this illusion achieved its full effect on opening night amid swarms of people. There's also Dong Yuan’s scrupulous reproductions of domestic interiors by European masters. However, the twist is that she divides the painted subjects from their backgrounds, pegging them up like freshly laundered canvas clothing. It is as if she is cleansing and cataloguing the content according to her personal preference. However, if these works delve into double takes, He Yunchang's epic of self-torture is frighteningly real. According to the artist, physical torment generates the ‘intensity’ needed to transform ordinary experiences into art. In One Metre of Democracy, a group votes on whether a surgeon will make a one metre cut from He Yuchang’s shoulder to his knee without anaesthetic. As you can imagine, the gruesome result is squeamish and deeply guilt-inducing. It seems everyone associated with the process carries some level of responsibility for the artist's agony. There are also notions of sin and seduction running throughout Reformation. On level two, you’ll be struck by the fetishistic centrepiece of the exhibition. Play 201301 by Madeln Company is a cathedral of genuine and artificial leather. Adorned with BDSM accessories, this castle of kink is embedded with both contemporary and medieval understandings of ‘gothic.’ Also, the conspicuous overlap of sex and religion provokes some pretty interesting questions regarding lust, pleasure and guilt. Neighbouring this work is Zhao Bo's Circulation which has a similar theme of excess. Reminiscent of Goya and Daumier, the lushness of Bo's painterly style is disturbed by the depiction of a giant, godly toad, whilst slaves toil tirelessly in the foreground. It comes across as a kind of dystopian fairytale with an element of shock eroticism. You don't whether to laugh or cringe. I would also add the sinister soundtrack bleeding into the gallery space from Yi Lian’s video work,Undercurrent instils an ominous atmosphere that compliments the sadistic potential of the other works quite nicely. Whether you're absorbed by the hypnotic rotations of Shyu Ruey-Shiann's Eight Drunken Immortals or Tu Wei Cheng's antiquated image-makers, there’s just so much to see at Reformation. Another wonderful work that deserves a mention is Hu Weiyi's poignant photography series, documenting the temporary tattoos of clothing marks on skin. Whilst there’s obviously a strong Chinese core, there’s an increasingly global tenor to many of these works. Delivering the blockbuster exhibition that we all expected, White Rabbit Gallery remains a remarkably well-run and accessible treasure trove, offering up art that is visually and conceptually enthralling. Follow You (2013) by Wang Qingsong.
Fourteen brewers, two beer trucks, a cider tent, three food tents, live musicians, a petting zoo and plenty of beers will converge on Willoughby on Saturday, September 10, for the fifth annual Willoughby Craft Beer Fair. Entry to the shindig is free. But, if you're keen to sample, you'd be wise to invest in some tasting tix before the date. For $33 online and $36 at the door, you get a tasting ticket, which will let you do just what its name implies. Expect Australian brewers peddling their creations — Balmain Brewing Company, Gang of Four from Sydney's Northern Beaches, Mountain Goat from Richmond, Victoria, Yulli's Brews from Surry Hills and Murray's from Port Stephens have all been on the bill in previous years — plus a stack of drops from around the world. The Fair is hosted by The Willoughby Hotel, and is an all-day affair. Expect the craft beer fun to kick off at 11am and wind up at 5pm.
It's been over a decade since we first got hooked on the rough and rowdy antics of these boys from the deep South. Peddling fast-paced garage rock and loveable ratbag tunes like 2007's 'Bad Kids' or 2011's 'Modern Art' and 'Family Tree', Black Lips have been a staple of all your recent summer road trips. Now they're back in town peddling their seventh studio album (count 'em). Released early last year, Underneath The Rainbow and its lead singles like 'Boys In The Wood' and 'Justice After All' see the four-piece staying true to their roots with those iconic raw vocals and all-round messy musical style. Despite being partly produced by The Black Keys' Patrick Carney, the album does however lose some of the hooky melodies you know and love from their past hits. But even if you're not so keen on the new stuff, their live show is always worth the money on the door. Best to come with covered shoes and loose morals: Black Lips are known for intense crowd-surfing, regular nudity and a few disturbing moments where band members have spit into each other's mouths. Though they're coming off the back of a busy festival season in the US, Europe, the Middle East — they were actually the first American band to tour there since The Grateful Dead in 1978 — Falls, and soon Laneway, they're sure to deliver not only a good show but a great story too.
Sydney is set to gain a major dose of Filipino culture when the annual Philippine Pasko Festival returns to Darling Harbour for its fourth year running. The two-day Christmas event will take over Tumbalong Park from Saturday, November 9 through Sunday, November 10, and feature live entertainment, lantern making competitions and — most importantly — a whole heap of food stalls. Those stalls will, of course, be slinging sweet and savoury Filipino favourites. Most notable is the holiday season go-to lechón — a whole roasted suckling pig, sliced and served with a spicy vinegar dipping sauce. In previous years, the offering has also included Filipino barbecued skewers (pork, chicken and longaniza sausage varieties), plus plates of whole fried fish and bowls of chicharrón (pork crackling). For those with a sweet tooth, expect cones of ube (purple yam) ice cream, deep-fried banana on a stick and halo halo in a cup. The latter is possibly the Philippines' best known dessert — a shaved ice treat consists of layers of sweetened beans, coconut strips and jellies, all topped with ice cream and a drizzle of evaporated milk. Apart from all the food, there will be Filipino song and dance performances throughout the day. The festival will run from 10am–8pm on Saturday and from 11am–7pm on Sunday. And entry is free, so all you need to bring is your empty stomach. Images: Bronnie Barnett
No one likes receiving the same Christmas gift twice, but when it comes to festive-themed films and their sequels, that's typically what you get. Unfortunately, Bad Santa 2 doesn't escape that trap. Back in 2003, the original film prove a rude, crude blast of fresh air that flouted and took the piss out of yuletide clichés. By comparison, the long-awaited follow-up plays like a half-arsed version of the exact same thing. For Willie Soke (Billy Bob Thornton), that means drinking, brawling, swearing, screwing, stealing, scamming, cracking safes and soaking in his own urine, usually while dressed up as Father Christmas. He's reluctant to return to the red coat and wig, but he's also eager to pilfer whatever cash he can when Christmas rolls around — 'tis the season to be burgling, and all that. That's why he agrees to re-team with his duplicitous, diminutive former partner-in-crime Marcus (Tony Cox), trading an unsuccessful suicide attempt for a scheme to fleece a Chicago charity. That the third person in their thieving plans is his estranged ex-con mother (Kathy Bates) complicates matters considerably. Add a lustful love interest (Christina Hendricks), plus a well-meaning but dim-witted hanger-on (Brett Kelly), and the Bad Santa formula everybody knows and once loved is back in action. Alas, with original director Terry Zwigoff (Ghost World) and writers Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Crazy, Stupid, Love) nowhere in sight — replaced by Mean Girls' helmer Mark Waters, first-time feature screenwriter Johnny Rosenthal and What to Expect When You're Expecting scribe Shauna Cross — Bad Santa 2 rides its sleigh straight into tired territory. If there's a cinematic equivalent of asking for a pony and getting a photo of one instead, Bad Santa 2 is it. Everything looks the part, but this follow-up is no substitute for the real thing. Instead of humour steeped in the dark side of the season — be it the rampant consumerism, the gnawing loneliness or the manufactured cheer — this sloppy second effort just dials up the obscenity and anti-social behaviour, then tops the tree with familial drama. Indeed, in trying to coast by with little more than a predictable premise, easy gags, outrageous situations, unlikeable characters and a late splash of sentimentality, Bad Santa 2 could be mistaken for one of the poor imitators that the first movie inspired. At least Thornton is on hand to do what he does best. If nothing else, the been there, done that air and apparent lack of effort suits his bad protagonist to the wearied, wise-cracking bone. Accordingly, when a handful of the script's grossly inappropriate jokes land, Thornton is usually the reason.
Many Sydney bars and restaurants are doing their best to brighten up lockdown a little — whether they're offering free meals to hospo workers or new takeaway options. The New Britannia is doing its part too, by offering locals tap beer at the wildly low price of $1 per 100 millilitres. The promotion is simple: bring any clear plastic or glass container, no matter what the size (within reason), to the inner city venue and you can fill it up with the bar's range of tap beers for $1 per 100 millilitres. The vessels must be able to be sealed once they're filled, but other than that — the sky is the limit. Round up your milk cartons or mason jars and swing by. The promotion will run until New Britannia's kegs run dry and on tap you'll find your pub standards and a selection of craft beers including Young Henry's, VB, Philter, Stockade Brew Co, Carlton Draught and vaccination kings Hawke's. The pub is also offering 20 percent off its natural and organic wines if you're not a beer drinker and is home to Angry Tony's Pizza which boasts a 25-strong list of pizzas available for pickup or delivery.
The other week my partner and I were watching a doco about the Lord Our Righteousness Church and its leader, Wayne Bent, who was facing trial for some extremely questionable activity. After the creepiness and righteous rage subsided, we got to thinking about other aspects of cult-culture. You know, really academic stuff like: if there were a hipster cult, who would be its leader? The answer we came up with to this very important question was, of course, Devendra Banhart. Firstly, there is his religious leader inspired visage. Just do a Google image search and tell me that the guy hasn’t just jumped out of some freaky time machine, straight from the 1960s, the golden era of bizarre religious cults and far-out communes. Also, he talks to animals, just like this guy. Of course, I am not at all suggesting that Banhart would get up to the sort of nefarious activity that I segued into this preview with. If anything, a cult run by Banhart would be a wonderful affair. Think 1960s-style love ins, guitar strumming and tambourines before a roaring fire, open fields covered in daisies, spinning around with your arms spread out - that sort of thing. On further reflection, when you combine all of the above with the apparent fanaticism that his music inspires, he’s pretty much already there. He just hasn’t bought the acreage yet. The good word for all Sydney based Banhart devotees (confirmed and potential alike) is that he is on his way back, bringing his freak-folk gospel to the Metro Theatre on Wednesday 27 July. Rejoice friends, for the consummation is at hand.
If the date of January 26 finds you looking for a thoughtful way to reflect on the impact of Australia's colonisation on its First Nations people, you should join the folks from Sydney Festival the evening prior. For the sixth year in a row, the festival will be running a vigil at Barangaroo Reserve. Unlike previous years, the 2024 iteration will span 45 minutes from 8.30pm, in place of the overnight ceremony that's taken place in years gone by. This year, the event is titled Vigil: The Future and will be all about hope and empowering young voices, giving them a platform to share their stories and art. The ceremony will feature a large-scale public installation and a performance from a choir of young First Nations singers. The event is free and registration is not required this year. If you can't make it in person, the festival is also streaming Vigil: The Future online as part of Sydney Festival's AT HOME digital program.
What is more real and more hilarious than life experience? Nothing. Which is why Sydney should brace itself for The Horse's Mouth. For the second time ever, Tamarama Rock Surfers Theatre Company has secured a killer group of local, interstate and international artists for the return of Sydney's only festival of autobiographical performance. Packed full of weird and wonderful tales, the festival will showcase the (sometimes) deeply personal and (usually) hilarious genre, at the Rock Surfers' home, The Bondi Pavilion. Perhaps the most anticipated performance of the festival will be Nassim Soleimanpour's White Rabbit Red Rabbit: a show performed cold, by a different actor each night. That's right, each ballsy actor will open the script for the very first time in front of an audience, with talent such as Alan Flower, Zoe Norton Lodge and Sopa Enari set to take on the challenge. A fascinating concept? Or a disaster waiting to happen? "I actually have no idea what this play is about. Absolutely no idea," says Norton Lodge, who'll be performing on Saturday 7th. "I have an intense child in me who wants to Google the shit out of it, but I haven't." Preparing for the play you're not allowed to prepare for can be pretty absurd. "I don't even know what I should wear," she says. "My method so far has been to have a protracted panic attack. But that's pretty stupid. It’s very pointless to worry about something you cannot control or prepare for in anyway. So that brings me to phase two. Sweep it under the rug and pretend it's not there." And really, what's the worst that could happen? "I come from a comedy background, so I'm a bit worried about having to get mega in touch with some serious feelings. But who knows, it could be racist. That would be worse. Why am I doing this...?" And with The Horse's Mouth marking its Sydney premiere, White Rabbit Red Rabbit is sure to deliver, having already received rave reviews worldwide. But it certainly won't be the only work exploding onto the Bondi stage. Award-winning comic David Quirk presents his part-tribute, part-confessional Shaking Hands with Danger, and The Wild Finish is a mesmerising work from New York theatre-maker Monica Hunken. Ado Saves the Gay World is an intimate musical comedy by Adriano Cappelletta, while Jimmy Dalton delivers All Made Up, an unusual show performed backstage in the Pavilion dressing room. "I am really looking forward to seeing Bron Batten's Sweet Child of Mine," says Norton Lodge. "It's amazing. It's got everything. Dancing. Extreme Braveness. Actual Parents. Actual Butt. I am really excited to see it again." Batten's play — which sees the artist's 60-year-old father appear on the stage with her — is among the six fresh and highly unique pieces on offer over the two-week period. In Norton's words, "There is only really one story you can tell better than anyone else. It's yours, baby ... All the crippling feelings, mangled memories and intricate detail are all there in your brain, waiting to blossom out of the caterpillar of your mind into the butterfly of your play." And who doesn't want to watch that happen?
It's been a little over a year since Rick Viede received his second Griffin Award for New Australian Playwriting for A Hoax after winning the same award in 2008 for his play Whore. The remarks at the award evening last year were that the play was already ripe for production. The question now is whether the creative team was ready for it. After a month's run at Queensland's La Boite Theatre Company through May, it is now playing at Griffin Theatre until September 1. A Hoax is an insouciant farce about a female Indigenous author, Currah, who doesn't exist. Social worker Ant (Glenn Hazeldine) created her, young Miri Smith (Shari Sebbens) embodies her, and pariah publicists Ronnie Lowe (Sally McKenzie) and Tyrelle Parks (Charles Allen) promote and sell her. The public nature of the story means the stakes are high and the power shifts are exhilarating. Sebbens's gleeful transition from naive schoolgirl to savvy businesswoman is brilliant, and I've never seen a better on-stage rendition of Salt-N-Pepa's 'Push It'. Ant is beautifully characterised by Hazeldine, whose breakdown is best viewed from the front left row (just a tip). The play is sharp, fast, and mercurial but has not been given its full due by Lee Lewis's direction and Renee Mulder's design. The text is camp and brash, whereas the production is tame. Mulder's design unnecessarily announces the time and place with projections of images and text such as 'three weeks later', which is cute at best and patronising at worst. Lewis's direction fails to tie the cast together to make the most of the tension resulting from the ongoing status shifts. Some scenes sound like they should be building to a wicked farcical climax but are stilted instead. This is partly due to the characterisations of publicists Ronnie and Tyrelle, two extreme roles requiring wanton boldness for them to work. McKenzie and Allen playing them are either misdirected or lacking the gumption to make them fire. The production feels like it's trying to catch up with Viede's bold, intelligent text. It's exhilarating to hear Viede throw caution to the wind in his treatment of the subject of cultural legitimacy. Just as Ant is criticised for speaking on behalf of an Aboriginal woman, Viede could be chided for doing the same. But this would be a mistake. Surely invisibility and silence is less respectful than a non-Indigenous author having a shot at contentious issues. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Qc9JftcAsJ4
Sydneysiders, prepare to get hopelessly devoted — again — to Rydell High, summer lovers reuniting at school, leather jackets and Pink Ladies. Because giving Grease a prequel streaming series wasn't enough, the 50s-set musical is returning to its original home, with Australia's brand-new multimillion-dollar theatre production of the five-decade-old show set to be the one that local audiences want from Sunday, March 24–Sunday, May 26, 2024. Grease is shaping up to be Sydney's big autumn hit, zipping into the New South Wales capital's Capitol Theatre like lightening in January. Everyone knows the plot by now, given how popular the 1978 movie adaptation of the musical rom-com still is, especially Down Under. It is about an Aussie transfer student, after all, who falls in love with an American high schooler in California. After Grease sped from the stage to become a silver-screen classic, it spawned a 1982 Michelle Pfeiffer-starring sequel, too, then streaming's Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies. Cast-wise, Joseph Spanti (Friends! The Musical Parody, Cruel Intentions: The 90s Musical) and Annelise Hall (The Marvellous Elephant Man, Aspects of Love) are slipping into John Travolta (Paradise City) and the late, great Olivia Newton-John's (The Very Excellent Mr Crocodile Dundee) leathers as Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson. Also featuring: Jay Laga'aia as Vince Fontaine and Marcia Hines as Teen Angel. The above stars, plus their fellow T-Birds and Pink Ladies, will obviously be belting out all the famous tunes — including the titular 'Grease' and fellow earworms 'Summer Nights', 'Sandy', 'Hopelessly Devoted to You', 'You're The One That I Want', 'Greased Lightnin' and 'Beauty School Dropout'.
Some film festivals whisk you away to far-off countries without leaving your cinema seat, or your home. Others expand your knowledge about the state of the world and what might be to come. Screening both in-person in Melbourne and online nationally from Friday, February 18–Sunday, March 13, Australia's annual Transitions Film Festival does both. And, after more than a decade of pondering the future of the planet, changing technologies and our evolving world, this film fest is showing no signs of stopping — with more than 20 titles on its 2022 lineup. Mostly, you'll be diving into docos, but German drama Ecocide takes a different route, putting world leaders on trial in 2034 for their inaction to combat climate change in our present. Other highlights include A.rtificial I.mmortality, about a life that might extend beyond our bodies; 70/30, following a quest in Denmark to reduce greenhouse gases by 70 percent by 2030; First We Eat, where filmmaker Suzanne Crocker bans grocery shopping for a year; Mountains of Plastic, where plastic pollution still finds its way to some of the earth's most isolated regions. Or, because the list goes on, there's also a movie-length economics lesson via Hot Money; Dear Future Children, about the new generation of global protesters; Forest for the Trees, which focuses on community of 100 tree planters; and Dream On, Yearning For Change, where five people endeavour to make the world better in their own ways. Top image: Dream On, Yearning For Change.
Christmas markets are always excellent for those of us who tend to leave gift purchasing until the last minute — and, thankfully, Etsy is setting up their markets all over Australia in the final weekend of November. Etsy Made Local is a grassroots initiative that celebrates crafters, collectors and artisans in local communities, and provides them with the opportunity to sell their creations both online and in a physical space. So whether you're on the hunt for handmade wares or vintage goods, these guys have got you covered. The markets will be held in Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra. Because each market focuses on the best local talent, each market will be filled with different stallholders and unique creations. Supporting creative small businesses and scoring a killer Christmas gift is a win for everyone involved, so head to the Seymour Centre on Saturday, November 28 and get your festive shopping done early, for once.
There's no such thing as an ordinary art fair. No matter which galleries descend on any particular space, where that is or when it takes place, the creative pieces on display are never the same — and, so, neither is the event as a result. That's true at Sydney Contemporary, of course, but this Harbour City excuse to appreciate art also comes stacked with live performances and music. And, thanks to the just-announced lineup, 2023's iteration promises quite the memorable time. Returning to Carriageworks from Thursday, September 7–Sunday, September 10 for its seventh event, this year's Sydney Contemporary will feature more than 95 galleries filling the multi-arts centre. If it's an emerging or established venue for art in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia and Singapore, odds are that it'll make a showing. The focus right now, however, is on the performances that'll go along with all of those galleries showcasing all that art, which is where the Performance Contemporary and Art Night bills comes in. Performance Contemporary will focus on four artists: Amala Groom, Riana Head-Toussaint, Morgan Hogg and Fetu Taku. Groom, Head-Toussaint and Taku's contributions will take place on Art Night, Sydney Contemporary's big Thursday evening party, with DJ pair Stereogamous — aka Paul Mac and Jonny Seymour — also on hand to soundtrack the evening. From Wiradyuri creative Groom, audiences will experience RED TAPE, which features the artist singing in language while she wraps herself in 44 metres of red tape — to represent 44 years of negotiating bureaucracy — and literally jumping through hoops. As for Head-Toussaint, her video work Animate Loading will be projected, as paired with a live performance that includes surveillance-style cinematography, drone work and bodycams, as part of her ongoing interrogation of her experience as a wheelchair user, her legal training and her Afro-Caribbean heritage. Then, Taku will draw upon hip hop and vogue training, and deploy sound design just for the space and piece, in a newly commissioned work about community and spaces that provide equality for diverse bodies. "This year's Performance Contemporary explores the relationship between the body and place. Through play, projection, song and dance, these artists use the incredible architecture of Carriageworks as a starting point to guide both the audience and the performer through time and space," said Performance Contemporary co-curators Samantha Watson-Wood and Katie Winten, announcing the lineup. On the Friday night, with the Sydney-based DJ Sveta on the decks with a special music showcase, emerging Cook Island and Australian artist Morgan Hogg will unveil an installation and performance work. Through costumed dance, and with help from oral exchanges between her mother and family, she'll ponder cultural displacement and identity, as specifically influenced by her Kūki Airani heritage. Whichever parts of the Performance Contemporary and Art Night lineups you're now keen see, expect to have company. More than 112,000 visitors have attended Sydney Contemporary in past years, and more than AU$85 million in art sales have been notched up. Sydney Contemporary 2023 runs from Thursday, September 7–Sunday, September 10 at Carriageworks. For further information and to buy tickets, head to the art fair's website. Top image: Zan Wimberley.
Gymnasts and circus-people are freaky. So are beatboxers. And drummers. It's all that weird coordination that they have going on. The Tom Tom Crew out-freaky the freaky by combining all of the aforementioned into a single show. It's Aussie hip-hop meets Aussie circus minus the mopey-looking elephants and bearded ladies. The crew - world renowned percussionist Ben Walsh, mix-master Sampology, beat-boxing whiz-kid Tom Thum, graduates of Australia's famous Flying Fruit Fly Circus - Ben Lewis, Daniel Catlow, Shane Witt - and elite gymnast Karl Stock - are fresh from an international tour, including an off Broadway debut and 21 sold-out shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. If you didn't catch Tom Tom Crew during their run at the Opera House, they will be performing alongside some of Australia's best hip-hop, street art and skate talent at the Dulwich Hill hybrid retail/art space, Westsyde Connection, at a subcultural extravaganza this Friday.
One of Sydney's best ramen spots is making sure you get your dose of hot noodle soup at home despite Sydney's current lockdown. Rising Sun Workshop has launched 'Ramen at Home' which allows ramen-lovers the opportunity to have everything they need for the Rising Sun Workshop experience in their living room. The at-home goodie boxes are available for pickup or delivery with each pack serving two. Inside you'll find broth, protein, garnishes and noodles and then all you have to do is put it all together with some boiling water in your kitchen. You can choose between its three signature ramens: The Darkness, a pork belly and black fungus creation, The Light, a chicken, pork belly and katsuobushi dashi bowl, and The Monk, a vegetarian shiitake mushroom and miso corn option. To order, head to the eatery's website, and while you're there you can also pick up beers and natural wines from the bottleshop, as well as kimchi and raw honey from the general store. [caption id="attachment_736378" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Destination NSW[/caption]
Blurring the lines between life and art, Ross Watson is getting a well-deserved party. An Anniversary celebrates his 15-year legacy with a gallery exhibition of some of his best hyperreal works. Running as a part of the Mardi Gras 2015 festival program, Watson's provocative creations will be showing at Waterloo's Depot Gallery for two weeks only. The Melburnian tackles issues of sexuality and self-expression in his signature playful style (without fear of ruffling a few feathers along the way). An international art-world favourite, Watson's dynamic, out-of-the-box efforts are what sets him apart, earning him the praise of Elton John and Stephen Fry, among others.
Quiet achievers Little Dragon are a bit of an elusive bunch. Despite jamming together for nearly two decades, the Swedish quartet only gained a serious fan-base following their breakout hit 'Twice' in 2009. But these high school pals-turned-internationally touring chart-toppers are proof that sometimes the best things take time. Making their way around Australia for a string of Laneway Festival appearances, Little Dragon have squeezed in a couple of sneaky sideshows for those not festivaling. Channeling their signature blend of genre-bending beats, their latest fourth studio album Nabuma Rubberband sees a smooth set of dance tracks with strong electro-pop and R&B tendencies. Previous collaborations with the likes of the Gorillaz, SBTRKT and Big Boi have seen these guys go from virtual unknowns to a globally recognised act. With captivating vocals courtesy of Yukimi Nagano guaranteed to get audiences grooving, these performances won't disappoint.
Have you woken up on New Year's Eve Eve and realised your plans for ringing in 2014 are fuzzy at best, nonexistent at worst? It's not too late for you, friend. Here are our pickings of the best things on — all with room remaining for you. Harbour Fireworks The Sydney Harbour fireworks are iconic, the Sydney Harbour Bridge is iconic, and this year’s creative ambassador Reg Mombassa (or the ‘Mombassador’) is iconic. Okay, it's safe to say that the annual event will once again be, um, iconic. The Sydney Harbour foreshore is visited by 1.6 million visitors each NYE, this year themed 'Shine'. Sure, nobody likes a crowd, but if you can't beat them, join them. So make like a sardine and head to Embarkation Park, Arthur McElhone Reserve, Mrs Macquarie Park or one of many less congested suburban parks (do we need to draw you a map?) to catch a glimpse of the fireworks. They set off at 9pm for the youngsters and then again at midnight. Price: free. 9pm and midnight. NYE On The Harbour If it's firework views you’re after with the chance of a good boogie (join the queue, pal), the King St Wharf’s Cargo Bar a better destination at NYE than at any other time of year. Art vs Science, Van She, Gold Fields and DJ sets from Alison Wonderland and Bag Raiders will bring in 2014 with cheer — and with no screaming children in sight. The event sells out year after year, so nab your tickets and BYO flippers in order to get down. Tickets range from $89-$180 per person. The event starts at 7pm. 18+. Image from Cargo Bar's NYE 2011 party NYE Festival at Wet'n'Wild Update (31 Dec): Wet'n'Wild have cancelled their NYE event at the last minute due to "a major technical production issue". The plan is to reschedule for Australia Day. Northern Hemisphere residents will lament their white Christmas when they see what we’ve got going on Down Under. While they’re putting on their earmuffs, we’ll be sipping a cold cider down a water slide in style to 'We No Speak Americano.' You heard me. Sydney’s newly opened Wet'n'Wild theme park is throwing an NYE party away from the harbourside crowds. So put your hands in the air from a water slide, or dance to Will Sparks, Yolanda Be Cool, Uberjackd, Faydee, Gtronic, Haezer and more on Australia’s largest artificial beach. Dayum. Tickets cost $110-$200 per person. 7pm till late. Image via Wet'n'Wild Sydney Animal House Toga Party at The Vanguard If paying $500 to live like a sardine just ain't your thang (we feel you), try out The Vanguard this New Year's. Because the resident movie buffs are chucking an Animal House-themed do, togas and all. To keep us and our garlands entertained, The Vanguard have curated an all-star soul band that includes Mojo Juju, Jeremy Davidson of The Snowdroppers and three of the guys from Gay Paris. Tickets $63.80. 7pm till late. Image via University of Wisconsin Archives. NYE Party at the House This event hasn't sold out because it's a near-obscene $599pp. But you've got to admit, it's the ultimate. Combine New Year's with the 40th birthday of the country's most iconic landmark and you've got a massive banger on your hands. Located in the heart of the NYE action, this waterside resort-lounge setting on the western boardwalk of the upper concourse of Sydney Opera House is the perfect backdrop to celebrate. Partygoers will have a front row seat to the illustrious Sydney Harbour fireworks as well as to this year’s most extravagant light show, designed by artist and musician Reg Mombassa. Entertainment will be provided with live music from 14-time ARIA–nominated Sneaky Sound System, all-girl DJ duo The Faders and DJ RobKAY. Also, be sure to come hungry, because celebrity chef Matt Moran is putting together a special menu just for the event. As SSS' Connie Mitchell says, "Opera House – check. New Year’s Eve – check. Fireworks – big check. Banging new party outfit – definite check! Killer set? You bet.” Sounds like quite the bash. Third release tickets are $599.95 per person and include food and select cocktails. 7pm-1.30am. 18+. End of Year Party at The Bar at the End of the Wharf This event isn't only a verbal mouthful. For those of you who enjoy stuffing your faces on your day off, this NYE party is a feast of delicacies by the talented team from Fresh Catering. There will be heaps of canapes and champagne on hand when you need a break from all the dancing. Oh yes, there will be lots of dancing, with live entertainment from The Kundalini Experience (DJ Marc 'Kundalini' + live sax & percussion). On top of all of this, you'll have a unique view of the Sydney Harbour fireworks display, from nearly under the bridge. Get ready for a spectacle of the senses. Tickets are priced at $195 per person. The party kicks off at 7pm. 18+ Image via Fresh Catering The Goodgod NYE Prom Don't feel the need to see the fireworks? Sequester yourself underground in one of our favourite Sydney dives, Goodgod. They've got an NYE prom scheduled that addresses two great eras of high school dances — the 1980s and early 2000s — channelled by DJs Levins, Shantan, Joyride, Ariane and Mike Who. In the front bar, it's 1988 Homecoming Prom, and in the danceteria out the back you'll find the Jiggy 2001 Year 10 Formal. Remember the occasion by getting your yearbook photo taken in the photo booth. Tickets $20; from 10pm. By Madeline Milani, Rachel Eddie and Rima Sabina Aouf.
