It's times like these that you can add a big summer gig to your diary, with Foo Fighters coming to Sydney in December. The Dave Grohl-fronted rockers will embark on their first headline tour of Australia since 2018. It's also their first visit Down Under since drummer Taylor Hawkins passed away in March 2022. Foo Fighters were last in Australia that same month and year, playing a huge Geelong show to help launch Victoria's post-COVID-19 lockdowns live music program. The band unsurprisingly took a break from touring after Hawkins' death, only returning to live gigs in 2023. In Sydney, they're headed to Accor Stadium on Saturday, December 9 with The Chats and Hot Milk in support — and more tickets are going on sale at 3pm AEDT on Friday, October 13. [caption id="attachment_903613" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Scarlet Page[/caption] Picking up the sticks: ex-The Vandals, Devo, Guns N' Roses and A Perfect Circle drummer Josh Freese, taking on the likely-daunting task of being the touring drummer in a band led by Nirvana drummer Grohl. Freese's stint with the band was announced in May, ahead of their first tour dates. When they hit our shores, the new-look Foo Fighters will weave in tunes from their new record But Here We Are, which released in June. Of course, all the hits from across their career will get a whirl, with their current setlist including everything from 'This Is a Call', 'Big Me' and 'Monkey Wrench' through to 'Learn to Fly', 'The Pretender' and 'Best of You'. And, yes, 'Everlong', because it wouldn't be a Foo Fighters show without it. 'I'll Stick Around', which is also on the list, isn't just a song title from the group's first album. Given that their new tour comes 28 years after that debut release in 1995, it perfectly sums up Foo Fighters' longevity. Over the years, they've made it Down Under a heap of times, released 11 studio albums including the just-dropped But Here We Are, and made 2022 horror movie Studio 666. [caption id="attachment_903619" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Mr Rossi vi Wikimedia Commons[/caption] Top image: Jo via Wikimedia Commons.
If you're anything like the rest of us, you've probably spent this year getting tired of your own four walls and yearning for more greenery. There's an easy response to both of those feelings: plants. Add a few to your home, and it'll seem like you've given it a makeover — and you'll have some leafy new company, too. Fancy nabbing yourself a free succulent, and spending time at Burwood Chinatown? Across the next four Saturdays — November 14, 21 and 28, plus December 5 — that's on the agenda. Head on down at 9.30am, and you can score one of 200 free plants. There are 50 on offer each week thanks to Sydney Pop Up Plants, and it's all on a first-come, first-served basis. Like many giveaways, there are a few rules. It's a strictly one-plant-per-person affair, unsurprisingly. And, you will need to follow @burwoodchinatown on Instagram or Wechat and @sydneypopupplants on Instagram to score a freebie.
Barrington Tops National Park has something for everyone, regardless of fitness level or inclination to spend long periods of time in the 'wilderness'. If you find yourself in this part of the world, and fancy yourself a bit more of an adventurer, tackle the Corker trail. The challenging walking track is recommended for experienced bushwalkers only, and it runs all the way from the Lagoon Pinch picnic area right across to Careys Peak on the Barrington Plateau. Be warned, it's not called the Corker for nothing, so expect a pretty tough slog through challenging terrain. It's well worth it at the end, though, as you'll be rewarded with a scenic lookout over the snow gums, swamps and wide open grass plains of the Barrington Plateau for a view that will leave you as breathless as the hike did, if not more. The hike will also take you by Wombat Creek campground, a perfect spot to set up camp and spend a night under the stars. Image: John Spencer
UPDATE, Friday, June 20, 2025: 2025's First Nations Film Festival — National Reconciliation Week has been extended until Wednesday, August 6 (from its original end date of Tuesday, June 10). This article has been updated to reflect that change. As part of the flurry of streaming services always competing for our eyeballs, FanForce TV joined the online viewing fold during the COVID-19 pandemic as a pay-per-view platform. The service runs all year round, of course, but it goes the extra mile for National Reconciliation Week, which is when it hosts one leg of the First Nations Film Festival (previously known as the Virtual Indigenous Film Festival). In 2025, the National Reconciliation Week season is taking place between Tuesday, May 27–Wednesday, August 6, all solely online. The returning fest has four features and a collection of shorts on its lineup, starting with The Moogai — which sees writer/director Jon Bell (Cleverman) turn his own short into a full-length film, explore how Australia's past continues to haunt in the process, and brings back his stars Shari Sebbens (The Office) and Meyne Wyatt (Troppo) as a couple grappling with Stolen Generations trauma with their growing family. Also excellent: Like My Brother, a must-watch documentary that follows four young Indigenous women from the Tiwi Islands as they set their sights on playing AFLW at the highest level. With Blown Away, the impact of Cyclone Tracy upon Darwin is in the spotlight four decades later — and Winhanganha, which was commissioned by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, sees Wiradjuri artist Jazz Money examine archives through a First Nations lens. To view this at-home screen celebration, you'll need to buy an all-access pass, which lets you catch everything for $38.
Can you think of a better way to spend a muggy, summer night than with an outdoor movie and quality food by the harbour? From October 31 to December 8, you can do just that when American Express brings back its outdoor cinema to Sydney's inner city coastline. The Pyrmont spot is just one of the cinema's ten pop-ups that'll be held across Australia and New Zealand this year. Movies on this big screen will include just-released hits like It: Chapter 2 (fittingly held on Halloween), Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Joaquin Phoenix-starring Joker and Bill Murray zombie comedy The Dead Don't Die, as well as classics — including Elf and Love Actually. Food truck Mr Papa will be supplying the movie snacks, with a menu of Peruvian street food, burgers, loaded fries and grazing plates, and drinks will be on offer from Giesen Wines, 4Pines and Pimm's. Every Wednesday, Giesen will be giving out free tasters of its wine and selling discounted bottles — a very compelling option for date night. In addition to all this, there'll be live music performances and DJs every night from 6pm (when the doors open) before the film starts after sunset. Oh, and it's a dog-friendly space, so you don't need to leave part of your family at home. Plus if you're an Amex user you'll get 15 percent off selected tickets, plus a blanket. American Express Openair Cinemas will also pop-up in Sydney's inner west (Jan 4–Feb 2) and Bondi (Feb 6–Mar 15)
Giant fluorescent orange fluffy birds, 30 ft high dogs shooting lasers from their eyes, costumes made entirely of marijuana leaves and onstage fake fellatio on a man wearing a Bill Clinton mask. Whatever you think of pop's favourite shock poppet, Miley Cyrus' Bangerz tour has been one of the global Tickets To Have. Now the Wrecking Baller is bringing Bangerz to Australia this October. Kicking off in Melbourne on Friday, October 10 at Rod Laver Arena, Cyrus will embark upon a five-date tour of epic visual proportions. Incapable of being able to stop, Cyrus will then head to Brisbane, Sydney, Adelaide and Perth for what will most likely be Australia's most 'grammed tour since Beyonce's recent run. Tickets are going for $99.90 to $149.90, plus booking fees. Dainty Group presale tickets kicks off at 10am local time on Friday, June 20. General public tickets via Ticketek go on sale Monday, June 23 at 10am. Miley Cyrus Bangerz tour dates: Melbourne - Rod Laver Arena, Friday, October 10 Brisbane - Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Wednesday, October 15 Sydney - Allphones Arena, Friday, October 17 Adelaide - Adelaide Entertainment Centre, Monday, October 20 Perth - Perth Arena, Thursday, October 23
Watching a couple mourning the death of their son was never going to be happy fun times in the cinema. For that reason many may avoid venturing down the Rabbit Hole, but for those willing to do so, you are rewarded with a truly exquisite film. Exquisitely raw and painful, sure, but also richly humane and deeply cathartic, for David Lindsay-Abaire's Pulitzer and Tony award winning play is nothing short of a masterpiece. Lindsay-Abaire adapted his own work, with director John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Shortbus) bringing to the screen the story of Becca and Howie Corbett (Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart), a once golden couple who are still reeling from the death of their son eight months before. In frustrated fits and starts they attempt to reassemble their fractured existence, but this is increasingly occurring in isolation from each other. Becca finds a certain solace meeting Jason (Miles Teller), the teenage driver responsible for the accident that killed her son, while for Howie, it's Gaby (Sandra Oh), a veteran from group therapy, who provides the kind of emotional — and chemical — support he needs. This all sounds terribly earnest and dour, but the real genius of Lindsay-Abaire's writing is that it's laced with the most gloriously dark humour. Becca in particular makes use of a biting sarcasm, which is directed at everyone from other couples in group therapy, to her mother (Dianne Wiest) whose loving overtures are brutally, and comically, shut down. Kidman is simply sublime in this Oscar nominated role; able to evoke the abyss of pain alongside the scathing humour with such and impressively light touch. This is master class acting, and she's well supported by an emotionally bare Eckhart and the no-nonsense compassion of Wiest. But it is Teller who surprises the most in a beautifully calibrated and honest feature debut. The scenes he shares with Kidman take the film to a whole new level, though all are pitch perfectly directed by Cameron Mitchell. People in pain are not unlike newborn children, wailing and railing about as they try to get their legs back under them. But what Rabbit Hole so powerfully portrays is that in amongst this desperate keening, there is a wealth of humour to be found. And eventually, a glimmer of grace. https://youtube.com/watch?v=2vXjg_UApr4
A cinema plays a key part in Twisters. Frankenstein flickers across its screen, but mother nature proves not only more of a monster, but also an audience member worse than folks who can't manage to spend two hours in a darkened room without their phones. There's a knowing air to featuring a picture palace in this disaster-flick sequel from Minari director Lee Isaac Chung and The Boys in the Boat screenwriter Mark L Smith, reminding viewers how deeply this genre and this format are linked. Almost three decades ago, as co-penned by Michael Crichton fresh off Jurassic Park's mammoth success, 1996's Twister packed movie theatres worldwide to the tune of nearly half-a-billion dollars, doing so with a spectacle. No matter if its sequel reaches the same heights at the box office globally, it too delivers better-on-the-big-screen sights, chief among them Chung and cinematographer Dan Mindel's (Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker) naturalistic imagery. For those unaware going in that the filmmaker behind six-time Oscar contender Minari — a helmer who received a Best Director Academy Award nomination for his gorgeous and heartfelt work, in fact — is also steering Twisters, it isn't hard to guess from its look, including in its opening moments alone. The movie begins with storm chasers doing what they enthusiastically do. It also kicks off with a horror turn of events thanks to a tornado that exceeds their expectations, and with the crew's survivors afterwards struggling with trauma that'll later drive them forward. In these scenes and beyond, this isn't a picture of visual gloss and sheen, as witnessed right down to its lighting. Twisters remains polished, of course. It also can't tell its tale without CGI. But a choice as pivotal as valuing a genuine aesthetic tonef over a gleaming one has a massive impact. Usually gifted at reading where a whirlwind is headed, hailing from Tornado Alley and introduced with her college pals attempting to demonstrate that her passion project can tame superstorms, Kate Carter (Daisy Edgar-Jones, Where the Crawdads Sing) makes it out of the Twisters' first big tempest alive. Five years later when the feature swiftly picks up, she has swapped field work for sitting behind a New York desk as a meteorologist, however. Then her old friend Javi (Anthony Ramos, Dumb Money) tracks her down with a proposal: return to Oklahoma by his side, with his business using portable radars to scan the squalls. She's hesitant — her efforts to avoid going home have been keenly felt by her mother (Maura Tierney, The Iron Claw), too — but eventually agrees to lend her skills in predicting tornado paths to Javi's team for a single week. As Kate quickly learns, wild swirls aren't just associated with the weather when she's back rushing after gales with the wind literally in her hair. Javi's ultra-professional squad has a fierce rivalry with cowboy-style "tornado wrangler" Tyler Owens (Glen Powell, Hit Man) and his ragtag posse of offsiders, who YouTube their every move, have a hefty online following as a result, sling merchandise with his face on it, seem as cavalier as anyone can come and are eager to discover if they can shoot fireworks into a storm. If it initially appears as if there's an experts-versus-amateurs, experience-versus-influencers battle at the heart of Twisters, Chung and Smith never skew that simplistic. Rather, one of their themes is valuing knowledge but not gatekeeping or snap judgements — and, as its debut twister reinforces from the outset, recognising the importance of diving beyond first perceptions. Vortexes wow, threaten and devastate. Opposites-attract type characters do exactly that. Not everyone's motives are what they might seem. Personal histories demand overcoming as much as the gusty uproars spiralling around America's centre. Those expected plot mechanics don't play out perfunctorily, though, for a few reasons. The story behind the script is credited to Powell's Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski, who was previously eyed to helm here — and while there's a few familiar beats evident in the last flick in cinemas boasting his involvement and this one, a different need for speed pulses through, as well as a different contemplation of soaring versus being grounded. In what shouldn't feel like such a rarity for a disaster film but does given where the genre typically heads, Twisters also cares about its figures, the sense of awe that gets them bounding into danger, the clash between the environment and those who live within it, the effect of climate change, the human toll that tornadoes wreak, the communities affected and intimate stories set shaped by America's landscape. While Twister isn't the only movie that springs to mind when thinking about Helen Hunt (Hacks) and the late Bill Paxton (The Circle), it's up there with the instant selections. Edgar-Jones, Ramos and Powell each enter Twisters on recent rolls of standout roles that respectively cover Normal People, In the Heights and Anyone But You, and all add this to their list of memorable parts. Matching Chung's approach and visuals, there's an earthiness and sincerity to Edgar-Jones' performance as the movie's haunted and wounded action hero. Ramos, as innately charming an on-screen presence as Powell, ensures that his complicated character is always empathetic. Dialling up the swagger, then the charisma and thoughtfulness, Powell equally navigates a textured arc with confidence. Albeit in support — and adding flavour as a group more than individually — the film's savvy casting also extends to The Crowded Room's Sasha Lane, Love Lies Bleeding's Katy O'Brian, Nope's Brandon Perea, Pantheon's Tunde Adebimpe, Totally Killer's Kiernan Shipka, Bad Sisters' Daryl McCormack and Pearl's David Corenswet. Making certain that Twisters' spinning furores don't blow its people, their emotions and their everyday lives away — including when that's a grimly inescapable element of the narrative, because disaster movies always have a body count — still requires those tempests to thunder with full cinema-shaking sound and fury. Getting personal here isn't a case of skimping on effects, then, even if cows don't fly this time. Instead, Chung adds his clear affection for character, for seeing his main players react to the wonders around them Spielberg-style (the iconic The Fabelmans filmmaker is an executive producer), and for portraying the US terrain so routinely ravaged by the weather to digital and practical wizardry that values the sensory and intense (as also aided by editing from Terilyn A Shropshire, The Woman King). No one wants a storm to strike twice, but this franchise has achieved it — and as gets yelled within its frames, does its utmost to notch up another feat. "We've gotta get everyone into the movie theatre," it shouts; that's exactly where this flick is a sight to behold.
How better to experience the fun, food and festivities of Chinese New Year, than on the back of a rickshaw? This year, Sydney's 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art is celebrating the annual cultural extravaganza with Rickshaw Tales, a series of rickshaw food tours, which'll see punters jump aboard their artist-commissioned vehicle for a roving foodie fest through Haymarket. Local multidisciplinary Chinese-Australian artist Louise Zhang is the talent behind the rickshaw's visually-arresting get-up, with her candy-coloured globular painting and sculpture style suggestive of vibrant Asian desserts and sweets. The highly visible rickshaw will be doing tours for two people at a time on weekends and Thursday nights across the CNY festival, from January 28 through to Tuesday, February 14, when they'll do a special Valentine's Day tour. For a very reasonable $33 per person, riders will be pedalled around Chinatown in style with commentary by 4A Director Mikala Tai via video. Participants will gain a swag of insight into the area's culinary offerings, with the ticket price inclusive of snacks at each restaurant, café, and hole-in-the-wall they stop at along the way. Prefer to experience it all on foot? Rickshaw Tales will also host a series of small group walking tours for $22, guided by 4A's team of Chinatown experts. Either way, you better get booking — the rickshaw rides will no doubt be snapped up quicker than a dozen Emperor Puffs.
When you walk into Booty Shoes, you'll obviously already be wearing the type of item that gives this Potts Point boutique its name. But when you walk out, you might find yourself donning a completely different pair. Showcasing both new and classic styles — and casual and high-end types as well — the store certainly has plenty of footwear to choose from. That includes boots, mules, slides, sandals, espadrilles and sneakers, and shoes from French, Italian and Spanish. Clearly, the family-owned joint is run by folks with a penchant for great women's footwear, and for giving its customers a variety of options. Images: Cassandra Hannagan
It's not often after a play that the production manager says, half-jokingly, “I'm sure you're all devastated right now.” But this is the thing. Africa is completely devastating. Devised by My Darling Patricia under writer-director Halcyon Macleod, Africa combines puppets, actors and projection to shed light on the dark continent of domestic degradation. Beautiful, yes. But so heart-wrenching that the puppets haunt you long after the curtain falls and they have become inert objects again. It’s impossible not to empathise with the fate of these manipulated dolls; the perfect medium to dramatise the stark disconnect between reality and imagination. The stage is a domestic wilderness; its many levels are strewn with household debris, trashed toys, and broken appliances. The adults are played by actors, and the three children are bought to life by big-eyed, shrunken-faced puppets. There are two worlds here - the children's space, inhabited by the puppets, and the adults' domain, partly obscured by an opaque screen. The four-tiered set enables us to take on a child's perspective; in the style of cartoons like Tom & Jerry, the adults appear from the waist down. When they enter the children's space, it often pre-empts a horrific scene of verbal or physical abuse. Perhaps there are three worlds, not two – because, of course, there's also Africa; the promised land, the longed-for place. The play is based on the story of two German children who ran away from unhappy homes to live like The Lion King. Courtney, her baby sister, and the skinny-shanked Cheety cuddle up, spellbound, before a nature documentary about Africa. It’s cute when instantly, they identify as pink flamingo, baby zebra, and ferocious leopard, but it's crushing that their happiness is dependent on the absence of adults. Puppet shows are usually associated with comedy, but go see Africa and you’ll discover how hard the downward glance of an inanimate character can pull at your heart strings. The sound design crucially monitors the action and provides momentum as the children strive to reach their African savanna. The use of found objects allows for the staging of the patently impossible, as a giant pink flamingo rises majestically out of domestic detritus. It’s a shattering representation of endangered childhood and the quest for something better, and will make you marvel at how convincingly characters made of wood, rods and levers can emote. Image by Jeff Busby.
The Coming World starts off promisingly with a playful display of physical affection between two ridiculously attractive people, but it soon becomes clear that their reach exceeds their grasp in terms of personal happiness. The same could perhaps be said of this play in terms of its conceptual aspirations. Written by Pulitizer award-winning playwright Christopher Shinn, it's a Woody Allen sort of love story, where the path from beginning to end is potholed and eroded. After being robbed of a stash of ecstasy pills, Dora's flaky ex-lover Ed is left in hock to a mobster. He forms a desperate plan to do over the video store where Dora works. At this point, The Coming World is reminiscent of Run Lola Run , but the script is a little harder to follow and substantially heavier on dialogue. Dora finds herself drawn reluctantly into Ed's scheme as one way of escaping the drudgery of peddling mass-produced fantasies at Blockbuster. It's only when Ed's estranged twin brother appears on the scene that the importance of the past in defining the future becomes not only obvious, but crucial. It's not that The Coming World hasn't got its moments — there is some really wonderful dialogue filled with dramatic tension and a sort of hyper-poignancy. The problem is that in tackling the big themes of truth, love, loss and recovery, it taste-tests too many types of ambiguity and trips over its own imprecise perceptions. Ultimately, what undermines this production is the very thing it investigates — the impossibility of achieving your ideal. It leaves you nonplussed and uncertain of your capacity to cope with the isolating impact of technology in the coming world.
Lucas Grogan is a white artist who paints pictures that people assume are by an Aboriginal man. He adopts cross-hatching styles employed by artists from Arnhem Land and depicts stylised figures on irregular, bark-shaped boards. His intent is not to bastardize Indigenous artistic and cultural expression. Though his work has caused considerable uproar in the sanitised art scene, Grogan is "acutely aware of the hypocrisies of Australia's current cultural modalities". He believes that through incorporating elements derived from Indigenous cultural heritage, artists engage with the traditional custodians of this land and, in doing so, enhance cross-cultural understanding. Iain Dawson Gallery in Paddington is Sydney’s newest contemporary art gallery and committed to showcasing artists who provoke public thought, feeling and debate. Grogan certainly does all three, and his new show, Black + Blue, will impassion gallery-goers until March 6.
Songs of rapture? Yay! Songs of torture? Okay. Sarah Jane Norman's quartet of performances has steadily evolved since 2007 when #1 (Surabaya Johnny) was presented at Performance Space. It is comprised of three durational works and one performance staged for video projection. It is a four-year survey of work by Norman, who has a reputation as one of Sydney's most provocative and magnetic performance artists. Each performance takes the repetition of a popular love song as its basis. Norman aims to challenge both the prevalent cultural narratives of our rom-com society and the pitiful limits of pop songs by manipulating her self-presentation and performative vocabulary. For an unfixed duration of time over four sessions, she will resign herself to a private world of loss and resignation, with no reprieve from the purgatorial repetition of these songs. Norman will sing until her voice breaks, or her heart breaks; whichever comes first. Love as an ordeal? Yes. Romance as endurance? Indeed. Bear close witness to this internalised melodrama and you may find yourself reflecting, as if for the first time, on that flat, high-flown word 'fortitude.'
'Independent of Time', 'Sadder Than Cemeteries', 'In the World of Things Without Weight' — Jodee Knowles' way with words means you won't be subjected to any pieces tediously named 'Untitled' at her show. Rather, you will feel your repressed fears and renegade obsessions begin to unravel with pieces that bring the baddening loneliness of human experience home to roost and defeather the disconsolate night owl. Born in Perth, bred in wild reverie, Knowles uses pen, acrylics and inks on paper to create large-eyed, pensive characters who wearily contemplate the horrors of an unseen dreamscape. The imagery is not new, but Knowles’ execution is precise and thoughtful. It is, indeed, the sense of nothingness within her pieces that gives them everything and recalls Mark Ryden or Lori Earley. After a bold cameo in the L.A art world, Jodee created murals in the courtyard of Friends of Leon Gallery in 2010. Her new show, Independent of Time, will offer up her latest creepy eye candy within this space once again. Image: Independent of Time, Jodee Knowles 2011
Jonathan Franzen is a controversial figure. His supremely contemptous essay, 'Perchance to Dream', lamenting the state of contemporary literature, is still a conversation starter fifteen years after it was published in Harper’s. He famously ticked off Oprah after he failed to be sufficiently thrilled that The Corrections was part of her Book Club selection, and he wrote that beautiful book of essays, How To Be Alone. His most recent novel, Freedom, was published to considerable critical acclaim, then recalled, as an early draft rather than the final proof had somehow made it to the printers. What Franzen excels at is sweeping satirical family dramas that, nonetheless, are funny enough to function as a fictive form of popular anti-depressants. The critic James Wood coined a term for his subgenre: hysterical realism. Franzen’s books are warmly peopled, and sprout stories and sub-stories on every page. His defining dread of a bookless dark, and his disdain for muted or insipid novels, found him recently featured on the cover of Time magazine – the first author deemed interesting enough to grace it since Stephen King in 2000. Franzen will be in conversation with Geordie Williamson, chief literary critic for The Australian, as part of a co-presentation with the Sydney Writers’ Festival. He and Williamson will discuss his literary influences, the direction of American tastes, and the death of the great social novel. Come to celebrate being a reader or a writer, and summon up your courage for audience Q&A.
Page One: Inside the New York Times is a fly-on-the-wall look at a year's stories and setbacks at the paper once described as "necessary proof of the world's existence". The documentary, directed by Andrew Rossi, ducks under the media desk and investigates how lay-offs, bankruptcies and digital media have dethroned America's imperial Gray Lady. It opens with a bunch of footage about newspaper closures across America, setting up the premise that print journalism's golden age is well and truly over. But make no mistake, Rossi's film is not an epitaph. Rather, it features indignant Times partisans talking entertainingly, broadly and knowledgeably about the future of the printed word in today's wired world. They passionately defend the nobility of newsprint and humanise a medium that may or may not be past its prime. Curiously, the New York Times wrote a terrible review of Page One, decreeing that it was basically a mess. It's tempting to be cynical and point out that all publicity is good publicity and a headline about the New York Times slamming an account of its own newsroom is a punchy attention-grabber. But this is beside the point. The point is that Page One is not well-structured, but given it's an account of a news industry in crisis, this is hardly surprising. There's something fitting about the fact that Rossi's camera flits from topic to topic, columnist to columnist, source to source, effectively reflecting a world where our stories so often come in random but convenient 140-character bytes.
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.
Sweet Bird Andsoforth is about a group of friends caught in that awkward place between adolescence and adulthood. Playing with the imaginary pleasures of their undecided futures, they are burning unchannelled energy in a town “where there is no common youth club, no pub and no café… and not a trace of city.” Yet it is proving a surprisingly hard place to leave. The friends are realising that, regardless of their choices, they're still going to have to continue to deal with a strange, consumerist world where it’s an act of courage to take any kind of artistic or emotional plunge. The script of Sweet Bird Andsoforth was written by a 22-year-old German playwright called Laura Naumann, and the play has never been produced - until now. Praise must go to the translator, Benjamin Winspear, for his lyrical and stimulatingly surreal dialogue, while director Laura Scrivano makes the most of a group of young actors who have energy, versatility and vivacity to burn. Hanna Sandgren's set design features a sloping stage ideally suited to drunken staggers and individualistic swaggers. The hillside slant is particularly effective when characters leave or re-appear - when Bomb (Alex Millwood) and Tiny (Geraldine Hakewill) decide to chase life's “beautiful moments” together, they quite literally leap off the edge. This original production had a three-week creative development period at Fraser Studios in 2010 before securing its four-week season as part of ATYP's Under the Wharf program. Initially developed with the support of World Interplay, it is innovative and ballsy theatre, vividly recalling a period of time we can all relate to: we've all been 18. With particularly strong performances from Geraldine Hakewill and Michael Cutrupi, it's accessible but poignant, a rare combination which engages as well as challenges the audience.
If there are seven basic plots in literature, one of them must be, 'woman has sex, everyone dies'. At least, it seems to be so among the English Renaissance dramatists. Recently in Sydney, we've seen Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus and John Ford's 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, great tragedies where incest seems to be its own genre, punishing women for their sexuality is the norm, and grotesquery reigns. Shakespeare may even be the cheeriest of his contemporaries. For theatre-makers putting on these plays today, it's imperative that they do something with the contained misogyny (Benedict Andrews dealt with Shakespeare's 'problem play' Measure for Measure, the plot of which turns on a woman's virginity, by making it madly implode — that was something) and find a relatable note for modern audiences. Bell Shakespeare's The Duchess of Malfi, adapted by Hugh Colman and Ailsa Piper from the original tragedy by John Webster, gets much closer than most, mainly because the Duchess gets to be a full character. Though she may be admired for her "noble virtue", Lucy Bell (daughter of John Bell, who directs) plays her as a self-assured woman with a humanistic moral code, a sense of humour that spans the wry and the silly, and, yes, sexuality she owns. When her brothers, the manipulative Cardinal (David Whitney) and creepily in-love-with-her Judge (Sean O'Shea), forbid the young widow to remarry, she secretly weds Antonio (Matthew Moore), steward of her household and a man widely regarded as being "too honest". Unfortunately, word is destined to get back to the brothers eventually, because they've stationed spy and assassin Daniel de Bosola (Ben Wood) at her door. Wood puts in a great performance as the hulking, ocker-toned Bosola, who gets all the best lines. The way he can pick up all the other cast members on stage is a sheer joy. Still, as much as he's an engaging character and in many ways our guide through this version of the play, he also remains frustratingly impenetrable, required to be both mercenary and bleeding heart. Trimmed down to a svelte 110 minutes without interval, this Duchess is overall a dark, insidious, and thrilling concentrate. Its minimal, nightclubby set, studded with quiet doors and ensnaring lights, facilitates the fluid way in which characters move in the text, assembling and reassembling in various permutations. The sense of doublecrossing and deceit is white hot as this punished woman and everyone she's touched go to their inevitable end. https://youtube.com/watch?v=bgy-GkSQ7Mk
"You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?" Jack Nicholson's (How Do You Know) version of the Joker asked in 1989's Batman, just because he liked the sound of it. Here's another question: have you ever seen the Tim Burton (Wednesday)-helmed, Michael Keaton (The Flash)-starring classic caped-crusader movie on the big screen with a live orchestra playing its score? Whatever your answer to the first query, you can soon respond to the second with a hearty yes. To celebrate 35 years since the superhero classic initially reached cinemas, Batman is making a silver-screen comeback Down Under to see out 2024 and start 2025 — and in each of its six stops, including in Sydney, it's giving the film's tunes the symphonic treatment. It's Batman in concert, with the movie playing the Harbour City on Friday, January 10, 2025 at ICC Sydney Theatre, complete with The Metropolitan Orchestra picking up their instruments as the flick screens. They'll be busting out Danny Elfman's Grammy-nominated score, which is just one of the feature's music highlights. The other: songs by the one and only Prince. As well as marking three-and-a-half decades since the picture debuted, these concert screenings also commemorate 85 years of the character on the page — and have been announced just as Burton and Keaton reteam again for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Keaton's stint in Bruce Wayne's slick suits by day and Batman's cape by night kicked off a big-screen four-movie series that ran from 1989–1997, and also saw Val Kilmer (Top Gun: Maverick) and George Clooney (IF) inhabit the role — a character played elsewhere by everyone from Adam West and Christian Bale (Amsterdam) to Ben Affleck (Air) and Robert Pattinson (The Batman). As part of a global tour of events, only Batman going the concert route so far, not Batman Returns, Batman Forever or Batman and Robin. If you're keen to dress up to attend, that's encouraged — and there'll also be merchandise on sale.
In A Dangerous Method, early psychoanalyst Carl Jung (Michael Fassbender) pioneers Sigmund Freud's new "talk therapy" on "hysterical" patient Sabina Spielrein (Keira Knightley). Jung, Spielrein and Freud would each, later, change the way the modern world thinks about the mind. But as the film opens in late-19th-century Zurich, Jung is an up-and-coming doctor and the Russian Spielrein is committed to his institution, kicking and screaming. Jung begins his seven-year discipleship (read: professional friendship) with Freud (Viggo Mortensen) by correspondence, coming to meet his idol in person. Spielrein heals, soon studying to become a psychoanalyst herself. Persuaded by the Dionysian philosophy of passing, sick psychoanalyst Otto Gross (Vincent Cassel), Jung allows himself to be seduced by Spielrein, who is still effectively fixated on him as her doctor. A Dangerous Method is engaging. Knightley plays Spielrein with real strength and passion, and it's hard not to become engrossed by Mortensen and Fassbinder's rugged, joint exploration of each other's psyches as Freud and Jung. Each sees his subconcious as virgin territory, to be explored and explained. Director David Cronenberg says that the pair were still exploring the ethical boundaries of therapy. But watching a preview of this film with friends and family who work in mental health, they couldn't help but feel unease at the lightness with which Jung's violation of the doctor-patient relationship gets played for a modern audience. Should Jung have known better, considering what was known at the time? "Yes, is the answer." one tells me. Nor is there enough spotlight on Spielrein, who is rarely seen away from the company of Freud or Jung. But the passion of the the three leads is reason enough to explore this turn in the early days of psychology. And A Dangerous Method remains a striking movie that lingers sharply in the mind. https://youtube.com/watch?v=P_y_oW2S65w
It begins with an ad in the classifieds: "Wanted: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. You'll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. I have only done this once before. Safety not guaranteed." Anyone who's ever seen Craigslist knows that's pretty much par for the course, but for sleazy magazine writer Jeff (Jake M. Johnson), it throws up two irresistible opportunities: an amusing puff piece during an otherwise slow news week, and a chance to hook up with an old flame living in the same town from where it was placed. He selects two interns, the dour Darius (Aubrey Plaza) and studious Arnau (Karan Soni), and together they head off to the beachside community of Ocean View to track down the advert's mysterious author. That man turns out to be Kenneth Calloway (Mark Duplass): an awkward loner and paranoid grocery story clerk who's convinced he's cracked the secret of quantum-mechanical travel. When Jeff's cynicism sees him immediately rejected as a possible partner, it falls to Darius to befriend the man based on her boss's logic that since they're both weird, perhaps they'll get along. And as it turns out, eccentric outsiders do attract just as powerfully as opposites. Darius quickly warms to Kenneth's tender idiosyncrasies, even as questions over his mental stability linger, and by the time the film builds to its inevitable climax in which Kenneth's time machine has its moment of truth, you come to realise you no longer even care if it works. Like 2012's other sci-fi hit Looper, this is a time-travel movie where the time travel is entirely incidental to the storyline and characters. Just as Looper explored the 'what' of the concept (what consequences might time travel bring, intended or otherwise?), Safety Not Guaranteed asks 'why?'. Why would you go back, assuming you could, and why yearn for second chances when new and possibly better opportunities keep showing up right in front of you? Regret, of course, is the answer, and it's what drives each of the film's four principals, from Kenneth's literal time travel to Jeff's symbolic one — seeking out his high school sweetheart in the hope of recapturing faded former glories. It's a film of excellent performances all round, but Plaza offers the standout. Her disillusioned 20-something shtick initially plays like a cut-and-paste job from Parks and Recreation; however, she imbues Darius with an unexpected depth and warmth that utterly enchants. Duplass is also fantastic, making Kenneth feel somehow terribly familiar for a person we've almost certainly never met. Soni and Johnson provide fine supporting performances, and all four characters develop wonderfully over the 85 minutes in a testament to the actors and screenwriter alike. Safety Not Guaranteed is an inspired and heartwarming tale that's almost certainly the surprise indie hit of the year. https://youtube.com/watch?v=73jSnAs7mq8
The bomb has dropped: Gorillaz are packing their virtual suitcases for a first-ever tour of Australia. Mysterious bass player Murdoc Niccals, demonic drummer Russel Hobbs, girly guitarist Noodle (who was rumored to be dead) and lead vocalist 2D (real name Stu-Pot) will be boarding an ex-military chopper to cross the Atlantic for their Escape to Plastic Beach tour in December. The brainchild of cartoonist Jamie Hewlett (best known for the cult comic book series Tank Girl) and king of Brit-Pop Daman Albarn, Gorillaz are the "first virtual hip-hop group" of our time, brought to life by stunning anime style animation and fascinating fictional narratives. Having recently played Glastonbury and Coachella with special guests Lou Reed, Mick Jones & Paul Simonon, Mos Def, and Bobby Womack, it's anyone's guess who the Gorillaz might end up people-smuggling into Oz — Snoop Dogg, perhaps? Performing tracks from all three of their critically acclaimed albums (Gorillaz, Demon Days and Plastic Beach) this tour will include a dynamic production featuring multi-media video animation, artwork and film. As Murdoc says: "A phantasmagoria of sounds, colours and assaults on the senses." Gorillaz play Sydney Entertainment Centre on December 16th,. Tickets go on sale August 6th. https://youtube.com/watch?v=ijHySaJQUEs
Award-winning playwright Jamila Main is bringing their immersive theatre piece Benched to the Darlinghurst Theatre Company for its NSW premiere. Running for four nights in May at the beloved theatre company's Eternity Playhouse, Benched was featured at Midsumma Festival earlier this year after sold-out debut seasons in South Australia in 2021. The intimate and immensely honest play is centred around Main who sits on a bench on stage alongside a ball, a frisbee and a shoe — all of which have their own unique story. Six audience members join Main on the bench throughout the show, selecting an item and engaging in a dialogue on the relationship between athleticism and disability. "I have a dynamic disability, my mobility and pain changes from day to day, hour to hour. I wanted to create an intimate show that feels epic in its emotional proportions; a chance where I can sit on the bench and share truths about disability we rarely have the opportunity to tell or hear," said Main. "I was originally commissioned to make a performance work for a couple of hundred bucks for a one-off night of experimental art in Adelaide, commissioned by FELTspace Gallery. At the time, I was going through a horrible flare-up. I made Benched in my bathtub, meditating on my true childhood memories of sport and athleticism, in contrast to my current declining mobility." There are a few different types of tickets available for Benched. Firstly, you can purchase a General Admission ticket ($32) which means you'll get to sit in the audience and enjoy the show. You can also join Main on the bench ($42) for ten minutes during the show before watching the remainder with the GA audience. Or, you can book in an intimate one-on-one session on the bench during a special session with no observers that'll be happening from 2pm on Thursday, May 26. There are also live stream tickets available for $10. Alongside the play, mixed media artist Ruby Allegra will be transforming the theatre's foyer into an exhibition space with works that compliment and reflect the themes of Benched. "I am exploring the joyful and painful moments of disabled childhood through the curation of works by disabled artists as they consider their younger self, or their inner child," said Allegra. [caption id="attachment_853749" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Lily Drummond[/caption] Top image: Ren Williams
This Saturday, October 29, what will you be doing? If the answer isn't celebrating the Mexican Day of the Dead holiday, then you might have to re-evaluate your plans because Espolón Tequila is having a party on the last Saturday of October. The traditional Day of the Dead holiday actually runs over two separate days on November 1 and 2, when it's believed that the souls of those who have passed to the underworld can come back to visit. Families in Mexico and Latin America (and around the world) come together to welcome their loved ones back with their favourite food, drinks, candles, flowers and incense to celebrate the meaningful holiday. Espolón tequila is handcrafted and distilled by artisans in the Los Altos region of Mexico, which makes it the perfect drink to celebrate the Day of the Dead with. The celebration at Taylor's kicks off at 8pm — that's when they'll start mixing up a whole menu of margaritas. It's free to attend — and they'll have Day of the Dead face painters on hand to help you out with an authentic costume.
Looking for the paw-fect way to spend a Sunday with your dog in Sydney? Head to BrewDog at the South Eveleigh Precinct with your four-legged friend, and you and your fur baby can be immortalised at a Pooch Portrait session. From Sunday, August 11, until the beginning of September, Brewdog patrons can get a complimentary photo portrait of their dog. A cartoonist will also be on deck drawing caricatures and there will even be an instant photo booth, so you and your photogenic Fido can capture some candid memories together. Don't have your own dog but still love giving pats? Head down to the Interchange Pavilion in South Eveleigh on Wednesday, August 28 between midday and 2pm and you'll find an adorable puppy party where you can cuddle up with a pup. For us humans, playing with puppies can reduce stress and promote relaxation, while stimulation and exercise have myriad benefits for the pooch, so it's a win-win all round. Pooch Portraits and Puppy Playtime are both part of South Eveleigh precinct's month-long winter series of events. "We've loved curating such a community-focused and immersive winter program that really showcases the vibrant precinct of South Eveleigh," Jamie Toko, Portfolio Manager of Mirvac said. "We encourage locals and visitors to enjoy the precinct and take the opportunity to eat and drink at some of our fantastic restaurants and cafes, explore our gardens and community spaces and tour the historic buildings, all while learning something new via these unique activities."
The Sydney Fringe Festival has announced its 2016 program, and this year its thematic sprawl is matched only by its geographical reach. With Festival Director Kerri Glasscock placing emphasis on the importance of discovering "new places, sounds, people and genres", this year's Fringe comprises over 300 ticketed events and commandeers close to 50 venues over 11 suburbs throughout the city. Darlinghurst will be one of the first suburbs to find itself under creative governance. To celebrate the opening of the festival, Fringe will take over Stanley Street for an epic street party on Saturday, September 3. Fringe Ignite will see shops, bars and cafes on the strip transformed into pop-up live music and performance venues, all of which will be curated by Grammy-nominated jazz pianist and composer Barney McAll. It's also followed by a drag disco at Oxford Street's Midnight Shift from 9pm. And that's just the start of it. This year, the festival will run from 1-30 September with a series of coordinated artistic invasions taking place throughout the month. Performances hit all points of the compass, from Melita Rowson's Giant Worm Show to the 17-piece Sirens Big Band. Rose Callaghan's Attention Deficit…Ooh a Pony! is just one plank in a raft of comedy acts, while dance and visual arts are strongly represented by Melbourne City Ballet and Polixeni Papapetrou, respectively. The Yoganauts — four heroes who introduce kids to the superpower of yoga, naturally — will be returning to ensure younger audiences lose their minds too. On the Thursday, August 11, musician and Festival ambassador Elana Stone will spearhead the carving out of a new artistic precinct along Parramatta Road. Aptly named Off Broadway, an army of local independent artists will descend to reinvigorate a part of the city that is often mistaken for the Soviet Union. Close by, the beautiful new Camperdown Commons urban farm site will also become a vassal state to the arts with a range of events, and Camperdown Park will host a vintage cricket picnic. The festival isn't going out with anything other than a bang either. The closing weekend will see last year's sold out Silent Dinner Party — where diners eat a three-course meal in total silence — will make a return, and, for the first time ever, Fringe will host a mini music festival at Glebe's waterfront Bicentennial Park. The call is to party, but make no mistake – this is annexation by art. Batten down the hatches or pledge your allegiance to culture in the streets this September. For the full Sydney Fringe Festival program, visit sydneyfringe.com. Image: Belina Dipalo.
There is something to be said in this modern age for a bookstore that is filled with customers at all times of the year, not just at peak present-buying periods. Independent bookstore Better Read Than Dead is one such store. The shop, which has been in Newtown since 1996, is one of the most revered literary lands in Sydney and arguably a strong factor in why the city's literary community is thriving. The seemingly never-ending walls of books seem like a positive challenge to explore rather than a daunting one. The shelves are lined with little place-cards that highlight staff recommendations; the fact that there are so many glowing reviews indicates the quality of titles that are stocked. It regularly hosts literary events from book launches to high tea with authors. Soon to come are literary tours where book-lovers will take expertly-guided tours in key literary gems around the world, from Paris to America's Deep South, retracing famous authors footsteps and immersing themselves into the local culture. Image: James Horan
Neighbourhood florist Penny Clarke prides herself on transforming space with floral designs. Operating out of a store in Leichhardt Flowers on Norton St can craft flower arrangements to suit any occasion, be it a garden party, wedding or a grand romantic gesture. The experienced team builds bespoke bouquets for customers, in store or online, from as little as $40 a bunch. There are posies of sweet peas, hardy Australian eucalypts, or bunches that pop with colour. Scale up to a medium-sized ($60) or large ($90), or, if you're planning something special, order locally grown roses, white and pink lilies or blushing orchids starting from $100. [caption id="attachment_776128" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Cassandra Hannagan[/caption] You'll also find a selection of plants like peace lilies and monstera, hand creams and soaps, blocks of handmade chocolates and candles. Images: Cassandra Hannagan.
Every meal is a happy meal at Queenies. But returning next month is the happiest meal of all: Queenies' Annual Stoner Dinner. The second such dinner in as many years, it's themed 'MacQueenies' and pays homage to that ever-reliable late-night institution that we will always have a soft spot in our hearts for: McDonald's. For $50 a pop, you'll forget what munchies even are with a finger-lickin' good seven-course MacMenu, including an obligatory double dessert (!!). The kitchen is putting a highly creative spin on your Golden Arches faves, serving up courses like Ditched Pickles with mustard salt and cheese fondue, a Little Big Feast, a Rib Mac Patty made from jerk pork parts and 'Smoked Chicken Nuggets' with "all the sauces". But how can Queenies beat Macca's desserts? With French Fries Ice Cream shot through with cookie swirl, that's how. And, leaving the Granny Smiths at home, the MacQueenies Deep Fried Pie combines drool-inducing guava, custard apple and jerk custard. Promising more satisfied bellies than ever, Queenies' Stoner Dinner is a tradition you'll want to make a habit. Give in to your wildest cravings and book it. To reserve a spot email bookings@queenies.com.au or call (02) 9212 3035.
A new small bar is set to open in Crows Nest this week, and it's specialising in something a little different for the lower north shore: cognac. Hendriks is set to open this Friday, August 21, with more than 30 cognacs from around the globe, as well as cognac-based cocktails and a 100 bottle-strong wine list. Hendricks is run by Crows Nest locals Jakob Overduin and James Knight (who own a creative agency in the same building as the bar) and named after Overduin's father — a big lover of the bar's namesake booze. The duo has signed on Edward Wright as the venue's bar manager, who previously worked as a personal butler at The Goring in London serving some seriously high-profile customers. [caption id="attachment_780597" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Steven Woodburn[/caption] For those who are already into cognac, the small bar offers some extra special drops, such as Frapin VIP XO Grande Champagne, Hennessy XO and a 20-year-old Frapin Millésime Premier Cru Grande Champagne. These nips will cost you a pretty penny, though, ranging from $32–42 a piece. Those new to the French brandy can test the waters with one of the 24 cocktails, including three made with Hennessy: Hendriks (Cointreau, Fireball, fresh orange and pineapple), the Between The Sheets (rum, orange curaçao and lemon juice) and The Major (grapefruit and lemon juice, house-spiced honey syrup, basil and chipotle powder). Apart from the cognac-based sips, you'll find riffs on classics like an old fashioned and a gingerbread espresso martini. [caption id="attachment_780606" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Steven Woodburn[/caption] The extensive wine menu also offers a whopping 23 by the glass — and even more on Sundays, when early-birds can choose to open any bottle to enjoy by the pour. To pair with the wine, there's a six-cheese board for two, along with charcuterie and small plates like mac 'n' cheese croquettes, cheeseburger spring rolls, chilli con carne empanadas and duck pâté with shiraz butter. While the snacks are all good and well, the highlight is the giant jaffles, which are made using loaves from Crows Nest local St Malo Bakery. Choose from the cognac-marinated mushroom; cognac-caramelised shallots and cheese; beef patty with aged cheddar; and a chicken, porcini and speck jaffle with cognac comté for between $18–23. All of these are then drizzled with brandy for good measure. Banoffee and Nutella dessert jaffles bring a sweet touch to the menu, too. Find Hendriks Cognac & Wine at 5/29 Holtermann Street, Crows Nest from Friday, August 21. It'll be open from 12–10pm Tuesday–Saturday and 12–8pm Sunday. Images: Steven Woodburn
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.
Don't let the sporadic showers fool you — summer is most definitely on its way. It's time to pull your beachwear out from the depths of your cupboard, dust off your tatty straw hat and prepare for three months of good food, good music and stunning sunshine. Heineken are celebrating the launch of the new low-carb Heineken 3 and hosting a series of Sunday sessions at Watsons Bay Boutique Hotel from December 4 until January 28. Look forward to great music, cold beer and beautiful views of the sun setting over Sydney's stunning harbour. On January 29 model, TV presenter and Channel V star Demi Bryant will be guest DJ-ing as DJ Demi, and she will bring the vibes to your favourite beachside bar. Gather your crew and head down to Watsons Bay for some post-swim snacks and a cold drink. Heineken 3 buckets are available, on special, and served from a Heineken bike.
Mockumentaries tend to get a bit of a bad rap in critical circles. 'Lazy filmmaking' is the most common smear, and — to be fair — they are a far gentler form of screenwriting than an out-and-out screenplay. They've also experienced massive growth in recent years, most notably in television, with the likes of Modern Family, The Office and Summer Heights High all achieving both popular and critical success. In film, This Is Spinal Tap set the benchmark way back in 1984 and has reigned supreme ever since — an 11 out of 10, if you will. The newest edition in the genre is What We Do In The Shadows, a collaboration between writer/directors Taika Waititi and Flight of the Conchords' Jemaine Clement. Billed as "a couple of interviews with a couple of vampires", it's a fly on the wall 'documentary' about four vampires sharing a flat in present-day New Zealand and is, quite simply, hilarious. The subjects of the film are: Viago (Waititi), an 18th-century dandy whose anal retentiveness makes him 'that' flatmate; Vlad (Clement), a legendary Lothario and formerly prolific hypnotist; Deacon (Jonathan Brugh), the self-proclaimed 'sexy one'; and Petyr (Ben Fransham) an ancient vampire from the early days. Key to its appeal is the way What We Do In The Shadows presents the needs, problems and activities of vampires as entirely commonplace. It makes them immediately relatable, treating something like the accidental puncturing of a victim's jugular and subsequent living room mess with no more pomp or fanfare than a spilled drink on a beige couch. The flatmates cruise the clubs of Wellington seeking victims like others seek a one night stand, they jeer each other on when a back-alley argument descends into a 'bat fight', and they projectile vomit blood when they absentmindedly eat actual food. Yes, they've their share of 'vampire' problems (sunlight, vampire hunters, etc), but also more normal ones, like having to tell your best friend you're the undead and suppressing the unceasing desire to kill him. What We Do in the Shadows also comes in at the welcome length of just 87 minutes, but its brevity doesn't come at the expense of jokes. It's packed with laughs, both visual and scripted, as well as offering a decent dose of improv (a common trait for mockumentaries). There's also more than a bit of horror and gore (so much so that with minimal tweaking this could easily have been reshaped as a solid B-grade scary film), yet there's no fear of fear thanks to the unbroken procession of gags. If this is lazy filmmaking, then bring on the trackies and couch surfing, because it suits us just fine. Check out Concrete Playground NZ's interview with Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Cv568AzZ-i8
The Sydney Comedy Festival began in 2005, and since then it has grown big enough, not necessarily to give Melbourne a run for it's money, but to provide Sydney with the much needed laughs it so rightly deserves. Now firmly established, the festival is attracting some of the best international acts as well as inspiring local talent to have a go at getting up on stage and make fools of themselves for the sake of hilarity. The festival aims to celebrate local talent and to foster a healthy home-grown comedy base, with programs such as Fresh and One Minute Comedy Wonders helping to develop emerging performers. And with shows all over the place, from bigger venues like The Enmore Theatre and The Factory Theatre, to smaller ones like Newtown bar Corridor, there's a heap of different stuff to pick and choose from this year. 2011's full program includes British acts Stephen K. Amos and Danny Bhoy, who are thankfully regulars to Australia and completely worth seeing. Other hilarious international acts include Gina Yashere, Nina Conti and Jason Byrne, who may or may not put you in a cardboard box and yell at you. There's also a host of local talent, including Lawrence Leung and Triple J's Cloud Girls. Also on the bill are one-off events like That One Story and I Heart Impromance, which look set to plump out what has become a very welcome addition to Sydney's festival calendar. https://youtube.com/watch?v=CJQU22Ttpwc
PJ Harvey is a musical darling of long-standing reputation, first making a name for herself in the early nineties as a raven-haired siren with a crooked smile and a heart-shaped face. Over the twenty-odd years she's been in business, her music has evolved in ever more stunning and heart-wrenching directions, with her most recent output, 2011's Let England Shake, being the fastest selling and certainly one of the most praised albums of her entire career. Recorded in a 19th century church on a cliff-top in Dorset, Harvey's home county, Let England Shake earned her the prestigious Mercury Music Prize for the second time since 2001's Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea. This made her the only artist to ever receive the award twice, beating out the likes of James Blake and Adele much to the consternation of some very foolish folk. Now, PJ Harvey returns to Australia for the first time since 2008 as the musical headline for this year's Sydney Festival. Her Sydney Festival performance will feature many of the songs on Let England Shake as well as work from her past albums, all of which are worth a listen. She will be joined on the stage of the magnificent State Theatre with long-time collaborators Mick Harvey, John Parish and Jean-Marc Butty. The performances are likely to be some of the best you will ever see, so we highly recommend getting along to see her if you've got your wits about you. https://youtube.com/watch?v=Va0w5pxFkAM
Spare a thought for the St George OpenAir Cinema team, the folks behind one of Sydney's favourite outdoor cinema spots. When picking their summertime lineup each year, they're battling fierce visual competition: Mrs Macquaries Point's spectacular panoramic view of the city. Accordingly, every movie that graces the cinema's big screen has to hold its own against the stunning sights glittering away behind it. Don't worry — boasting everything from Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep in the newspaper trade to Greta Gerwig's latest effort as a director, their 2018 program achieves that feat. Kicking off on January 7 and running until February 17, the outdoor cinema's new season commences with the Australian premiere of The Post, which sees America's nicest actor and the Oscars' most nominated actress join forces for filmmaker Steven Spielberg. It's just one of the movies making sure it'll be starry not only in the sky above, but on the 350-square-metre screen rising from the harbour. And with lineup featuring the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis in Paul Thomas Anderson's fashion flick Phantom Thread, Margot Robbie hitting the ice in I, Tonya, Jessica Chastain playing a poker kingpin in Molly's Game, the first film directed by Aussie actor Simon Baker, and a session of Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi under the stars, it well and truly delivers. The list goes on during OpenAir's 43-night-season, thanks to previews of Gerwig's aforementioned Lady Bird before it hits regular theatres; the latest flick from Veep's Armando Iannucci, The Death of Stalin; Guillermo del Toro's monster romance, The Shape of Water; and Ridley Scott's newly re-cast kidnapping drama All the Money in the World. Or, revisit Blade Runner 2049 in scenic surroundings, watch Liam Neeson wreak havoc on a train in The Commuter, or settle in for 50 Shades Freed (hey, if you've been keeping up with the franchise so far, you might as well catch the final movie). Off-screen, expect culinary stars to join the fold as well, with OpenAir partnering with Matt Moran's Chiswick. They'll be delivering a signature menu to hungry movie-goers each and every night during the cinema's 2018 run — but with 2000 patrons expected every evening, expect them to be busy. Speaking of, when tickets become available at 9am on Monday, December 11, they're likely to go quick. Last year, more than 30,000 tickets sold within the first 30 minutes of sale. St George Openair Cinema 2018 runs from January 7 to February 17. Tickets are on sale at 9am on Monday, December 11. Visit the website for updates, or follow them on Facebook and Twitter.
Patrick White is an Australian national treasure. Or at least, so we're told; he's hardly read among Gen Ys and even Gen Xers. Conducting an impromptu poll among under-30s, I found only one person who had read Patrick White, and that was because his name, too, was Patrick White, and he felt obliged. However, that might be about to change, with one of White's novels finally adapted to the screen, 38 years after it was written and 21 years after his death. The Eye of the Storm is delightfully wry, distinctly antipodean and surprisingly affecting. It makes you feel alive to the depth of Australian stories we've yet to plumb. The film has also, significantly, roped in the great Australian talents of actors Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis and director Fred Schepisi (Fierce Creatures), so you'll definitely be paying attention. The Eye of the Storm joins Elizabeth Hunter (Charlotte Rampling), the matriarch of an ultra-elite Australian family of the kind we like to kid ourselves we left back in Britain, on her sick bed, where she is in a declining state following a stroke. Her adult children are on their way from Europe to join her. Basil (Rush) is a London-based stage actor of enough repute to have earned a knighthood. Dorothy (Davis) is a princess of some French-speaking outpost, married name de Lascabanes, who's impending divorce will leave her with a title but no assets. They're both purposely late and care most demonstratively for their inheritance. They have all the hallmarks of success and don't know how to live without them. They struggle to flip a steak or feel real love. They call everyone, including their mother, "darling". She calls them her "great disappointments". The Hunter family may be shallow people, but White and Schepisi have found depth enough in them to make you mourn for the tragedy of their misspent lives. Their emotional journeys are contrasted and elucidated by those of other characters who have become interwoven with them, especially comely nurse Flora (Alexandra Schepisi), who sees her affair with Basil as her ticket out of dullsville; housekeeper Lotte (Helen Morse), who will suffer for Elizabeth's pleasure; and Arnold (John Gaden) and Lal (Robyn Nevin), a couple who's lifelong employment/friendship with the Hunters has brought them few rewards. In Australia, we've come to think we're all part of the aspirational class. And perhaps mostly we are Floras: we all want to get famous or have Geoffrey Rush's babies. But it's a rare Australian story that even acknowledges the existence of different classes in our society, let alone so thoroughly excavates the effects of privilege or dares to sympathise with the indecently rich. To have done it with so much fun is what makes Eye of the Storm truly worth seeing.
The writing of Arthur Miller still feels exhilarating. Working in the mid-20th century (sometimes while playing husband to Marilyn Monroe), he crafted American suburban dramas that expound on the great incompatibilities of family, capitalism, morality and social responsibility. In that way, they're basically the postwar generation's Breaking Bad. And, as we presume will be the case with BB, his works have a lot of wit, wisdom and heartache to impart to audiences 60 years on. All My Sons, Miller's first commercially successful play, follows a neighbourhood reunion in the American mid-west. The joy and nostalgia of the moment is darkened by secrets, upsets and deceptions planted long ago. Everything revolves around the household of Joe Keller (Marshall Napier) and his wife, Kate (Toni Scanlan). His grown-up son, Chris (Andrew Henry) is back in the house to greet Anne (Meredith Penman), who may as well be family — she's Chris's childhood friend, his MIA brother's former girlfriend and the daughter of Joe's former business partner. She'll be even further embedded in the family if Chris's planned marriage proposal is accepted. There are obstacles: Kate still believes her son Larry will return from war and she won't entertain notions otherwise. Anne's brother, George (Anthony Gooley), is on his way with a message from his jailed father. The endless stream of neighbours traversing the Kellers' lawns has a way of stirring the pot. And there are those pesky, swirling secrets. This production of All My Sons is inaugurating a brand-new theatre space in Sydney, the Eternity Playhouse, the new home of the Darlinghurst Theatre Company. It's great to see Sydney's theatre scene expanding so — the venue (created with the City of Sydney and Tonkin Zulaikha Greer architects) looks smashing and this show is an auspicious beginning. While the production is quite staid — period costume, literal staging, none of that 'director's theatre' jazz that so irks some people about recent projects at STC and Belvoir — it's done very, very well. And it's right that there should be a space for that sort of traditional, playwright-centred theatre in Sydney (though that's not all that's going on at the Darlinghurst Theatre Company. The 2014 season includes a show titled The Motherf**ker in the Hat, so it's not all that stuffy). It's the performances from the stellar cast that make All My Sons so exceptionally riveting. The permutations of characters on stage are constantly shifting, and with each actor's entrance comes a new, different wave of energy that perks you up in your seat. It helps that this dynamic is hardwired into the script, with characters constantly gossiping about whoever's not present so as to prod your anticipation. Napier is a commanding presence in a role that recalls his work as that other American patriarch, Big Daddy, earlier in the year. A touch of vulnerability is essential to pulling off Joe, however, and Napier handles that balance with finesse. Scanlan is an equal wonder as Kate, who always knows more and exerts more control than you think she can — until the moment she can't. It's a big cast, and under the direction of Iain Sinclair, no-one lets the side down. I could take or leave the production and sound design, by Luke Ede and Nate Edmondson respectively. Two gaping entrances in the back wall prove a confusing and pointless distraction (if they're a permanent feature of the configuration, well, good luck with that, future Eternity set designers), while the cascading white clapboard background does not inspire the imagination as was intended. The sound design often interferes in an obvious fashion, with the swelling music in the show's climax the worst offender. Nevertheless, All My Sons is a joy. Go see a timeless tale and welcome a theatre honouring Eternity. Image by Brett Boardman.
Start prepping your prank calls: Moe’s Tavern is coming to town. From May 23-30, the first floor of the Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel will turn into Homer Simpson's favourite drinking den. And, of course, the go-to destination for Krusty Burgers, Duffalo Wings, Lard Lad Donuts and Duff Beer. The pop-up is in honour of the fact that Australia is about to add Duff Beer — the official version — to its bottle shop shelves. You may well have seen fakes masquerading about the place, but this is the real thing. It’s being described as “superbly crafted with a perfect balance of flavour and refreshment featuring a deep golden colour with caramel aromatics and a hint of fruit”. It’s perhaps a more poetic description than Homer might have conjured up. His song of praise went something along the lines of, “I enjoy the great taste of Duff; Yes, Duff is the only beer for me; Smooth, creamy Duff ... Zzzzzzzz.” From May 28, you’ll be able to take it home (and write your own verse), for $17 a six-pack of 355ml cans and/or $45 a case. You’ll find it at BWS or Dan Murphy's. Via 2Day FM.
If you don’t enjoy Lego and Ikea, there’s something wrong with you. Having ransacked a Scandinavian storeroom, Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro are back to meditate on our materialist existence. Venereal Architecture at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery is a collection of bright and beautiful sculptures. But while everything is glossy and geometrically precise, there’s also a twinge of something a little menacing. Healy and Cordeiro are sculptors of the readymade. They dig up found objects and mix them into new formations. You may recall some of their playful reinventions, such as the colourful wall of Ikea furniture propping up a dinosaur skeleton. This was featured at the MCA in 2012. Indeed, the Swedish mega-brand has been a long-held source of inspiration. There’s also an instinct to catalogue that runs throughout their practice. It’s as if they are attempting to archive the present, creating an orderly arrangement of excess. The sculptures featured in this exhibition are Lego-built animals combined with Ikea furniture. There’s a tortoise wedged under a glass coffee table, a lion guarding a baby’s changing table, and — my favourite — a speckled black octopus coiled around a yellow chair. It’s as if these rainbow-coloured creatures have been tamed and slotted into a showroom. In fact, some unions look to be a bit sinister. For example, there’s a deer violently pierced by an Ikea trestle. The animal is quite literally bolted down, forcibly domesticated. A big theme for these artists is the way in which we manipulate our surroundings. They shatter words like ‘custom’ and ‘unique,’ satirising society’s veneration of banal objects and trendy furnishings. In fact, the sculptures are decorated with perfectly manicured pot plants, some with little blankets of brown Lego soil. While this is super cute, it also highlights our preference to imitate nature, to aestheticise it and pair it with a matching decor. Although the connection Healy and Cordeiro draw between Ikea and sex may feel a little whimsical at first, it’s interesting to think about the link between carnal desire and consumerism. Their Lego portraits are vaguely discernable sex acts — physically pixelated and named after Ikea products. The fact that they are made of cheap, hard and mass produced plastic may parallel the sad state of sex industry, rife with exploitation. In sifting through the junk of everyday life, Healy and Cordeiro critique the ins and outs of first world living, from the oversupply of flat-packed dream homes to the porn industry. In many ways, Venereal Architecture pulls towards something a little more disturbing than is first expected. By scratching beneath the surface, these artists engage with globalisation in thought-provoking ways. Serious stuff aside, I love the simple parallel between crafting a fantasy home as a child with Lego and graduating to an adult level of assemblage through Ikea. Goes to show, this exhibition ain’t just bogged down in weighty issues; it’s good fun too.
Sitting in the front rows of the SBW Stables, your feet possibly on the stage, you're always somehow part of the show, and its best plays remind you of this brilliant awkwardness. In the party you're invited to tonight, you're a wallflower struggling to read the lips of two pairs of new acquaintances who are just out of earshot, secluded by pop music, easily bewitching and clearly starting something. When the music cuts out, they're in hotel rooms about to cheat on their spouses. Their conversations, like their rooms, overlap and sometimes, pointedly, intercut. Affairs are all the same. But the unhappy couplings around them, we're about to see, are each unhappy in their own dark and somewhat Lynchian ways. Griffin aren't dawdling in season 2011; they're playing their trump card in the very first hand, remounting one of the most successful works to ever premiere on its stage. First put on in 1996, Andrew Bovell's Speaking in Tongues went on to win an AWGIE, build renown through performances the world over and, five years later, be adapted by the playwright into the even more successful, AFI-sweeping film Lantana. It's a now classic text of adultery, mystery, death and deceit that builds a meaningful (although, by current trends at least, insanely coincidental) web among its nine characters, in four couples, portrayed by four actors (Lucy Bell, Caroline Craig, Andy Rodoreda and Christopher Stollery). There's an Australian forthrightness among its intricate, theatrey flourishes, and it comes out intensely poetic in both language and structure: a philandering husband "smells like the backyard of a petrol station, like the sweat of another woman"; a man with a pair of beautiful brown brogues returns to break your heart. This production, directed by Griffin's fresh artistic director, Sam Strong, harnesses the full power latent in the script and allows its cast to distinguish each of their conflicted individual characters and make a devastating impression in the moments they move as one. The extra oomph comes from the use of set (designed by Dayna Morrissey). The first act's contemporarily sparse, greige, catch-all interior punctuated by an ample pouffe is in the second stripped to the abstract to evoke mystery and death through haze and ash-like floors, and it hides a surprise. The effect of sharing this small space with these actors and these interactions is completely consuming, and the best way to start your theatregoing year.
Equal parts indie-pop and '60s nostalgia, the world of Belle & Sebastian is one of bookish girls, lovelorn boys and shy awkward teenagers who skip school, hide behind their hair and practice in secret as part-time punks. Now the beloved Glaswegian musical collective are back in Sydney for one night and one night only, and playing the Opera House Concert Hall to boot. Last year saw the release of their eighth album, Write About Love, drawing on the music of '60s girl-groups, '80s indie and classic pop, and marking a return to the sounds of Tigermilk and If You're Feeling Sinister, which made their name in the mid-'90s. Long-term fans will be pleased to know that the earlier stuff is promised to be included in the set list. I'm going to throw objectivity to the winds and come right out and tell you that I saw Belle & Sebastian when they were last in Sydney in 2006, and it was without doubt the best gig I have ever seen. Lead singer Stuart Murdoch performs with the kind of awkward charm that makes you want to leap up and hug him. They pull girls up on stage to act out role plays and romance with the band as they play, and make you understand why their consistently brilliant music has inspired over a decade's worth of adoration. You should go see them. https://youtube.com/watch?v=GuKuw71YBbI
We've all been disappointed by express post services at one time or another. But your own bureaucratic blip falls into perspective when you see Sameday Service or Sooner (2008), a life-size TARDIS flat-packed for shipping. The mobility of the Doctor Who police box, capable of travelling anywhere in time and space, has been absurdly inverted upon contact with our current best method of conveyance. Like so much of the work of Claire Healy and Sean Cordeiro, it makes you laugh, then it makes you think, and then it makes your brain hurt a little. This is the first major museum survey of the two Sydney-based artists, who have developed a rich catalogue of work since starting their collaboration in 2001, while fresh out of art school. It's one room that captures their probing spirit and insists on the relevance of contemporary art to our everyday lives. You don't need to have written or even read a thesis on conceptual art to relate to their playful works, which commonly use found objects that have iconic status in ways that render the items foreign, ridiculous, or redundant. Typical is Future Remnant (2011), an arrangement of IKEA furniture assembled beneath the bones of a replica dinosaur fossil. The colourful tower is suggestive of our culture of disposability and impermanence as well as of the potentially bizarre archaeological legacy we will leave for someone to one day dig up. The idea of archaeologising the present, and so viewing it from a distant perspective, recurs in Healy and Cordeiro's work, starting with their very first, Cordial Home Project (2003), which took apart a whole suburban house and rearranged it into layers of like materials reminiscent of geological strata. The looming family home, it turns out, is surprisingly small. IKEA is a constant source of inspiration and materials here, but the duo's most impressive works are the large-scale installations that defy the allen key. Don't miss Stasis (2012), the new commission on the quayside lawn that points an orange aircraft at the MCA.
The history of opal mining in Lightning Ridge dates back to the 1880s, when miners discovered valuable gemstones hidden beneath the earth's surface. You can get a thorough education on these mineral-like creations at The Big Opal – the first opal mine licensed to open to the public. While there are stunning handcrafted pieces to admire in the gallery, taking a tour underground provides a more immersive perspective. With this place operating as a working mine for much of the year, wandering the sandstone tunnels offers a glimpse into this century-old treasure trove. You can even try your hand at fossicking while you're there, too. Image: John, Flickr
Charles Dickens was more familiar with humanity's taste for idle gossip and scandal than most. Nevertheless, he may have been surprised to discover the amount of his private life that's been publicly aired in the 21st century — a carefully concealed extramarital affair, for instance. This new play by Sport for Jove touches on another little-known aspect of Dickens' days — his founding of a home for 'fallen' women — and its residents. In the 1840s a handful of women with pasts they're told they'd rather forget, spend their remaining weeks in London practicing the Victorian arts of being 'ladylike' — needlepoint, cooking and cleaning. They are bound for Australia, destined, so they are told, for a fresh start. But as the departure date nears, they begin to wonder if the opportunity is quite what it seems. Fallen's London may be devoid of Dickens' iconic characters, but it also foregoes the simple morality of many of his tales. Instead, it offers a look at the way 19th century society brought shame on women who were driven to, or chose to take unconventional paths. Image: Sarah Walker.
This Sydney Festival, you can explore this vast, light-filled inflated labyrinth of winding paths and soaring domes at Tumbalong Park in Darling Harbour. Nottingham (UK) artists Architects of Air have created (and, impressively, handmade) the blow-up maze, which features overwhelming domes inspired by natural forms, geometric solids and Islamic and Gothic architecture. The beaming colours you see is light streaming in from the outside, so it's best to visit this neon-looking artwork in the middle of the day for the full effect. This sensory wonderland is free to enjoy. It's open from 10am–6pm Monday to Wednesday, and until 5pm Thursday to Sunday. If you want to skip the queue or get access 6.30pm and 7pm sessions, you can nab a ticket for $20. There will also be special relaxed sessions for those with access needs, on January 16 and 23. Check out our video below for what to expect. Images: Reuben Gibbes and Alan Parkinson. First published: November 4, 2019. Updated: January 14, 2020.
Sydney's much loved Marrickville nursery PlantGirl is ushering in spring with a massive sale across its entire in-store and online range of low-maintenance beauties. Every plant in the place (and on the website) will be 20-percent off for one week from Monday, September 7 through midnight on Friday, September 11. In store, you can get your hands on ficus ruby, fiddle leaf figs and large dracaena janet craig plants. Online, there are spider plants, birds of paradise, dragon tails and golden barrel cacti — to name a few. PlantGirl is run by inner west local Felicity Keep, who wants to add a bit of quirk to your indoor plant game. Customers can mix-and-match any combo of plant and pot, with the goal of creating a highly styled, personalised gift or cute new green baby for yourself — with predominately hard-to-kill plants on offer. And the nursery is now open daily, so you can get your plant fix any day of the week. For those still after delivery, PlantGirl continues to offer door-to-door service within a ten-kilometre radius of their Marrickville shop, which includes all of the inner west and the CBD, plus a chunk of the eastern suburbs and a bit of North Sydney and the lower north shore, too. You can check out the map on the store's website. If you order before 11am, you can opt for same-day delivery on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. But, when the weekend rolls around, the only place you'll be able to get your hands on these goods is in store. The PlantGirl Spring Sale runs from Monday, September 7–Friday, September 11, both in-store and online.
