Arts

Claire Foxton and Mikey Freedom talk about bringing mural art to Shellharbour

Not too long ago we chatted to street artist Alex Lehours about his mural work. Specifically his Deadpool piece outdoors in the city streets of Sydney. How then can mural artists transplant to a more regional setting, but with more freedom to explore space? Artists Claire Foxton and Mikey Freedom have been given the canvas of Holm Place…

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Confluence – Festival of India announces full event program for Sydney dates

During September and October, Confluence – Festival of India will stage events across Sydney, showcasing some of India’s most exciting and interesting artistic cultures and traditions. The festival moves throughout Australia over a twelve week period, with Sydney dates running from mid-September. A joint venture between India and Australia, the festival offers a unique opportunity…

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David Strassman talks iTedE and pushing ventriloquist boundaries

David Strassman, one of the world’s best  ventriloquists and loved the world over,  is coming back to Australia this October for his new show iTedE where he raises the bar once again and controls 5 puppets in 15 seconds! Darcy Oliver had a chat with the man himself before this show comes down under for the second time this…

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Hannibal Buress is bringing his Hannibal Montanabal Experience tour to Australia

In between doubling over with belly laughs while watching Adult Swim’s outrageous The Eric Andre Show, you may notice the charming dead-pan Hannibal Buress as the show’s grounded – and relatively sane – co-host. Well that man, who is also well known for his role on Broad City, is set to tour Australia later this…

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Win a double pass to see FORM Dance Projects and Riverside Theatres’ Metadata in Sydney.

FORM Dance Projects and Riverside Theatres will present Metadata, an immersive work from the acclaimed dance performance company, De Quincey Co. Metadata includes two works, Pure Light and Moths & Mathematics, created by leading Australian dance, video, sound and animation artists. The two works probe the latest developments in physics and cosmology, with the artists…

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Win a double pass to Hidden Sydney – The Glittering Mile in Sydney

Hidden Sydney – an immersive, exhilarating and witty cabaret experience is set over four floors of “The Nevada”, the former Sydney brothel which boasted the biggest bed in the world. This exciting new theatrical event will play from 16 September. The star studded ensemble cast, as glittering as the Cross itself, includes – Ray Badran,…

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New $45 million performance centre set for Monash University

Aided by funding from the Victorian Government and The Ian Potter Foundation, Monash University has announced that The Ian Potter Centre for Performing Arts will be opening at the Clayton campus in the coming years, with two new performance venues adjoining the Alexander Theatre. The 586 seat Alexander Theatre, built in 1967, will undergo a refurbishment as…

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New space for city based artists opens in Perth

A former café in Perth’s Northbridge has been reopened as City Arts Space, a multi-purpose space for artists to create, develop, and exhibit their work. Located at the Northbridge Piazza, the venue is designed as an affordable and flexible location for creatives to come and showcase their talent. Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffaldi said that the government…

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Theatre Review: Look Back in Anger – The Old Fitz, Sydney (Performances until 10 September)

Andrew Henry gives a tour de force performance in Red Line Productions’ well executed take on the British classic, Look Back in Anger. Henry plays Jimmy Porter, a disillusioned young Englishman living in near-poverty with his wife and their flatmate in a one-bedroom flat in the Midlands. Well-educated but devoutly loyal to his working-class upbringing,…

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Theatre Review: Fawlty Towers Live delivers a nostalgic and hilarious production to Sydney for its world premiere

After the Pythons re-united for a brief run of shows at the O2 in London in 2014, John Cleese and the team behind the show started thinking about what else might work on the stage. Cleese’s brilliant, all-too-short but totally classic series Fawlty Towers seemed to be the obvious choice, and they immediately began to…

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Theatre Review: I Do I Don’t – The Blue Room Theatre (Performances through to September 3rd)

Who Am I? Where did I come from? What was my family like? We’re all hit by these questions at some point in our lives, hit with that desire to find out more about those bits of life that have faded into half formed memories. It is this desire to find out more about her…

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Choreographer Matthew Bourne stops in Melbourne to announce his latest venture. We got the inside scoop.

This man needs no introduction, but alas, we’ll give him one anyway! Matthew Bourne is a pioneer in the arts industry, taking dance to wider audiences. Next year, his latest venture Lord of the Flies will find a home exclusively in Melbourne. Based on the novel by William Golding comes an inventive show unlike any…

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Sir Matthew Bourne’s Lord of the Flies set for exclusive Melbourne run in 2017

Making its Australian première at Arts Centre Melbourne in 2017, Sir Matthew Bourne‘s adaptation of William Golding’s classic Lord of the Flies will see up to 24 Victorian men and boys invited to workshops designed by the renowned choreographers’ team, with the possibility of performing in the production next April. Sir Matthew’s adaptation of Lord of the Flies…

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States of Blue: West Projections Festival launches this week

Earlier this week, Footscray’s States of Blue: West Projections Festival kicked off, with events running from now until September 11th. A joint venture between Wynter Projects and Victoria University, the festival will see 22 unique sites across Footscray illuminated by various projections and installations designed by local and interstate artists. Artists presenting at the festival…

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Diego Torre on Opera Australia’s latest production of Simon Boccanegra and being a Verdi dreamer

Personal sacrifice meets political thriller in Simon Boccanegra, an opera by a master of the genre- Giuseppe Verdi. We caught up with Opera Australia tenor Diego Torre, who played the Genoese gentleman and love-interest Gabriele Adorno in the opera, to discuss the twisting plot and the interesting challenges of Verdi operas. This is your debut in the role…

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5 Songs to Listen For in the Sydney Production of Songs For A New World

After a very popular season in Melbourne, Songs For A New World has finally made its way to Sydney and we were ready! Well, sort of. Songs For A New World is one of those “musicals” that you kind of need to see in person, and its difficult to get a sense of really anything…

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New mini-documentary Premium uncovers the profitable yet NSFW side to Snapchat

It turns out that the popular photo sharing app Snapchat is not all “cute” dog face filters, or even the latest avenue for product placement; rather it has been revealed the app has a decidedly more NSFW alternative use. Los Angeles based Australian artist Jesse Willesee has created Premium, a mini-documentary  investigating the world of Snapchat…

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Smooth Criminals – The Songs of Michael Jackson premiering at the Brisbane Powerhouse in December

Between Luke Kennedy and Joel Turner there has blossomed quite the musical partnership, one that will be making its hyped debut at the Brisbane Powerhouse as part of Wonderland 2016. The duo present Smooth Criminals – The Songs of Michael Jackson this December: an homage to the late Michael Jackson‘s extensive catalogue in a way that hasn’t been seen before….

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Inaugural Arts and Refugees Forum to take place at CPAC this weekend

This coming weekend, artists, art therapists, community development workers, educators, and arts and humanitarian organisations will partake in a special forum at Sydney’s Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre, discussing artistic practice by, with, and about refugees. Inspired by the recent number of exhibitions with a focus on refugees, including CPAC’s own Refugees, and the Refugee Art Project,…

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Haneen Martin on remaining true to her own vision & creating within Adelaide’s arts community

What does it mean to be an ‘artist’? What is classified as ‘art’? Living in a creative society where artistic merit is constantly scrutinised and picked apart by observers both within and outside the artistic community, it can be sometimes overwhelming to comprehend that your work, piece/s you’ve become so attached and close to, can…

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Theatre Review: Endgame, QPAC Brisbane (performances until 20th August)

Samuel Beckett might have brushed up against your memory like a shifty cat quickly grazing past your leg before changing its mind and scampering off into the darkness. Or perhaps you’re very familiar with his work that planted him firmly at the forefront of absurdist theatre when it was at its peak of creation. Regardless…

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Josh McConville on getting into the head of a donkey and the darker side of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Next month Sydney Theatre Company will be taking on Shakespeare’s whimsical tale of fairies and magic, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. But it seems not all will be flittering wings and glittering sparkles in this latest adaption by the company’s interim artistic director Kip Williams. We caught up with STC favourite Josh McConville during rehearsals to discuss this…

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Theatre Review: Aladdin – Capitol Theatre, Sydney (performances until November 20th)

And just like that, the biggest show to open in Australia this year has blown the socks off audiences. Ever since it was announced to make its Australian debut, the hype surrounding Disney’s classic Aladdin has been immense, with industry professionals and theatre lovers alike counting down the days until opening night. Every childhood memory…

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Oliver Burton on Beating the Bard at his Own Game

In 2011, Oliver Burton undertook the ambitious task of building an improvised show in which the actors speak only in Shakespearean-style language. Five years on, the idea remains as fresh as ever, and the Post-Haste Players are now entertaining Sydney audiences with their take on Shakespeare’s History plays. I asked Burton about taking on the…

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The Other Art Fair to return to Sydney in late October

The UK’s largest artist-led contemporary art fair, The Other Art Fair, will return to Sydney at the end of October, setting up for four days in Waterloo space COMMUNE. Launching in 2015, the inaugural fair welcomed some 7,500 visitors during its run, allowing artists to connect with audiences and potential buyers. This year’s Sydney fair…

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Sydney’s Festival of Dangerous Ideas to stream events across Australia

On September 3rd, two of the Festival of Dangerous Ideas‘ most anticipated sessions will be streamed lived from the Sydney Opera House to sixteen locations across Australia. Lionel Shriver, author of best-seller We Need To Talk About Kevin, will head up the first session Break A Rule A Day, while journalists Annabel Crab and David Marr take…

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The National Theatre of Parramatta are on the lookout for fresh Australian voices in their new playwriting mentorship program

The National Theatre of Parramatta are on the look out for entrants to their inaugural playwriting program From Page to Stage. Presented in partnership with Playwriting Australia, From Page to Stage is a free program that aims to provide playwrights with an opportunity to hone their skills; whilst also more broadly attempting to facilitate the…

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The Melbourne Fringe 2016 program has been announced and tickets are now on sale.

The 2016 Program for the Melbourne Fringe Festival has now been officially launched this week, and tickets have gone on sale for what is going to the biggest ever edition of the festival. With 463 events, involving over 6,000 artists it’s pretty safe to say there is plenty for festival goers to choose from; and the…

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Theatre Review: On Golden Pond – Pavilion Theatre, Castle Hill (Performances until 20th August 2016)

Most people are familiar with the story of On Golden Pond, with many having seen the 1981 film starring Henry and Jane Fonda and Katharine Hepburn. The story centres around relationships and families, in particular the dynamic which exists between Norman Thayer, JR (Dave Kirkman), his wife Ethel (Carole Grace) and his estranged daughter Chelsea…

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Self-taught pianist Samer Fanek on his debut album “Wishful Thinking” and the power of YouTube for musicians

Having already amassed a large following for his piano covers on Youtube, all of which are arranged by ear alone, Samer Fanek has now released his debut album “Wishful Thinking”. The album features 13 original instrumental tracks- all of which Samer composed, performed and produced in his bedroom studio. It debuted at #12 on the US…

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