All posts tagged: arts

‘THE ESTATE’ A NEW EXHIBITION BY PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTIST MARNIE HADDAD

Published by

Marnie Haddad unveils her new exhibition, ‘The Estate’ at Graham Geddes salon from 15 –22 March 2019.  Haddad’s new works draw inspiration from her love of classic film, depicted in her evocative and poetic portraits utilising shadow and subtle illumination. Haddad’s cinematic staging, rich painterly hues, technical precision and romantic undercurrents are beautifully articulated in this latest photographic essay. In this series, Haddad illustrates ‘a time that stands still’, she commented – “it’s neither comforting nor unsettling, but focuses on the kind of timeless travel that stops the clock and allows your imagination to transport you.” The fantasy that cinema brings has long ignited Haddad’s artistic sensibilities, she recalls being mesmerized by a flickering theatre scene where ordinary objects take on deeper meanings – the pink fluted glass, the arranged flowers, the street lights casting stripes through the venetian blinds, the curtains locked in folds, the heavy velvet that sits and fades with the migrating sun. Haddad’s quest is to keep alive and tangible the fantasy that sometimes exists only in our minds. The result …

Melbourne International Flower and Garden show

Published by

March may mark the start of autumn, but at the Royal Exhibition Building activity is blossoming with the return of the Melbourne International Flower & Garden Show (MIFGS) Presented by Lawn Solutions Australia, March 27 – 31, 2019. The event is predicted to attract over 100, 000 visitors from across the nation and overseas. The annual convergence of the most talented landscape designers, progressive florists, emerging design talent, DIY specialists, well over 200 exhibitors and thousands of flowers provides evergreen inspiration for the year to come. With new charity partner Beyond Blue aligned with the Show, visitors can expect gardens that are not only visually arresting, but are emotionally stirring as they tap the sense of tranquillity and wellbeing that comes from connecting with nature. The annual Landscape Design Show Gardens welcome an impressive line-up of local and international talent with confirmed designers including: NZFGS Gold Medallist Bayley LuuTomes, a collaboration between Candeo Design, Jason Hodges for Lawn Solutions and Semken Landscaping, MUSA Landscapes in partnership with Beyond Blue, Inge Jabara, Christian Jenkins, Waddell Landscapes, …

Review: Oil Babies

Published by

Image: Lachlan Woods Harrowing. That’s how I would describe the powerful opening scene of Oil Babies when it debuted this week at Northcote Town Hall. Described as an ‘exploration of our relationship to climate change and the female body’ and brought to life by three, strong female leads, Oil Babies is an impactful, confronting and distinctly female performance piece which focussed on the not unknown concerns about real-life human anxieties, the health and future of planet earth. Dark, peppered with enough comedy to keep you from the pits of despair, and laced together with real-world issues and environmental disasters – the narrative rotates around three female characters; one couple, and a single friend with crippling anxiety as they navigate their own views on body image, social and environmental wellbeing and fears for the future. You’ll certainly walk away with a bleak awareness of one’s own impact on the planet – and that nagging constant reminder that just like the dinosaurs – we are not ourselves immune from ultimate extinction. A smartly designed set and terrific …

MICF Review: Burn the Witch

Published by

Last week we checked out Melbourne International Comedy Festival show Burn the Witch on it’s opening night at the Butterfly Club, a tale set in a small English Village in the 1650’s, a village which keeps experiencing the mysterious disappearance of their children. Witchhunter General Dunlop and his comical, cockney assistant, Jennifer are engaged to get to the bottom of the conundrum and take the audience on a whodunnit style journey to get there. Written by and starring Martin Dunlop and Bec Petraitis, Burn the Witch has a great story to tell, a story that unfolds naturally for the audience with intelligent jokes, ironic humor and energy in abundance. The acting was brilliant, both Martin and Bec really engaged with the audience, and continued to hit the mark with their constant, sometimes dark, humour. For us, the speed of the execution was the only let down, particularly at the 10pm timeslot, the narrative moved from scene to scene at lightening fast pace, which made it a little hard to follow. And did they end up …

MICF Review: Just Like Buddah

Published by

Last week we were invited along to check out Anthony Jeannot’s 2017 Melbourne International Comedy festival show – Just Like Buddah. In a way there were elements taken from last year’s show – Rage Against the Manchild, signature elements which sort of set Anthony apart from his fellow performers like his entrance.. he doesn’t really have one, this year, just popping up randomly from the back row to introduce himself. There also was plenty of his usual self deprecating, sweet style of humour, but this year the delivery was injected with a lot more confidence, so the show was sharper, more on point. Some of the jokes from last year were reworked into the new show, but the fresh material in Just Like Buddha takes the audience though trips to Sweden (and other types of trips), Anthony’s date with a Doomsday prepper, and the perils of trying to meditate with an over excited, anxious mind. All the kind of interesting, engaging tales that seem far out, but are relatable enough that the audience always has …

Melbourne Festival

Published by

Melbourne Festival is an innovative festival highlighting the rich culture of the arts that exist within the Melbourne lifestyle. Watch various performances of dance, theatre, circus, music, visual arts, multimedia,  as well as free outdoor events will be held across several venues across the city. First established in 1986, the festival was created to carry the transformational nature that exists within arts and culture and the positive change it has on individuals.   Highlights this year include David Bowie: Nothing has changed | October 15 – 17 Paying tribute to the starman, musical artists will perform his music in their own unique styles, accompanied by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. M Pavillion | October 5 – February 18 Commissioning a world-leading architect to design a temporary garden pavilion for Melbourne, this year’s space is designed by influential Indian architect Bijoy Jain of Studio Mumbai. Watch a free program of talks, performances, debates in this unique experimental space. Program released September. Triptyque | October 6 – 9 Canada’s Les 7 Doigts (The 7 Fingers) straddle the gap between circus and dance …

Review: Flesh Eating Tiger

Published by

Whilst pitched as a comedy slash drama, Amy Tofte’s Flesh Eating Tiger is a play not for the faint-hearted. A cautious word to the wise, it is not a ‘fun’ performance, it has heavy content, it’s real, rough, raw…. black, beautiful. It’s a love story, but not in a traditional sense. You will laugh, you will probably cry and without a doubt you will at times feel uncomfortable. Going in with a pre-description of ‘man addicted to alcohol, woman addicted to man, it’s not possible to not feel anything at the end of this 70-minute piece in the super-intimate Owl & Cat Theatre. Flesh Eating Tiger is a unique concept, blurring the lines between reality and storytelling, it’s actually a performance within a monologue within a play. The beautiful cast of two unnamed characters portrayed by Amy Gubana and Marcus Molyneux take us through the rocky ups and downs of what starts as a forbidden crush and move very quickly through the fiery, tumultuous relationship of a married woman and an ex-alcoholic struggling with sobriety.  …

CounterMove

Published by

Sydney Dance Company’s CounterMove is an exhilarating double bill that will intrigue, move and entertain you. Featuring a laugh-out–loud funny piece, Cacti, by Swedish Choreographer Alexander Ekman and Rafael Bonachela’s deeply moving world premiere, Lux Tenebris.  Receiving rapturous reviews from around the world, Cacti is a brilliantly conceived, laugh-out-loud funny piece that dares to poke fun at contemporary dance. While Rafael Bonachela’s world premiere, Lux Tenebris explores light and darkness with fiercely physical movement and deep, electronic beats by composer Nick Wales (long-term collaborator of Sarah Blasko). Don’t miss CounterMove in it’s limited Melbourne season. We Know Melbourne exclusive: Quote SDCHOTEL online to receive $10 off tickets throughout the season. When: 25 May – 4 June Where: Southbank Theatre, Melbourne. Visit the CounterMove website.

Heathers: The Musical

Published by

Revisit the joy and anguish of your high school days at Heathers: the Musical this May. Based on the greatest teen dark comedy of all time, starring Winona Ryder and Christian Slater, Heathers: The Musical is not your typical pom-pom and cheerleader high school tale. You’ll be taking deep into the dark comedic story about two high school students who unintentionally make suicide popular. “HEATHERS THE MUSICAL is the darkly delicious story of Veronica Sawyer, a brainy, beautiful teenage misfit who hustles her way into the most powerful and ruthless clique at Westerberg High: the Heathers. But before she can get comfortable atop the high school food chain, Veronica falls in love with the dangerously sexy new kid J.D. When Heather Chandler, the Almighty, kicks her out of the group, Veronica decides to bite the bullet and kiss Heather’s aerobicized ass… but J.D. has another plan for that bullet. Heathers: The Musical is set to be the most subversively funny show of 2016, and so “Very” you may have to kill to get a ticket!” …