Sunday Arts Magazine

Celebrating their first performance in Her Majesty’s Theatre, the Australian company have been invigorated by the enthusiasm of Melburnians, who have been awaiting performances since the season was announced in May 2021.

Jason Arrow, who was living in Melbourne when he learned he had been cast as Alexander Hamilton, is thrilled to be back in the city.

“The atmosphere last night was just incredible – thank you Melbourne for embracing us so wholeheartedly! We can already tell how spectacular this season is going to be, in such a beautiful theatre with awesome audiences, the energy is electric. It’s going to be fun!”

Producer Michael Cassel also celebrated the start of the highly anticipated season.

“It’s such an exciting time to be starting a new chapter of the Hamilton story in Melbourne, sharing this phenomenal show with a new city. The reaction from the people of Melbourne has been overwhelming, there’s so much excitement and anticipation in the air, so it’s amazing to be up and running with performances!”

Australian playwright Fleur Murphy premieres a compelling new drama about family and belonging.

I’ve been extremely humbled by the response we’ve received from various communities and individuals throughout the development of the work. What’s been amazing is the space it’s provided others to share their own stories of hope and resilience – whether in the rehearsal room, the classroom, over a cuppa and a scone after a reading, or in the theatre foyer. After all the pivots, cancellations, and rescheduling throughout the last two years, I’m looking forward to finally bringing HEARTH to the stage,” said Murphy.

Forged in the exploration of an environmental threat Australians know all too well – an approaching bushfire, HEARTH brilliantly strikes the balance between pathos and humour, immediately drawing audiences in with its witty and lyrical dialogue, relatable characters and timely themes.

It’s the 7th of February 2009 – forever known in Australia’s history as Black Saturday. It’s also Tom Robinson’s 18th birthday. Celebrations kick off at the family’s Kinglake home and nothing seems out of the ordinary. But tensions start to rise between Tom and his older brother Matthew, along with the temperature outside, and before the ice-cream cake has time to melt a deeply held family secret is revealed. Will bringing everything out in the open finally give the Robinsons the peace and acceptance they’ve constantly struggled for – or will it tear them further apart and make them question the very structure they’ve tried to uphold?

Urgent, heartfelt, at times hilarious, and achingly raw, this play investigates how good intentions can slowly erode away and reveal the cracks in the foundation of a family. It poses the questions: What makes a family? Is it love, blood or law? And, what breaks a family?

“The play is inspired by a number of things: my own upbringing in a small country town, family secrets and the heartbreaking accounts from those involved in the Black Saturday bushfires. In the beginning it may look like a familiar family drama but it’s a play scorched in secrets and trauma. For me, HEARTH is about striving for a sense of belonging and a desperate yearning to heal,” Murphy said.

Luciano talks to Neil and David about his recent works.

In 2018, during the first of two artist residencies with Bundanon Trust, Martin was invited to observe the inaugural Indigenous fire initiatives and cultural burn program undertaken in the lead up to the 10th National Indigenous Workshop on Gumea Dharawal Country, South Coast NSW. The Fire programs were activated by Bundanon Trust on behalf of Firesticks Alliance by Uncle Noel Webster, Elder of Yuin-Walbunja-Murramarrang Country and the Wodi Wodi Traditional Custodians of the Yuin Nation.

 

Martin’s immersive large-format works explore her passion for the natural environment, documenting changes facilitated to save Country, restore damage incurred by climate change all while generating significant environmental, social and cultural benefits. Martin firmly believes Indigenous custodians hold the link to our fight against the climate crisis.

 

Martin’s passion to share the visual experience of the Cultural Burn practice became more relevant once she learnt that the areas in which the program was administered were unaffected by the devastating Black Summer fires. Her photography highlights the importance of Indigenous-lead programs and initiatives in managing land and healing our environment. RIGHT FIRE* draws attention to a positive association towards fire, its documentation inspired and reflective of Martin’s exposure to First Nations knowledges embedded in reading the land, soil and fire circles.

With a career spanning 25 years, Lucille Martin is an established Australian contemporary artist whose multidisciplinary practice integrates iPhoneography, photo-media, textile and performance to explore themes related to the natural and physical landscape, the social psyche and deep ecology. For Martin, her application of iPhone-capture acts as an extension of the body in the merging of performative and documentary practices she captures while walking the Australian landscape.

Martin has received significant awards including four Australia Council for the Arts grants, a career fellowship from Department of Culture and the Arts, West Australian and peer-awarded residencies in Tokyo, New York and Australia. Her program of work encompasses curatorial practice, community development, higher education and policy advocacy

A discarded shopping list, a handwritten sign on a shuttered shopfront and the contents of a ticket collector’s jacket pocket have been transformed into works of art that reveal fascinating stories of Melbourne’s past and present.

From Mundane to Friday: The Art of Everyday Melbourne captures the mood of the city over the past few years and injects new life into a whimsical collection of found objects, ephemera and life’s detritus.

Ceramic artist Kenny Pittock has worked with the City of Melbourne Collection to create an exhibition that imbues value and cultural meaning into otherwise disposable objects. From Mundane to Friday features new works from Pittock that shine a light on the city’s pandemic past, alongside existing pieces from the Collection that encapsulate stories from pre and post-colonial settlement.

Through his artistic practice Pittock gives permanency to fleeting moments by creating ceramic replicas of temporary objects. As part of the exhibition, he has replicated 25 shopping lists gathered during Melbourne’s lockdowns, along with 19 signs found hanging on the front doors of businesses through the city on 28 March 2020.

Pittock’s unusual fascination with abandoned shopping lists harks back to his teenage years.

“I was 15 when I first got a part-time job as a supermarket cleaner and trolley pusher. I’ve worked there on and off for more than half of my life. Part of the job is getting rid of any rubbish left behind in the trolleys. It’s usually just receipts and catalogues, but often, more interestingly, it’s abandoned shopping lists. Rather than throw them away, I read them and soon began to collect them. I now have a collection of more than 5000 found shopping lists,” he said.

Melburnians’ recent experience of lockdowns can be seen in some of Pittock’s more recently acquired lists.

“While shopping lists may appear to simply capture mundane everyday life, these past two years have produced a form of everyday life that has been anything but mundane. Our world has changed during the pandemic, and this is reflected in our buying patterns. One of the lists featured here reads: Get pkt rice if you can and Butter chicken or something else. When panic buying struck, many lists began to include back-up plans for when a first preference wasn’t in stock. The lists also began to reflect a shift towards community spirit; for instance, one list includes Chocolates for neighbours.”

Likewise, A Sign of the Times, another project of ceramic mimicry, captures the hope, gratitude, concerns and fears of a city in lockdown. The 19 pieces, each hand sculpted from earthenware clay, kiln-fired and hand-painted, are exact replicas of signs hanging on the front doors of businesses through Melbourne city on 28 March 2020. They include signs from restaurants and cafes, gyms, retailers and public venues.

Natalie King is the only Australian curator to have ever curated two national pavilions at Venice Biennales, New Zealand 2022 and Australia 2017.

Somewhat of a pioneer in curating Indigenous artists on the global stage, King has helped raise awareness about the effects of colonisation across the AsiaPacific, has provided multiple international artistic platforms for Indigenous artists and has provoked debate through the international art world.

Yuki Kihara has initiated the FIRSTS, an informal Firsts Solidarity Network of national pavilions established for the 59th International Art Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.

An artist-led initiative comprising of artist/s who are a first time representative from a marginalised or under-represented group in their respective country or a first time country participant at the Biennale Arte, will offer visitors to Venice a route to discover these ‘firsts’ at the global art world event.

 

Yuki Kihara, is the first Pasifika, Asian and Fa’afafine (Sāmoa’s ‘third gender’) to present in the New Zealand Pavilion and Yuki believes the informal network of FIRSTS offers collegial support for the participating artists and an opportunity to initiate discourse around pertinent issues such as the internal structures of national pavilions and their commitment towards equitable representation.

Simon talks to Neil and David about his career and his upcoming Opera he is staring in.

When Li-Ting escapes from Taiwan to arrive in Melbourne, she’s expecting to find love, a career and new beginnings. She stumbles into so much more.

‘Dear Mama’ follows Li-Ting and her eclectic crew of misfit mates on a messy and hilarious journey to find new community, new stories, new lingo, and a whole new love of beer. What is Li-Ting hiding?

Stephen returns to talk to Neil and David about what films are happening in Melbourne

Witness a tour de force performance in Cocteau’s triumphant one-woman play.

A woman lies on the floor of an abandoned apartment. A telephone rings beside her. Will this be her last chance to speak to an ex-lover?

Awakening from limbo she holds the receiver to her temple. She must look after the man she loves, even if it wreaks havoc on her body. What must she do? How must she act? What will it take to break the cycle she finds herself in?

A play about control over a woman’s past, present and future and playing as a part of the 2022 Theatre Works season, theatre lovers are invited to witness a masterpiece performance by renowned actor Jane Montgomery Griffiths. Complete with a compelling, original translation of the play Jean Cocteau believed was impossible to perform, this superb addition to the Melbourne Arts Calendar is not to be missed.

One of Australia’s longest-running independent theatres, Theatre Works is constantly reinvigorating and reimagining the sector by providing a hotbed for artist and audience development. They strive to champion artists and work that embrace difference and celebrate risk, working to provide a platform for marginalised conversations and voices. The Human Voice will be first inhouse Theatre Works produced season with the 2022 evolution of the organisation.