Sunday Arts Magazine

Jake comes in to talk about his life and comedy.

Stephen talks about films.

America, 1919. Gangsters, The Salvation Army, and an unlikely love story.

Premiering a year after their landmark hit The Threepenny Opera, Kurt Weill, Bertolt Brecht and Elisabeth Hauptmann’s anti-capitalist musical comedy tells the unlikely love story of gangster Bill Cracker and Salvation Army Lieutenant Lillian Holiday. Happy End roars with Weill’s musical genius and charismatic jazz-influenced style, boasting some of Weill and Brecht’s most iconic songs.

Following their triumphant collaboration on Tom Waits and William S. Burroughs’ The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets (2017), this new production of Weill’s musical reunites director Matthew Lutton and musical director Phoebe Briggs.

Witness a remarkable ensemble in this rarely staged gem of the 20th century

‘Light’ celebrates over sixteen years of artwork inspired by life models and dance companies from New York to The Australian Ballet by award winning artist Debra Winn.

This evocative and exciting exhibition brings together sixty-eight original artworks from across all periods of the artist’s career. Many never seen or exhibited before but all showcasing Winn’s highly unique, powerful approach to monotypes.

Beautiful, powerful images of nudes evoking a raw sensitivity created both here and in New York will adorn the walls of the small gallery, while images of dancers’ leap across the walls of the large space at fortyfivedownstairs.

Winn’s introduction the world of dance in New York in 2007 was fortuitous. Inspired by the NYC Ballet’s Artistic Director describing the aesthetic of his dancers as being like Michelangelo’s sculptures resonated with the artist.

Winn became immersed into the world of dance and the joy of creating artwork inspired by dance and dancers. Her artwork is saturated with light and movement.

“With dramatic lighting and beautiful, strong, muscular, lithe, expressive bodies, moving with passion and emotion, it seems so obvious that dance would be a focus for my artwork”

Winn’s dancers and nudes are not depicted in the way one might traditionally imagine, but rather in a dynamic, contemporary combination of expressive abstraction with realism. Winn has created this effect by layering colours onto a copper sheet and then wiping away the etching ink to reveal light and form bringing to life a sculptural and fully modelled figure.

“With the strong element of chance, the abstraction of marks and the unusual textures able to be created with rich etching inks, monotype making is a technique hard to beat,” says Winn.

Winn’s most recent artwork is created from in-situ drawings and photographs made during rehearsals of Alice Topp’s Logos. This was one of The Australian Ballet’s last performances prior to COVID-19, cancelled after Opening Night. The artwork captures the raw power and beauty of the performance.

Visitors to fortyfivedownstairs can expect a transformation into the world of dance as they enter the warehouse-style space. With its wooden floors, high ceiling and beautiful light, it makes the perfect backdrop for Winn’s images. Much like the performances that inspire her, Winn’s works are filled with great emotive energy.

The impossible task of seeking the truth.

The acclaimed feminist theatre makers THE RABBLE are exploring the complex dynamics of power,

consent, knowledge and truth through this new performance work: YES.

People the world over are living through periods of great change and disruption and yet access to

reliable information is becoming ever more elusive.

Set within an ever-evolving physical space, YES witnesses two performers answer hundreds of

relentless and overwhelming questions with one seemingly simple word.

In THE RABBLE’s own words, “People all over the world are trying to tell the story of the last two years.

Between the bushfires, COVID-19, the Black Lives Matters protests, transphobia and never-ending

conspiracy theories, the chasm between world views is literally and metaphorically widening.” YES

co-directors, Emma Valente and Kate Davis, explain, “We want to disempower the makers of meaning

– the leaders of patriarchal structures – that filter and decide how trauma is portrayed – we want to

create a more communal process of searching.”

Valente and Davis often question: why is it so difficult to find simple facts? Why can’t we create a

more communal process of searching? Could it be possible that multiple conflicting ideas are all true

at once?

Building to a cacophony of potential answers, YES is an unpredictable onslaught that culminates in a

void, drained of contested narratives.

Part rite of passage, part public debate, part personal memoir, the audience are taken from joy to

contemplation to existential dread as they ponder their own feelings towards seeking the truth.

Arts House Artistic Director, Emily Sexton, is delighted to welcome back THE RABBLE, “After a long

gestation period, YES will finally have its premiere. This powerful work looks at our relationship to

truth in a post-traumatic world. It’s a riveting series of questions that rise, settle, provoke and rise

again.”

YES

THE RABBLE

1

Arts House Media Release 22 Feb 2022 − For Immediate Release

30 Mar – 10 Apr, Arts House

Duration: 90 mins

Arts House – North Melbourne Town Hall

521 Queensberry Street, North Melbourne

$20 general admission + booking fee

$10 BLAKTIX for First Nations + booking fee

artshouse.com.au or (03) 9322 3720

World Premiere

YES by THE RABBLE

Previews: 30 – 31 Mar 2022

A story as big as Ned Kelly’s, the untold story of his sister, Kate Kelly is both tragic and heroic.

Written by Awgie nominated playwright Rosemary Johns and directed by two time Miles Franklin Award Winner Rodney Hall AM, Fire In The Head challenges the masculine perspective of the Kelly story, that only the notorious brothers were significant players in the legend. It also casts a different perspective on a history that still causes community division and grief in the North east of Victoria today. It also explores contemporary issues such as violence against women, postnatal depression, suicide and disparity of justice which are embedded in Kate Kelly’s volatile and intriguing story.

Celebrating 28 years at the NGV in 2022, Top Arts is an ever-popular annual exhibition presenting the exceptional and thought-provoking work of VCE Art and VCE Studio Arts students undertaking the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE).

Drawn from a range of media, topics, schools and students, Top Arts is part of the Victorian Curriculum Assessment Authority’s annual VCE Season of Excellence.

Black Comedy star/writer, icon, television and cabaret sensation and self-styled ‘Faboriginal’, Steven Oliver, will debut his cheeky festival hit.

Steven Oliver: Bigger & Blacker at the Malthouse Theatre from 31 March to 10 April 2022.

Bigger & Blacker is an autobiographical comedy cabaret exploring Steven’s lived experience as a

gay First Nations person in the public eye. The show, which has dazzled audiences around the

country, delves into stories from Steven’s own life, traversing queer spaces, racism, love, loss and

fame, blending his trademark comedic wit with unflinching honesty.

Helpmann Award-winning performer and Artistic Director of the Perth International Cabaret Festival

Michael Griffiths will join Steven on keys and harmonies.

“Despite the immense wealth of talent and sexiness on stage (x2), I’m still so surprised that Bigger

and Blacker continues to have these amazing opportunities. That sentiment grows tenfold when I

get to perform at certain places or Festivals. From the Sydney Opera House last year to my

hometown Shire Hall in Cloncurry or Townsville’s Civic Theatre across from my old High School,

these places are like milestones in my life as a performer. Getting ready for my first ever Melbourne

International Comedy Festival at the esteemed Malthouse Theatre is another milestone that I’ll

celebrate and remember. I’m certain it will be an antidote for me and audiences across the town for

the ongoing saga of the last couple of years. I love Melbourne and can’t wait to be back. Bring on

MICF 2022!”

“Steven Oliver is a sextuple threat in new cabaret … He can write songs full of intricate wordplay

and hummable tunes, sing them in a sweet baritone straight out of the cabaret tradition (or a breath-

defying rap flow worthy of Briggs), tell stories that balance universal humour with First Nations

activism, and move like he’s in one of his beloved Whitney Houston videos,” Sydney Morning

Herald

“Bigger and Blacker is destined to be one of the most important shows in the Adelaide Cabaret

Festival….We need more voices like Steven’s, ones who might also appear initially as ‘the clown’

but who can then take us to the heart.” The Adelaide Show

“The spark and harmonies between Steven and Michael were nothing short of astounding, making

them a flawless match for the stage…’Bigger & Blacker’, is a must-see show for all Australians.”

Scenstr

A contemporary neo-noir thriller spanning seven decades and set in the inner suburbs of Melbourne, this March

Theatre Works and the Victorian Theatre Company proudly present The Darkening Sky – the latest premiere

work from renowned playwright Richard Murphet.

Bringing together some of our finest local artists and arts makers, The Darkening Sky interweaves lives from the

past and present in a desperate bid to solve the unexplained disappearance of two women.

In the warm and familiar surrounds of his local bar Jamie (Brian Lipson) has managed to build a life of peace and

solitude for decades. Now thrust unwillingly into reconstructing troubled memories, his belief in the calm surface

of his childhood crumbles – surrounded by elements from a past he didn’t even know existed. At the same time a

detective (Tom Dent) is handed a Cold Case involving the disappearance of a young woman in the 1980s. Chasing

answers to this mystery unearths a web of political intrigue, violence, and sacrifice.

Featuring live pianist Adrian Montana accompanying the action with original compositions, The Darkening Sky

also employs multi-media to heighten the experience for audiences, taking them along on the winding and sur-

prising journey through the streets of St Kilda and inner city Melbourne.

“I have always been a fan of film noir: its stark black and while imagery, desperate characters, hidden world of

underworld operatives and its tone of melancholy and loss.”, explains Writer/Director Richard Murphet. “We’re

working to create a three dimensional sensory experience for audiences with The Darkening Sky, and bring them

into that world. I think audiences will really engage with piecing together the parts of the jigsaw at the same time

as the central character.”

Examining a hidden fictional history of Melbourne while featuring well known locations around St. Kilda and other

inner suburbs, The Darkening Sky is an electrifying and all engrossing new Australian work. 90 minutes of non-

stop action, not to be missed.

Written and Directed by Richard Murphet

Director Jessica Bridgfoot confirmed Priscilla Presley will travel from her home in Los Angeles to Bendigo to officially launch the exhibition. 

“Priscilla plays a key role in the Elvis story and the continuation of his legacy, so we are absolutely thrilled that she is able to be a part of the opening celebrations for the exhibition,” Jessica said.

Angie Marchese, Vice President Archives and Exhibitions at Elvis Presley Enterprises will also travel to Bendigo for the final stages of the exhibition installation.

“Priscilla and Angie have worked together for almost four decades to preserve the objects that are included in this exhibition, and their knowledge of Elvis’ life is unparalleled, so it is such a privilege to have them with us as we launch this comprehensive biographical exhibition, which is focused on one of the most influential, iconic – and celebrated – figures of the twentieth century.”