Sunday Arts Magazine

Direct from a best-selling season at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, Wil King (ABC/Netflix’s Why Are You Like This, Strangers in Between) and their real-life partner, award-winner Patrick Livesey (The Boy, George, Gone Girls) now bring Melbourne audiences Angus Cameron’s thrilling new work; DIRT.

Directed by Bronwen Coleman (The Actors Studio, NYC), DIRT is a thrilling and seductive exploration of sexuality, solidarity and persecution that won four awards at the Adelaide Fringe Festival and earned a dozen five-star reviews.

Traversing the compelling course of one night, DIRT presents as a simple meet cute – but all is not as it seems. When a Russian and an Australian walk into a bar in modern-day Moscow, they decide to drink and party together – but both need something from the other, and both have something to hide.

“Wil and I had talked a lot about queer persecution across the Russian Federation and were aware that not many people in Australia knew what was happening.”, explains Actor/Producer Patrick Livesey.

“During last year’s lockdown we decided to commission Angus Cameron to write a play to spread awareness and also to raise money through ticket sales for LGBTQIA+ organisations in Russia. DIRT is a thriller that really plays with the audience’s perception of what is real and what is not. We wanted the tone of the work to emulate the experience of being persecuted, of having to be on guard constantly. It’s hard to bring thrillers and live theatre together, but we feel we’ve achieved that here.”

Rohan is back chatting to the team.

Even though Brigitte Bardini’s debut album ‘Stellar Lights’ has been two years in the making, the record evokes a sound and aesthetic that has taken a lifetime to craft.

Emerging into the world with singles ‘Aphrodite’, ‘Wild Ride’, and ‘Heartbreaker’ – and now a 14-track album – the Melbourne-based singer-songwriter has carved a niche for herself in the realm of dream pop with ethereal electronica beats and pulsing piano rhythms.

While reminiscent of ’90s legends Mazzy Star and The Cure, Bardini’s cultivation of art keeps her firmly planted in the garden of the present.

The album was conceived from a dream the 21-year-old artist had featuring meteor showers that doused her in heat and caused her ears to ring.

The vivid, apocalyptic experience awakened her to the existential ideas that influences her songs.

Dave Behrens commenced painting in acrylics in 2002 to explore the theme of identity. It’s a theme that investigates the identity of self-predominately, yet he is drawn to the concept of identity in others. He uses mark making and pattern forming to express these ideas of identity. There’s an intention to use colours and associations to commit ideas to address this expression. The process of identity can be creative or destructive, yet his purpose is to be creative, using known concepts and mixing them with unique attributes to form positive outcomes.

 

Dave is influenced by ancient cultures, science fiction and popular culture and how these influences use ideas and elements to be identifiable. He has undertaken a journey of self-discovery through his art practice and from that journey, comes the expression of the energy of colour and movement in the form of his art. The intention is to draw the viewer in to explore my works and to interpret as they view it.

Dave has exhibited in Australia and the United States. His work is in private collections in Australia, New Zealand, The UK, Hong Kong, Malaysia and the United States and in corporate collections in Brisbane, Australia.

‘Sophisticated, dark and original.’ GENEVIEVE GANNON

Filip Vukaŝin emerges as a major new talent in contemporary

Australian fiction with Modern Marriage, a compelling

domestic drama that will be loved by fans of Liane Moriarty

and Christos Tsiolkas.

Vukaŝin, now a GP, draws from his background working

in cosmetic medicine to weave a page-turning narrative

that scratches away the glossy veneer of what looks like

perfection.

Modern Marriage is informed by Vukaŝin’s personal

experiences as a gay man, and is set against the backdrop of

the turbulent 2017 same-sex marriage plebiscite.

The seeds of the novel were sown when Vukaŝin heard a

male patient had died while in a gay sauna. ‘It led me to

wonder what a sudden tragedy like that would do to the

family members left behind, particularly if he was there

secretly,’ he said.

The story

The novel follows Klara, whose life appears to be perfect –

from her boutique cosmetic clinic to her svelte physique, and

from her modern home in Melbourne’s coveted inner east to

Dante, her adoring husband with movie-star good looks. And

if all goes to plan, she and Dante will soon have a perfect

baby too.

Then one phone call shatters it all: Dante’s in a coma, after

being discovered unconscious in a gay sauna. Suddenly

Klara’s perfect life begins to spiral dangerously out of control

as her husband’s secrets disrupt everything she thought she

knew about love, marriage and family.

The Melbourne City Reads initiative is on now and will run until November 2021, focusing on an exciting new release each month. The Melbourne-based authors featured are Allee Richards, Miles Allinson (pictured above), Emily Bitto and Maxine Beneba Clarke.

Miles Allinson’s In Moonland has been chosen as the September book.  Set across present-day Melbourne, 1970s India and a not-too-distant future where climate change has ravaged both landscape and human hope, Allinson’s second novel tells the story of one family across three generations. Exploring their individual struggles for meaning, he portrays family members grappling with their own mortality, as well as the reverberating effects of family bonds. Writer Helen Garner has praised In Moonland for its “curious daring beauty”.

What rhymes with orange?

Written and performed by Isabella Perversi

Directed by Alanah Guiry

8 – 17 October 2021

Playing On Demand via www.melbournefringe.com.au

More information at www.isabellaperversi.com

A two-hander following an ordinary couple simply trying to survive their relationship, What rhymes with orange?

is the latest work by multi-disciplinary artist Isabella Perversi. Running as a part of Melbourne’s vibrant 2021

Fringe Festival, this premiere season asks; “What happens to a relationship when it is held together not only by

love, but also by secrets, shame, and guilt?”

An engaging mix of natural and the surreal, What rhymes with orange? is the tale of Tom and Rosie; a regular

couple evolving into the next phase of their lives together. Navigating the rocky terrain of a whether a much loved

career should take precedence over dreams of a family, the young couple are faced with challenging situations

and provocative choices that could either make or break them.

Exploring the illusion of fame versus reality, life and death, and the ability to be reborn, What rhymes with or-

ange? also scrutinises the impact of all consuming modern day technology on a relationship.

“I was curious about what was end of the line for a relationship and when people understood it was time to call it

quits. I really wanted to unpack that.”, explains writer/performer Isabella Perversi.

“What rhymes with orange? is an intense look into the lives of these two people with all the love, hate and pas-

sion one can expect – but what lies underneath all of this is the deceit, shame and regret. One of my favourite lines

in the play is “I’m just waiting for my life to start”, which I think is pretty relevant in todays climate as we navigate

lockdowns and things being postponed and cancelled all the time. There’s a perpetual feeling of unease and

waiting inherent in the work that I think will resonate with audiences.”

Nominated for a Green Room Award for Performance (2021) and Best in Theatre at the 2020 Melbourne Fringe

Festival for her debut play EMBER, Isabella Perversi now brings audiences What rhymes with orange? – her inti-

mate new work about modern love and sacrifice, set amongst the seeming randomness of life.

“Riveting writing, direction and performance” – Sometimes Melbourne (EMBER)

“Perversi’s performance is nuanced and multi-faceted” – Independent Review (EMBER)

Written by Isabella Perversi – Directed by Alanah Guiry – Performed by Isabella Perversi and Fabio Motta – Pro-

duced by Isabella Perversi – Photography and Videography by Ross Dwyer (Mad Hatter Films) – Mentor/

Dramaturg: Iain Sinclair

The amazing Stephen A Russell talks to the Sunday Arts Magazine team about films films and more films during Melbourn’s extended lockdown.

Entries are now open for the 31st annual Linden Postcard Show, running from Saturday 4 December until Sunday 27 February 2022.

The long-standing exhibition is open entry so that everyone, from hobbyists to established artists, has the opportunity to see their artworks displayed on the walls of the gallery, the extended lockdowns providing the perfect opportunity and time to be creative.

Since 1990, this small artwork prize has been providing artists from all career stages all across Australia the opportunity to present their artwork inside Linden New Art’s beautiful Victorian-era building and receive recognition and cash prizes.

Entries are now open until Wednesday 13 October, so get in early to avoid disappointment as participants will be capped at 1,000 artworks. All entries must be posted to the gallery. Artists can submit up to three works, with no set theme in place. The main rule is that all works must measure 8 x 10 inches (20.32 x 25.4cm) exactly, including any framing.

Prizes will include cash awards and vouchers for an assortment of local businesses. Prizes are selected by the judges with the winners being announced at the virtual opening of the exhibition on Friday 3 December.

This year’s judges are Joanna Bosse, Curator at Bayside City Council, and Eric Nash, Director at 

Thrills & Spills: Sisters in Crime’s 21st Davitt Awards Winners Announced

Sally Hepworth’s domestic thriller, The Good Sister (Pan Macmillan Australia) won Sisters in Crime’s 21st Davitt Award (Best Adult Novel) on Saturday night (28 August). The annual awards for best women’s crime books were presented online for the second year running. Fans were invited to go to Facebook to watch the ceremony.

Hepworth, based in Melbourne, is the New York Times bestselling author of six novels. Her 2019 book, Mother in Law, has been optioned for a TV series by Hollywood actress and producer, Amy Poehler.

“If I’m perfectly honest,” she said, “it’s still a surprise to me that I write crime. I always start out with a happy, uplifting premise, and before I know it, I’m Googling the best instruments with which to bludgeon someone to death. I blame my teenage fixation with Law and Order SVU. That said, I like to think that there is a market for happy uplifting books that include a little bludgeoning – I may be wrong, but this is my line and I’m sticking to it.”

The Davitt Awards were presented by Debra Oswald, the award-winning playwright, screenwriter, and novelist, and hosted by Tara Mitchell, Sisters in Crime’s Vice-President. Before presenting the awards, Oswald was quizzed on her brilliant career and her latest book, The Family Doctor, an explosive novel about domestic violence.

“Last year our plans for a big gala dinner for our 20th anniversary were scuppered by the pandemic and this year it’s been the same,” Mitchell said.

“The one silver lining is that thanks to the miracles of modern technology, the Davitts now reach a global audience. Our lists now include crime fans from New Zealand, Singapore, Indonesia, South Africa, Canada, the USA, the UK, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and Russia.”