Blowing Your Flute
Opera Australia artistic director and one-time local Lyndon Terracini returns to the area to conduct workshops with the children from the Murwillumbah and Uki primary schools and the Tweed Small Schools Choir towards their production of The Magic Flute – an Indiana Jones-inspired tale of adventure.
Mozart’s much-loved opera retains the original storyline but the setting has been transformed to suit the infusion of young talent.
The Magic Flute includes 12 principal artists plus a live touring orchestra of nine under the baton of Simon Kenway and Paul Fitzsimon.
Director Michael Gow believes ‘it’s a classic quest… a young man seeks enlightenment and true love, but he’s got it all the wrong way around and has to deal with his own ego’.
Wow, that’s certainly a contemporary tale!
The show will be staged at the Murwillumbah Civic Centre auditorium on Saturday at 7.30pm.
Tickets are $59, $45 concession and $25 for children. Go to www.murwillumbahopera.com or phone 0424 895 979.
Darren Sanders Show goes Big
Darren Sanders has been performing standup comedy for 20 years.
A regular on Stand Up Australia, Rove, In Melbourne Tonight and The Russell Gilbert Show, Sanders is a master of his craft, with his signature dry wit seeing him headline at major comedy clubs around Australia. 2012 saw The Darren Sanders Show air nationally in Australia and New Zealand and in 2013 Nine Network’s Go Channel also joined in to screen four episodes of the big fella’s work.
He appeared in the Working Dog feature film Any Questions for Ben and even has the honour of having the last line in the film! He ran one of Sydney’s legendary comedy rooms, The Laugh Garage, for well over a decade and to this day Sanders just seems to get better.
Headlining at the Ballina RSL’s Big Gig Comedy on Thursday, with Steven J Whiteley as support and Mandy Nolan as MC. Starts at 8pm. Free!
Tempt Me…
From the Bible to Faust to Shakespeare, temptation has been fundamental to human experience – leading to a trial of inner strength, to calamity or worse.
After all, it got Adam and Eve thrown out of paradise!
Does giving in to temptation always lead to disastrous consequences? When have you given yourself over to or resisted temptation – was it worthwhile? Is temptation a spice in your life? What tempts you now?
Share your stories of temptation, and see them brought to life in sound and movement by Cape Byron Playback Theatre on Saturday at the Drill Hall in Mullumbimby 7.30pm.
Entry by donation. Enquiries: 0403 023 693 or [email protected].
Actor-vists celebrate Tree of Life
Many people know the horrible statistic that an area of forest the size of a soccer pitch is cut down every second, but feel powerless to do anything about it.
Eight local women are carrying the banner for tropical reforestation by doing what they love – creating theatre.
Tree of Life, directed by Philippa Williams of Theatre of Life, is a poetical soul journey celebrating our connection to Nature, and in particular to the Tree of Life which spans time, culture and continent as a mighty image appearing in art, poetry, story, philosophy and religion.
Texts referred to in the production range from sixth century BC to contemporary Australian poet Judith Wright and are seamlessly woven together with the stunning choreography of Tracie Crockford and music by Kaia Moon.
September 6 and 7 at 7.30 pm at The Drill Hall Theatre, Mullumbimby.
Proceeds to ‘Tree Sisters’ for tropical reforestation
With the support of Rainforest Rescue.
Tickets $22 and $18 concession from Mullumbimby Bookshop
Enquiries to Philippa at 0422 882 319.
www.theatre-of-life.org
Horsey Art
Horses have shared a close relationship with humans and for a long time have been our trusted companions, capturing our hearts and imaginations.
With 2014 being the Chinese Year of the Horse, the Northern Rivers Community Gallery presentsEquine Inspired, a group exhibition featuring suites of work from artists around the equine theme. Opening on Thursday at 5.30pm and on show until 5 October.
Why Miss Kitty!
Kitty Flanagan at the Byron Community Centre on Thursday 4 and Friday 5 September.
The delightful Ms Flanagan presents a sneak preview of her brand-new show so don’t miss this opportunity to see one of Australia’s most creative minds at work as Kitty gives the inside scoop on gravediggers, cops, Cubans and spaghetti sows.
There’s advice on how to speak to doctors, funny music from Sister Penny, plus a serious attempt to quantify one of life’s biggest mysteries: ‘Just how much do old people love salt?’
Book online at byroncentre.com.au or phone 6685 6807.
Getting Together to get Fracked Up
This Saturday at 7.30pm, Down The Gas Hole Productions presents the No Fracking Way Cabaret at the Nimbin Town Hall.
The crew honour what has been noted as one of the most pivotal points in the history of the northern rivers with a cabaret celebrating the epic tales and memorable moments with spoken word, song, dance and celebration!
Dinner will be available to purchase from 6.30pm; show starts at 7.30pm. Tickets are $12/$15 and are available at the door, or pre-sale from The Nimbin Environment Centre.
Art on the Shores
If you really want to know what’s happening in the visual arts in Byron Shire, get along to the Ocean Shores Art Expo this weekend. Every year for the last eleven years artists have painted up a storm for the themed event, which this year is entitled Home.
Along with paintings, there are dozens of exhibits in sculpture, mixed media, photography, pastels and printmaking. Celebrating at the Opening Launch Party you have a chance to rub shoulders with the artists and creatives who come out of their studios and garages to share their mark-making with the rest of the community.
It’s a rare chance for artists to exhibit and sell works as well as be awarded prizes over $5,000.
Get to the opening on Friday at 7pm in the auditorium of the Ocean Shores Public School, Shara Blvd, where Laura Targett romances the sound waves with her sensual music, food and wine are abundant, and hundreds of new artworks are yours for the picking!
Sydney comedy Showcase
The Sydney Comedy Festival is back on the road with an awesome lineup of the hottest international and local comedians from the 2014 Festival!
The lineup this year includes Ray Badran (MC), Jacques Barrett, Luke Heggie, Smart Casual, Sam Campbell, John Cruickshank and Jared Jekyll. Friday at the Byron Community Centre – 7.30pm.
Bookings 6685 6807. Saturday at the Ballina RSL. 18+ show. Tickets are only $30pp and can be purchased online at www.ballinarsl.com.au or from the box office on 6686 2544.
A knitted tribute to Lou
A unique show will open at The Serpentine Gallery in Lismore – I’ll Be Your Mirror – a knitted tribute to Lou Reed and the 40th anniversary of his first Australian tour.
The show is the result of a collaboration between Mary Adams, a visual artist who now lives in Lismore, and local photographer Katrina Mathieson. Mary has worked in the medium of knitting for over 40 years, producing hand loomed garments in pure wool using a range of images from popular culture. For I’ll Be Your Mirror, Mary has produced 50 sweaters representing Lou Reed albums and songs, and she and Katrina have joined forces to make this a truly community event.
In July, Mary and Katrina set up a photo booth at The Channon Markets and invited locals to be photographed in the sweaters. The public response was tremendous. People of all ages, sizes, shapes and styles lined up for the opportunity to put on a sweater featuring Lou Reed images and/or lyrics, and pay tribute to the great musician and poet.
One week later, 11 ‘models’ including several musicians, a radio arts program host, two high school students, the manager of the Lismore Artspace, a mother and her six-year-old son, a performance artist, and a DJ who goes by the name of Sista Ray, were photographed in a set of 11 Transformer sweaters in one epic shot against the striking murals in Lismore’s graffiti lanes.
The resulting images from these public photo shoots will be exhibited alongside the sweaters.
To add to the sense of celebration at the exhibition opening, a selection of Lou Reed songs arranged for guitar and cello, will be performed by local musicians, Lisa Cameron, Greg Richardson and Erol Dulagil.
The exhibition has the enthusiastic endorsement of Laurie Anderson and Sister Ray in New York. Sister Ray will be posting a link to the details on the Lou Reed Facebook page.
The exhibition opens at The Serpentine Gallery, 17 Bridge St, North Lismore Wednesday, August 27 from 6-9pm.
SNIPPETS
Artexposure
The Byron Bay Brewery will be hosting their new regular Thursdays Artexposure night featuring graffiti artists creating their art on the spot, decor installations and DJ’s playing hip-hop, glitch, dub, liquid DNB, progressive psy and minimal tech. Plus Fire Spinners! There will be a lot of performances on the night.
Byron Forums
Thursday 4 September: Strategic Thinking on Precepts of Love, Truth and Justice, presented by Dudley Leggett, director, Sustainability Research Institute. 6pm, Cafe Oska, 1 Carlyle St, Byron Bay. Dinner $10, 6–7pm.
Lone Goat art
Lone Goat Gallery presents Exploration into Strength, an exhibition by third-year visual arts students from SCU, Judie Richardson & Emma Gardner. The show runs from 28 August until 10 September, and opens on Friday 29 August at 6pm. Contact Emma Gardner 0468 626 181.
Op Shop
Uniting Church Op Shop, Dalley St, Mullum, open each Saturday 8am–noon. Big clearance of all adults’ winter and summer clothing till end of August.
Bush dancing
Live music from Celtic band Hide The Potato with a dance caller. Come along on Sunday 31 August, 2–4pm at the Brunswick RSL Hall in Fawcett Street for a gold coin donation. For info please ring Court 6685 0072.
Be Empress of Europe
Vacancies for female artistes 20s to 40s; dancing experience will be an advantage for Drill Hall Theatre’s Napoleon in Sydney. Contact Hamish 0415 789 804.
