Drama for kids
Philippa Williams of Theatre of Life is continuing with children’s drama classes this term at the Ocean Shores Community Centre. If your kids love to dress up and enter their own imaginative worlds then this is the place for them! They also work with text, movement, theatre skills, mask and improvisation.
Call 6680 2057 to make a booking for the new term, which begins on Thursday 5 May.
www.theatre-of-life.org
IncrREDible Art Exhibition
Once again it’s time to present this year’s group exhibition from Red Inc. The dynamic local group of contemporary artists with a disability from Studio Red, in Byron Bay and Lismore, will be showing their latest paintings, ceramics, and digital art.
Red Inc audiences are sure to be fascinated by the distinctive raw expression shown by these artists, many of whom have been painting for years. Their view of the world is fresh and often joyful. Red Inc offers innovative and amazing creative opportunities for people with a disability who may be interested in ceramics, yoga, dance, photography, film etc. Every year the artists show the strength of their work – always an impressive and remarkable show. Opening Friday at Studio RED in the Byron Industrial Estate at 6pm by mayor Simon Richardson.
MardiGrass music and art and film and stuff
The 2016 Nimbin MardiGrass Cannabis Reform Rally opens on Friday and runs through until the evening of Sunday. The whole village of Nimbin will be alive with music, and talks, with the iconic Bush Theatre playing host to a selection of protestival events and its adjoining eatery (Phoenix Rising Café) presenting a tasty smorgasbord of fresh’n’juicy music to complement the weekend’s festivities.
The Bush Theatre will kick off the weekend with a screening of three independent films in the evening of Friday, complete with a question-and-answer session with each film’s director or producer. Entry is free for those who are wearing a weekend wristband pass, but non-revellers can also see the films for a mere $10 and, as always, the cafe will be open for dinner, drinks and desserts.
Then, on the Saturday, Phoenix Rising Café will be serving hot coffee and delicious meals from 8am while a suite of musicians grace its outdoor stage from 10am through till the late afternoon (all free of charge), ending with Brisbane jazz aficionados, The Sakrewski-Symons SuperMegaUltraRad Quintet… just in time for the Nimbin Bush Theatre to open its doors for what promises to be a fantastic night of celebratory dance, with five excellent acts set to get the crowd moving and grooving.
Starting at 5.30pm, Brisbane’s HRBRT collective will present a tasty session of experimental jazz-infused dance music, followed by the northern rivers’ own Out of Range///3 – a quirky cabaret trio of piano/accordion, vocals, guitar and violin, so named owing to their constant battles with vacillating mobile signals. Nimbin music-goers may remember Baltic Bar Mitzvah from their splendid performance at the cafe in February and Out of Range///3 from their entertaining set supporting Orkeztar Lizmore last November at Nimbin Town Hall.
Around 8pm will see the invigorating Baltic Bar Mitzvah (from Newcastle) hit the stage with their unique brand of eclectic horn-fuelled gypsy-folk music, followed by Sydney’s Azadoota (contemporary Assyrian dance-rock with more horns) and, to finish the night, those purveyors of irreverent Dixieland dance music, The Moochers Inc, will play some ol’time swingin’ tunes.
Phoenix Rising Café will be open again from 8am on Sunday with more free live music throughout most of the day and then late into the night – beginning with a kirtan session at 9am and ending with Nimbin musical legend Neil Pike (Pagan Love Cult) and his mesmerising visuals… This special place by the river promises to be the perfect place to wind down from the MardiGrass weekend.
Entry to each night’s events at the Bush Theatre is either FREE if you are wearing a MardiGrass 2016 Golden Bud Pass wristband or a mere $10 (available online www.nimbinbushtheatre.com/events or directly from the venue).
Collaborating Dance and Music
Dance and Music Collaborations #1 is two evenings showcasing the practice of four artists. It is a culmination of longtime peer practice and new relationships in movement and dance.
Local musician Barry Hill will be playing very cool sound and music on a myriad of instruments with voice and effects, joined by three dance artists: locals Kimberley McIntyre and Phil Blackman and Sydney-based artist Ryiuichi Fujimura.
The nights will play host to improvisation among all four artists as well as a devised solo by Ryiuichi, How I Practise My Religion.
Expect contemporary moves and sounds, extreme physicality, tender moments, synchronicity and derision, amid an experimental lighting installation with post-show refreshments.
Friday and Saturday at 8pm. Mullumbimby Drill Hall Theatre $20/$15.
New opportunities for scriptwriters
An extraordinary opportunity for northern NSW-based screenwriters has been announced by Screenworks and Byron Writers Festival as part of their Books to Screen initiative aimed at getting more Australian books adapted to film and television. The two organisations are currently seeking applications from skilled screenwriters to work with authors to prepare adaptation proposals, with some of Australia’s leading screenwriters attached to the program as mentors. Along with the author, three screenwriters will pitch adaptation proposals to a panel of screen-industry judges at the upcoming 2016 Byron Writers Festival. Thanks to the generous support of Screen NSW, all three selected screenwriters will be paid a fee for their contribution and involvement in the program. Two Wolves by Tristan Bancks, Losing Kate by Kylie Kaden and Listen by Kate Veitch have been announced as the three novels selected for the program following an extensive selection process. All three novels were chosen for their potential for a screenwriter to develop a strong dramatic adaptation for the screen, with each novel having a large audience of readers. With the books selected, Screenworks is now looking for three screenwriters to each team up with one of the authors to put together the material required to pitch the author’s book to a panel of producers and broadcasters at the 2016 Byron Bay Writers Festival. In a three-day non-residential intensive workshop, the screenwriter/author teams will be mentored by one of the esteemed professional screenwriters consulting to the program, including Belinda Chayko (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Old School), Charlie de Salis (Show Me the Magic, A Moment Passing) and Roger Monk (The Dr Blake Mysteries, Nowhere Boys). International television sales executive Victoria Baldock will then work with all of the screenwriter/author teams to identify the key pitching points for their proposals and to develop their pitching skills. The three-day intensive will be held at SAE Creative Media Institute in Byron Bay in June to provide the participants time to prepare their pitch for the 2016 Byron Writers Festival being held 5–7 August. ‘A winner will be selected by the prestigious judging panel at the Byron Writers Festival,’ explained Screenworks general manager Ken Crouch, ‘and we hope that there will be genuine opportunities for the presented works to be optioned by the screen industry executives on the panel.’ If the winning adaptation pitch is not optioned by one of the panelists at the Byron Writers Festival, Screenworks will include the winning pitch as part of a slate of projects that it takes to the Screen Producers Australia conference in November 2016 with the purpose of seeking market interest. To apply, screenwriters need to choose one of the selected books in addition to completing the online application form. Applications close 9am, Wednesday 4 May 2016. The application forms and terms and conditions are available from www.screenworks.com.au.
