Die Roten Punkte: Otto & Astrid present Eurosmash!
Byron Theatre, Community Centre | Saturday | 8pm | $30–39
They won the Most Outstanding Show at the London Fringe, Best Comedy at Montreal Fringe, and the Green Room Award in Melbourne for Best Cabaret Production. Otto and Astrid are Die Roten Punkte, the award-winning post-punk musical cabaret comedy sensation!
Fans of Spinal Tap and Flight of the Conchords, say ‘Hallo’ to your new favourite band.
Orphaned as kids, the brother-and-sister duo found shelter in a Berlin squat and never rockin’ well looked back. Eurosmash! packs the best and worst of Eurovision into one night of warped and riotous entertainment.
In this, Otto and Astrid’s latest show, the dysfunctional siblings are ready for mainstream chart success. It’s a tough choice between dancing and laughing, as this duo kicks out some mother-smashing jams.
An Otto and Astrid gig is a wild rock’n’roll cabaret ride, full of hilarious, truly catchy, and award-winning songs, constantly interrupted by the squabbling of the dysfunctional siblings. One of the most irreverent and funny gigs you are ever likely to see.
A lipstick-smeared, tantrum-loving duo, Die Roten Punkte are truly one of a kind. Astrid’s avant-garde style and legendary antics inspire both reverence and fear, while Otto’s dynamic stage presence brings to mind a whirling dervish on meth.
Otto and Astrid recently opened for Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra in Europe, Australia, and USA, and Eurosmash played to huge acclaim in the 2017 Sydney Festival.
Following sellout shows in Edinburgh, Montreal, New York, and Dublin, Otto and Astrid tour Australia with one of the most irreverent and funny gigs you are ever likely to see.
They perform at the Byron Theatre on Saturday at 8pm. $30–39. Tix at byroncentre.com.au
Pirates of Penzance
Ballina Players Theatre | Friday 7 July | 8pm, matinee Sundays at 2pm
The Pirates of Penzance for Ballina Players, which opens this Friday, features a chorus of 10 young men and women who have to portray both pirates and policemen. Director/choreographer Jaime Sheehan has all 10 playing pirates in the first act, then all 10 playing policemen for the first song in Act 2, but then they split into two groups of five for the remainder of the second act. In most productions of Pirates of Penzance, the chorus would split into the two groups for the entire second act but Sheehan felt that she needed to have all the chorus for the song When the Foeman Bears His Steel and she feels that the move was a wise one as it has turned out to be one of the highlights of the show. ‘I felt that for the introduction of the policemen, and that song in particular, the show needed a bigger group of chorus than traditionally used.’ Patrons will appreciate this when they see the show.
Mainly consisting of school students, this chorus wields batons and swords with equal ease. For two of the chorus, this is their first time on Ballina Players’ stage. Dylan Hamilton played the very young Tam in the Players’ 2010 production of Miss Saigon, while Grace Evans, who is an exchange student, actually did the ESSGEE version of Pirates in Canada!
Pirates of Penzance opens Ballina Players Theatre on Friday for 14 performances, finishing on 7 July. Tickets are $30/adult, $22/child (16 & under), and are available at Just Funkin Music shop at 124 River St, Ballina, 6686 2440 (a $2 booking fee applies) or online at www.ballinaplayers.com.au (no booking fee). All shows are at 8pm except for Sundays which are at 2pm.
Stars of the Tweed Shire
Babalou Weddings and Events, Level 1, Kingscliff Hotel | Thursday 20 June | 6pm | $30
Tweed Shire will be holding their first comedy fundraising evening for the Cancer Council, hosted by the legendary comedian Mandy Nolan, to raise funds for cancer research and support services.
Stars of Tweed Shire Comedy Club will be held on 20 June at Babalou Weddings and Events in Kingscliff.
All volunteers have learnt the dark art of comedy at workshops over a six-week period, learning the secrets to improvisation, joke structures, performance techniques, and topic development, as well as one-on-one writing sessions.
Mandy Nolan has been an icon in the standup community for more than two decades; however, her skills don’t stop there. Apart from being a four-times published writer, she has travelled Australia to sellout crowds, closed out at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Roadshow, guest featured on ABC and SBS television, and currently writes a weekly column for The Echo.
Her humour is sharp, honest, and speaks to a diverse audience where she has rubbed shoulders and entertained the likes of Olivia Newton John, Jimmy Barnes, and Julie Bishop… and Bronwyn Bishop!
Mandy believes she has the experience and secrets to make any student a successful comedian and find their authentic voice.
Stars of Tweed Shire Comedy Club is where local legends, everyday heroes, and influential people of the community will be mentored by Mandy to learn the art of comedy and fundraise along their comedic journey, before presenting a final performance to a crowd.
Funds raised from Stars of Tweed Shire will fund world-class cancer research, prevention programs, advocacy, and support services to help those affected by cancer at every point in their journey.
Stars of the Tweed Shire, Babalou Weddings and Events, Level 1, Kingscliff Hotel. Thursday 20 June 6pm. Tix $30
Elemental: Sam and Jacqui Sosnowski exhibition opening
NRCG Ballina | Thursday 4 July | 5.30pm | running until 25 August
Creative Northern Rivers couple Sam and Jacqui Sosnowski combine their talents for an exciting exhibition of wood lithography (mokulito) and primitive fired (raku) ceramic vessels called Elemental which opens at NRCG (Northern Rivers Community Gallery) on 4 July.
Sam’s mokulito limited-edition prints use the relatively new exciting printmaking technique of wood lithography, which leaves the dynamic impression of the plywood substrate, giving Sam’s landscape subject matter a strong energy and dynamism.
Jacqui’s raku ceramics use ancient forms and are taken from the kiln while red hot, plunged into sawdust and then water. The vessels emerge carrying this thermal energy visible on their surface.
Sam’s landscapes show water, wind, and earth, and Jacqui’s ceramic vessels are created by earth, water, and fire. Both the prints and the ceramics are elemental in their process as well as in their aesthetic.
Elemental opens Thurs 4 July 5.30–7.30pm. Exhibition runs until Sunday 25 August.
Dog Day Afternoon, Mavis’s Kitchen, Murwillumbah
Sunday 30 June | 9am – 3pm | Free
Last year HOTA at the Gold Coast hosted a unique concert with Laurie Andersen, the underground US singer who held what she called ‘A Concert for Dogs’. This was a concert that recognised the relationship we have with our dogs and encouraged owners to engage in a social setting with their beloved pooches.
Mavis’s Kitchen and Cabins in Murwillumbah has taken this idea to heart with a Dog Day Afternoon on Sunday 30 June – with people invited to bring their dogs to enjoy live music, dog groomers and trainers, natural therapies for pets, and even Furry Family Photography. This is sure to be an intriguing day! Tickets are free but you do need to register. There are lots of prizes too!
To register go to maviseskitchen.com.au. Details on FB or mavieseskitchen.com.au
Thursday Night Live: Manus
Lismore gallery | Thursday | 5.30–7.30pm | Free | Booking essential
Thursday Night Live! is an evening of provocation, discussion, and dialogue at Lismore gallery. This month’s provocation is: refugees now and then: Has Australia lost its compassion?
Australia has a long history in resettling refugees, once being viewed as a world leader in the years after World War II. And yet, policies and attitudes towards people who come here to seek asylum have hardened over the last two decades. Is it now fair to ask have some of us forgotten our past? Have we lost our compassion?
MANUS is a 13-minute film that deals with the situation faced by hundreds of asylum seekers still held captive by the Australian government on Manus Island in PNG after almost six years. I created the film based around footage shot there by journalist Olivia Rousset when she secretly visited the men for a single night during a standoff last year. The film focuses entirely on the testimonials of the men, and includes at the end a poem about Manus written by Kurdish journalist, award-winning writer, and asylum seeker on Manus, Behrouz Boochani, voiced by him for the film in Farsi.
I wanted the public to hear from the men themselves in this film, something that happens too rarely and suits the federal government that has continually tried to keep those on Manus and Nauru invisible. This is a film about humanity and solidarity.
Panellists are Nathan Willis: Solicitor, Migration Consultant; Katka Adams: Visual artist and political refugee; and Angus McDonald: visual artist and filmmaker. To be facilitated by Dr Leticia Anderson, lecturer in Humanities at Southern Cross University
A free event but bookings required through the website.
