If I were a carpenter… and you were a plumber
After many years plying their trades as plumber and carpenter respectively, old schoolmates Simon Cullum and Stuart Cook have decided to get creative with Form Wood Copper. Stuart, also an artist, sculptor, and the creator of Sun Cow Designs, has returned to beautiful Australian timber to once again create amazing indoor and outdoor furniture. Simon started creating artisanal shower, tapware, and bathroom accessories as Brooklyn Copper Co nearly five years ago. Since then, his creations have become a sought-after feature for modern outdoor spaces.
Form Wood Copper is all about bringing their work to the North Coast for a few days. They will be exhibiting beautiful furniture, showers, and artwork from their design collection – and everything is for sale. Most of Stuart’s pieces of furniture are one-offs, so if unique pieces are your thing, please drop by. Simon will be displaying and selling pieces from across his range and will be happy to chat about any custom orders you have in mind.
Form Wood Copper is on show 10am daily at Newrybar Community Hall, 15–18 April.
The Little Mermaid
The Little Mermaid is a new work in the Victorian State Ballet repertoire. The ballet follows the narrative based predominantly on the story by Hans Christian Andersen. This widely known and much-loved story presented an opportunity to bring to life an underwater world inhabited by myriad sea folk and lively characters.
The choreography by Michelle Cassar de Sierra is a stunning display of classical ballet with elements of physical theatre that magically tell the tale.
The story unfolds in another world where a young mermaid dreams of a life beyond the sea.
Come and see the magnificent costumes full of vibrant colour, sets and props accentuating the beauty and splendour of this magical place, together with the outstanding skill, artistry, and technique of the artists of the Victorian State Ballet.
At the Byron Theatre Friday 23 April at 7pm and Saturday 24 April at 2pm. Book on byroncentre.com.au.
TLC Dance Theatre show
TLC presents the Dance Theatre show – an exploration of loneliness, connection, and the spaces in between. It’s at the Drill Hall Theatre in Mullumbimby on Sunday 2 May at 2pm. Tix are $20/25. One show only. Tickets on drillhalltheatre.org.au.
Comedy at Bangalow Bowlo
Last month The Bangalow Bowlo launched Comedy on the Green – a free night of comedy that happens on the third Wednesday of every month. Happy punters packed the room – enjoying a laugh and good company and the freedom of being out and enjoying live entertainment. This month MC Mandy Nolan presents comedian Mick Neven, a voraciously topical comic who has a genius for weaving humour into dark places. He is supported by UK comedy firecracker Nicky Wilkinson.
Show is on Wednesday 21 April at 7pm and it’s free, but you need to register for a ticket. Go to bangalowbowlo.com.au.
Thirsty work
Thirst is a two-act theatre performance original work with acoustic music – guitar, banjo, piano, stomp box, blues harp, and vocals – as well as a bag full of stories and projections that tell the story of Stan Adams. Stan was an officer in the Australian Merchant Navy in the 1950s and ’60s. He had a good life, great job, a lovely wife and two great kids in Sydney.
Stan walked away from everything; he had to live rough on the streets, to drinking rum and cough mixture with two of his navy mates, eating and surviving from garbage bins and the goodwill of those he met. This is the story of the share house he came to live in and the impact he had on the people there.
Written and performed by Deebee Bishop. Saturday at 6pm and Sunday at 3pm.
Tickets are $20 at drillhalltheatre.org.au.
Mini Queer Film Fest!
To kick off Youth Week 2021, Conscious Movie Club will be teaming up with local not-for-profit Queer Family Inc to bring you something a little different. Not just one movie, but a whole Mini Queer Film Fest!
Byron Youth Service and Queer Family have teamed up to respond to a need for greater support for queer youth in the region. ‘Events like these are so important to show our queer youth that there is a thriving and vibrant queer community here,’ explained Queer Family director Aiden Gentle (they/them). ‘It’s equally valuable that the broader community get involved too, because it shows our youth that they are loved and celebrated here in the Shire.’
Queer Family reduces social isolation and improves mental health by creating safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ people and allies to connect and form community in the Northern Rivers. Queer Family are a peer-led, volunteer community group. If you’d like to get involved, you can find them on Facebook, their website, or email [email protected].
The Mini Queer Film Fest will feature queer shorts, a new Australian documentary Why Did She Have To Tell The World?, a panel discussion about current queer issues, and finally a special cult classic film. All proceeds from the event will go towards supporting the Byron Youth Centre and Queer Family.
Friday, with doors open at 5.30, including a tasty barbecue, so bring your appetite and a picnic blanket for the outdoor cinema experience. We will move indoors if it rains.
Suggested ticket donation – $15 adult or $10 for under-18s. For tickets bys.org.au/movieclub.
Be a Bridge of Light
The Divine University, a global spiritual services organisation offering new education and transformation products, invites you to join them during the powerful Wesak Full Moon period for their 3-day Be a Bridge of Light Retreat, from Saturday 24 April till Monday 26 April 2021; and their 3-hour Wesak Full Moon Global Meditation on Tuesday 27 April 2021, at the Mullumbimby Civic Centre. Throughout the Be a Bridge of Light Retreat and the Wesak Full Moon Global Meditation, they connect with others from around the world to step together into a new cycle of light, ‘to empower our energy system and light force, and anchor our light in the world over the next 12 months’.
‘Wesak is a very special time each year to utilise the light coming through the full-moon portal to sustain us with the light we need for our spiritual year ahead, for our service to our family, our community, humanity, all beings, and Mother Earth.’
The 3-day Be a Bridge of Light Retreat, Saturday 24 – Monday 26 April 2021.
The Wesak Full Moon Global Meditation is 3-hour guided meditation that will focus on enhancing your light through a great love and light balance from your previous 12 months so that you may move gracefully into the new spiritual year with the greatest grace and blessing of light. The Wesak meditation will be presented by The Divine University teacher AmaYa Ma, as she guides your journey to the Wesak Valley in Tibet to receive the blessings of the Wesak light at the moment the full moon peaks.
Wesak Full Moon Ceremony Global Meditation at Mullum Civic Centre.
27 April 2021, 10.45am–2pm
For the livestream of the 3-day event go to www.wesak2021.com.
Cinema
Spain comes to Byron
The Moro Spanish Film Festival was missed last year because of COVID restrictions but this year it’s back with some of the program that was missed, along with some brand-new titles, offering a cinematic journey across Spain and Latin America.
Screening nationally from 20 April, the following films are a sneak peek into the program, which will screen nationally at Palace Cinemas, including in Byron.
From Spain, the selection includes:
Internationally acclaimed director Alejandro Amenábar’s (The Others, The Sea Inside) exposé of the 1936 Spanish coup While At War (Mientras dure la Guerra). Filmed across Spain and Argentina, it reveals the personal side of politics through the eyes of writer Miguel de Unamuno.
Trapped inside a small apartment where hidden secrets slowly rise to the surface, The Plan (El plan) sees three friends forced to confront revealing truths in this biting comedy featuring Spanish stars Antonio de la Torre and Raúl Arévalo.
Raúl Arévalo also stars in The Europeans (Los europeos) opposite Juan Diego Botto in an unforgettable romantic holiday adventure set in the wild world of 1950s Ibiza, where dreams sometimes carry a sting in the tail.
And the dream of home ownership takes an unexpected turn in One Careful Owner (El inconveniente) when a young woman must wait for a property’s current elderly owner to die in this offbeat tale of women’s friendship.
From Latin America comes:
Heroic Losers (La Odisea de los Giles), the number-one Argentinian film of 2019. Heroic Losers is a homespun Ocean’s 11 featuring superstar Ricardo Darín, and his son Chino, in a comedy heist rich in local colour and unforgettable characters.
And highlighting the Australian–Spanish connection is Latigo, in which Australian comic and filmmaker Simon Palomares visits Cuba to explore the universal joy of laughter in a film heralded as ‘The Buena Vista Social Club of comedy!’
The 2021 Moro Spanish Film Festival will take place at the Place Byron from 20 April till 16 May. Check the program on palacecinemas.com.au.
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