Page 12 - Wednesday, May 20, 2020
Melbourne Arts Heide Museum
■ Heide Museum of Modern Art and leading landscape architecture studio Openwork has revealed design details for the new Heide Garden. Inspired by Heide founder Sunday Reed's profound love for her garden, the Healing Garden draws on the curative properties of plants and the ever-growing body of knowledge that positions gardens as a powerful tool for connecting communities, reducing social isolation and providing positive, lifeaffirming experiences. Stated to open in late 2020, the Garden has been designed to facilitate healing and restoration for vulnerable communities and will now be a vital space for the broader community in the wake of COVID-19. Circular in design, the garden draws on the concept of proximities which consider the boundary between personal and public space and the amount of space that people feel it necessary to set between themselves and others. The new healing garden is situated between Sunday Reed's original heritage listed kitchen garden and the brick wall of the Heide cottage, which is the wheelchair accessible garden on site. Incorporating six different clusters of different planting styles that each facilitate a variety of sensory activities, the design is sensitive to Sunday Reed's original paths and trees. Throughout these clusters will be a series of nooks t6hat have developed existing spaces into social areas, including seating made from leftover limestone from Heide Modern. The garden features six clusters of different plant styles that each facilitate a variety of sensory activities. As visitors enter the garden, they encounter Scented Entries that use strongly fragrant plants, including Sunday Reed's original roses, to mark the transition into the space using the sense of smell as well as visual markers. The Sensory Kitchen Garden shares a boundary with Heide's current kitchen garden and will include edible plants that activate the sense ef taste. The Haptic Play Garden focuses on younger visitors who may be on the autism spectrum and includes a tactile water play that can be touched and heard. The Bush Tucker Garden builds on the indigenous plants currently In the garden by incorporating a ;large piece of stone that acts as a proxy table where Bush Tucker can be ground, touched, and smelt. The Meadow, the largest of the clusters, draws on the New Perennial and herbaceous gardens movement pioneered by Gertrude Jekyll, who was an influence on the Reeds. The Meadow will be defined by a seemingly wild, rambunctious but curated planting style that emphasis seasonal change and immersive experience. The Wild Garden is a response to the climbing roses that characterise the wall and arbors of the original gardens and creates a space that is carefully maintained to appear wild. About Heide: Set on16 acres of parkland with Yarra River frontage, Heide Museum of Modern Art, or Heide as it is affectionately known is one of Australia's most important cultural institutions. Once a significant Wurundjeri gathering place, the property was later a dairy farm before becoming known as a hub for Australian modernist art and writing after it was purchased by art patrons John and Sunday Reed n 1934. The Reeds opened their home to the most progressive artists of their era, including Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker, Joy Hester, John Perceval, Charles Blackmanand Danila Vassilieff. Nolan's famous Ned Kelly series (194647) was painted in the dining room of Heide farmhouse. Continuing this legacy, today Heide works to inspire creative talent, collaborating with emerging and mid-carer artists as well as celebrating those who have made major contributions to Australian and international art.. Heide Museum of Modern Art 7 Templestowe Rd, Bulleen - Peter Kemp
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● Local actors enjoying an online play-reading from top left: Dru Bartlett, Trish Carr, Tony, Hazel and Richard Green, Trish, Alannah Guthrie-Jones, Lyn Alexander, George Boyd, and Colleen. Melbourne thespians have been keeping active enjoying their craft in various ways, including Zoom online play-reading sessions, hosted by director Trish Carr. These sessions are becoming so popular that Trish has no trouble casting all roles in the selected plays. Trish can be contacted at 9720 1177.
Lockdown Monologues ■ Malthouse Theatre has announced that it has commissioned playwrights Jean Tong, Jane Harrison and Tom Holloway to create a series of monologues based around life in the current pandemic. Made possible by a grant from the Malcolm Robertson Foundation, the three writers will research and interview Melburnians from all walks of life who have uncanny, humorous, strange, personal and political stories to share—creating a time capsule of these six months in Melbourne. Malthouse Theatre’s Director in Residence, Bridget Balodis, will direct the project, with Mark Pritchard as dramaturg.
Observations Refuge 2020
■ Flood. Heatwave. Pandemics. Mass displacement. Every year since 2016 Arts House in North Melbourne has brought together artists, experts and emergency services to explore the biggest climate 'What ifs?' of our time. Now the unimaginable is our daily reality, and a few people say they saw it coming. From practical survival skills to tips from pandemic and medical experts, this three part series explores beyond the headlines and into the worlds (and living rooms) of those who know what counts most in a time of crisis. Hosted by antidisciplinary artist and Refuge alumni Lee Shang Lun, each instalment will feature a different panel of guests, performances of new work, live music and demos from artists' homes. The first instalment of Refuge 2020 at 12 Noon on Thursday (May 21), dives into the minds of thinkers who knew this was coming. From the insights gleaned during the fictional pandemic of Refuge 2018 to the fascinating things disease experts get up to behind closed doors, this session will help viewers feel prepared during the catastrophe, separating the knowledge from the noise. Artist Latai Taumoepeau, hyealth informatics specialist Priyanka Pillai and Beth Eggleston of Humanitarian Advisory Group will take viewers on a compelling voyage through the connections between art, science, data and politics. Interspersed with new live music by Allara Briggs-Pattison, sonic artwork by Ellen van Neervan and demos from Jen Rae’s Future Proof Survival Guide, this instalment will equip viewers with a whole new kit of ideas to prepare for tomorrow. All sessions are live captioned, with Auslan interpretation available on request. To register and guarantee a place, head to artshouse.com.au - Cheryl Threadgold
CLOC Theatre
Once each playwright has written three 5-minute monologues, Malthouse Theatre will begin casting local actors to perform in the nine monologues. The performances, staged as three monologues per epi-
sode, will be live streamed on June 3 and 17, and July 3. The monologues will be free to watch, but audiences will need to register via malthousetheatre.com.au to receive the streaming link to watch.
Red Stitch’s appeal ■ Red Stitch Actors Theatre in St Kilda was established in 2001, and since its first play presented in 2002 has presented more than 100 contemporary plays and quality entertainment for many patrons. The coronavirus pandemic has now had a serious financial impact on Red Stitch. To ensure the company's future, the following appeal has been made to supporters of the theatre: "Dear Friends of Red Stitch, “In the last few weeks, our world has been turned upside down by the coronavirus. As a community, we still don’t fully understand exactly how this will end. This is especially true for the arts industry in Australia, and companies like Red Stitch. “Yet, we do know that this time will pass, and Red Stitch will return to the stage. “While everybody at Red Stitch has done everything we can to guarantee that the show will go on in the years to come, we want to make sure that the work we present in the future is as good as it was before the pandemic changed our world. If not better. “Over the past almost two decades, and with your help, Red Stitch has built its program from very little. Each year gaining more ground, giving everything we have to bring exceptional plays to our audiences and nurture artists. “While we intend to resume producing the most challenging and exciting contemporary theatre for you when health authorities say it's safe, the coronavirus pandemic has had a seri-
ous financial impact on Red Stitch. Our ability to invest in new productions will be enhanced by your continued support. “Please give a tax-deductable contribution to help us continue into the future. We welcome gifts of all sizes. “Thank you for your support. We look forward to sharing the magic of our big little theatre with you again as soon as we can. “Warm regards, Red Stitch Actors Theatre" Website: www.redstich.net - Cheryl Threadgold
Cowboy Junkies
■ David Roy Williams Present is pleased to advise that the May 2020 Australian tour of Cowboy Junkies, postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic has been rescheduled to February, 2021. Whilst refunds are available for any ticket holders who are not able to attend the new dates, they recommend that if at all possible, ticketholders show their support for Cowboy Junkies by attempting to reschedule rather than cancelling tickets. Refunds can be requested from the ticketholder’s point of sale, providing transaction number, before Wednesday, May 6. Performance dates in 2021 are at the Recital Centre on Thursday, February 4 and at theAthenaeum Theatre on Saturday, February 6.
■ CLOC Musical Theatre had scheduled their spectacular opening night of Priscilla Queen of the Desert, the Musical for early May, but due to the Coronavirus pandemic the production has been postponed. Like casts and crews in all postponed or cancelled theatre shows, CLOC's cast and crew were disappointed, but came together for a Zoom session on what would have been the show's opening night at the National Theatre, St Kilda. CLOCPublicity OfficerKaren Greenwood says the Zoom catch-up was complete with chicken and champagne as would have been enjoyed on opening night. Stage Manager Sandra even did her preshow calls: (warm up, mic check, pre-stage set up, "the house is open", "Five minutes everyone', "orchestra to the pit", etc). They also conducted a Priscilla trivia quiz. Karen says "It was fun and sad at the same time - but we will be back, whenever that may be.And it will be worth the wait". For further details re CLOC Musical Theatre, visit www.cloc.org.au - Cheryl Threadgold
W
■ St Kilda’s iconic Memo Music Hall continues its successful run of Live Stream concerts supporting Australian musicians financially and delighting music lovers of all genres with two different shows in late May. On Saturday May 30, Melbourne’s Horns of Leroy will be joined by soul songstress Thando performing a range of tunes from their new album Big Night as well as fun party covers and classic New Orleans material. On Sunday May 31 Bowie Golden Years celebrates the breadth of Bowie’s musical styles featuring Boom, Crash Opera’sDale Ryder, Taxiride's Jason Sing and Tim Watson and Electric Mary's Rusty Brown in a musical extravaganza paying homage to the iconic music of rock and roll legend,David Bowie. The show sold out in its 2019 debut at Memo.
