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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 21, 2018
VICTORIA’S INDEPENDENT WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
49TH YEAR OF PUBLICATION $2.95
S TATE EDITION Vol 50 No 1695 SERVING VICTORIA SINCE 1969
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Passing of Nigel Dick
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CENTRE STATE DRILLING
● Justin Hosking, Caroline Lee, Marissa Bennett, Brigid Gallacher, Ben Pfeiffer and Charles Purcell in Colder. Photo: Rob Blackburn. Review: David McLean
■ Lachlan Philpott’s Colder stretches the boundaries of time, place and character. Robyn Norman at 33 years of age (Marissa Bennett) has lost her son on a Disneyland holiday. Robyn Norman at 59 years of age (Caroline Lee), simultaneously present on stage, grapples with the estrangement and eventual disappearance of the same son, David, at 33 years of age (Charles Purcell). The pregnant Kay at 33 years of age (Bridgid Gallacher) is searching for David to be a god-father and David’s 32 year old homosexual lover, Ed (Ben Pfeiffer), is bereft at David’s disappearance. The unsettling terror at losing a child and the fraught machinations of imagining the worst don’t necessarily equate with adult estrangement later in life, with lovers breaking up or with friends losing touch. Ostensibly, there is a sense of loss common to them all but the motives and agendas and suffering would be different in each case. Thus, the strands within Philpott’s drama only loosely coincide. This, however, could be the point that rational explanations and a true understanding of people’s motives can never be fully realized.
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What we have are empty lives played out against the promise of a Disney fantasy and gay Mardi Gras fulfillment. Both seem shallow and distracting for they cannot provide an ultimate resolution. Soundscapes are created to evoke atmosphere, actors (James Wardlaw) play multiple roles and the narrative is delivered in monologues interspersed with snippets of dialogue fleshing out scenes. This requires great cohesion and understanding between the actors – a hallmark of the Red Stitch troupe. The direction, Alyson Campbell, utiliss the nonnaturalistic form positioning the six players in alternating patterned configurations on stage breaking to more familiar intimacy in the moments of dialogue. Even the sets curve and rake (Bethany J Fellows) is a reminder that the hard edge certainty of life is an illusion. Bronwyn Pringle’s lighting flexibility accommodated the ever changing landscape of the multiple realities and styles at play. This is a challenging work. The intensity of subject matter and the style require concentration but Red Stitch are renowned for confronting the boundaries of performance. Until April 8. 2 Chapel St, St Kilda East
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LATEST SPECIALS Turn To Page 28
■ One of the pioneers of Melbourne television, Nigel Deck, has died at age 89. Dr Dick was an early Sales Manager and General Manager of GTV-9. He became a top executive with the Nine Network, but was also known for his work with the RACV, the Victorian Radio Network and Odyssey House. He was husband to Beverley, father to Peter, Garry, and Debbie.
Page 2 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 21, 2018
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BAKING AUSTRALIA’S FAVOURITE TREATS SINCE 1941
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Observer Showbiz
Observer The Magic Pudding Local Theatre with Cheryl Threadgold and team
inc orpor a ting the Melbourne A d vvertiser ertiser incorpor orpora Ad ertiser,, Melbourne T ict orian Rur al Ne ws Trr ader ader,, V Vict ictorian Rural New and Melbourne Seniors News News.. Victoria’s Independent Newspaper First Published September 14, 1969 Every W ednesda y Wednesda ednesday
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with Kerry Kulkens ARIES: (March 21-April 20) Lucky Colour: Red Lucky Day: Friday Racing Numbers: 1.3.6.5. Lotto Numbers: 1.12.16.25.24.40. A fairly good period is indicated with luck in a little flutter. Most will be making good progress in whatever they want to do. A romantic affair is also indicated. TAURUS: (April 21- May 20) Lucky Colour: White Lucky Day: Friday Racing Numbers: 4.6.5.2. Lotto Numbers: 4.12.26.36.35.5. Best not to mix business with pleasure as this can lead to some unpleasant situations. Many will be changing their style and for some there is a romantic interlude indicated.
Our Team Editor: Ash Long Features Editor: Peter Mac Columnists: Len Baker (harness racing), Matt Bissett-Johnson (cartoonist), David Ellis (wine and travel), Rob Foenander (country music), Kerry Kulkens (astrology), Nick Le Souef (outback Australia), Mike McColl Jones (life), Greg Ne wman (r adio ), T erry Radf or d ((C C ourt ewman (radio adio), Terry Radfor ord roundsman), Aaron Rourke (movies), Ted Ry an (r acing), Jim Sherlock Ryan (racing), (movies, DVDs), Cheryl Threadgold (local thea e ), K e vin T sho wbiz), theatt rre Ke Trrask ((sho showbiz), Wood (Hollyw Veritas, G avin W ood (Holly w ood). Honorary Reviewers: Mark Briggs, Rita Crispin, Martin Curtis, Sherryn Danaher Danaher,, Barbar a Hughes, L yn Hurs t, K a thryn Barbara Lyn Hurst, Ka Keeble, Beth Klein, Deborah Marinaro, Gr aeme McC oubrie therine egor Graeme McCoubrie oubrie,, Ca Catherine therine,, McGr McGregor egor,, David McLean, Maggie Morrison, Jill Pa g e ylie Rackham, Elizabeth Semmel. e,, K Kylie Arts: Peter Kemp. Distribution: Sam Fiorini, phone 9482 1145
Your Stars
GEMINI: (May 21- June 21) Lucky Colour: Orange Lucky Day: Wednesday Racing Numbers: 4.6.5.2. Lotto Numbers: 4.12.26.39.8.11. A very favourable period is indicated and many will be achieving what they set out to do. A good time to ask for favours from the people that matter. Don't pay any attention to gossip.
● The Magic Pudding - The Opera. From left: Jeremy Kleeman, Carlos Bárcenas, Brenton Spiteri, Timothy Reynolds, Nathan Lay. Photo: Charlie Kinross. ■ Victorian Opera, with the assistance of a and Australian politics. Despite the work being Youth Chorus and Community Chorus and the nominated for the Max Afford National PlayVictorian Opera Orchestra, brought opera to wrights Award and Finnigan being awarded a the younger generation with the production of Churchill Fellowship, the Australia Council Norman Lindsay's probably best-known story Early Career Fellowship and the Griffin PlayThe Magic Pudding. wrightsAward, Bolt’s furore over the title, not With the narrator Georgia Wilkinson as a having even read it caused its premiere to be cockatoo well costumed and fluttering around cancelled. he stage before flying up into a gum tree where Finnigan, as the solo presenter, presents his she sang the story. work using multimedia and pop music in a perA wonderful voice, clear and easily under- formance-lecture-cum-DJ set journeying into stood by the youngest members of the audience. climate politics. Nathan Lay was Bunyip Bluegum, a koala. We started with NASA scientist James Costuming was amazing with good makeup Hansen’s 1988 prediction of global warming Nathan looked like a koala, acted well and his before taking us through many political and scivoice added to the standard of the production. entific theories and changes to what we know Timothy Reynolds was Bill Barnacle, the as Climate Change. sailor, who with Sam Sawnoff and Bunyip The question was asked: “What happens Bluegum, saved the Magic Pudding from the when the unstoppable force of climate change dastardly pudding thieves. meets the immovable object of Australian fedReynolds gave a great interpretation of such eral politics?” a role added by his magnificent voice. Sam As a classic rock band take the stage in ParSawnoff, a penguin, was played by Brenton liament House's main hall, 96 armed eco-terSpiteri. rorists storm the building and take the entire govDifficult to move in his costume as a penguin ernment hostage, threatening to execute everybut Spiteri handled the character with finesse one unless Australia ends global warming that and added to his companions in the singing se- very night. quences. The embattled Environment Minister has Albert the pudding was a puppet pudding with no choice but to pick up a gun and stand up for the basin as a hat. He was manipulated by Jer- her ideals, pushing back against the threat which emy Kleeman, who handled the puppet with ex- has engulfed her country - one terrorist at a time. pertise, which the younger members of the auIt is a fast, provocative and mind challenging dience enjoyed. presentation with Finnigan hardly drawing The evil pudding thieves were Possum played breath not until the end when Finnigan’s coby Shakira Tsindos, and Wombat played by collaborator Reuben Ingall at a rear DJ desk Shakira Dugan, who also portrayed Rooster. turned on the 1990’s hip hop hit, Unbelievable, Smaller roles were the Carlos E. Borcenas by British band EMF. as the judge, Douglas Kelly as the constable and This brought the audience from their seats to hedgehog, and Stephen Marsh as Benjimen the dance floor for an energetic ending of Kill Brandysnap. Climate Deniers. I saw a matinee afternoon performance with Whether you are sceptic, a denier or supthe theatre full of children, taken by their parents portive of the presence of Climate Change, take and in many cases grandparents, who also en- in David Finnigan’s final performance at the joyed the show. Arts House; it is an ever evolving question. An example of how good the production was Final Performance: Friday (Mar. 23) at about 90 per cent of the children kept completely 8.30pm quiet throughout the whole performance. Venue: Arts House, 521 Queensberry St, The stage was wonderfully set with North Melbourne gumtrees, a large gumtree stump for the narraBookings: artshouse.com.au tor to sit on and the floor was the colour of - Review by Graeme McCoubrie outback. A wonderful afternoon of opera giving the next generation an insight into classical music presented in a mot amusing and interesting way. ■ Dream Lover – The Bobby Darin Musical Conductor: Fabian Russell. became Arts Centre Melbourne’s highest Director: Cameron Menzies selling show, selling in excess of 130,000 - Review by Peter Kemp tickets and surpassing previous record holder War Horse. ■ The anticipated arrival of UK radio star Christian O'Connell has gained momentum, ■ The background to Kill Climate Deniers is with the incoming host of Gold FM's breakone of complexity and determination on the part fast slot slated to commence on Monday of creator David Finnigan. June 4. The deliberately provocative title caught the ■ Patti Newton will appear in the new seaeye of professional fulminator Andrew Bolt back son of Who Do You Think Are, to be broadin 2014 when Arts ACT made a grant of $19,000 cast soon on SBS-TV. to Finnigan to write a play about climate change
Short Shots
Kill Climate Deniers
CANCER: (June 22- July 22) Lucky Colour: Mauve Lucky Day: Thursday Racing Numbers: 6.3.2.5. Lotto Numbers: 6.12.25.40.22.29. Do not neglect the domestic front work may be taking up a lot of your time. Do not give advice or any sort of help to friends, for this may all backfire and put you on the spot. LEO: (July 23-August 22) Lucky Colour: Red Lucky Day: Friday Racing Numbers: 8.9.6.2. Lotto Numbers: 9.12.26.35.40.45. Some will be increasing their romantic affairs and be feeling very emotional about everything.A good time to ask for favours. VIRGO: (August 23- September 23) Lucky Colour: Violet Lucky Day: Tuesday Racing Numbers: 4.6.2.3. Lotto Numbers: 4.12.26.35.40.22. Some interesting travel id indicated with plenty of different situations presenting themselves. Old friends will be appearing and you may be required to help some friends out of trouble. Some could be changing jobs or address. LIBRA: (September 24- October 23) Lucky Colour: Cream Lucky Day: Monday Racing Numbers: 5.6.2.3. Lotto Numbers: 1.12.15.26.35.40. Ask the people in the know when you are in need of advice. Don't get involve din other peoples arguments or fights. Do not overspend or lend money to anyone. SCORPIO: (October 24- November 22) Lucky Colour: Yellow Lucky Day: Wednesday Racing Numbers: 1.3.2.5. Lotto Numbers: 1.12.26.32.20.6. People involved in the arts should have a fairly good time coming up. Many will be able to impress the people that matter and make a good future investment this way. Do not neglect loved ones. SAGITTARIUS: (November23- December20) Lucky Colour: Blue Lucky Day: Thursday Racing Numbers: 4.6.2.3. Lotto Numbers: 1.12.15.29.30.33. Many will be feeling more relaxed and ready to start new ventures. These ventures are very likely to succeed, as luck seems to be with you. You could be meeting very interesting people on the social scene. CAPRICORN: (December 21- January 19) Lucky Colour: Plum Lucky Day: Monday Racing Numbers: 4.6.9.7. Lotto Numbers: 7.8.12.26.30.36. An trip overseas or interstate is indicated. Most will be feeling rather refreshed and full of beans. Make sure you control your temper. You may be meeting new friends and these could brighten up your life. AQUARIUS: (January 20- February 19) Lucky Colour: White Lucky Day: Sunday Racing Numbers: 4.9.3.2. Lotto Numbers: 4.12.25.5.11.3. Many will get promoted or a chance to improve their situation in life. However most will feel rather restless and this could cause trouble on the domestic scene. PISCES: (February 20- March 20) Lucky Colour: Peach Lucky Day: Monday Racing Numbers: 2.3.5.6. Lotto Numbers: 2.13.26.35.40.22. Be very careful to control your temper; you will be tried by people who interfere or want to give you unwanted advice. Stay clear of other peoples fights and arguments. KERRY KULKENS PS YCHIC LINE 190 2 240 051 or 1800 727 727 CALL COST: $5.50 INC G.S.T. PER MIN. MOB/PAY EXTR A. VISIT KERR Y KULKENS MAGIC SHOP AT 1 693 BURW OOD HWY BELG RAVE PH/FAX (0 3) 9754 4587 W W W.KERRY KULKENS.C OM.AU Like us on Facebook
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Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 21, 2018 - Page 11
Showbiz News
It’s All About You!
Melbourne
Puffs: a nod to Harry Potter Observer
■ What next? What skulduggery? You may have been asking, what is St Kilda’s Alex Theatre going to let loose onto the Melbourne stage. Miriam Margoyles broke the silence when she announced the upcoming Australian premiere of the sell-out, off-Broadway hit, Puffs, opening on May 31. Who better to launch this production than Miriam who, as Professor Sprout, rubbed spells with Harry Potter, the genesis of inspiration for Puffs’ playwright Matt Cox. The Puffs, a lovable bunch of magical misfits happen to be at Wizard School with that well-known, other boy. Straight from the School of Hufflepuff, this is their story: the tale of would-be wizards striving to be heroes or a story for anyone destined for third-rated-ness rather than greatness. Ryan Hawkes’s natural comedic face beams the central character, Wayne, a nerdy, average Australian boy who discovers he is a wizard and that wizards are real. What alchemy will that certain other famous boy bestow to discomfit the scene? How will Wayne’s innate powers, combined with fellow Puffs, Megan’s (Eva Seymour) villainous bloodline and Oliver’s (Keith Brockett) extraordinary mathematical genius counter unsettling forces? Be prepared for intoxicating laughter as answers to these questions dazzle your imagination to new depths. Be challenged by the fast pace of this hilarious revelation of surprising directions in wizardry education in the house of the badger. Intrigued? Go! Whether a Potter-philiac or a
In This Edition
The Magic Pudding review - Peter Kemp Cartoon - Matt-Bissett-Johnson West Hollywood - Gavin Wood Local Theatre - Cheryl Threadgold Struth - David Ellis Wine - John Rozentals Whatever Happened - Kevin Trask Country Crossroads - Rob Foenander Movies, DVDs - James Sherlock Harness Racing - Len Baker Observer Racing - Ted Ryan Country Music Local Theatre Movies, DVDs Mega X-Word
Observer Showbiz
Latest News AroundVictoria
$650,000 bust
■ A 37-year-old man and a 20-year-old woman, arrested and charged over a $650,000 cannabis bust at Warrion, will remain in custody after unsuccessful bail applications, reports the Colac Herald. ● Miriam Margoyles with the first announced members of a cast of 13 from Puffs: Keith Brockett, Ryan Hawkes and Eve Seymour. virgin Potter, mingle in the magic and experience this witty wink at Harry Potter directed by Kristin McCarthy Parker with an Aussie flavour. Previews: Saturday May 26 – Wednesday May 30 Opening Night: Thursday May 31 Performance Schedule: Tuesdays to Saturdays, 7.30pm; Sundays, 5.30pm Location: Alex Theatre, 135 Fitzroy St. St Kilda Website: puffstheplay.com Ticket information/bookings: ticketek. com.au Presented by TEG (LIVE) in association with Tilted Windmills Theatricals, John Arthur Pinckard and David Carpenter. - Sherryn Danaher
The Big Hoo-Haa
Book your ad for pre-Easter edition
■ The pre-Easter issue of the Melbourne Observer will be published on Wednesday, March 28. As is our annual custom, there will be no issue of the Observer published on Easter Wednesday (April 4). Weekly publication resumes on April 11. To book your ad for the March 28 issue, phone the Observer on 1800 231 311.
Fraud alleged
■ The company run by Cobden real estate agent David Steel has been charged with seven counts of fraud relating to almost $50,000. Realestate Property Pty Ltd is in the process of being prosecuted by Consumer Affairs Victoria. A company search has revealed David Steel is listed as the company’s sole director, reports the Warrnambool Standard.
Border boost
■ A 95-lot subdivision now being offered to developers continues the urbanisation of Thurgoona’s farming land, reports the Border Mail.
Priest accused
■ Former St Patrick’s College, Sale, teacher Gerard Joseph MacNamara faced a committal hearing in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court charged with multiple indecent assaults committed against boys at St Paul’s College, Traralgon, in the 1970s.
Forecast
■ Today (Wed.). Mostly sunny. 11°-26° ■ Thurs. Mostly sunny. 15°-27° ■ Fri. Mostly sunny. 18°-28°
Mike McColl Jones
Top 5
● Sophie Kneebone, Corey Glamuzina, Matt Saraceni, Natalie Holwood, and Louisa Fitzhardinge in The Big Hoo-Haa! PhotO: Mark Gambino ■ The Big Hoo-Haa! - with their improvised Hoo-Haa! have established themselves as a comedy - return for the Melbourne Interna- popular Melbourne impro. show. tional Comedy Festival, from March 30 to Venue: Melbourne Town Hall April 21 at the Melbourne Town Hall. Dates: March 30 – April 21 The Big Hoo-Haa! sees two teams, the Ticket Prices: $20-25 Hearts and the Bones, battle it armed only Times: Mondays 8:30pm, Fridays and Satwith audience suggestions and a handful of urdays 11pm (55 minutes) props. Bookings: www.comedyfestival.com.au/ They say they will leave no song unsung, 2018/shows/the-big-hoo-haa-melbourne or no joke undelivered and no pun unpunished in phone 1300 660 013 their mad dash for the punchline. Website: www.hoohaamelbourne.com.au After eight years on the scene, The Big - Cheryl Threadgold
THE T OP 5 C OMMENT S HEARD TOP COMMENT OMMENTS DURING THE WEEK IN ‘MARRIED A T FIRS T SIGHT’. AT FIRST 5. "The judges have a great job. Start a fight then walk away.” 4. "Barnaby ... er ... Dean.” 3. "One good thing - we don't have to put up with the Oldfields.” 2. "Look ... there's Bernard Tomic. He's wandered on to the wrong set". 1. "Look at Sarah's lips. That's not Botox, I reckon she's stuffed a couple of bratwurst sausages in there.”
Page 12 - Melbourne Obser ver - Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Observer Magazine
MARKETING FEATURE
Stateside with Gavin Wood in West Hollywood
‘Come fly with me’ across the sea ■ Hi everyone, from my suite at the Ramada Plaza Hotel and Suites comes this week's news.
WeHo team in Australia ■ Everyyear around this time, Alan Johnson, Managing Director, Ramada Plaza Hotel and Suites, hosts a delegation from West Hollywood travelling Down Under. The delegates include former Mayors of the City, Councilmen and women, City leaders and travel industry executives. Purpose of the exercise is to educate stakeholders about the wonder and beauty of Australia and also to talk with Australian travel executives about the benefits of landing in West Hollywood.
Cancer link to processing ■ We hate to spoil your breakfast, but a groundbreaking new study by French scientists has linked processed foods such as cereals, mass-produced bread, and bacon to an increased chance of getting cancer. The study, published by the British Medical Journal, suggests that the more "ultra-processed foods" ones made in factories with lots of added preservatives and flavourings a person consumes, the higher the risk of them developing certain types of cancer. The risky foods also include chicken nuggets, chocolate bars, and sodas, so basically all of the most delicious things in the world. The team of scientists studied the medical records and eating habits of nearly 105,000 people for the project and said, while further study is needed and they didn't want to be alarmist, the results were "consistent and quite compelling".
● Alan Johnson
■ Snowboarding legend Shaun White set the stage for a triumphant Olympic comeback, taking first place in the second qualifying run for the Men's half pipe event. After falling behind Australia's Scotty James and Japan's Ayumu Hiranoin the first qualifying run, White, 31, pulled out all the stops to win, with a near-perfect score of 98.5 in the second round. James took second place with 96.75, and Hirano fell into third with 95.25. White, who gained fame as the Olympic half pipe winner in 2006 and 2010, suffered a setback in 2014 and came in fourth place. With fans eager for a comeback, his journey to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics was almost derailed in October, when he suffered a brutal training injury that left him requiring 62 stitches in his face. Ahead of the Games, however, he told reporters he'd come to terms with his loss in Sochi and come back "stronger than ever."
Amy ties the knot ■ Amy Schumer is a married woman. The Trainwreck star secretly tied the knot with chef boyfriend Chris Fischer. Their surprise ceremony came shortly after Schumer, 36, made her relationship Instagram official, posting a PDAfilled picture from Ellen DeGeneres' 60th birthday party. According to The Blast, Schumer and Fischer rented a private home in Malibu to say their vows in front of about 80 people, including Larry David, Jennifer Lawrence, Jennifer Aniston and David Spade.
Westminister champion ■ Flynn, the bichon frise, was crowned as America's top dog at the Westminster Kennel Club dog show in New York. The five-year-old pooch beat out six other finalists to win Best in Show, apparently impressing judges with his powder-puff fur and light-footed prance. "It feels a little unreal," Flynn's handler, Bill McFadden, said after the event. "I came in expecting nothing and just hoping for a good performance and I think I got it," he said. A total of 2 882 entries competed in the 142nd Westminster event, with 202 breeds and varieties. Flynn competed against six other finalists, including Biggie the pug; Bean the Sussex spaniel, Slick the Border collie, Winston the Norfolk terrier, Lucy the borzoi, and Ty the giant schnauzer, who was the runner-up.
Snowboarding is a hit
GavinWood
From my Suite at the Ramada Plaza Complex on Santa Monica Blvd
Netflix lures top producer
North and South: ‘Momentum
■ Netflix has lured producer Ryan Murphy away from 21st Century Fox with a five-year deal reportedly worth as much as $300 million, one of the biggest deals ever for a TV producer. Murphy, whose hits like Glee and American Horror Story attracted huge ratings, is due to move to Netflix in July, after his contract with Fox expires. Fox executives reportedly sought to keep him around, and he was viewed as a potential boost for Walt Disney Co. once the studio takes over most of Fox's assets. "This history of this moment is not lost on me," Murphy said in a statement. "I am a gay kid from Indiana who moved to Hollywood in 1989 with $55 in savings in my pocket, so the fact that my dreams have crystallised and come true in such a major way is emotional and overwhelming to me."
■ Kim Jong Un has welcomed his sister home from the Winter Olympics, praising South Korea for its "impressive" and "sincere" hosting of the Games. The North Korean leader's sister, KimYo Jong, led a delegation of officials whose attendance in Pyeongchang has been seen by many as a warming of relations after decades of hostility against each other since the Korean War in the 1950s. North Korean state media quoted Kim Jong Un remarking on his "satisfaction" with the visit and "expressing thanks" to the South Korean hosts. He went on: "It is important to continue making good results by further livening up the warm climate of reconciliation and dialogue created by the strong desire and common will of the North and the South with the Winter Olympics as a momentum."
www.gavinwood.us
Last curtain for stars ■ Vic Damone, the post war crooner whose intimate, rhapsodic voice captivated bobby soxers, middle-age dreamers and silver-haired romantics in a five-decade medley of America's love songs and popular standards, died last week in Miami Beach. He was 89. Ed Henry, a family friend, said the cause was complications of respiratory failure. ■ Marty Allen, the bug-eyed comic who formed one half of the hit comedic duo Allen & Rossi, died last week in Las Vegas at age 95. The Associated Press confirmed the news via his spokeswoman Candi Cazau, who said that he died from complications from pneumonia with his performing partner of 30 years and wife Karon Kate Blackwell at his side.
Mention this paper
■ If you are considering a move to Los Angeles or just coming over for a holiday then I have got a special deal for you. We would love to see you at the Ramada Plaza Hotel and Suites, 8585 Santa Monica Boulevard, West Hollywood. I have secured a terrific holiday deal for readers of the Melbourne Observer and The Local Paper. Please mention 'Melbourne Observer' when you book and you will receive the 'Special Rate of the Day'. Please contact: Joanna at info@ramadaweho.com Happy Holidays Gavin Wood
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Melbourne Arts with Peter Kemp
Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 21, 2018 - Page 13 Melbourne
Observer
Showbiz News
Fall on Death Ears
Kingston Arts Thin Places In Celtic spiritual tradition, a Thin Place is a locale where the distance between heaven and earth collapses and we're able to catch a glimpse of the transcendent. Madigan's paintings are inspired by this concept. She uses oil paint and cold wax medium (pigment, resin, solvent and beeswax). A range of specific applications and techniques are used to exploit the character and potential of the wax medium and invoke a mystical apprehension of the natural world. 63 Artspace, 64 Parkers Rd., Parkdale - Peter Kemp
Geelong Gallery Jörg Schmeisser. - looking back: Prints from the collection of Laurence O'Keefe and Christopher James. Jörg Schmeisser was an internationally trained and critically acclaimed master printmaker whose etchings set a benchmark for technical brilliance and conceptual richness. Schmeisser was a humanist environmentalist, cultural historian and inveterate traveler. His vast printed oeuvre is a record of his wide-ranging journeys and sensitive observations of the simple and spectacular beauties of the world. This collection if 34 works dating from 1968 - 2011, was assembled over 40 years by Laurence O'Keefe and Christopher James. Exhibition: Saturday March 17 - Sunday May 27. Brooke Andrew rethinkingAntipodes In 2016 Brook Andrew undertook a comprehensive of the collections of the Cambridge Museums and the extensive print collection of the British Print Workshops Antipodes project. In the resulting suite of eight photolithographs, he uses reproductions of 18th century satirical prints by British artist James Gillray as his primary source material. Exhibition: April 14 - September 2. Geelong Gallery, 55 Little Malop St, Geelong - Peter Kemp
Monash Gallery Photograms in the Darkroom MGA is partnering with The Fox Darkroom in Kensington to present two program workshops that will get you into the darkroom for a hands-on experience making your own black and white cameraless photos. Saturday March 25 - April 12. Monash Gallery of Art Cnr Ferntree Gully Rd and Jells Rd GlenWaverley - Peter Kemp
● Nicollete Nespeca (top left) and Kim Givens, (bottom left), Mauricio Merino Jr and Sunny S Walia, and (centre) Willow Sizer. ■ Thatcher’s Boy Productions present the Written and produced by Thatcher’s Boy’s black comedy Fall On Death Ears from April Artistic Director Kieran Gould-Dowen and di23 – 28 at The Butterfly Club. rected by North-By-South Theatre’s Cal The story tells of Death turning up to work Robinson-Taylor, the show balances comedy each day, coffee cup in hand, and with a sigh, with a heartfelt message on the importance of listens to new versions of old stories, bored out the gift of life. of her skull. The piece is performed by Melbourne acBut there’s a twist: Every day, her boss ex- tors Willow Sizer, Mauricio Merino Jr, Sunny pects her to send home one person to live those S. Walia, Nicolette Nespeca, and Kim Givens. extra moments. Her quick tongue gets her “I’ve been very lucky the past 12 or so months through most awkward situations, but how much that Melbourne has opened its arms to my writmore of this can she take? ing and we’ve had a successful run of new Customer service is hard. Dead people not works,”says director and writer Kieran Gouldfilling in their health and safety forms. Newly Dowen. deceased souls running late for their meeting “I’m excited about this play because I truly with you as if they have anywhere else to be. believe it might be our best one yet. The story, Your coffee tasting like sin and regret. Photo the message, the tone, the actors, the director, copying your butt and realising you don’t have and the venue. It all comes together so beautione. Or is that just Death’s normal day at work? fully, and I can’t wait for Melbourne to see it.” Fall On Death Ears digs into death and comes This production opens on April 23 and runs up with some surprising and hilarious for five nights, skipping Tuesday. realisations. Four recently deceased characters Dates: April 23-28. Time: 7pm have their audience with an over-worked and Cost: $30-34 under-appreciated Death. Venue: The Butterfly Club, Carson Place, Off One of them will be sent back to life, with a Little Collins St, Melbourne second chance. But not before being sarcastiTickets: thebutterflyclub.com cally scrutinised for their puny human lives. - Cheryl Threadgold
Green Room Awards ■ The Green Room AwardsAssociation will present the 35th Annual Green Room Awards on Monday, April 9 at 7.30pm at the Comedy Theatre. The Green Room Awards Association is well established as Victoria's peak body for honouring excellence and innovation across the vibrant arts sector. The iconic Comedy Theatre will opens its doors to Melbourne's arts industry as it comes together to celebrate the achievements of its talented peers at the 2018 Green Room Awards.
Melbourne Observations
with Matt Bissett-Johnson
A jam-packed, electric night with live performances and presentations by valued partners and sponsors, the 2018 ceremony sees the inclusion of two exciting new monetary awards. Made possible by sponsor Arup, the Technical Achievement Award will include a $10 000 prize that can be used to assist the recipient in their artistic practices and further professional development. The ever popular Lifetime Achievement Award will also be presented with a $5000 financial prize this year. “2017 was a remarkable year in the performing arts. The GRAA received hundreds of nominations across all the art forms and this evening is a unique opportunity for the whole sector to come together and celebrate our achievements," said GRAA President Hilary Glow. Tickets: $30 Bookings: 13 61 00 or online via www.greenroom.org.au Venue: Comedy Theatre, 240 Exhibition St, Melbourne Bookings: www.greenroom.org.au - Cheryl Threadgold
Have You Heard? ■ Classic Movies at the Clocktower Tower, Moonee Ponds, is about to make a splash with the upcoming screening of Moby Dick on Thursday, April 12. ■ RocKwiz’s Really Really Good Friday returns to Hamer Hall on Frida,y March 30, for another instalment of Easter fun.
What’s On Split Show
■ Powerbomb Comedy presents Ben, Steph and Tom’s Split Show from March 28 – April 8 at the Rochester Hotel, Fitzroy. Ben Squires, Steph Broadbridge and Tom Sanderson are three Sydney comics who’ve decided to see how their material plays in a city with ‘decent infrastructure and a reliable public transport system.’ Ben, Steph and Tom’s Split Show is a showcase of their best bits from the last few years of gigging across the Harbour City. They say we should see them at the Rochester Hotel before Steph makes it big, Tom moves to Melbourne, and Ben decides it’s time to fall back on his creative writing degree. Performance Dates: March 28, 30 and April 1, 3, 6, 8 at 9pm Venue: The Rochester Hotel 202 Johnston Street, Fitzroy Tickets: $10 - $15 Bookings: www.comedyfestival.com.au/ 2018/shows/ben-squires-steph-broadbridgeand-tom-sanderson - Cheryl Threadgold
Personal
● Jodee Mundy presents Personal. ■ Jodee Mundy is the only hearing person in a deaf family. When she was five years old, she found herself lost in Kmart. When no one from her family came to the front desk to meet her, despite repeated loudspeaker announcements, she realised that being deaf meant not being able to hear and that her family therefore couldn’t hear the announcements. In Personal, Mundy conveys a, intimate story of her experiences as the only hearing person in a deaf family, including her role as a CODA (Child of Deaf Adult) who is able to pave the way for a family as interpreter, authority and conduit. “My story is not unique – there are millions of CODA worldwide,” said Mandy. “As CODAS, we intersect the deaf and hearing worlds and hold knowledge of sign languages and the culture of deaf people. “We are a hidden minority in a minority community – the CODA perspective offers a unique take on disability,” said Mundy. Mundy explains that Auslan is her native language and English is her second language, “I’ve never seen ‘disability’ – I only know the love and protection of those closest to me.” Through a blend of performance, storytelling, multimedia and animation, with a virtual interpreter and creative captioning, Personal delves into the contradictions of inhabiting two worlds: living in a deaf family where using sign language is natural; and living in a society that sees only the family’s disability and looks on with voyeuristic curiosity. Examining the personal, the political and society, Personal uses video projection mapping, Super 8 footage and interview vision with the Mundy family. Created with a team of collaborators and presented in two languages, via a virtual interpreter and creative captioning, Personal is a smart, touching and deeply personal work exploring dis/ability and how people perceive one another. Personal will premiere at Arts House in April and continue on to tour across Victoria and to the Sydney Opera House. Performance Season :April 24 - 29 Times: 7.30pm Tue, Thu, Fri ; 2pm and 7.30pm Sat; 5pm Sun Duration: 60 minutes Location:Arts House, 521 Queensberry St, North Melbourne Tickets: $25 – $35 (plus transaction fee) Information: artshouse.com.au or 9322 3720. - Cheryl Threadgold
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Antiques and Collectables
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Buying Guide
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Observer Showbiz
Local Theatre with Cheryl Threadgold and team It’s A Dad Thing
■ Sherbrooke Theatre Company's March production was the comedy It's a Dad Thing. A story of five young fathers getting together to build an adventure playground for the local kids. Getting together they each tell their stories of pre-birth, the birth, after and how it affected their and their families lives. Kirby Chenhall was Brian, GregAllen was Matt, Brandon Smart was Geofff, Wahya Kapa was James, Ty Frost was Michael. The stage was simply set with artificial grass representing the park, three stools moved around as required, and then over the play a playground consisting of a lighthouse, pier and pirate chip was constructed. The players were evenly matched, all giving good and amusing performances. In some scenes with the aid of wigs and in one instance a white nurse's uniform where the wigged ones portrayed the wives. The comments about life before, during and after the babes were born were absolutely hysterical with the actors really getting the feel of the characters. Each gave great interpretations of their character capturing all the finer nuances of their moments in their child's life. One good scene was reminiscing about the old car with each player playing the part of the car such as the engine, dashboard, etc. with one as the driver/owner.. A successful and funny scene well handled by the cast. Greg Allen as Matt is also a guitar player and in two scenes he played his guitar while the cast sang with the words written for the play. A successful and funny evening and it was odds on who laughed the loudest, the ladies or the men. - Review by Peter Kemp
Disney’s Aladdin Jr
and of excellent standard for all audiences. With nearly all roles on and off stage performed by students who actually shape the years program it is a platform for emerging creators to express their works. MUST Artistic Director Yvonne Virsik highlighted that the 2018 season contains “new works, adaptions, cabaret and pieces exploring unusual spaces and unadulterated fun”. Two cinematic features in April include The Cosmic Wars: Episode IV , Sadar Returns: The Return of Sadar, a journey through outer space with cowboys, lasers, starships and tacky one liners in a skewering of sci-fi ideas from decades gone by. Written and directed by Lachlan Liesfield and Eamonn Johnson. Late in April. for the fourth year, there will be The Phone- It-In Film Festival, shooting a short film using a smartphone and premiering it on the big screen. Bernd Faveere will direct the timeless farce, Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, in late May for a two-week season, filled with mistaken identity and a relentless barrage of witticisms. A witty but ultimately a dark piece, Vinegar Tom by Caryl Churchill and directed by Gina Dickson, will examine the interplay of gender and power. The Monash Shakespeare Company will present three seasons, Much Ado About Nothing, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, while climaxing with Anthony and Cleopatra, in an off campus performance season as part of the Melbourne Fringe Festival in September. There is a lot more such as: Holloway: a new musical where trauma fractures a community; the MUST 2018 Cabaret Festival and a host of works in development. Georgia Bell, Co-Producer of the launch emphasized that many of elements of the year’s season is open to the public with full details of the complete program for 2018 available at msa.monash.edu/must There is a vitality and inspiration with MUST that is hard to find elsewhere. - Graeme McCoubrie
Cabaret de Paris
● Maddy Coburn, Genie of the Lamp in Disney’s Aladdin Jr with the Diamond Valley Singers. ■ The Diamond Valley Singers present their first youth production, Disney’s Aladdin Jr, for 12 performances from April 20 – May 6 at the fully refurbished Warrandyte High School Theatre. The show is based on the 1992 AcademyAward-winning film and the 2014 hit Broadway show about the ‘diamond in the rough’ street rat who learns that his true worth lies deep within. The commendable motto of the Diamond Valley Singers is ‘acting locally and thinking globally’. Proceeds from the performances will be donated to International Needs Australia, Open House in Ivanhoe, and the Elizabeth Nursery School in Malawi. Performance Dates: April 20 – May 6 (12 performances) Times: Fri 8pm, Sat 1pm and 5pm, Sun 1 pm. Venue: Warrandyte High School Theatre, Alexander Rd., Warrandyte Bookings: www.dvsingers.org
MUST
■ Monash Uni Student Theatre, (MUST) 2018 season has been launched, a season creating vibrant, innovative performances, diverse
■ Sitting in the main theatre of the Athenaeum in Melbourne during the performance of Cabaret de Paris felt like I had gone back in time to the sounds and imagery of a Paris cabaret show. Complete with French language, French accents, French costumes and French style entertainment this show transported me to … France, in the last century. A mime artist, dancers, singers, illusionist and pole dancer all took to the stage to bring variety to the night. Marissa Burgess was the featured singer, she looked and sounded the part, yet sang to backing music and not with a live band or orchestra. Highlight of the show for me was not the beautiful Can Can or the vibrant costumes (all of which were admirable) but the surprise element, the antics of the mime artist. Witty, clever, unique with a mixture of new and old humour and some extraordinary physical displays. The evening shows contained some nudity amongst scantily dressed men and women, this neither detracted from nor enhanced the dancing scenes. There were some long scene changes and costume malfunctions, but live theatre is rarely perfect. A show with a difference that was not a ‘rave’ but nonetheless a fun night out at the theatre. - Review by Elizabeth Semmel
The Hope Song
■ Seven souls open up on their various metal health issues in a way that is compelling, at times confronting that over a long period of time, each have experienced, dealt with and lived with. The effect personally is immeasurable, as The Hope Song, by Co-Directors Iris WalsheHowling and Janine McKenzie brought a potent piece of verbatim theatre to the stage as the seven individuals face the complexities of the many issues surrounding their mental health. An opening sequence of silent syncopated
The idea of a show on cancer doesn’t fit the convention of a jolly night out at the Tivoli, but there is some original theatre making in this work and, what becomes clear when the fog lifts, a powerful celebration of humanity. - Review by Martin Curtis
My First Time ● Lina Libroaperto, Nikki Watson and Philip Besancon in The Hope Song. Photo: Oliver Watson movement by the cast, each on an individual stepped podium gave the audience time to contemplate as we saw expressions of angst, joy, sorrow and horror coupled with dysfunctional body movements. Commencing with the question ”Tell us about yourself” we were taken on an individual journey by each soul of their personal issues ranging from schizophrenia, bipolar, personality and eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress and severe depression and anxiety. Open and frank dialogue followed as it did with further questions such as “You have tried medications”, “Do you talk to others about your mental issues?” and “What do you think society should do?”. In turn we heard from each of the seven cast, revealing their innermost thoughts, feelings and particularly their frustrations. Philip Besancon as Birdman, Stacey Carmichael as Lizzie, Stuart Errey asMichael, Simon Finch as Dave, Lina Libroaperto as Jill, Nikki Watson as Sally and Libby Stapleton as Louise were all solid and moving with their dialogue while at times being backed by musician Kieran Tobin with his rendition of several expressive ballads such as I Am A Warrior and “I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends” or was it I Get A Little high with my Friends? The Anglesea Performing Arts Ensemble in partnership with SANE Australia exposed us to fear, stigma, stress, panic, inner voices, trauma, anxiety, secrets, tiredness and yet Hope, with this production presented at La Mama Courthouse. - Review by Graeme McCoubrie
Pacificist’s Guide to War on Cancer
■ This work by British theatre company Complicite is a reminder that the stage is a space for revelation and reflection as well as entertainment. Let’s face it: there is no shortage of dark subject matter in theatre, and no deficit of vicarious audience interest. But the fact that writer and performer Bryony Kimmings and six compatriots can bring this off around the illness of cancer, and that the performance includes catchy show tunes, is a miracle worthy of scientific examination. Kimmings, with co-writers Brian Lobel and Kirsty Housley, interviewed over 50 patients, doctors and cancer care experts to make the show. So the work is grounded in personal experience of illness, not least that of performer Lara Veitch and that of Kimmings herself. There are a couple of slow moving targets: the war metaphors used to describe the experience (battles, victims, survivors, victories and defeats) and relatedly, patriarchal attitudes in the medical establishment to women whose bodies and minds are being significantly reshaped by medical intervention. Patients tell Kimmings they don’t relate to cancer as a battle strategy: instead “you just cope”. As Kimmings says: “The show is the true story of trying to write a guide that allows cancer to be hard and painful and lonely and shit. To allow cancer to rub up against other illness and disability, against race, against class.” And with one in three affected by the illness, we’ve all got our fingers crossed we’re not the next person called to the Kingdom of the Sick. The blurring of the line between theatre and documentary gives the piece authority and truthfulness.
● Melanie Dutton (left), Andrew Johnson, Jess O’Donoghue and Laurence O’Neill in My First Time. ■ With no audience member responding to a hand-raise survey as who was not a virgin, the cast of My First Time proceeded to engage us with stories of first time sexual experiences. Pre Snapchat, Facebook, Insta and blogging, Kevin Davenport’s script was drawn from 60,000 actual experiences from MyFirst Time.com website offering a wealth of diversity on the topic. Starring Melanie Dutton, Andrew ‘Ajay’ Johnson, Jess O’Donoghue and Laurence O’Neill, this documentary style performance capered through a breadth of encounters awkward, sweet, cringe-worthy, heterosexual, homosexual, erotic, naïve and heart-rending. The most affecting were the tales of human vulnerability and fallibility in media-hyped culture placing emphasis on the perfect first time experience. Davenport’s words reassured that this need not be and is indeed rarely the case. An audio visual screen augmented the performance with empirical mixed with amusing, dubious statistics on the subject. I was underwhelmed by the amount of data flashed before us which I think detracted from the actors’ performance. The cast made humorous use of material from the ‘Anonymous Survey’ cards handed to the audience on arrival. It was suggested that this comical take on human sexual experience would make a good outing with a bunch of friends, a date and why not, your mum. One thing is certain, we’ll all (or almost all) have a story to tell over a drink after the show, embarrassment and memory permitting. Locally produced by Theatric Tactics by arrangement with ORiGiN Theatrical on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. My First Time was presented at The Butterfly Club. - Review by Sherryn Danaher
Int. Jazz Festival
■ Quartets and trios and all that . . . Soloists, choirs, ensembles and all that . . . And all those venues from Melba Hall to suburbs out west; cafes, clubs and rooms. And all the free community events to inspire children and adults alike. And all those like Maceo Parker, Madeleine Peyroux, Branford Mardalis, Gretchen Pariato and well as our own James Morrison, Paul Grabowsky, Barney McAll All inspired by past greats, past icons. All in search of a common ground. All the ways of influence that have inspired the musicians to revive old favourites and compose new works. And all that in its 21st year. And all that jazz. ★ The Melbourne International Jazz Festival commences on June 1 for a 10-day celebration of jazz in all its forms. There are some 100 events and 400 artists from Australia and overseas. The latest program and ticketing information is available at melbournejazz.com Melbourne International Jazz Festival June 1 - 10 melbournejazz.com - David McLean
Page 32 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Local People
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Kinglake Country Fair at Kinglake Memorial Reserve Photos: Ash Long
● Lindy Haggar and Julie Van Der Eynden of Kinglake Ranges Arts
● Leigh Bradstreet and Aaron Cowell of Kinglake SES unit
● John Stewart and Roger Cook of Kinglake Landcare Group
● Cheryl Chalmers and Christine Exton of the Kinglake Historical Society
● Carol Westworth talks Rotary with Kin Payne and Lance Payne
● Linda Craske and Chris Lloyd of the Country Fire Authority
● Jessica Hall and Daryl Lloyd of Kinglake CFA
● Bob Burns and Denise Doerner of the Rotary Club of Kinglake Ranges
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Local People
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Kinglake Country Fair at Kinglake Memorial Reserve Photos: Ash Long
● Sue McCormack and Belinda O’Grady of Kinglake Ranges Children’s Centre
● Event C’tee: Georgia Shuttleworth, Stacey Crowther and Anita Gottwalt
● Leigh Drew and Daniel Ford of Kinglake Junior Football Club
● Erwin Zuber and Genine Cowell of Kinglake SES
● Vicky Dunell, Ian Dunell and Lesley Szetey of Kinglake CERT
● Leena McDougall, Sacha Pidot and Kristy Crisp of Middle Kinglake PS
● Suzanne Sullivan and Martine Fraser of Kinglake West Primary School
● Sheren Walters and Tim Connell of Kinglake Scout Group
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Hard Times - by Charles Dickens Mr. Gradgrind crossed to the spot where his family was thus disgraced, laid his hand upon each erring child, and said: ‘Louisa!! Thomas!!’ Both rose, red and disconcerted. But, Louisa looked at her father with more boldness than Thomas did. Indeed, Thomas did not look at him, but gave himself up to be taken home like a machine. ‘In the name of wonder, idleness, and folly!’ said Mr. Gradgrind, leading each away by a hand; ‘what do you do here?’ ‘Wanted to see what it was like,’ returned Louisa, shortly. ‘What it was like?’ ‘Yes, father.’ There was an air of jaded sullenness in them both, and particularly in the girl: yet, struggling through the dissatisfaction of her face, there was a light with nothing to rest upon, a fire with nothing to burn, a starved imagination keeping life in itself somehow, which brightened its expression. Not with the brightness natural to cheerful youth, but with uncertain, eager, doubtful flashes, which had something painful in them, analogous to the changes on a blind face groping its way. She was a child now, of fifteen or sixteen; but at no distant day would seem to become a woman all at once. Her father thought so as he looked at her. She was pretty. Would have been self-willed (he thought in his eminently practical way) but for her bringing-up. ‘Thomas, though I have the fact before me, I find it difficult to believe that you, with your education and resources, should have brought your sister to a scene like this.’ ‘I brought him, father,’said Louisa, quickly. ‘I asked him to come.’ ‘I am sorry to hear it. I am very sorry indeed to hear it. It makes Thomas no better, and it makes you worse, Louisa.’ She looked at her father again, but no tear fell down her cheek. ‘You! Thomas and you, to whom the circle of the sciences is open; Thomas and you, who may be said to be replete with facts; Thomas and you, who have been trained to mathematical exactness; Thomas and you, here!’ cried Mr. Gradgrind. ‘In this degraded position! I am amazed.’ ‘I was tired, father. I have been tired a long time,’ said Louisa. ‘Tired? Of what?’ asked the astonished father. ‘I don’t know of what — of everything, I think.’ ‘Say not another word,’ returned Mr. Gradgrind. ‘You are childish. I will hear no more.’ He did not speak again until they had walked some halfa-mile in silence, when he gravely broke out with: ‘What would your best friends say, Louisa? Do you attach no value to their good opinion? What would Mr. Bounderby say?’At the mention of this name, his daughter stole a look at him, remarkable for its intense and searching character. He saw nothing of it, for before he looked at her, she had again cast down her eyes! ‘What,’ he repeated presently, ‘would Mr. Bounderby say?’All the way to Stone Lodge, as with grave indignation he led the two delinquents home, he repeated at intervals ‘What would Mr. Bounderby say?’ — as if Mr. Bounderby had been Mrs. Grundy. Chapter V— The Keynote COKETOWN, to which Messrs. Bounderby and Gradgrind now walked, was a triumph of fact; it had no greater taint of fancy in it than Mrs. Gradgrind herself. Let us strike the keynote, Coketown, before pursuing our tune. It was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been red if the smoke and ashes had allowed it; but as matters stood, it was a town of unnatural red and black like the painted face of a savage. It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys, out of which interminable serpents of smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever, and never got uncoiled. It had a black canal in it, and a river that ran purple with ill-smelling dye, and vast piles of building full of windows where there was a rattling and a trembling all day long, and where the piston of the steam-engine worked monotonously up and down, like the head of an elephant in a state of melancholy madness. It contained several large streets all very like one another, and many small streets still
Charles Dickens more like one another, inhabited by people equally like one another, who all went in and out at the same hours, with the same sound upon the same pavements, to do the same work, and to whom every day was the same as yesterday and to-morrow, and every year the counterpart of the last and the next. These attributes of Coketown were in the main inseparable from the work by which it was sustained; against them were to be set off, comforts of life which found their way all over the world, and elegancies of life which made, we will not ask how much of the fine lady, who could scarcely bear to hear the place mentioned. The rest of its features were voluntary, and they were these. You saw nothing in Coketown but what was severely workful. If the members of a religious persuasion built a chapel there — as the members of eighteen religious persuasions had done — they made it a pious warehouse of red brick, with sometimes (but this is only in highly ornamental examples) a bell in a birdcage on the top of it. The solitary exception was the New Church; a stuccoed edifice with a square steeple over the door, terminating in four short pinnacles like florid wooden legs. All the public inscriptions in the town were painted alike, in severe characters of black and white. The jail might have been the infirmary, the infirmary might have been the jail, the town-hall might have been either, or both, or anything else, for anything that appeared to the contrary in the graces of their construction. Fact, fact, fact, everywhere in the material aspect of the town; fact, fact, fact, everywhere in the immaterial. The M’Choakumchild school was all fact, and the school of design was all fact, and the relations between master and man were all fact, and
everything was fact between the lying-in hospital and the cemetery, and what you couldn’t state in figures, or show to be purchaseable in the cheapest market and saleable in the dearest, was not, and never should be, world without end, Amen. A town so sacred to fact, and so triumphant in its assertion, of course got on well? Why no, not quite well. No? Dear me! No. Coketown did not come out of its own furnaces, in all respects like gold that had stood the fire. First, the perplexing mystery of the place was, Who belonged to the eighteen denominations? Because, whoever did, the labouring people did not. It was very strange to walk through the streets on a Sunday morning, and note how few of them the barbarous jangling of bells that was driving the sick and nervous mad, called away from their own quarter, from their own close rooms, from the corners of their own streets, where they lounged listlessly, gazing at all the church and chapel going, as at a thing with which they had no manner of concern. Nor was it merely the stranger who noticed this, because there was a native organization in Coketown itself, whose members were to be heard of in the House of Commons every session, indignantly petitioning for acts of parliament that should make these people religious by main force. Then came the Teetotal Society, who complained that these same people would get drunk, and showed in tabular statements that they did get drunk, and proved at tea parties that no inducement, human or Divine (except a medal), would induce them to forego their custom of getting drunk. Then came the chemist and druggist, with other tabular statements, showing that when they didn’t get drunk, they took opium. Then came the experienced chaplain of
the jail, with more tabular statements, outdoing all the previous tabular statements, and showing that the same people would resort to low haunts, hidden from the public eye, where they heard low singing and saw low dancing, and mayhap joined in it; and where A. B., aged twenty-four next birthday, and committed for eighteen months’ solitary, had himself said (not that he had ever shown himself particularly worthy of belief) his ruin began, as he was perfectly sure and confident that otherwise he would have been a tip-top moral specimen. Then came Mr. Gradgrind and Mr. Bounderby, the two gentlemen at this present moment walking through Coketown, and both eminently practical, who could, on occasion, furnish more tabular statements derived from their own personal experience, and illustrated by cases they had known and seen, from which it clearly appeared — in short, it was the only clear thing in the case — that these same people were a bad lot altogether, gentlemen; that do what you would for them they were never thankful for it, gentlemen; that they were restless, gentlemen; that they never knew what they wanted; that they lived upon the best, and bought fresh butter; and insisted on Mocha coffee, and rejected all but prime parts of meat, and yet were eternally dissatisfied and unmanageable. In short, it was the moral of the old nursery fable: There was an old woman, and what do you think? She lived upon nothing but victuals and drink; Victuals and drink were the whole of her diet, And yet this old woman would NEVER be quiet. Is it possible, I wonder, that there was any analogy between the case of the Coketown population and the case of the little Gradgrinds? Surely, none of us in our sober senses and acquainted with figures, are to be told at this time of day, that one of the foremost elements in the existence of the Coketown working-people had been for scores of years, deliberately set at nought? That there was any Fancy in them demanding to be brought into healthy existence instead of struggling on in convulsions? That exactly in the ratio as they worked long and monotonously, the craving grew within them for some physical relief — some relaxation, encouraging good humour and good spirits, and giving them a vent — some recognized holiday, though it were but for an honest dance to a stirring band of music — some occasional light pie in which even M’Choakumchild had no finger — which craving must and would be satisfied aright, or must and would inevitably go wrong, until the laws of the Creation were repealed? ‘This man lives at Pod’s End, and I don’t quite know Pod’s End,’ said Mr. Gradgrind. ‘Which is it, Bounderby?’ Mr. Bounderby knew it was somewhere down town, but knew no more respecting it. So they stopped for a moment, looking about. Almost as they did so, there came running round the corner of the street at a quick pace and with a frightened look, a girl whom Mr. Gradgrind recognized. ‘Halloa!’ said he. ‘Stop! Where are you going! Stop!’ Girl number twenty stopped then, palpitating, and made him a curtsey. ‘Why are you tearing about the streets,’ said Mr. Gradgrind, ‘in this improper manner?’ ‘I was — I was run after, sir,’ the girl panted, ‘and I wanted to get away.’ ‘Run after?’ repeated Mr. Gradgrind. ‘Who would run after you?’ The question was unexpectedly and suddenly answered for her, by the colourless boy, Bitzer, who came round the corner with such blind speed and so little anticipating a stoppage on the pavement, that he brought himself up against Mr. Gradgrind’s waistcoat and rebounded into the road. ‘What do you mean, boy?’ said Mr. Gradgrind. ‘What are you doing? How dare you dash against — everybody — in this manner?’ Bitzer picked up his cap, which the concussion had knocked off; and backing, and knuckling his forehead, pleaded that it was an accident. ‘Was this boy running after you, Jupe?’ asked Mr. Gradgrind. ‘Yes, sir,’said the girl reluctantly.
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From Page 35 ‘No, I wasn’t, sir!’ cried Bitzer. ‘Not till she run away from me. But the horse-riders never mind what they say, sir; they’re famous for it. You know the horse-riders are famous for never minding what they say,’ addressing Sissy. ‘It’s as well known in the town as — please, sir, as the multiplication table isn’t known to the horseriders.’ Bitzer tried Mr. Bounderby with this. ‘He frightened me so,’ said the girl, ‘with his cruel faces!’ ‘Oh!’ cried Bitzer. ‘Oh! An’t you one of the rest! An’t you a horse-rider! I never looked at her, sir. I asked her if she would know how to define a horse to-morrow, and offered to tell her again, and she ran away, and I ran after her, sir, that she might know how to answer when she was asked. You wouldn’t have thought of saying such mischief if you hadn’t been a horse-rider?’ ‘Her calling seems to be pretty well known among ’em,’ observed Mr. Bounderby. ‘You’d have had the whole school peeping in a row, in a week.’ ‘Truly, I think so,’returned his friend. ‘Bitzer, turn you about and take yourself home. Jupe, stay here a moment. Let me hear of your running in this manner any more, boy, and you will hear of me through the master of the school. You understand what I mean. Go along.’ The boy stopped in his rapid blinking, knuckled his forehead again, glanced at Sissy, turned about, and retreated. ‘Now, girl,’ said Mr. Gradgrind, ‘take this gentleman and me to your father’s; we are going there. What have you got in that bottle you are carrying?’ ‘Gin,’ said Mr. Bounderby. ‘Dear, no, sir! It’s the nine oils.’ ‘The what?’ cried Mr. Bounderby. ‘The nine oils, sir, to rub father with.’ ‘Then,’ said Mr. Bounderby, with a loud short laugh, ‘what the devil do you rub your father with nine oils for?’ ‘It’s what our people aways use, sir, when they get any hurts in the ring,’ replied the girl, looking over her shoulder, to assure herself that her pursuer was gone. ‘They bruise themselves very bad sometimes.’ ‘Serve ’em right,’ said Mr. Bounderby, ‘for being idle.’ She glanced up at his face, with mingled astonishment and dread. ‘By George!’said Mr. Bounderby, ‘when I was four or five years younger than you, I had worse bruises upon me than ten oils, twenty oils, forty oils, would have rubbed off. I didn’t get ’em by posture-making, but by being banged about. There was no rope-dancing for me; I danced on the bare ground and was larruped with the rope.’ Mr. Gradgrind, though hard enough, was by no means so rough a man as Mr. Bounderby. His character was not unkind, all things considered; it might have been a very kind one indeed, if he had only made some round mistake in the arithmetic that balanced it, years ago. He said, in what he meant for a reassuring tone, as they turned down a narrow road, ‘And this is Pod’s End; is it, Jupe?’ ‘This is it, sir, and — if you wouldn’t mind, sir — this is the house.’ She stopped, at twilight, at the door of a mean little public-house, with dim red lights in it. As haggard and as shabby, as if, for want of custom, it had itself taken to drinking, and had gone the way all drunkards go, and was very near the end of it. ‘It’s only crossing the bar, sir, and up the stairs, if you wouldn’t mind, and waiting there for a moment till I get a candle. If you should hear a dog, sir, it’s only Merrylegs, and he only barks.’ ‘Merrylegs and nine oils, eh!’ said Mr. Bounderby, entering last with his metallic laugh. ‘Pretty well this, for a self-made man!’ Chapter VI— Sleary’s Horsemanship THE name of the public-house was the Pegasus’s Arms. The Pegasus’s legs might have been more to the purpose; but, underneath the winged horse upon the sign-board, the Pegasus’s Arms was inscribed in Roman letters. Beneath that inscription again, in a flowing scroll, the painter had touched off the lines: Good malt makes good beer, Walk in, and they’ll draw it here; Good wine makes good brandy, Give us a call, and you’ll find it handy. Framed and glazed upon the wall behind the dingy little bar, was another Pegasus — a theatrical one — with real gauze let in for his wings, golden stars stuck on all over him, and his ethereal harness made of red silk. As it had grown too dusky without, to see the sign, and as it had not grown light enough within
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Observer Classic Books to see the picture, Mr. Gradgrind and Mr. Bounderby received no offence from these idealities. They followed the girl up some steep corner-stairs without meeting any one, and stopped in the dark while she went on for a candle. They expected every moment to hear Merrylegs give tongue, but the highly trained performing dog had not barked when the girl and the candle appeared together. ‘Father is not in our room, sir,’ she said, with a face of great surprise. ‘If you wouldn’t mind walking in, I’ll find him directly.’ They walked in; and Sissy, having set two chairs for them, sped away with a quick light step. It was a mean, shabbily furnished room, with a bed in it. The white night-cap, embellished with two peacock’s feathers and a pigtail bolt upright, in which Signor Jupe had that very afternoon enlivened the varied performances with his chaste Shaksperean quips and retorts, hung upon a nail; but no other portion of his wardrobe, or other token of himself or his pursuits, was to be seen anywhere. As to Merrylegs, that respectable ancestor of the highly trained animal who went aboard the ark, might have been accidentally shut out of it, for any sign of a dog that was manifest to eye or ear in the Pegasus’s Arms. They heard the doors of rooms above, opening and shutting as Sissy went from one to another in quest of her father; and presently they heard voices expressing surprise. She came bounding down again in a great hurry, opened a battered and mangy old hair trunk, found it empty, and looked round with her hands clasped and her face full of terror. ‘Father must have gone down to the Booth, sir. I don’t know why he should go there, but he must be there; I’ll bring him in a minute!’ She was gone directly, without her bonnet; with her long, dark, childish hair streaming behind her. ‘What does she mean!’ said Mr. Gradgrind. ‘Back in a minute? It’s more than a mile off.’ Before Mr. Bounderby could reply, a young man appeared at the door, and introducing himself with the words, ‘By your leaves, gentlemen!’ walked in with his hands in his pockets. His face, close-shaven, thin, and sallow, was shaded by a great quantity of dark hair, brushed into a roll all round his head, and parted up the centre. His legs were very robust, but shorter than legs of good proportions should have been. His chest and back were as much too broad, as his legs were too short. He was dressed in a Newmarket coat and tight-fitting trousers; wore a shawl round his neck; smelt of lamp-oil, straw, orange-peel, horses’ provender, and sawdust; and looked a most remarkable sort of Centaur, compounded of the stable and the play-house. Where the one began, and the other ended, nobody could have told with any precision. This gentleman was mentioned in the bills of the day as Mr. E. W. B. Childers, so justly celebrated for his daring vaulting act as the Wild Huntsman of the North American Prairies; in which popular performance, a diminutive boy with an old face, who now accompanied him, assisted as his infant son: being carried upside down over his father’s shoulder, by one foot, and held by the crown of his head, heels upwards, in the palm of his father’s hand, according to the violent paternal manner in which wild huntsmen may be observed to fondle their offspring. Made up with curls, wreaths, wings, white bismuth, and carmine, this hopeful young person soared into so pleasing a Cupid as to constitute the chief delight of the maternal part of the spectators; but in private, where his characteristics were a precocious cutaway coat and an extremely gruff voice, he became of the Turf, turfy. ‘By your leaves, gentlemen,’ said Mr. E. W. B. Childers, glancing round the room. ‘It was you, I believe, that were wishing to see Jupe!’ ‘It was,’ said Mr. Gradgrind. ‘His daughter has gone to fetch him, but I can’t wait; therefore, if you please, I will leave a message for him with you.’ ‘You see, my friend,’ Mr. Bounderby put in, ‘we are the kind of people who know the value of time, and you are the kind of people who don’t know the value of time.’ ‘I have not,’ retorted Mr. Childers, after surveying him from head to foot, ‘the honour of knowing you, — but if you mean that you can make more money of your time than I can of mine, I should judge from your appearance, that you are about right.’ ‘And when you have made it, you can keep it too, I should think,’ said Cupid. ‘Kidderminster, stow that!’ said Mr. Childers. (Master Kidderminster was Cupid’s mortal
name.) ‘What does he come here cheeking us for, then?’ cried Master Kidderminster, showing a very irascible temperament. ‘If you want to cheek us, pay your ochre at the doors and take it out.’ ‘Kidderminster,’ said Mr. Childers, raising his voice, ‘stow that! — Sir,’ to Mr. Gradgrind, ‘I was addressing myself to you. You may or you may not be aware (for perhaps you have not been much in the audience), that Jupe has missed his tip very often, lately.’ ‘Has — what has he missed?’ asked Mr. Gradgrind, glancing at the potent Bounderby for assistance. ‘Missed his tip.’ ‘Offered at the Garters four times last night, and never done ’em once,’ said Master Kidderminster. ‘Missed his tip at the banners, too, and was loose in his ponging.’ ‘Didn’t do what he ought to do. Was short in his leaps and bad in his tumbling,’ Mr. Childers interpreted. ‘Oh!’ said Mr. Gradgrind, ‘that is tip, is it?’ ‘In a general way that’s missing his tip,’ Mr. E. W. B. Childers answered. ‘Nine oils, Merrylegs, missing tips, garters, banners, and Ponging, eh!’ ejaculated Bounderby, with his laugh of laughs. ‘Queer sort of company, too, for a man who has raised himself!’ ‘Lower yourself, then,’ retorted Cupid. ‘Oh Lord! if you’ve raised yourself so high as all that comes to, let yourself down a bit.’ ‘This is a very obtrusive lad!’ said Mr. Gradgrind, turning, and knitting his brows on him. ‘We’d have had a young gentleman to meet you, if we had known you were coming,’ retorted Master Kidderminster, nothing abashed. ‘It’s a pity you don’t have a bespeak, being so particular. You’re on the Tight–Jeff, ain’t you?’ ‘What does this unmannerly boy mean,’ asked Mr. Gradgrind, eyeing him in a sort of desperation, ‘by Tight–Jeff?’ ‘There! Get out, get out!’ said Mr. Childers, thrusting his young friend from the room, rather in the prairie manner. ‘Tight–Jeff or Slack–Jeff, it don’t much signify: it’s only tight-rope and slack-rope. You were going to give me a message for Jupe?’ ‘Yes, I was.’ ‘Then,’ continued Mr. Childers, quickly, ‘my opinion is, he will never receive it. Do you know much of him?’ ‘I never saw the man in my life.’ ‘I doubt if you ever will see him now. It’s pretty plain to me, he’s off.’ ‘Do you mean that he has deserted his daughter?’ ‘Ay! I mean,’ said Mr. Childers, with a nod, ‘that he has cut. He was goosed last night, he was goosed the night before last, he was goosed today. He has lately got in the way of being always goosed, and he can’t stand it.’ ‘Why has he been — so very much — Goosed?’ asked Mr. Gradgrind, forcing the word out of himself, with great solemnity and reluctance. ‘His joints are turning stiff, and he is getting used up,’ said Childers. ‘He has his points as a Cackler still, but he can’t get a living out of them.’ ‘A Cackler!’ Bounderby repeated. ‘Here we go again!’ ‘A speaker, if the gentleman likes it better,’ said Mr. E. W. B. Childers, superciliously throwing the interpretation over his shoulder, and accompanying it with a shake of his long hair — which all shook at once. ‘Now, it’s a remarkable fact, sir, that it cut that man deeper, to know that his daughter knew of his being goosed, than to go through with it.’ ‘Good!’ interrupted Mr. Bounderby. ‘This is good, Gradgrind! A man so fond of his daughter, that he runs away from her! This is devilish good! Ha! ha! Now, I’ll tell you what, young man. I haven’t always occupied my present station of life. I know what these things are. You may be astonished to hear it, but my mother — ran away from me.’ E. W. B. Childers replied pointedly, that he was not at all astonished to hear it. ‘Very well,’ said Bounderby. ‘I was born in a ditch, and my mother ran away from me. Do I excuse her for it? No. Have I ever excused her for it? Not I. What do I call her for it? I call her probably the very worst woman that ever lived in the world, except my drunken grandmother. There’s no family pride about me, there’s no imaginative sentimental humbug about me. I call a spade a spade; and I call the mother of Josiah Bounderby of Coketown, without any fear or any favour, what I should call her if she had been the mother of Dick Jones of Wapping. So
with this man. He is a runaway rogue and a vagabond, that’s what he is, in English.’ ‘It’s all the same to me what he is or what he is not, whether in English or whether in French,’ retorted Mr. E. W. B. Childers, facing about. ‘I am telling your friend what’s the fact; if you don’t like to hear it, you can avail yourself of the open air. You give it mouth enough, you do; but give it mouth in your own building at least,’ remonstrated E. W. B. with stern irony. ‘Don’t give it mouth in this building, till you’re called upon. You have got some building of your own I dare say, now?’ ‘Perhaps so,’ replied Mr. Bounderby, rattling his money and laughing. ‘Then give it mouth in your own building, will you, if you please?’ said Childers. ‘Because this isn’t a strong building, and too much of you might bring it down!’ Eyeing Mr. Bounderby from head to foot again, he turned from him, as from a man finally disposed of, to Mr. Gradgrind. ‘Jupe sent his daughter out on an errand not an hour ago, and then was seen to slip out himself, with his hat over his eyes, and a bundle tied up in a handkerchief under his arm. She will never believe it of him, but he has cut away and left her.’ ‘Pray,’ said Mr. Gradgrind, ‘why will she never believe it of him?’ ‘Because those two were one. Because they were never asunder. Because, up to this time, he seemed to dote upon her,’ said Childers, taking a step or two to look into the empty trunk. Both Mr. Childers and Master Kidderminster walked in a curious manner; with their legs wider apart than the general run of men, and with a very knowing assumption of being stiff in the knees. This walk was common to all the male members of Sleary’s company, and was understood to express, that they were always on horseback. ‘Poor Sissy! He had better have apprenticed her,’ said Childers, giving his hair another shake, as he looked up from the empty box. ‘Now, he leaves her without anything to take to.’ ‘It is creditable to you, who have never been apprenticed, to express that opinion,’ returned Mr. Gradgrind, approvingly. ‘I never apprenticed? I was apprenticed when I was seven year old.’ ‘Oh! Indeed?’ said Mr. Gradgrind, rather resentfully, as having been defrauded of his good opinion. ‘I was not aware of its being the custom to apprentice young persons to — ’ ‘Idleness,’ Mr. Bounderby put in with a loud laugh. ‘No, by the Lord Harry! Nor I!’ ‘Her father always had it in his head,’ resumed Childers, feigning unconsciousness of Mr. Bounderby’s existence, ‘that she was to be taught the deuce-and-all of education. How it got into his head, I can’t say; I can only say that it never got out. He has been picking up a bit of reading for her, here — and a bit of writing for her, there — and a bit of ciphering for her, somewhere else — these seven years.’ Mr. E. W. B. Childers took one of his hands out of his pockets, stroked his face and chin, and looked, with a good deal of doubt and a little hope, at Mr. Gradgrind. From the first he had sought to conciliate that gentleman, for the sake of the deserted girl. ‘When Sissy got into the school here,’ he pursued, ‘her father was as pleased as Punch. I couldn’t altogether make out why, myself, as we were not stationary here, being but comers and goers anywhere. I suppose, however, he had this move in his mind — he was always half-cracked — and then considered her provided for. If you should happen to have looked in to-night, for the purpose of telling him that you were going to do her any little service,’ said Mr. Childers, stroking his face again, and repeating his look, ‘it would be very fortunate and well-timed; very fortunate and well-timed.’ ‘On the contrary,’ returned Mr. Gradgrind. ‘I came to tell him that her connections made her not an object for the school, and that she must not attend any more. Still, if her father really has left her, without any connivance on her part — Bounderby, let me have a word with you.’ Upon this, Mr. Childers politely betook himself, with his equestrian walk, to the landing outside the door, and there stood stroking his face, and softly whistling. While thus engaged, he overheard such phrases in Mr. Bounderby’s voice as ‘No. I say no. I advise you not. I say by no means.’ While, from Mr. Gradgrind, he heard in his much lower tone the words, ‘But even as an example to Louisa, of what this pursuit which has been the subject of a vulgar curiosity, leads to and ends in. Think of it, Bounderby, in that point of view.’ To Be Continued Next Issue
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Healthy Living
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Healthy Living
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Education
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Entertainment
Port Melbourne
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Places To Go
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Fishing and Boating
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Fishing and Boating
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Best Places
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Places To Go
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Observer Crossword Solution No 26 C O I F F E R A O P A K I S T E T E S A D I S T T N R A T I S H O A P O S C R I M P H R E D E T E R R R E E M E A S U R E W N A L L Y I N N E O S H R I N E E N V S M U D G E I I N U N E A S E N R O D M U R A L E O O C T H R A S H U N O S M O K E R I L E A D V E R S D E E M I N D F U I D E R O O F R A E R E D I S P E N M R U E M B A L M E N B C R O C H E S E R M E S S E S I A X M A N D A R I T L C R A F T I
U T A H
R D R A A E U N R A S O S E T F N E E E F I T R O N W E N E D G E S I L Y C L E N T F A N S H E D E S A D D R T R C R E G I T C H S S W A S E R S A E E Y E S I C K N O S H U D L Y A L I N S T E T C C P I N A T S N E O G L N D U P E E P A C G O G O T L S Q U E I R C K T O I T T E R N S E R A G E N S A G I A D D I E T L S C E L E T U E H A B M A K E I I N E X C T E N L E R O V E
G S Q P U A D L O I R C I N E R C L E S E P R T E S E S T O I Q U R E T T E E S T E R A A N G L E I L N F T E R A R I T I I S T R S
T E M T I S E S I D O I N G R A E S H S P E R I M E E V G A A L Z E R T T I E M P I A R T D E D D R E E S C S U P P E N U E L I O P E E
R T A A Z E S N A B T A R E R S N G O T U O C E N S A I N I N T V E A R P E S I E N N Y S S O S K O T T O U H O D K A I M S O R A U O S G L A U N I E S D W R I S E O A E C U R Y I R I N O I N G S S A L I S R G I E N C E I S T A R R E O U N S E P A R G O N U N O L L S N P E
J M A E R T P I A B L E M O O A U N S H E P R E T O I C U S N C O W U T H O U F T M O E D E A D M N I E S I T Y R E L A D F E R R S
A H O D E D N O W O N L D E E R A D O V A A N T R A G R E H O R D E R S I R A N W E I L L I B U V I L F T U N G G I E F Y F E N C T I S
A L E N E U T S G A N L I L E F E L U O S T C E R S S E G Y R E D G A Q T E D E L E P L E N C E O D Y N E S O S P U L O E D
S S E E X P E A D N G O R I L O Y E
I C O W O Y O D S W O D R K B E R A S A P
H E T I H I C K A L A V W E R A T T S S
H O W G I A I D L E P H A O E H P R O O L Y N O R A T I R A H E M P E R I G U D M O U N U N M B R A C A U I S H R I V K O I E M A I L D Y M R A B I G I U A G E N E D E O N O O A P E K U S E S N Z A Z U R I E L L N E W Y O A E A B L A C K L T T I T H E R N E E G E R S E L U M A P S O E T P L I N E A T O C N A T U S N N E I G N I E E T M A L L E
R L U N T E F S I N G D O R U T H A E S S E L E E D V E S R T S W S E E U P L C H E R K A E R A T O K Y E O U T N G E E R E I N G H S T
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Page 54 - Melbourne Obser ver - Wednesday, March 21, 2018
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Observer Victorian Sport Melbourne
Soho Tribeca takes Kilmore Pacing Cup ■ Going into last Saturday’s (Group 2) $70,000 Jet Roofing Kilmore Pacing Cup for M0 or better class over 2690 metres it appeared to be a match race between much travelled WA entire Soho Tribeca and the Emma Stewart (Ballarat) trained multiple cups winner Shadow Sax and that’s the way the result fell, with Soho Tribeca asserting his authority. Trained at Burrumbeet by caretaker Michael Stanley and driven by Greg Sugars, Soho Tribeca a 5Y0 son of American Ideal from the Art Major mare Pixel Perfect went forward from outside the front line three wide on the back of Shadow Sax (gate four) as Majordan led from gate three, with Clancys Fobwatch (gate six) outside him. Chris Alford (Shadow Sax) had little trouble finding the front entering the front straight on the first occasion, with Soho Tribeca immediately parking outside him. The race was to remain in that order throughout, even though Greg Sugars had a little dip for the lead with Soho Tribeca, but quickly relented when the front running was unavailable. Shadow Sax tried to kick on the final bend and momentarily seemed to have Soho Tribeca off the bit, but once they straightened, Soho Tribeca showed his tremendous fighting qualities, prevailing by 2.5 metres on the wire. Old timer Messini came from the rear of the field to finish third 3.8 metres away. In quarters of 28.7, 28.6, 29.3 and 29.9, Soho Tribeca returned a mile rate of 1-56, smashing Yankee Rockstar’s record of 1-58.7 set in 2016. Bred and raced by mining businessman Robert Watson who elected to stay home in Perth watching the race on television, Soho Tribeca who at one stage was trained at Clyde by Jayne Davies has recorded 20 wins from only 54 race appearances
Feature Cups
■ Two feature cup meetings were held on Sunday March 11, the once a year Mallee Bull Cup at Birchip and the Wangaratta Cup in the NorthEast part of the state. Both meetings attracted bumper crowds to witness their meetings, especially Birchip with district locals turning out in droves. Popular Horsham part-owner/breeder Rod Carberry's 7Y0 Union Guy-Elevensecrets gelding Tommaso snared the $3500 Sharps Bakery Mallee Bull Pacing Cup for R2 to R4 class over 2150 metres in a thrilling event to watch. Driven by Hamilton's Jackie Barker, Tommaso starting from gate two on the second line settled four back in the moving line as both Curlimore (gate 3) and Birchip local Waterboy (gate 5) went lickety split from the outset, with Curlimore winning out. When the favourite Nomi Malone (one/two) moved forward three racing for the bell, Tommaso immediately latched to her back for a sweet ride home. When Nomi Malone dashed for home on turning, she looked all over a winner when Tommaso pounced in the shadows of the post to blouse her by a half neck in a race record mile rate of 2-00.7. Nuggetpan ran home late from near last at the bell for third 8.1 metres back. The $14,000 North East Fasteners Wangaratta Pacing Cup for C5 or better class over 2210 metres saw victory go the way of honest 6Y0 Courage Under Fire-Shakai mare Shakahari for Shepparton (Kialla) training duo Steve O'Donoghue and and Bec Bartley. Driven by Bec, Shakahari (gate 4) was trapped three wide but trailing Nor Nor West before going forward to park outside the poleline pacemaker Rockabella Starz. Gaining cover with a circuit to go after Magical Marn followed her forward to park in the open at the bell, Shakahari was given a little respite in the final circuit. With runners spread across the track on straightening, Shakahari gained a split through the centre and finished full of running to record a fine performance in defeating a game Rockabella Starz who refused to give in by neck, with roughie Hashtag (three back the markers) flashing late for third 1.5 metres away. The mile rate 1-58.9.
Harness Racing
Melbourne
Observer
len-baker@ bigpond.com
with Len Baker
All over Australia
■ It was Noel Smith Memorial Invitation Drivers Series race day at Horsham on Monday March 12, with drivers from all over Australia competing for the honour of winning. Queenslander Peter McMullen was the successful recipient, winning narrowly from Gavin Lang after recording two wins, a sixth and fifth in the four race competition. Chris Geary (NSW) was third.
Followed the leader
■ At Bendigo on Tuesday, Burrumbeet trainer/ driver Michael Stanley produced a Kiwi bred former Sydneysider by the name of Smiling Stunner to record an impressive victory in the C0 class DNR Logistics Pace over 2150 metres when making her Victorian debut. A4Y0 daughter of Art Major and Black Maire, Smiling Stunner was sent forward early in the piece from gate two on the second line to park outside the red hot $1.20 favourite San Domino which led from gate two. Applying plenty of pressure to the front runner approaching the final bend, Smiling Stunner was too strong over the concluding stages in a two horse war all the way up the running to score by a half head in 1-58.3. Valbarann was 17.8 metres away in third place after trailing the leader.
Want free tickets?
■ The three night Mildura Pacing Cup Carnival (April 10, 12 & 14) is fast approaching. The Mildura Harness Racing Club have kindly donated two double entry passes for each of the three nights to readers of this column - all you need to do is send your name, address and contact number to : Mildura Cup Promotion, PO Box 51, Taylors Lakes 3038 by the close of mail next Monday March 26. Winners will be notified.
Double day
■ Thursday as usual was double day, with Shepparton racing during the afternoon and Ballarat at night. At Shepparton, Kilmore's Maryanne Laffan combined with partner Steven Matson to capture the Hunter Rural Pace for C0 class over 2190 metres with 4Y0 Art MajorAcaptivatingeagle mare Westvillageemily and in doins so, landed a mammoth plunge. Backed Australia wide on the fixed odds from as much as an isolated $13, but mainly $10 to start $3.40 favourite, Westvillageemily starting from the extreme draw settled four back in the moving line with speed to burn up front as many of her rivals vied for the front running position. Going forward three wide racing for the bell, Westvillageemily sprinted like a gazelle in the last lap to lead prior to the home turn, blitzing her rivals to score by 12.7 metres in advance of Kissing game from last and Crocodile Kid which led heading into the final circuit. The mile rate 2-00.8. It was Steve Matson first success in the sulky
● Soho Tribeca at Kilmore for a considerable time. Local trainer Colin Holloway and reinsman son Brett were successful in the Tusk The Fleetwood Mac Show 24/3 Pace for C3 to C4 class over 1710 metres at Ballarat with Rock N Roll Heaven-Fast And Flighty 5Y0 gelding King Of Rocknroll in a brilliant rate of 1-53.1. Beginning smartly from gate five, King Of Rocknroll in what was the "drive of the night" by Brett was trapped wide before easing to possie one/one on the back of the well supported The Jet Player (gate four), with Nansastar leading ■ Wednesday - Echuca, Thursday - Stawell/ from gate three. Bendigo, Friday - Ballarat, Saturday - Melton, Letting rip racing for the bell to lead for the Sunday Ouyen (Cup), Monday - Yarra Valfinal circuit, King Of Rocknroll destroyed his ri- ley, Tuesday - Shepparton. vals, scoring by 6.4 metres from Keayang Da Vinci (one/two). with Franco (one/one last lap) third 16.5 metres away. King Of Rocknroll is a recipient of stem cell surgery. ■ Big Gun Johnny, Flyin Around, Keayang Bazooka, Kool Kat Kyvalley, Nuggetpan, Threepeat, Code Black, Glenferrie Blade. ■ Youthful Allendale owner/trainer Adam Stephens was all smiles at Tabcorp Park Melton controlled the race at the head of affairs. When Glenferrie Blade which had raced ex on Friday when his very honest 7Y0 Safari-Village Maze mare Village Safari greeted the judge posed dashed to the front on turning, Village in the $16,000 Hygain Pace for M0 & M1 class Safari was in hot pursuit and finished too well, scoring by a nose in a tight finish, with Keayang (mares) over 2240 metres. Driven by regular reinsman Mick Bellman, Destiny (three back the markers) 11.3 metres Village Safari enjoyed a sweet passage one/one away in third place. The mile rate 1-56.7. Adam from gate five as two of the Nathan Jack trained has done most of the work with the horses with runners Without You and Eye See Diamonds some assistance from his father Alan.
Sulky Snippets This Week
Horses to follow
Thanks to Dad
Melbourne Arts Extra ■ Acclaimed American, Melbourne-based artist Jonat0on Homsey bring s together motion capture technology and live performances to create an exciting new experience of dance, expression and intimacy beyond gender lines in Mx Reid. Featuring music by Joyce Wrice (USA) and choreography by Sela Vai (Western Sydney) and Homsey, Mx Reid collides contemporary dance with street to blur the lines between the virtual and physical worlds. Be ready for the pose off in MxRed Waacki' Ball as Homsey harnesses the cult popularity of 70s dance style Waakin. The queer futurist celebration of expression and empowerment will be created by the local and international waakin community, including performances by Burn City Waack and international waakin; champion Junko Sasaki, as well as participants of the local Mx.Red Waakin' Workshops. Self Seekers examines 'selfie; culture and the unique ways each person listens to the worlds around them. First developed by The Amplified Elephants in 2015, with showings Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Melbourne Self Seekers is a multidisciplinary electronic work featuring live video, abstract sound and performance. A celebration of the awkwardness of adolescence. Lovely Mess invites an audience to
bear witness as a group of teenagers on the cusp of adulthood shed the skin of childhood embarrassment so they can move on with their lives. Award-winning artists the indirect Object present three stories of intergenerational mental illness in Verbatim for an intimate audience of one. Told through an immersive solo journey into the heart of life with clinical depression, Verbatim asks 'at what point is a person with mental illness responsible for their actions?' An immersive sonic experience Cruel Optimism held at The Substation and performed by Laurence English, addresses the current geo-political climate. As part of he event, English will be drawing on his global experience to host workshops on field recording. AsAustralia's largest live art program featuring contemporary, experimental, interactive and participatory art, the biennial Festival of Live Art is for curious audiences to experience intimate boutique and large scale works. Season: Until March 25. Festival of LiveArt Footscray Community Arts Centre 45 Moreland St. Footscray - Peter Kemp
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Melbourne Obser ver - Wednesday, March 21, 2018 - Page 55 e urn lbo Me
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ver N ser O Ob TI C SE 3
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Theatre: 3 debut authors sprak ............................... Page 55 Arts: Peter Kemp’s weekly guide .................................... Page 56 Country Music: Guide to Corryong 2018 ....................... Page 56 Jim and Aaron: Aaron Rourke reviews Annihilation ...... Page 58 Cheryl Threadgold: Local Theatre shows, auditions .......... Page 76 OVATT”S MEGA CRO PL US THE LLO PLUS CROSSSWORD
MAD FOR LOVE Dore To Nowhere
● John Dore in Dore to Nowhere. ■ Melbourne-based comedian John Dore shines light on the mysteries of consciousness and modern life in his latest show Dore to Nowhere, presented as part of the 2018 Melbourne International Comedy Festival from March 29 – April 7 at Boney, Melbourne. A Raw Comedy and Green Faces finalist, Dore says: “I solve the mysteries of existence. All the big questions what are we? Why? What to do? How could that happen? Is this fair? I even solve the ‘I want to eat sandwiches at the beach not hear sand grinding in my teeth! Where is the technology for that?’ problem.” Mixing personal stories and wicked sharp observations, Dore to Nowhere straddles both big thinking concepts like consciousness, and the annoyances and eccentricities of daily life. From clickbait and overly amorous grannies to the meaning of our existence, Dore to Nowhere boasts an impressive journey for the audience. But where will they end up at the end of the hour? “Together we’ll laugh down the indifferent universe and finally understand everything all at one. Or maybe we get nowhere”. Venue: Boney, 68 Little Collins St., Melbourne Dates: March 29 – April 7 no Monday, Wednesday or Sunday 8pm and April 10, 12,17 and 21 at 9:45pm Tickets: $22/$16 Bookings: https://www.comedyfestival.com.au - Cheryl Threadgold
Venus In Fur
● Sumi Jo ■ The internationally celebrated Grammy-award winning coloratura soprano Sumi Jo returns to Australia this July for a series of concerts in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. Her Melbourne performance is Tuesday, July 17 at 7.30pm at the Melbourne Recital Centre. Well known as an exponent of bel canto (beautiful singing), Sumi Jo will perform a program of music from her fine repertoire, joined on stage for the first time by dashing Argentineborn baritone José Carbó. With more than 50 recordings to her credit Sumi Jo is the highest selling classical singer in the world, and one of the most sought-after sopranos of her generation. Her concerts have delighted audiences globally, including performances at the Summer and Winter Olympics, and for the Pope. Legendary maestro Herbert von Karajan describes Jo as having ‘a voice from above’. José Carbó, born in Argentina to Spanish and Italian parents, has become one of Australia’s most popular baritones, touring locally and internationally with Opera Australia, Victorian Opera and Los Angeles Opera since 2005. His debut album My Latin Heart debuted at no.1 in the Limelight Magazine Classical charts. Sumi Jo and José Carbó will ignite Australian stages with renditions of the most passionate pieces from opera and operetta, as well as tango, and traditional folk song from Jo’s native Korea. Her astonishing vocal technique and purity of tone will be matched by an exquisite wardrobe for a night of operatic glamour. Andrew McKinnon, who has brought Sumi Jo to Australia for her two most recent tours, said he is delighted that she has accepted his invitation to return for this passionate new concert series. McKinnon said: “I have always loved the art of bel canto and Sumi Jo is one of the greatest interpreters of this thrilling music. “I wanted to pair her with the wonderful Australian singer José Carbó to ensure that this will be an unparalleled night of romance which will live long in the memory of all who attend.” Sumi Jo and José Carbó will be accompanied by Australian pianist, Guy Noble, who will also conduct the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Melbourne Performance: Tuesday, July 17 at the Melbourne Recital Centre at 7.30pm. Bookings: https://www.melbournerecital.com.au/events/ 2018/mad-for-love - Cheryl Threadgold
● Tilly Legge in Venus in Fur Photo: Sarah Walker ■ Writer-director Thomas Novachek (Darcy Kent) is having a bad day. He complains into his phone that ‘young women can’t even play feminine these days’. Inspired by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s 1870 German novella which is said to have given birth to the practice of masochism, auditions for Thomas’s new play, Venus in Fur, have gone badly. Of the 35 actresses he has seen, ‘half are dressed like hookers, half like dykes.’ Thomas is beginning to despair, no one, so far, is good enough, not least the actress who has just arrived two hours late begging him to let her read for the part. “You want somebody who’s not me,” she tells him. “I’m too young. Too old. I’m too big, I’m too small. My résumé’s not long enough. OK.” Thomas eventually relents. What follows is a sizzling twist on the current debate around gender-politics. There is much irony in a darkly comic play centred around role-reversal in light of the #MeToo movement and, with it, a sometimes-uncomfortable gaze-switching beyond misogynist and back again. Directed by Kirsten von Bibra, Venus in Fur objectifies and de-objectifies its female lead. Tilly Legge plays three different, female characters in one, from ditzy, gawky ingenue to Northern European aristocrat to fierce, vengeful dominatrix, and makes it seem effortless to do so. While Kent as Thomas is excellent and a terrific foil for Legge, playwright David Ives has written a great and meaty female role and Legge grabs the opportunity with flair and runs away with this play. Her performance is magnetic. Performance Season: Until March 24 Venue: fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne Bookings: www.fortyfivedownstairs.com - Review by Kathryn Keeble
Page 56 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Observer Showbiz
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Country Music, Radio, Theatre, Almanac Country Crossroads
By Rob Foenander info@countrycrossroads.com.au
Stars’ new album
■ Seventies country rock legends Stars are releasing their brand new album Boundary Rider in April. The album promises seven new songs and 4 previously unrecorded tracks from their deceased band member and songwriter Andy Durant. The reformed iconic Australian group have been knocking out audiences over the past few years with their own brand of timeless songs. Melbourne fans can catch the group at the Thornbury Theatre on April 13.Friday
April at the Guild
■ The Country Music Guild at Pascoe Vale RSL will present the following artists for April. Fri. April 6. The Con Artists. Fri . April 13. Honky Tonk Rockers. Fri.Apr. 20. Rough Cut. Fri. Apr. 27. The Bakersfield Glee Club All shows commence 8pm to 11pm.
Corryong 2018
■ The annual Man from Snowy River Festival kicks off from April 5 to April 8. The popular event attracts visitors from all over Australia and is held at the Corryong Recreation Reserve. North East Victorian musical performers will include Adam Harvey and Beccy Cole, Fanny Lumsden, Travis and Jake Sinclair, amongst others. More info: www.bushfestival.com.au - Rob Foenander
Heidi Museum of Modern Art DianeArbus: American Portraits. Heide hosts the National Gallery of Australia's touring exhibition of Diane Arbus: American Portraits. The photographs of Diane Arbus (1923 - 71) are among the most widely recognised in the history of photography. Her images stand as powerful allegories of post-war America, and once seen are rarely forgotten. Works such as Identical Twins, Roselle. N.J., 1967 and Child with toy hand grenade, in Central Park, New York City, have been described as two of the most celebrated images in history of the medium. Featuring 35 of Arbus's most iconic and confrontational images from 1966 - 71, this exhibition examines the last decade of Arbus's life and the period in which her style is in full flight. Her work has polarised viewers who question whether she exploited or empowered her subjects, who were often drawn from society's margins. Exhibition: March 21 - June 17. Art Talk: Arbus up close Norbet Loeffler, Senior Lecturer in art at the Victorian College of the Arts, Melbourne University, discusses photography, portraiture and the works of Diane Arbus. Saturday March 24 at 2pm. Burlesque Life Drawing: In partnership with Dr Sketchy, this threehour alternative drawing class combines glamour, performance and drawing in a fun, welcoming atmosphere. Learn the various techniques and styles needed to draw the human form with model Bella De Jac, one of Australia's best known Burlesque performers. All materials provided including a glass of wine to finish. Talks: Saturday March 25. 1pm- 4pm. Saturday April 28 1pm - 4pm. May 27, 1- 4pm. Costs: Adult $55. Concession $50. Member $45 (museum admission included). Art Talk: The Goldberg Collection. Selected from the collection of Lisa and Danny Goldberg. Eurovisions presents recent works by 15 international artists. Curator Sue Cramer discusses conceptual approaches, media and techniques on display on the Goldberg Collection. Talk: Saturday April 7 at 2pm. - Peter Kemp
National Gallery ■ Identitying environmental issues are just some of the themes in this year's Top Arts 2018 exhibition, an annual favourite on the NGV exhibition calendar. Top Arts 2018 will showcase the work of 54
r Obser vbeiz On This Day Show
Melbourne Arts of Victoria's best and brightest VCE Art and VCE Studio Art students. Drawing from 2.200 submissions, this year's finalists present an engaging display of materials and techniques, including sculpture and crochet, papier-mâché and recycled fashion garments. Another highlight of the exhibition will be an 8532-person football stadium sculpture created by Melbourne Grammar School student Hugh Grey. The work entitled Self-Portrait is a personal representation of Grey's physical, emotional and atmospheric experiences at sporting arenas and was inspired by his visits to some of the world's most technical and innovative stadiums. Exhibition opens March 23. Open 10am 5pm. Free Entry. Ian Potter Centre Federation Square, Melbourne - Peter Kemp
Kids Film Festival ■ Classic, Lido and Cameo Cinemas announce the inaugural Children's International Film Festival Melbourne (CHIFF), taking place from April 28 to May 6. The full program of films will be announced on March 29. The first of its kind in Australia, CHIFFbrings a curated selection of feature length local and international cinema dedicated to our youngest film buffs. Catering for children aged 4-16, the festival's program ranges from non-verbal films for the miniature movie lover, through to a more challenging mix of foreign and English language films from all over the world, perfect for older budding cinephiles. Lamenting the limited big screen offerings for children outside of the regular blockbuster school holiday fare, Artistic Director of CHIFF, Eddie Tamir felt driven to change this. All of the films in the CHIFF program are Australian premieres, handpicked from worldclass film festivals such as Berlin, Toronto, and Seattle. These films rarely get a release outside of their home countries, so CHIFF provides one of the only ways for families to catch them on the big screen in Australia. - Peter Kemp
Next Wave Festival ■ The Next Wave Festival 2018 program has been announced. This May 3–20, a surge of powerful artists from acrossAustralia will bring transformative works to the fore as part of the country’s premier biennial event dedicated to the new generation of Australian art. Across the Wurundjeri and Boon Wurrung lands of the Kulin nation in Melbourne, 31 premiere productions will span 18 days of evocative experiences that question memories of the past, explore the turbulence of today and determine challenges of the future. Spanning a democratic dinner party to a near death experience, a dog dancing competition to an unlikely collaboration between mother and son, the 2018 program brings together artists and audiences to share courageous stories that are told in ways that only Next Wave Festival can. Now in its 34th year, Next Wave continues to blaze a trail across the country’s arts industry, crafting unique learning programs and presentation opportunities for artists that reflect a commitment to social and cultural diversity, environmental sustainability and inclusion. Fifteen projects in the 2018 festival have been developed through Kickstart Helix, Next Wave’s flagship development program. A unique opportunity for Australian artists to not only present brand-new work, but to access the money, time and space required by young artists to develop ambitious projects and build a professional foundation in the arts into the future. From printmakers, curators, installation artists and zine makers through to practitioners working in Islamic decorative arts, queer performance and radical alter-egos, the selected participants represent a diverse crosssection of identities and artistic practices operating in Australia today. On the launch of her second Next Wave Festival program, Director and CEO, Georgie Meagher said: “At a moment that feels more divided than ever, this Festival captures the unsettled mood of our times. It is full of energetic conversations and interrogations that play out in both earnest and light-hearted ways, with important moments of release from that intensity, with our keynote project Ritual, and a lot of parties.” :With a different performer leading the celebration daily, Ritual is born from a desire to create pockets of time and space for people to take a moment from their busy lives to connect, strengthen and reflect.” Tickets onsale now at nextwave.org.au - Cheryl Threadgold Melbourne
Observer
Thanks to GREG NEWMAN of Jocks Journal for assistance with birthday and anniversary dates. Jocks Journal is Australia’s longest running radio industry publication. ■ Melbourne Find out more at www.jocksjournal.com
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Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 21, 2018 - Page 57
Observer Showbiz
TV, Radio, Theatre
Lyric Opera ■ Lyric Opera of Melbourne’s 2018 season opens with Francis Poulenc’s wacky comedy Les Mamelles de Tiresias (The Breasts of Tiresias) from April 17 - 14. In what must be the craziest opera to ever take to the stage, the heroine explodes gender norms, biological constraints and even her own breasts. Composed in the 1940s and later arranged for cabaret performance by composer Benjamin Britten, Mamelles will be re-imagined in the ‘greed is good’ era of the early 1980s. The one-act, one-hour show opens as the dissatisfied and ambitious Therese frees herself of her breasts - which float away as two balloons – before departing to take over the world. Her emasculated husband is then forced to take over the childbirth, notching up a remarkable 40,000 babies in just one day. Cathy Hunt makes her opera debut after taking part in Lyric’s 2017 Opera Director’s Workshop and brings to the company a wealth of experience from Melbourne’s thriving independent theatre scene. “In Mamelles the surreal springs from the everyday. The inherent humour of the opera is truly liberating,” she said. “Lyric has given me the unique opportunity to seize this piece and creatively shake it up to reveal how it speaks to us right now.” The cast is led by rising star Kate Macfarlane as Therese, with Sun Aria finalist Raphael Wong as her embattled but prodigiously fertile husband. The ensemble features several exciting young singers making their company debut as part of Lyric’s commitment to nurturing the next generation of opera stars. This is opera up close, accessible and affordable. Lyric invites you to dress up in your best 80’s glam, get a glass of bubbles from the bar and enjoy a fabulous hour of singing, surrealism and shoulder pads. Performance Details: April 7 – 14 Venue: The Loft at Chapel Off Chapel, South Yarra Tickets are $40, or $30 concession. Bookings: chapeloffchapel.com.au/show/ les-mamelles-de-tiresias/ - Cheryl Threadgold
My Friend, The Chocolate Cake ■ Iconic Melbourne band, My Friend The Chocolate Cake, are on the road again and hitting the Clocktower Stage on Saturday, April 21 following the release of their latest album, The Revival Meeting. Join band members David Bridie, Helen Mountfort, Hope Csutoros, Greg Patten, Dean Addison and Andrew Richardson, who recently celebrated their 25th anniversary. With a transient ambient, instrumental, acoustic pop and folky sound, the band will perform songs from their acclaimed new album, as well as some additional hits from their back catalogue. Enjoy the strings, the piano and the big tunes as the band present a multi-dimensional musical mural of modern Australia that illustrates its geography, political mores and predominantly suburban identity. With the intention of only ever playing a few shows, My Friend The Chocolate Cake has navigated the music scene with great success, releasing eight studio albums and performing to audiences all over! Performance Details: Saturday, 21 April at 8pm. Venue: Clocktower Centre, 750 Mt Alexander Rd., Moonee Ponds Bookings: 9243 9191 or www.clocktowercentre.com.au - Cheryl Threadgold
3 debut authors speak
● Dervla McTiernan. Photo: Julie Dunin ■ Three debut authors – Dervla McTiernan, and will soon be out in Germany, France, Italy, Sarah Schmidt and Katherine Kovacic – in con- Poland and Turkey. ★ versation with Robyn Walton, will discuss how The Portrait of Molly Dean (Echo Publishtheir novels shine a light on unsolved crimes, both real and imagined, at the next Sisters in ing) by Katherine Kovacic begins in 1999 when Crime event to be held on April 6 at 8pm at the art dealer Alex Clayton stumbles across a lost portrait of Molly Dean, a real artist’s muse bruRising Sun Hotel, South Melbourne. Dervla McTiernan’s novel, The Rúin tally slain in Elwood in 1930. Alex buys the painting and, with the help of (Harper Collins Australia), is set in Ireland. Detective Cormac Reilly is assigned to re- her close friend art conservator John Porter, investigate a seemingly accidental overdose that sifts through the clues and deceptions that swirl around the last days of Molly Dean. happened twenty years ago. A Melbourne-based author, Katherine is a The case draws him deep into the dark heart of Ireland where corruption, desperation and veterinarian by profession but preferred training crime run rife, asking, Who will protect us when and having fun with dogs to taking their temperature. the authorities can’t – or won’t? She seized the chance to return to study and Dervla was born in Ireland and now lives in Perth where she works for the Mental Health earned an MA, followed by a PhD in Art History. Katherine spends her spare time writing, Commission. Being shortlisted in the 2015 Scarlet Stiletto dancing and teaching other people’s dogs to Awards gave her the seed of confidence to get skateboard. ★ her through five drafts of the work that eventuRobyn Walton, Vice-President of Sisters in ally became The Rúin. Crime, has a PhD in English Literature and has ★ In See What I Have Done (Hachette Austra- taught English and cultural history at universilia), Sarah Schmidt offers a unique fictional look ties in both Sydney and Melbourne. Robyn reviews books for several publicainside the mind of Lizzie Borden, famously accused of murdering her father and stepmother in tions and interviews authors for the Sisters in Crime website. Massachusetts in 1892. ★ According to the skipping rhyme, Lizzie Date: April 6. Borden took an axe and gave her mother 40 Venue: Rising Sun Hotel (upstairs – no lift), whacks and when she saw what she had done, cnr Raglan Street and Eastern Road, South she gave her father 41. Schmidt’s compelling reimagining of the Melbourne Tickets: $15 non-members/$10 Sisters in murders, the lead-up and aftermath, is told in Crime and Writers Victoria members/concesfour voices. Sarah currently works as a Reading & Lit- sion. Tickets not sold prior to the event will be eracy Co-ordinator at a regional public library available at the door for $12/$17. Dinner upstairs from 6.30 pm (bookings not necessary) and has a Master of Arts (Creative Writing). Men or ‘brothers-in-law’ welcome. See What I Have Done has been published in Bookings: Eventbrite Australia, the US, the UK, and the Netherlands
BALLS DEEP ■ Businessman Charles Horse presents an ‘erotic physical comedy’ created and performed by Cam Venn from April 17- 23 at 10pm at The Butterfly Club. Charles Horse is an innocent and lovable businessman looking for success in all the wrong places. This is an hour of outrageous fun that will make audience
members squirm in their seats with surprise and ecstasy as Charles Horse explores the edges where comedy and fetish overlap. Cam Venn is a trained physical comedy performer who says he dances on the boundaries of the charming and outright ridiculous. This show embraces Cam’s fascination with the world of
kink and his drive to celebrate sexuality in all its unique forms. Balls Deep runs every night from April 17-23 at 10pm. Bookings essential. Dates: April 17 to 23 Time: 10pm Cost: $25-32 Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne Tickets: thebutterfly club.com
It’s Not Funny
● Fiannah de Rue in It’s Not Funny. ■ Few things bring us together like death does. In her debut solo show, improviser and comedian Fiannah de Rue (The Improv Conspiracy) invites audiences to shift uncomfortably in their seats as she talks them through the time her dad died from April 9 – 22 at Tasma Terrace. Don’t laugh, It’s Not Funny. A whirlwind of sketches and storytelling where audiences will meet family, friends and miscellaneous locals. Death affects all of us, yet we tip-toe around it, suppressing unexpected giggles and never knowing the right thing to say. Fiannah welcomes everyone to giggle along with her at those funny little pearls you find in the dark gloomy oyster of death. Sometimes, it is funny, and it’s okay to laugh. Fiannah de Rue is a regular performer at The Improv Conspiracy Theatre and was widely praised for her performance in the 2017 Melbourne Fringe Festival with sketch comedy troupe Bess County. In her debut solo show, de Rue promises to deliver more eccentric and delightful characters as well as heartfelt true stories from her experience of dealing with death. Directed by Hayley Tantau (Cindy Salmon, Foxtel’s The Slot). Bookings recommended. Performance Dates: April 9 - 22 Time: 8:30pm. Tickets: $20-$25 Venue: Tasma Terrace www.comedyfestival.com.au - Cheryl Threadgold
Catastrophist
■ Katie Cullinan is returning to the cabaret scene performing as the Catastrophist until March 25 at The Butterfly Club, where she shares unedited tales of an anxious overthinker and worrier, making her way through Melbourne’s social scene. While not taking herself too seriously, think bad wig and an armful of 80s power ballads, Katie will all too honestly share her comedy of Catastrophisms. Described as charming, quirky and all too honest, Katie is ready to burst back into the cabaret scene with a bang. Dates: Until March 25. Time: 8:30 p.m. Cost: $25-32 Venue: The Butterfly Club, 5 Carson Place, Melbourne Tickets: thebutterflyclub.com - Cheryl Threadgold
Boss at Fairfax
■ Andrew Eales will be Fairfax's Australian Community Media Managing Editor, Victoria and South-West NSW, which takes in Victoria and the south-west NSW operations around Albury, Wagga Wagga and Griffith.
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Observer Showbiz
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Movies, DVDs with Jim Sherlock, Aaron Rourke What’s Hot and What’s Not in Blu-Rays and DVDs FILM: BAD MOMS 2: Genre: Comedy. Cast: Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, Kathryn Hahn, Justin Hartley, Susan Sarandon. Year: 2017. Rating: MA15+ Length: 104 Minutes. Stars: ***½ Summary: Three moms Amy (Mila Kunis), Kiki (Kristen Bell) and Carla (Kathryn Hahn) are trying to create the perfect Christmas for their families, and if that isn't hard enough, their mothers (Christine Baranski, Cheryl Hines and Susan Sarandon) show up unannounced, and things become more than overburdening. Wildly outrageous and raunchy follow-up the last years sleeper hit "Bad Moms" is filled with an unexpected cavalcade of hardcore laughs, and even though our over-stressed moms delve into some over-thetop hi-jinks and debauchery, its heart remains firmly in place. Not without its flaws, and stumbling occasionally, thanks to the chemistry of our charismatic leads and their mothers, this pushes all the buttons in most of the right places. At its core is a good natured girl-power comedy of motherhood, friendship and family life that propels what could have been an otherwise bland sitcom structure to a delightfully entertaining and gleefully goofy adult comedy, one well worth making the investment of a baby-sitter and the cost of admission for all moms, dads and grandmothers to experience and relish. FILM: TOMMY'S HONOUR: Genre: Biography/Drama/Romance. Cast: Peter Mullan, Jack Lowden, Ophelia Lovibond, Sam Neill. Year: 2016. Rating: M. Length: 112 Minutes. Stars: *** Verdict: St Andrews, Scotland in 1866, 15-year-old Tommy Morris is an avid golfer like his legendary and pioneering father, Tom Morris, the greens-keeper for The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, as well as the town's club- and ball-maker. He is the two-time winner of the first major golf tournament, The Open Championship, which he founded in 1860, and also established golf's standard of 18 holes per round, but young Tommy soon outshines his father, and as the "dashing young man of golf", he draws flocks of spectators to the sport and becomes its first touring professional. Solid, refreshing and engrossing account of Golf's modern origins and the legendary Father and Son relationship during changing times and its effect on the history of golf. Respectfully and sensitively directed by Jason Connery (son of Sean Connery), beautifully filmed on striking locations and a standout cast led by veteran Scottish actor Peter Mullan as "Old" Tom Morris and Jack Lowden as young Tommy Morris, this is a biographical sports drama that is honest to its characters as well as the game, and as a result scores a hole in one. FILM: BRAWL IN CELL BLOCK 99: Genre: Crime/Drama. Cast: Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Carpenter, Don Johnson. Year: 2017. Rating: R18+ Length: 132 Minutes. Stars: ***½ Verdict: After being fired from his job, a former boxer turns to his friend who hires him as a drug courier, but a trade goes horribly wrong and he ends up in prison, and the only problem is that a gang has kidnapped his pregnant wife and they will do an experimental operation on the baby unless he kills one of the inmates in brutal and unforgiving Cell Block 99. Highly reflective of the '70's Grindhouse cinema "midnight-movie" genre, this tough, gritty, unpredictable and compelling bone-crunching prison drama is not for the squeamish, and remains riveting throughout due to intense performances, pacing and settings. Like a fuse slowly working its way to an explosive conclusion, the transformation of Vince Vaughn is startling, and here he gives a hard-hitting and unforgettable performance, both sensitive and brutal, as the caged blackmailed courier in prison, as he will stop at nothing until his pregnant wife is safe again. Of the supporting cast, including Jennifer Carpenter as the wife and screen veteran Udo Kier as The Blackmailer, they all add superbly to the mix, however, it is veteran Don Johnson as the menacing and unforgiving Cell Block 99 Warden that packs more punch than you can ever imagine. Seductive as it is sometimes repulsive, writer-director S. Craig Zahler (Bone Tomahawk-2015) has created a tough, mean and intensely paced "pulp-fiction" thriller that boils, bubbles and then overflows with compassion and unrelenting brutality that will stay in the mind long after it's over. - James Sherlock
Rourke’s Reviews
● An expert team explore the dangerous secrets of The Shimmer in Alex Garland's outstanding sci-fi/thriller Annihilation, now streaming on Netflix.2
Annihilation ■ (MA). 115 minutes. Now streaming on Netflix. A film that should have been seen on the big screen is unfortunately trotted out on Netflix instead, but for those who are subscribed to the streaming giant, should definitely make the time to watch this intelligent, extremely well-crafted effort from Oscar nominated writer/ director Alex Garland (Ex Machina, 28 Days Later). After what looks like a meteorite crashes into a lighthouse on the US coast, an otherworldly phenomenon starts to overtake the area, and it is beginning to increase in size, meaning it will eventually threaten populated areas and major cities. A team of five (which includes Natalie Portman and Jennifer Jennifer Jason Leigh) are sent in to investigate what strange occurrences are taking place within its colourful, translucent walls. Garland builds his story slowly, gradually revealing what the team are up against, and it makes for hypnotic, fascinating viewing. Performances are strong, and the look and sound of the film is first-rate. Despite being exclusive to Netflix, one hopes this will get a Blu-Ray release down the track. RATING - ****½
Death Wish ■ (R). 107 minutes. Now showing in selected cinemas. This idiotic (and troubled) production has limped into local cinemas with little fanfare, and with good reason. A redux of the classic 1974 film with Charles Bronson, this new but certainly not improved version is headlined by former box-office drawcard Bruce Willis, a once-terrific big screen action star who now sleepwalks through numerous direct-to-DVD duds. Here he plays Chicago surgeon Paul Kersey, who becomes a ruthless vigilante after his wife and daughter are attacked by intruders in their own home one night. Determined to bring the assailants to justice, Paul readily embraces the world of guns to achieve his goals. Director Eli Roth, who helmed the Hostel films, aims for cool, 80sstyle fervour rather than looking at the subject matter in a serious manner, making the whole thing repugnant for all the wrong reasons. RATING - *
Peter Rabbit ■ (PG). 95 minutes. Opens in cinemas on March 22. Understandably changed to meet the needs of a modern audience, this weak, laboured effort would certainly have had author Beatrix Potter fuming over its clunky narrative and low-brow humour. Peter (voiced by an exceedingly one-note James Corden) is more smug and obnoxious than genuinely endearing, while his supporting animal friends and family are barely developed beyond cardboard stereotypes. Aussie Rose Byrne has little to work with as the token love interest, Sam Neill enjoys his very brief screen time, and only Domhnall Gleeson (Goodbye Christopher Robin, American Made) offers any real spark as the target of Peter's shenanigans. Co-writer/director Will Gluck (Easy A) seems unable to blend Potter's traditional characters and storytelling with contemporary, high-pitched slapstick, and his script feels half-finished, with dialogue that is forever falling flat. RATING - * ½
The Death of Stalin ■ (MA). 106 minutes. Opens in selected cinemas on March 29. One may not see the cruel, ironfist rule of Stalin as the source for hilarious comedy, but writer/director Armando Iannucci provides just that, delivering a sharply funny film that also maintains a dark undercurrent throughout. The title stipulates when the movie is set, and following his sudden, undignified departure, the race is on to who will replace him as supreme leader. The role initially goes to CP Committee Leader Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor), but others will do anything to get that prized role, including Beria (Simon Russell Beale), head of the Secret Police, and the ambitious Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi). Iannucci balances laughs with the horror of what went on behind closed doors, and is a great companion piece with his TV series The Thick Of It and its movie off-shoot In The Loop. The cast are excellent, with a riotous, stand-out turn from Jason Isaacs as the head of the Russian army. RATING - ****
Top 10 Lists MARCH 18 -24 THE AUSTRALIAN BOX OFFICE TOP TEN: 1. BLACK PANTHER. 2. RED SPARROW. 3. GAME NIGHT. 4. 12 STRONG. 5. FINDING YOUR FEET. 6. THE GREATEST SHOWMAN. 7. THE SHAPE OF WATER. 8. THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI. 9. FIFTY SHADES FREED. 10. MONSTER FAMILY. NEW RELEASES AND COMING SOON TO CINEMAS AROUND AUSTRALIA: MARCH 15: ENGLAND IS MINE, HUMAN FLOW, KANGAROO, THAT'S NOT MY DOG! TOMB RAIDER. MARCH 22: ACTION POINT, MARY MAGDALENE, PACIFIC RIM: UPRISING, PETER RABBIT, THE DIVINE ORDER, THE ENDLESS. THE DVD AND BLU-RAY TOP RENTALS & SALES: 1. JUSTICE LEAGUE [Action/Fantasy/Gal Gadot, Ben Affleck, Jason Momoa]. 2. THOR RAGNAROK [Action/Sci-Fi/Comedy/Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blancett]. 3. ONLY THE BRAVE [Action/Biography/ Drama/Josh Brolin, Jeff Bridges, Jennifer Connelly]. 4. DADDY'S HOME 2 [Comedy/Mark Wahlberg, Will Ferrell, Mel Gibson, John Lithgow]. 5. THE STAR [Animated/Adventure/Comedy]. 6. JUNGLE [Action/Adventure/Biography/ Daniel Radcliffe]. 7. WONDER [Family/Drama/Jacob Tremblay, Julia Roberts, Owen Wilson]. 8. TULIP FEVER [Drama/Romance/Alicia Vikander, Christoph Waltz, Judi Dench]. 9. PROFESSOR MARSTON AND THE WONDER WOMEN [Drama/Luke Evans, Rebecca Hall]. Also: LOVING VINCENT, LUCKY, BLADE RUNNER 2049, SHOT CALLER, SUBURBICON, BAD MOMS 2, DETROIT, THE LIMEHOUSE GOLEM, THIS BEAUTIFUL FANTASTIC, DUNKIRK. NEW RELEASE HIGHLIGHTS ON DVD THIS WEEK: MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS [Mystery/Drama/Kenneth Branagh, Penelope Cruz]. FERDINAND [Animated/Adventure/Comedy/ Raul Esparza]. PADDINGTON 2 [Family/Comedy/Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Hugh Grant]. THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER [Mystery/ Drama/Horror/Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell]. NEW RELEASE HIGHLIGHTS ON BLU-RAY THIS WEEK: MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS [Mystery/Drama/Kenneth Branagh, Penelope Cruz]. MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS 4K [Mystery/Drama/Kenneth Branagh, Penelope Cruz]. FERDINAND [Animated/Adventure/Comedy/ Raul Esparza]. PADDINGTON 2 [Family/Comedy/Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Hugh Grant]. PADDINGTON 2 - 4K [Family/Comedy/Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins, Hugh Grant]. NEW & RE-RELEASE CLASSIC MOVIES ON DVD HIGHLIGHTS: THE BIG HEAT [1053/Crime/Drama/Film Noir/Glenn Ford, Gloria Grahame, Lee Marvin]. NEW RELEASE TELEVISION, DOCUMENTARY AND MUSIC DVD HIGHLIGHTS: SAMURAI JACK: Season 5. PAW PATROL: Mission Paw. A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE [Drama/TV Movie/Alec Baldwin, Jessica Lang]. DUCKMAN: The Complete Series. THE DETECTORISTS: Series 3. UN VILLAGE FRANCAIS: Volume 7. BUFFALO GIRLS. - James Sherlock
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Maeburn Cottages 33 Mairburn Rd, Metung VIC 3904 Phone: (03) 5156 2736 www.maeburncottages.com.au
Relax and unwind at Maeburn’s luxury lakeside Cottages, set in an acre of established parklike gardens and positioned for privacy with ample adjacent parking and a ramp for easy access. For that quintessential family holiday in Metung you can’t go past Maeburn Cottages! The ideal getaway for couples, families, friends and large groups of up to 20. Cottage 1 The Queen Suite (front part of the main house) Main bedroom has a queen bed. Second bedroom has a queen bed. LCD TV. Kitchenette. Private Tepanyaki BBQ and verandah. Cottage 2 Main bedroom has a queen bed. Second bedroom - one single bed. Double sofabed in lounge. Cottage 3 Main bedroom has a queen bed. Second bedroom - one single bed and a king single bed. Cottage 4 Main bedroom has a queen bed. Second bedroom has a queen bed. Every cottage has a dining and living area. Cottages 2, 3 and 4 have a dining and living area with an 81cm LCD TV, DVD player and reverse cycle air-conditioning. Kitchens are equipped with stoves, microwaves, refrigerators, crockery, cutlery and cooking utensils. Cottages 2, 3 and 4 have a washing machine, clothes line and dryer. Linen and towels for hire or BYO. Blankets and pillows are provided. New wooden deck with pergola and outdoor furniture. We are Pet Friendly - well behaved, clean and brushed dogs allowed.
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Photo: Phillip Island Nature Parks
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Home of Karoonda School Camps
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Observer Showbiz
Local Theatre with Cheryl Threadgold and team FLEABAG ■ DryWrite and Soho Theatre in association with Malthouse Theatre bring the awardwinning comedy show Fleabag to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival program from March 28 – April 22. This comedic account of one woman’s daily struggle to be a functional human being comes from the mind of UK performer Phoebe Waller-Bridge (star of the Netflix series Crashing). Fleabag is a no-holds barred monologue that spawned a six-part BBC sitcom, about a sex-obsessed, wine-guzzling, porn-watching woman with an urge to splurge the intimate details of a disintegrating life. With family and friendships under strain and a guinea pig themed café struggling to keep afloat, Fleabag suddenly finds herself with nothing to lose. Stumbling through a maze of social anxiety, disastrous job interviews and meaningless sex, Fleabag serves up an uproariously true account of some sort of a female living her some sort of a life. This solo from a self-confessed bad feminist Phoebe Waller-Bridge will be performed by UK-based performer Maddie Rice. Fleabag premiered at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2013 before it went on to become a BBC mega hit. Performance Details: March 28 – April 22 Venue: Malthouse Theatre, Southbank - Cheryl Threadgold
CONSTELLATIONS ■ Independent theatre company Redfox3 presents Constellations from April 5 – 28 at bakery@1812, Upper Ferntree Gully. What if one moment--or one word— shifted the universe, altering your whole life? Written by Nick Payne, the play journeys to parallel worlds where Marianne, a physicist and Roland, a beekeeper, fall in love, over and over again, in a multitude of ways. Every choice they make has a different, lifealtering outcome. The romantic journey begins simply. Marianne and Roland meet at a party. They go for a drink. They fall madly in love and start dating. Or do they? There are infinite possibilities, and a single word may alter their lives at any moment. What happens next defies the boundaries of the world we think we know delving into the infinite possibilities of their relationship and raising questions about the difference between choice and destiny. Imagine: What if everything you’ve ever done exists along with everything you’ve never done? Founding member and Artistic Director of Redfox3, Justin Stephens, has directed shows for various companies and venues, including Ellis Productions at Chapel off Chapel, Hoy Polloy at La Mama, Heidelberg Theatre Company, The Basin Theatre Company, 1812 Theatre, and The Lilydale Athenaeum Theatre Company. Initially a performer, Justin’s passion for theatre and film saw him thinking about plays in a cinematic way, which led to directing his own shows. “There’s so much more to directing than I ever imagined, and what I love about it is that it touches on every aspect of a production,” says Justin. Established in the Yarra Valley wine region, Redfox3 presents productions in the Melbourne metropolitan and regional areas. The company aims to create work that is entertaining, engaging and speaks honestly to audiences. Performance dates: April 5 – 28 Venue: bakery@1812, 3 Rose St., Upper Ferntree Gully Tickets: $27 Bookings: 9758 3964 or online: bit.ly/ constellationsTIX - Cheryl Threadgold
Shrek The Musical
● Ryan Purdy at left (Donkey), Jess Ridler (Dragon), Jay Haggett (Shrek), Amelia Sutherland (Young Fiona), Jesse Hone (Pinocchio), Ella Rusmir (Young Fiona) and Jonathan Guthrie-Jones (Lord Farquadd) in Shrek The Musical. Photo:Colin Hartley ■ SLAMS Musical Theatre presents Shrek SLAMS Musical Theatre’s show is directed The Musical until March 24 at the Alan Ross by Julia Roper, with musical direction by John Centre at Billanook College, Mooroolbark. Clancy and choreography by Miranda GuthrieThe show is based on the DreamWorks ani- Jones. mation film, telling the fairy tale adventure and Performance Dates: March 21, 22, 23 at features all new songs from Jeanine Tesori 8pm, March 24 at 2pm (Thoroughly Modern Millie; Caroline, or Venue: The Alan Ross Centre, Billanook ColChange) and the book by David Lindsay- lege, 197 Cardigan Rd., Mooroolbark Abaire. Tickets: $35/$30/$20 Family $90 Shrek brings all the familiar characters from Bookings: 9720 3205 https:// the film to life on stage and is said to prove www.trybooking.com/SSTJ there’s more to the story than meets the ears. - Cheryl Threadgold
Latest shows, auditions SHOWS
SHOWS
■ Gemco Players: Falling From Grace (by Hannie Rayson) Until March 24 at 19 Kilvington Drive, Emerald. Director: Sharon Maine: Tickets: $25/$22. Bookings: www.gemcoplayers.org ■ The Mount Players: The Offshore Island (by Marghanita Laski) March 9 - 25 at 56 Smith St., Macedon. Director: Cherry Servis. Bookings: 5426 1892. ■ Gemco Players Community Theatre: Falling From Grace (by Hannie Rayson) Until March 24 at The Gem Community Theatre, Kilvington Drive. Emerald. Director: Sharon Maine. Bookings: 0419 118 917. ■ Essendon Theatre Company: Old Actors Never Die, They Simply Lose the Plot (by Lynn Brittney) Until March 24 at 9 Bradshaw St., Essendon. Director: Dawn Hinrichsen and Alex McMurray. Bookings: 0422 029 483. ■ SLAMS Musical Theatre: Shrek the Musical Until March 24 (final show at 2pm) at : The Alan Ross Centre, Billanook College, 197 Cardigan Rd., Mooroolbark. Tickets: $35/$30/$20 Family $90. Bookings: 9720 3205 https:// www.trybooking.com/SSTJ ■ Warrandyte Theatre Company: Four One Act Plays Until March 24 at Cnr. Yarra and Mitchell Avenue, Warrandyte. Director: Caroline Shaw. Bookings: http:// warrandytehallarts.asn.au/theatre/2018/oap ■ ARKfest Short Play Festival, March 24 - 25 at the Lilydale Heights Performing Arts Centre, 17 Nelson Rd., Lilydale. Producer: Paula Armstrong. Tickets: From $10 Bookings: https://www.trybooking.com/book/
■ Sherbrooke Theatre Company: It's a Dad Thing (by The Dad's Theatre Group) March 16 - 24 at the Doncaster Playhouse, 679 Doncaster Rd., Doncaster. Director: Stephen Barber. Bookings: 1300 650 209. ■ The Diamond Valley Singers: Aladdin Jr April 20 - May 6 at the Warrandyte High School Theatre, Alexander Rd., Warrandyte. Bookings: www.dvsingers.org ■ Adelphi Players Theatre Company: Hippo Dancing (by Robert Morley) April 28 - May 6 at the Booran Road Hall, 264 Booran Rd., Ormond. Director: Michael Mace. Tickets: $15 adults, $12 children/concession (includes refreshments and program). Bookings: 9690 1593
AUDITIONS ■ Peridot Theatre: The Shoe Horn Sonata (by John Misto) March 25 at 6.30pm and March 27 at 7.30pm at Unicorn Theatre, Mt Waverley Secondary College. Director: Alison Knight. Enquiries: 0437 380 533. ■ Peridot Theatre: The Shoe-Horn Sonata (by John Misto) March 25 at 6.30pm, March 27 at 7.30pm at the Unicorn Theatre, Mt Waverley Secondary College, Lechte Rd., Mt Waverley. Director: Alison Knight. Enquiries: a8knight@bigpond.net.au ■ Adelphi Players Theatre Company: Hippo Dancing (by Robert Morley) April 28 - May 6 at the Booran Road Hall, 264 Booran Rd., Ormond. Director: Michael Mace. Tickets: $15 adults, $12 children/concession (includes refreshments and program). Bookings: 9690 1593.
TINDER TALES ■ Tinder Tales – A New Australian Musical by Melbourne writers Mattie McLeod and Thomas Bradford is being presented by Something Blue Productions from April 19 – 22 at the MC Showroom, Prahran, as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Abby is a cynical romantic who’s finally met a guy she thinks might be the one. We see how the blossoming relationship affects Abby, even as her own self-esteem starts to impact on her relationship. Her insecurities and doubts manifest as characters in her mind, her Mother constantly preaches at her from the heavens as the voice of God, and just when it seems it can’t any worse, Dr. Over-Analyze comes out to play. Tinder Tales is presented in one act with a pop score and melodramatic fantasies. Blending elements of musical theatre and cabaret, the show satirizes romantic comedies and online dating, even as it succumbs to all their worst tropes. Through the lense of online dating the show explores anxiety, sexuality, love and mental health in a modern age. Bookings highly recommended. Please be advised this show contains mature themes and adult language. Not recommended for people under the age of 15. Parental discretion recommended for people under the age of 18. Performance Dates:April 19 - 22 Time: 8pm Cost: $25-28 (plus booking fees) Venue: The MC Showroom, 1/48 Clifton St, Prahran Tickets: www.themcshowroom.com
FILM REVIEW: 1945 ■ It’s 1945 and all is not well. The US have just dropped their second atomic bomb on Japan and in Hungary, a man (Ivan Angelus) and his adult son (Marcel Nagy) arrive in a small rural village and change it forever. Shot in black and white, which enhances composition and character’s faces, the medium also helps convey the feeling of a curse on the village. We learn the townsfolk are about to celebrate a wedding of the town clerk’s son to an attractive peasant girl. The generally buoyant mood of the wedding party doesn’t last long because something of a fuse has been lit by the Stationmaster hurrying to town to warn the residents of the new arrivals. And in doing so he fans their anxiety. There is a sense of foreboding present which is ratcheted up making good use of sound. We hear the horse’s hooves as it transports the father and son’s mysterious cargo. There is the ticking of a clock and the sound of an approaching storm which all help build suspense. The story conveys treachery, betrayal, dispossession and guilt as the villagers recall how poorly they treated some of their fellow citizens. The townspeople suspect that the Orthodox Jews who have arrived are potentially the start of a flow of wronged people out to reclaim stolen assets. The sense of foreboding grows though the film as additional layers of complexity in the story are added. What is fascinating is the sparse use of dialogue. The father and son, while central characters to the plot are rarely heard from. 1945, which opens on Thursday, March 29, at Classic, Cameo and Lido cinemas provides some understanding and exploration of post war issues. The film is anArthouse drama. Cinematographer Elemer Ragalyi (Anne Frank: The Whole Story) showcases his talent through impactful images and closeups. Directed by Ferenc Torok, the film is Hungarian with English subtitles. Runtime is 91 minutes. Three stars. - Review by Greg Every
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Observer Victorian Sport
Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 21, 2018 - Page 77
Melbourne
Wine Column Italian favourite
Sunlight shines brightly
■ The Tony McEvoy-trained filly, Sunlight, a winner of four of her first five starts, looks the one to beat in the rich Golden Slipper Stakes coming up at Rosehill this Saturday. She has done everything right including a great win in the Magic Millions Classics for two year-olds, back in January. Then first up, Sunlight accounted for another good filly, from the strong Hawkes camp, Estijaab, who won narrowly, but well against the fillies in the Reisling Stakes over 1200 metres at Randwick two weeks ago. At the time of going to press, Sunlight was having her last run before the Slipper. Estijaab led them up and nearing the 200 metres fought back strongly when challenged by Victorian filly, Pure Elation, who flew along the inside at her third start. However, in my opinion, Estijaab has not been impressive as Sunlight, in her runs so far. Both are class fillies, but Sunlight hasn't put a foot wrong so far, and is in the care of one of best trainers of youngsters in Australia in Tony McEvoy. However, the Hawkes team know what it's all about, having won the Golden Slipper with another brilliant galloper, Mossfun. Sunlight is the favourite at around the $4 mark, with Estijaab on $6.50. On the next line is one of the really big dangers to the classy fillies, that is Written By. He like Sunlight was having his last run before the Slipper in Sydney. The colt is prepared by Sydney trainer, Graeme Begg, and owned in partnership, by his father, Neville Begg, who had many a top horse go through his stables including the great mare of her time, Emancipation. Written By is by the outstanding stallion, Written Tycoon, and produced a powerful burst to win the recent Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield in great style after drawing very wide. His trainer, Graeme Begg is astute, and says that he will be better suited running the clockwise way in Sydney, which he mainly trials on. He is excellent value at $ 7.50, and I feel he is the pick of the colts. He has only had the three runs, winning at Sandown then the Blue Diamond Prelude at Caulfield then finishing off a brilliant winner of the Blue Diamond. He is the one to beat, especially at the odds. Next is the Chris Waller-trained, Performer, the colt who dislodged top jockey, Hughie Bowman, in the Todman Stakes, when making his run. He appeared to stumble about 200 metres out, and threw Bowman, heavily into the turf. The horse was alright, but Bowman was taken to hospital with slight concussion, cuts and bruises, it is hoped he will right to ride Winx at her next start only a week away. Winx is now going for 24 successive wins, only one behind another great mare, Black Caviar, who won all of her 25 starts. Winx was beaten in her first three starts, before she broke through for the first of her 23 wins. Performer is being quoted at around $10, but the incident may have put paid to his chances in the Golden Slipper if he goes around. The Gai Waterhouse-Andrew Bott-trained Santos, is the next up in the betting. He has won two of his four starts with a third, and won the Skyline Stakes at Randwick back on March 3. He is being quoted at $9, but I feel the others have the wood on him. EF Troop, the smart Queensland colt, could be the surprise packet. He is gifted with a ton of pace, and we saw what happened in the Magic Millions. On that occasion he drew barrier `13, when ridden by young rider, Mark Mc Gillvray, who when they jumped in the Magic Millions crossed quickly from the outside, interfering with a number of runners and copping a suspension. EF Troop held onto to run a very good fourth, and then he backed it up when ridden by senior rider Corey Brown, when he ran an unlucky second to the outsider, Aylmerton, in the Todman Stakes. He will make it nteresting with his pace.
● Written By wins the Blue Diamond in good style. Racing Photos The pace of the Golden Slipper may be Blue Diamond Stakes third placegetter, Oohood, has got right out in the markets now to against her, as she does get back in the run. Overall the best chances appear to be Sun$26. light, Written By, Estijaab and EF Troop, at big odds.
Ted Ryan
Redzel short
■ Sprinting star, Redzel, heads the betting for the time honoured William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley this Friday night over the 1200 metre trip. Over the years many a top galloper has won the prestigious event including the great sprinter, Manikato, who won five of them. Going back to 1950, the mighty galloper, Comic Court, who won the Melbourne Cup in that year, had his first start in the William Reid some five months later going from the 3200 metres of the Melbourne Cup, to win the William Reid over the 1200 metres. No mean effort. Redzel had put together six wins on end, including winning the rich Everest Classic in Sydney to add another $5 million to his earnings. First up he was caught right on the line by dual Newmarket winner, Redkirk Warrior, in the Lightning Stakes at Flemington, first up, who he once again will clash with. The Moonee Valley course, in my opinion, will be in Redzel's favour. Top three year-old, Merchant Navy, will butter up, after a great third in the Newmarket, finishing only around a half- length behind Selkirk Warrior and Brave Smash. Of the others, another Hayes-Dabernig trained galloper, Venus Magic, who was unlucky in the Everest when second to Redzel, will resume. Of the others the good mare, Secret Agenda, in the care of astute trainer, Mick Price, has the form on the board, but I feel the others have too much class.
● Redzel takes out the Darley Classic at Flemington. Racing Photos
● Rob Fiumara pours a taste of Lillypilly sweet white. ■ JOHN ROZENTALS salutes an Italian family's hard work and sacrifice I feel that I must begin this column with a disclosure. I spent three years at college with Rob Fiumara, the proprietor and winemaker at Leeton's Lillypilly Estate, and consider him a good friend. Indeed, I often refer to him as 'my favourite Italian bear', though I must admit that I don't know many Italian bears. His family's story is a typical migrant story - one of hard work and sacrifice bringing their just rewards. Rob's father, the late Pasquale 'Pat' Fiumara, migrated to Australia in the 1950s, leaving his beloved wife and five sons in Italy while he saved enough for them to join him. Pat soon started selling a bit of produce from a roadside barrow on the edge of Leeton, and watched that barrow grow into the Golden Apple, the town's biggest supermarket. Rob was the first of seven brothers born in Australia, and at school always showed above-average ability in maths and science. When he told his father that he wanted to be a winemaker, Pat's response was to plant the Lillypilly vineyard. It wasn't showing off, it was just the way that the family did things. The older brothers had all been carved leading positions in the Golden Apple, now it was Rob's turn to build a career. He soon repaid that faith, winning a trophy at the 1983 Royal Sydney Show with his first wine, a blend of traminer and semillon, for which he had trademarked the name 'Tramillon'. Like others in the region, Rob has found that the Riverina can, in some years, produce outstanding botrytised sweet whites. His Lillypilly Noble Blend has often outranked the extremely highly regarded De Bortoli Noble One in the show ring and from vintages such as 2008 is simply sublime. Visit www.lillypilly.com.au WINE REVIEWS Lillypilly Estate 2014 Shiraz ($19.50): This dry red doesn't scream varietal purity from the glass, but it does come across as a robust, full-bodied wine does the region proud and is a great match with a highquality char-grilled steak. Lillypilly Estate Fiumara 7 Domenic Blend ($26.50 for 375ml): Named for the late Dominic, the eldest of Pat's and Angela's seven sons, this a delightful tawny-hued fortified that I find reminiscent of fine, mature muscat. Good on its own with good company after a hearty meal. WINE OF THE WEEK Lillypilly Estate 2015 Noble Blend ($35 for 375ml): Made from 75 per cent sauvignon blanc and 25 per cent semillon, this botrytised sweet white is fetching the sort of price its record of show trophies and gold medals more than justifies. It's luscious and delicious. Don't overdo the sweetness of accompanying food. The wine goes very well with a simple selection of great fruit, or, indeed, with soft, briestyle cheese. - John Rozentals
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Page 78 - Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 21, 2018 Melbourne
Observer
Lovatts Crossword No 26 Across
Across
1. Hair-stylist 6. Straight-line racing car 11. Famous Indian mausoleum (3,5) 15. Nightclub dancer 20. ... kwon do 21. Labyrinths 22. Aegean or Caspian 23. Lahore is there 24. Mad Russian monk 25. NE Scottish seaport 27. Jumbo animal 28. Watering tube 29. Fixed gaze 31. World fair 32. Cruel person 36. Pins & ... 37. Prolong (4,3) 38. Checks (text) for errors 41. Renovate (ship) 44. Metal bar 45. Unfortunately 48. Sneeze noise (1-6) 49. Oddball 52. Rectangular 56. Addressing crowd 57. Anxious (2,4) 58. Perfumed burning stick 61. Goat's wool 62. Economises, ... & saves 63. Fibbing 64. Naomi Campbell is one 65. Imperial ruler 66. Collided with (3,4) 67. Disincentive 71. Absurd comedy 73. Of the ear 75. Windbag 80. Clarify, ... light on 82. Hone 83. Disobey 85. Gauges 86. Befuddles 88. Labourer's tools, pick & ... 90. Welcomes 91. British coin 93. Taking sides 94. Climbing plants 95. Female voices 96. Wither 97. Tingle 99. Mark as correct 100. Holy places 104. Rubbish 105. School maxim 106. Track down 107. Sent via Internet 111. The other way around, vice ... 113. Observe 114. The masses, ... polloi 115. Disorderly 117. Smear 118. Affirmative replies 121. Russian spirit 122. Mustard & ... 125. Canine disease 126. Shaving cut 127. Roman dress 129. Pulpy, soft food 131. Yoga master 132. Apprehension 135. Feng ... 136. Unplaced competitor (4-3) 139. Wild party 140. Representatives 144. Strangely 145. Scandinavian 146. Wall painting 147. Underwriters 148. Glared
149. Gallows rope 150. Group of eight 152. Hang loosely 154. Flog 157. Fluid unit 158. Minutest 162. Iran's neighbour 163. Exhausts supply of (4,2) 166. Porridge cereal 167. Pour with rain 169. Slow down! 171. Car pioneer, Karl ... 172. Tobacco user 173. Leers 175. Lever (off) 176. Single 179. Swiss banking centre 180. Come to rest (3,2) 182. Liqueur, ... Maria 183. Towards stern 184. Blackboard stand 186. Negative 189. Harness-racing horse 190. Return (of symptoms) 191. Epic movie-maker, Cecil B De ... 192. Big Apple city (3,4) 196. 60s pop dance (2-2) 197. Dad 198. Heedful 199. Spend extravagantly 201. Not fit for consumption 202. Gloomier 203. Performing 204. Car-top luggage frame (4,4) 205. Worked hard 208. Guidance 210. Up to this time 211. Aquatic bird 212. Pragmatism 213. Vein of ore 215. Vending machine 219. Nimble 221. Small & efficient 223. Striped brown gem (5'1,3) 227. Biology or physics 228. Mummifies (corpse) 230. Donations 231. Scorch 232. Charts (course) (4,3) 233. Villain 234. Arrogant newcomer 238. Power outlet 239. Knit with hooked needle 240. Scratch 243. Eagle nests 246. Ancestry 247. Lease again 250. Naming words 251. Greek philosopher 253. Muddles (up) 256. Frequent visitor 257. Mischievous 258. Character 262. Manufacture 263. Florida's Key ... 266. Is in debt to 268. Citrus fruit 269. Surgical removal 270. Not enclosed (of land) 271. Ruling (monarch) 272. Decimal unit 273. Opinion surveys 274. Corroded, ... away at 275. Slyer 276. Supervised 277. Perseveres 278. Least
Down 1. Manages 2. Annoyed 3. Abstains from food 4. Salt Lake City state 5. Absconded (3,3) 7. Severely simple 8. Seedy conditions 9. Discharge 10. Talk wildly 11. Muscle rupture 12. Fire-resistant material 13. Of war 14. Country dance 15. Leaked slowly 16. Aura 17. Windscreen cleaner 18. Rocky Mountains state 19. Early guitars 24. Tenant's fee 26. Fish traps 30. Quarrel 33. Document bag, ... case 34. Evoke 35. Cavalryman 38. Triangular-sided building 39. Constantly busy (2,3,2) 40. Learn (4,3) 42. Great ages 43. Charges with crime 46. Furiously 47. Beliefs 49. Properly nourished (4-3) 50. Frostier 51. Stray 53. Bewails 54. More mature 55. Biblical sea 59. Oil paintings 60. Skittles 67. Lowers (oneself) 68. Fishing boat 69. Ex-pupils' get-together 70. Invigorate 72. Residential locations 74. Score after deuce 76. Exposed 77. French N-Test region, ... Atoll 78. Rude 79. Pestered 81. Cargo door 84. Unnerves 87. Strong coffee 89. Nonconformists 91. Primitive 92. Japan's second largest city 98. Recording room 101. Restrict (3,2) 102. Asian cricketing nation 103. Flattened 108. Countless number 109. Saturate (with colour) 110. Turn inside-out 112. Remembered 116. Carpenters 119. Brightening up 120. Proper behaviour 123. Now Zimbabwean 124. Set apart 128. News-sheet 130. Ill-bred 132. Unfulfilled
Down
133. Inaccuracy 134. Songs for one 137. Actress, ... Sarandon 138. Scoundrel 141. Heredity units 142. Cosy corners 143. Clean with broom 151. Household jobs 153. Riddle 155. Hot & moist 156. Lower leg joint 159. Revealed (knowledge) 160. Foolishness 161. Inducting, ... in 164. Too soon 165. Open wound 168. Alienate 170. Unfashionable 173. Reverse 174. Giving university talk 177. Soundly constructed (4-5) 178. Worsened (of crisis) 181. Leaves uncared-for 185. Permitting 186. Liked 187. Retailers 188. Football umpire 193. Sun or rain 194. Acorn bearer (3,4) 195. Sing-along entertainment 200. Prayer beads 201. Official emblems 206. ... & lemons 207. Wear best clothes (5,2) 208. Human rights group, ... International 209. Modesty 211. Large pedal 214. Moral 216. Dip in liquid 217. Capers 218. Numerals 220. Conclude 222. Toadstools 224. Great joy 225. Questionable 226. Junior 229. Fully satisfy 232. Liquefy 235. Actress, ... Cruz 236. Straighter 237. Reaction 241. Changing booth 242. Picasso & Monet 244. Library patrons 245. Belongings, personal ... 248. More meagre 249. You 251. Walk with heavy steps 252. Turns away 253. Imitate 254. Father Christmas 255. Praise highly 259. Divine messenger 260. Combine 261. Roman VIII 262. Small tick 264. Unknown writer 265. Swallow noisily 267. Appear
Melbourne Observer - Wednesday, March 21, 2018 - Page 79
Solution on Page 53
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NS LEGAL CRIMINAL LAWYERS LEGAL AID FUNDING AVAILABLE Specialising in defence representation of all Victorian traffic and criminal matters in all Victorian courts. Private and Legal Aid funding available. Please contact Natasha Stewart Principal Lawyer pf NS LEGAL to arrange an appointment at a time and location convenient to you to discuss your criminal matter.
Contact Number:
0439 074 999
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Victorian Rural News
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