ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT pages

The cast of Mono.

She’s laughing still

Noeline Brown has been on Australian stages and screens since the ’60s but even now in her eighties she still finding new and interesting roles.

She comes out of lockdown to perform in Bunbury Production’s first national tour of “Mono”, a comedy tour de farce from three of Australia’s best loved performers.

Joining Noeline (The Naked Vicar Show and Blankety Blanks) are Max Gillies (The Gillies Report) and John Wood (Blue Heelers).

Mono is the brand new comedy by Angus FitzSimons (Senior Moments).

“It’s always been a dream of mine to perform together individually with Max and John” Noeline Brown. “I also still dream about sitting my final Latin exam and realising I have forgotten to wear clothes, but this has nothing to do with promoting “Mono”.

“It is an honour to be asked to do “King Lear” for the Bell Shakespeare Company,” quipped Max Gillies. “But they didn’t ask, so I’m doing “Mono”.

“I think we could all do with a laugh at the moment” John Wood added.

“That’s why I watch “Fawlty Towers” after rehearsals for “Mono” are thankfully over”.

Producer and Dictator Angus FitzSimons says “It is a privilege to have these three legends as the cast. Max, Noeline and John are household names and also recognised in flats”.

“Mono” is a comedy revue play in the tradition of Joyce Grenfell, Alan Bennett and Bob Newhart; with nine brilliant comic characters brought to life through monologues in 90 minutes of wit, fun and laughter.

What is “Mono” about? It’s about 90 minutes.

It’s also about a hectoring Headmistress, a bad Bush Poet (and he don’t know it), a puzzled Policeman, a meandering Minister, a chaotic Conductor, a mindless “Mindfulness” teacher, a surreal Sotheby’s Auctioneer, and a very, very sozzled Mother of the Bride.

Mono - 8 March Brisbane Redland Concert Hall, 2pm and 7.30pm.

Screaming into concert

The Screaming Jets are heading out and about during summer for their C’MON SUMMER tour.

Kicking off at legendary Adelaide venue The Bridgeway Hotel on January 21, they’ll showcase a vast array of hits and fan favourites. Following Adelaide, they’ll head to QLD and NSW, winding up with two shows at Sydney’s Bridge Hotel on 11 and 12 February. The show will Mansfield Tavern on 28 January and Southport RSL on 29 January.

It will be a welcome return to touring for the Jets according to lead vocalist Dave Gleeson.

“We’ve had to postpone all of our 2021 shows until mid 2022 – when the opportunity came up to schedule some shows for the summer season – we couldn’t say no,” he said.

“The boys and myself are itching to get out there and play live again – bring it on!!!”

The Screaming Jets are riding high with the 30 Year Anniversary Edition of their groundbreaking debut album ALL FOR ONE sitting in the ARIA Albums Chart at number four and number on the vinyl chart, proving they are just as much a force to be reckoned with now as they were when they first kicked off back in Newcastle in 1990.

Don’t miss this opportunity to rock on with The Jets this summer! Tickets on sale now.

Tender tribute: Sublime images from an odd couple

For the first time the Odd Couple of the Australian artworld have their works displayed together at a new exhibition at the Margaret Olley Art Centre at the Tweed River Regional Gallery.

At Home tells the story of mentorship, art and friendship between Margaret Olley (1923 – 2011) and Ben Quilty (b.1973).

Quilty, confined at home during Australia’s first Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, made a sublime collection of still life paintings that connect to Margaret Olley’s enduring career.

“We know them as the ‘odd couple’ of the Australian artworld,” Tweed Regional Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre director Susi Muddiman OAM said.

“But this will be the first time their paintings have direct association alongside one another in an exhibition.”

Olley and Quilty first met in 2002 when Olley was the guest judge of the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship. Quilty was awarded the prize that year and their friendship grew from there.

In 2011 their friendship was propelled into the media spotlight when Quilty’s portrait of Olley was awarded the Archibald Prize, just months before her death.

“Quilty’s extraordinary portrait of Olley will feature in this exhibition,” Ms Muddiman said.

“We are thrilled to have the portrait here again but also very excited to showcase still lifes, painted last year by Ben Quilty, on display in a public gallery for the first time.”

Margaret Olley dedicated her extraordinary life and enduring career to the genre of still life painting. For nearly 50 years her famous Duxford Street home, re-created in the Gallery, was both her site and subject for painting. She didn’t need to leave her own home to find inspiration or to paint.

In this exhibition, two very different artists show us their calm stillness of the everyday.

“It’s exciting to exhibit their work in this context,” Ms Muddiman said.

“It’s an opportunity to see their work through fresh eyes and to contemplate our own experiences of being at home during lockdown. Still life, while being humble and domestic, has a universal power for connection and contemplation.”

At Home: Margaret Olley & Ben Quilty is on display in the Margaret Olley Art Centre at the Tweed Regional Gallery until 20 February 2022.

For activities and events, including online programs, follow the Gallery on Facebook and Instagram or visit artgallery.tweed.nsw.gov.au

Ben Quilty (b.1973) Silence, Tone’s Waratah 2020 oil on linen. Collection of Sandy and Sally Thompson ©The Artist. Ben Quilty and Margaret Olley in front of Quilty’s Archibald Prize-winning portrait of Olley, 2011. Picture: © ART GALLERY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Joanna Nell. Michael Leunig’s latest novel. A page from Leunig’s newest book. Michael Leunig.

Looking for a sizzling read?

Summer Reading

Summer time – time to pull out the hammock, make a cocktail and get out a good book. Journalist Tania Phillips has found a couple of new releases that just might fit the summer reading bill.

Get Well by Michael Leunig available through Penguin Random House

Deceptively wise, heartbreakingly beautiful and just plain hilarious, Get Well is a collection of Michael Leunig’s work over the past four years – a time when, quite remarkably, all has not been well with the world. “Simple rhymes, homemade aphorisms, sentimental yearnings, many daggy jokes, funny faces and mysteries from the heart abound in this collection of cartoons – which cause me to wonder what is becoming of me and my world”, says Leunig. More than ever, Leunig shines a light on questions about sanity and madness, innocence and corruption, friendliness and unfriendliness, joy and despair, and the possibility of an overriding eternal wisdom and beauty. Apart from the obvious calamities of fire, flood and pandemic, an unwellness of concern to Michael is the quiet erosion of poetic and philosophical perspectives in the feverish clamouring for science. Many of these pieces are what came to Michael most surely, naturally and sincerely during a recent, strange period of creative exile from what seemed to be an increasingly stern and unforgiving environment. He describes his approach as regressive, humorous, messy, mystical, primal and vaudevillian - producing work which is open to many interpretations and has been widely adapted in education, music, theatre, psychotherapy and spiritual life.

The Incredible Life of Hubert Wilkins by Peter Fitzsimmons - Hachette Australia

The brave and bold Sir Hubert Wilkins is Australia’s most adventurous explorer, naturalist, photographer, war hero, aviator, spy, submariner and daredevil – and his exceptional life is celebrated in this new book by Fitzsimons.

“Sir Hubert Wilkins is one of the most remarkable Australians who ever lived,” Fitzsimons said.

“He was nothing less than the Forrest Gump of history, with the uncanny knack of being Hubert-on-the-spot for magnificent moments with some of the greats of history.

“Sir Hubert lived the most extraordinary life of any Australian, ever, and in terms of thrills and spills, derring-do, new worlds discovered he could sit at the table with Attila the Hun, Alexander the Great, Captain Cook, and Shackleton and hold his own.”

Fiona Hazard, Group Publishing Director at Hachette Australia said of the forthcoming book, ‘I cannot wait for readers to discover the incredible story of Sir Hubert Wilkins.

Peter FitzSimons has once again brought to life a character and period of history that many of us are unfamiliar with. From South Australia to Antarctica via the Soviet Union, this incredible tale will have you on the edge of your seat from the very first page and will take you on adventures and to places we can only dream of at the moment.’

The Tea Ladies of St Judes Hospital by Joanna Nell

Sydney GP Joanna Nell is fast becoming the queen of over 50s literature. This is her fourth book in almost as many years and has all the charm of the previous books including her impressive debut novel The Single Ladies Of Jacaranda Retirement Home. This time around her book is inspired by a hospital visit (back to hospital she had worked in many years before).

The Marjorie Marshall Memorial Cafeteria has been serving refreshments and raising money at St Jude’s Hospital for more than fifty years. Staffed by successive generations of dedicated volunteers, the beloved institution is known as much for offering a kind word and a sympathetic ear as for its tea and buns.

Stalwart Hilary has worked her way up through the ranks to Manageress. Joy has been late every day since she started and doesn’t take her role quite as seriously as Hilary would like, but brings a welcome pop of colour. Seventeen-year-old Chloe, the daughter of two successful surgeons is volunteering during the school holidays.

Chloe is at first bewildered by the two older women but soon realises they have alot in common, not least that each bears a secret pain. When they discover the cafeteria is under threat of closure, they must band together to stop it from happening.

The Tea Ladies of St Jude’s Hospital. Fitzsimons new book.

Logan set to celebrate

People of all ages will come together for an evening of festive fun in Meadowbrook on Saturday, 11 December.

The City of Logan Christmas Carols begin at 3pm at Griffith University’s Logan campus, on University Drive.

Highlights will include:

·Christmas putt-putt · Free Santa photos · Sideshow alley (including fun, Ekkastyle games) · Community market stalls.

There will also be a very special treat for the City of Logan’s youngest - popular ABC character Bluey, and her younger sister Bingo will come along for a meet and greet with their fans.

The community will also be able to sing along to some of their favourite Christmas carols, during performances by Leah Lever, Craig Martin and his swing band, Kingston’s Bloodline Dance Company and local community choirs.

Food and drink will be available from a wide variety of food trucks.

The City of Logan Christmas Carols is a free family event. Attendees are encouraged to bring a picnic blanket.

Santa Claus is coming to town.