Art Smitten is SYN's weekly guide to arts, culture and entertainment in Australia and around the world. With a focus on youth and emerging arts, we're here to showcase culture ahead of the curve. From our base in Naarm/Melbourne, contributors interview, review, and cover the very best of what the world’s second-most liveable city has to offer. Whether it's film, fashion, photography or Fauvism you're into, Art Smitten is the place!
Inspired by The Wheeler Centre's event, the Gala Night of Storytelling: The Booked That Changed Me , hosts Andrew and Ebony, and producer Lauren, discussed the books that influenced them. Ebony: 'Men Who Explain Things to Me' by Rebecca Solnit Andrew: 'Jasper Jones' by Craig Silvey Lauren: 'The Witches' by Roald Dahl See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Hosts Will & Ben (not the flowerpot men) chat to the comedic duo behind YETI’S: Demon Dive Bar - Jennifer Byrne and Vicky Falconer-Pritchard. YETI’S: Demon Dive Bar is being performed at The Roxanne until April 17th as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Hosts Will and Ben were joined in the studio with Melbourne International Comedy Festival Moosehead Award recipient, Kate Denhert. Her new show SHABAMALAM is on until April 17th at the ACMI Games Room. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hosts Rebecca and Jonathan are joined in the studio with award-winning Gaulier –trained sketch, clown, and dance comedian, Tessa Waters. Tessa returns to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with her new show Over Promises . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Dramaturg Tom Middletitch chatted to hosts Katie and Rebecca about Genius , an immersive encounter with 8 unique thinkers and their perspective on the topic of their expertise. Tom explains what ideas lie behind the concept of neurodiversity, and how important it is for people to see life through an alternative lens. Genius is part of the Festival of Live Arts, and is being performed on Saturday 12th and Sunday 13th March at the St Kilda Town Hall. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informa...
Ebony MonCrief, the producer and host of VOICES IN THE ATTIC spoke to host Emma about how she discovered spoken word performance, and how it let to hear setting up an open genre mic night in the heart of Melbourne's CBD. Ebony even performed one of her original poems! VOICES IN THE ATTIC - is held at Ferdydurke every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at 7pm NEW EVENT LAUNCH - VOICES FROM THE BASEMENT is being held at Nieuw Amsterdam on Thursday 17th March. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy ...
Emma is fascinated with the haunting Australian story Picnic at Hanging Rock , originally a book published in 1967 by Joan Lindsay. She had the opportunity to speak to Tom Wright, the playwright of Malthouse Theatre’s production of Picnic at Hanging Rock , and to visit the Macedon Ranges, the home of Picnic at Hanging Rock, to experience where the mystery all began. Picnic at Hanging Rock is on at the Malthouse Theatre until 20th March. Picture: Sourced from Malthouse Theatre website See omnystu...
Melbourne/UK artist, illustrator and zine maker Gemma Flack joins hosts Christian and Michaela to discuss her solo exhbition Angry Girls Club , which is currently exhibiting at Off the Kerb Gallery in Collingwood. (5-19th February) Gemma unpacks her ideas of the importance of santuary, freedom of expresion, and how she tries to approach life with "the zine spirit". See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Hosts Will and Beth discuss the recent announcement of the $152 million in new funds from the Victorian government's 2016-2017 Budget to support Victoria's creative and cultural sectors. How will these funds be allocated across the sector? What does this mean for arts funding in other states? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
No cultural phenomenon is too low brow for Art Smitten. Hosts Beth and Will are joined by producer Lauren to discuss their experiences at Cat Cafes. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hosts Beth and Will were joined in the studio with SIMON ABRAHAMS , CEO of Melbourne Fringe . Simon spoke about a new initiative to reach out to culturally diverse artists ahead of the opening for registrations for this year’s Fringe. Melbourne Fringe applications are open from Monday 4 April – Monday 23 May . The Fringe will take place in Melbourne from 15 September – 2 October. Photo sourced from Melbourne Fringe website . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Super low-budget and full of charm, the Melbourne-made film Pawno , released in 2015 at the Melbourne International Film Festival to sell-out crowds, is the first feature from director John Ireland and scriptwriter Damian Hill, who also stars in the film. Pawno takes place over one whole day, and is largely centred around a Footscray pawn shop, referenced in the title. The shop is inhabited by Les, the kind-hearted grouch of an owner (played by John Brumpton) and his youthful dogsbody assistant ...
Hosts Christian and Andrew were joined in the studio with cast members Paul Knox, Hannah Vanderheide and producer Jorge Tsipos from Unnatural Selection Entertainment’s latest production – PURGATORIO . PURGATORIO is playing at the Brunswick Mechanics Institute, 13th-16th & 20th – 23rd April at 7.30pm. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Curator of the Next Gen program, THOMAS CALDWELL joined hosts Beth and Talisse on the line to talk about the Next Gen program and where it fits within the Melbourne International Film Festival. Next Gen and the Melbourne International Film Festival runs 28th July – 14th August. Photo: Still from Next Gen feature film - The Magic Brush See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Hosts Beth and Talisse were joined in the studio with SCOTT HOLLINGSWORTH & JOSHUA FIELDING from Performance Management - In Cabaret . Scott shares how Performance Management - In Cabaret captures the truth that the everyday office is madder than the circus! Performance Management - In Cabaret is being performed at the Wonderland Spiegeltent, 101 Waterfront Way, Docklands, Melbourne for 1 NIGHT ONLY – 9th July, 8-9.30pm. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Hosts Beth and Talisse were joined on the phone with GABI BARTON from Retro Futurismus - a colossal future-focussed vaudeville featuring zero gravity circus acts, siren songs, boutique burlesque, and breathtaking performance art. Retro Futurismus is being performed at fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane Melbourne from the 6th to 31st July. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Talisse gave a live review of The Wheeler Centre’s election one-night special event - Stand Up...and be Counted . Comedians at the event included: Toby Halligan (MC), Denise Scott, Zoe Coombs-Marr, Sammy J, Aamer Rahman, Mathew Kenneally, Claire Hooper, and Gerard McCulloch. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Hosts Beth and Talisse were joined in the studio with Producer Lauren to discuss female body modification/body art. Has it become more socially acceptable? Or is there still a stigma associated with the practice? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Albert Einstein is the latest scientific genius to have lured a scriptwriter into the trap of biography. Jess Newman was clearly intrigued by the mind of the famous theoretical physicist when she started to write the sung-through musical Einstein: Master of the Universe . Watching it, you can feel her yearning to see the world as he saw it, if even for a moment, and to understand what he saw. Her audience, I’m sure, is after the same thing, but it quickly becomes apparent that this is something ...
On Thursday the 23rd of June, I went to see Melbourne Playback perform 'On Ours Shores' at the Footscray Arts Centre. The troupe are a many things, or rather, become many different things over the course of one night, being one of Melbourne's leading improvisation theatre companies. The team consists of actors, organisers and musicians, with the roles interchangeable between the variously skilled artists. As with improv, you can expect that an evening with Melbourne Playback will direct the spot...
Dancenorth Artistic Director, KYLE PAGE, joined hosts Michaela and Erin on the line to talk about the Melbourne premiere of IF_WAS – a double bill choreographed by Stephanie Lake & Ross McCormack. IF_WAS will be performed at The Substation, 1 Market Street Newport, Melbourne, from the 29th June to 2nd July. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Hosts Erin and Michaela were joined on the mics with Producer Lauren to share stories about their parents (trying) to use technology. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
On Thursday I went to see The Addams Family Musical, a performance by Federation University’s 2016 graduating Musical Theatre class. The musical comedy was written by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice, with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and based on Charles Addams’ iconic characters in his comic strip The Addams Family . It was performed at Theatre Works on Acland St in St Kilda and its closing night was on Saturday. As soon as the orchestra began playing the overture you knew this play would ...
Hosts Erin and Michaela had the chance to chat to designer and visual artist, CALLUM MORTON from Ranters Theatre Company to discuss Come Away with Me to the End of the World . Come Away with Me to the End of the World is being performed at Malthouse Theatre – the Beckett Theatre from the 5th – 24th July. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
On Friday night I danced to the rhythmic genius of Quarter Street, one of Melbourne’s hottest Salsa bands, as they performed in the first of three “House Parties” at the heritage-listed Kew Court House. Spoilt with a dance floor rather than a seated concert, the audience took full advantage of the space in the former courthouse and police station. Quarter Street champion the gritty sounds typical of the Salsa Dura, a style developed in 1970s New York by the Puerto Rican migrants. Unlike its brot...
Rachel reviews Nic Green's Trilogy at Arts House in Melbourne. Triology was performed for a limited season at Arts House in Melbourne. Trilogy was presented across the UK to wide acclaim. "Trilogy begins by celebrating women in today’s world – with all their complexities, in their skins and as they are. Honest and adventurous, Trilogy deftly weaves performance, participation, discussion, music and archival material; carving out new space for feminism and rallying the power and strength in women ...
Emma reviews the Malthouse Theatre’s production of The Events ***DISCLAIMER*** The Events was written as a response to the 2011 massacre in Norway. Devastatingly, this story is still as relevant today as it was five years ago. Our thoughts are with the friends and family of the victims of the recent 2016 attack in Orlando, USA. The Events is being performed at Malthouse Theatre, Merlyn Theatre until July 10th. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
*Note to listeners: this review contains gun shot sound effects* This year, the Scandinavian Film Festival is leading with what might sound like just another World War 2 movie, but is one that actually turns the tables the tables on a lot of its predecessors. The Danish film Under Sandet (literally Under the Sand), is a drama set in post-war landmine-ridden Denmark and is being released internationally with the English title Land of Mine , a rather unfortunate, hopefully accidental pun on an obv...
Rachel & Jim were fortunate to attend the exclusive media preview of NGV International’s newest winter masterpiece exhibition – DEGAS: A New Vision . Rachel and Jim were also lucky to get a few words with Ted Gott, the senior curator of European Art at the NGV. DEGAS: A New Vision is on at the NGV International in Melbourne until the 18th of September. Pictured: one of the works showing at DEGAS: A New Vision, NGV International. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Christian, Emma and Lauren share their thoughts about the upcoming Australian election. They also try to disect the reasons why young people feel disengaged with politics. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
