In 1796, Sydney’s first windmill was built on Observatory Hill. Over The historic cobblestones of the Rocks in Sydney have had an unveiling of an epic variety – a windmill. In a nod to the wild imagination only Cervantes rivaled – the Harbour Foreshore Authority has imagined, made and re-created a Windmill in the centre of a square in the rocks. Read more

Somewhere in St Marys on a Tuesday morning at morning tea time, a group of people gather at a community centre. Inside, chairs outline a dance floor – two cabinets contain beautiful frocks and a couple of framed photographs – and four actors.

Created by Katrina Douglas and the performers in a response to interviews conducted with members of the community, the show’s billed as: “Part verbatim theatre and part social dance, this cross-generational performance will bring the world of the dance hall back to life with hints of first love, the magical music of the era and overcoming two left feet.” Read more

Nearly two hundred years ago 21 year old Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or The Modern Prometheus was published in France with an anonymous author. Now, across the other side of the world and reconfigured by playwright Nick Dear, Mark Kilmurry’s own creation came to life on the stage of the Sydney Opera House.

The story is well known – through its many corrupted representations – but perhaps the most powerful cautionary tale about the consequences of creation. Read more

It was in 2009 when I first saw Tahli Corin on the train. A city bound morning train on the Inner West Line… She writing in a note book on her way to her job in the city, me struggling to find a seat whilst carrying several folders and bags as I used to then. I was moderately shy of her then… that was a long time ago: before I invited her onto the 428 bus for Stories from the 428 and after I had my heart broken and swept up again by her Sydney debut Bumming With Jane… that was before I had witnessed Tahli’s “One For the Ugly Girls” during NovemberISM (2011) and that was before I had become obsessed with the voyeurism of public transport A View From Moving Windows and after I realised that Tahli Corin just might be the Hannie Rayson of my generation… Read more

One of the great misconceptions I had when I embarked on a career in the arts was the idea that there would be a linear and upwards trajectory of achievement. It was a misconception which assumed that there was a natural order, a natural progression to developing as an artist… one which I have since wholeheartedly thrown out.

I don’t necessarily believe that there is a natural pathway for artists… perhaps for some there may be the smooth and predictable progression from school-yard encouragement to formal education due to main stage success… but for me it’s been a very interesting, logistical challenge of following my curiosity into unknown caverns and daring to have at the heart of any strategy regarding my career or art making a few slices of advice from Shakespeare: “to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man” and from Wilde: “One should never do anything that one cannot talk about after dinner…”

So armed with two quotes and not really much of a plan, but to let art inform, guide and inspire my life I’ve followed my curiosity… and here I am. Read more

My 2012 started with playing guitar on the riverbanks of a small NSW coastal town. No, not in public. Not even close to the public. A free barbeque area and the occasional fizz of an illegal backyard firework in the near distance, a few singlet-shirted boys (drunk and mouthy) were as close to “the public” as I got… I was sitting with two men, two guitars waiting for my year to begin. I thought of how my “year off” (2011) had failed – busier than ever, I had managed to mend my broken heart, direct too many shows, write, speak publicly about issues and ideas that keep me up late at night.

My start to 2012 was a lot like teenage love: naive, full of star gazing and fumbling about on guitars.

The start to 2013 found me gently sobbing to perfect voices soaring through Gale Edwards’ production of La Boheme at the Sydney Opera House. Thanks again to kind Mr Waites, who yet again, furthered my education in opera – we consumed all the canapés and drinks we could handle and rubbed shoulders with his contemporaries/my heroes of Australian theatre. As the sky exploded in splashes of ecstatic decadence – I was in awe of the contrast of the previous year.

My start to 2013 was a little more sophisticated, a little less naïve.

I have been absent from the Blogosphere – you’ve noticed? It’s been a necessary hiatus but now in revision. Read more

It appears that burlesque is as common now as pub rock was in the 80s… in fact there is a part of me that thinks the rise of the popularity of burlesque may even manage to topple the pokies… (hmmm perhaps wishful thinking?) Many a bright young lass have been finding their sass and slide around the traps… and some unlikely of actors and designers doubling as burlesque performers… but there is something in it that captures imaginations. I am not so stirred by the sexual taboo – for me, there is a weighty and long history of cultural and political commentary at play.

The origins of burlesque are really like that of a revue or vaudeville variety show: originally being “a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.” It takes a learned and thinking audience to appreciate that which is being referenced or subverted, and in a contemporary climate of visual stimulation, extreme physical portraits – I’m thinking body modification ( http://www.oddee.com/item_96617.aspx or even the more tame and still fascinating Embarrassing Bodies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoQjBjomY_0 ) and overly sexualised images in advertising http://www.boredpanda.com/sexy-ads/ burlesque faces a tough crowd.

In the last ten years or so, the popularity of burlesque has proliferated. Read more

One of the many joys and privileges of being on the Board at Shopfront is the relationship I develop with the emerging artists and members who are a part of the Shopfront community. I have been a board member since 2009 – and currently hold the post as Board Secretary. Besides strategic planning and signing papers and nutting out the finer details of the business, I have the great pleasure of interviewing the artists for the Artslab residencies.

Artslab is a 6 month intense residency whereby 5 or so emerging artists are exposed to different methods of working to create a show. It’s brilliant. And confronting… if you could make anything at all, what would you make? A question worthy of writers block. Read more

Months ago, I experienced a first.

Hard to believe – but there are plenty of firsts I’m yet to encounter.

As an avid attender of live performance in all its transient incantations, I must admit that until now, I had never seen a Cirque du Soleil show. The shows themselves have been orbiting me in rumour and advertising on buses for some time – and for whatever reason, I had neglected that part of my experiential diet. So feeling a little behind the times (as I usually feel) I struggled along to the Big Top in Moore Park in Sydney’s soggy September weather.

There’s no doubt about it – a beautiful and epic show. Brightly coloured, lithe and brilliant. Full of feats of endurance, strength and precision brought about by years of persistence and possible bruising.

Themed in as “An immersion into the teeming and energetic world of insects” I couldn’t suspend the magnificence of the human body. The majesty of insects and the natural world exploded and amplified into the wonder of human musculature. But the wonder doesn’t begin and end with unlikely twists and twirls of limbs – the visual (and therefore technical) artistry of the design – costume, makeup and set – all lavish and detailed – extreme and sumptuous. A LONG way from the bareboard, poor theatre I spend so much of my time experiencing. it felt like I was saturated in colour and movement – dazzled in jaw-dropped delight. Read more

There has always been something in me that has preferred the road less traveled. Perhaps it was the wild and meandering bush walks with my grandfather when I was a young girl, or perhaps the fear of suburban numbness or apathetic complacency resulting in a death bed drenched in tears of regret. And despite a socialist/atheist upbringing I’ve always held the Protestant work ethic in high regard: hard work will be rewarded, and is indeed a reward in itself. I’ve thought if something was worth having, you had to earn it eg, good bread comes from kneading, good friendships come from the quality and quantity of time spent together, the pride one has in one’s work is directly related to the amount of effort invested.

I don’t know why.

I guess it’s just how/who I am.

It’s not really surprising that I also don’t believe, nor repeat, much of the cultural-cringe worthy sentiments from my industry peers. I’ve never really followed popular beliefs about anything, really. Read more