Two upper-class couples meet to discuss a playground rift between their boys. What started as name-calling ended in one whacking the other in the mouth with a stick and a subsequent loss of teeth. Set in a domestic lounge room, the couples meet one evening to discuss the situation. In an English translation of Yasmina Reza’s French farce, Queensland Theatre Company’s God of Carnage is a comedy of manners in which good people behave badly. What begins as a civil chat soon descends into a messy fight involving alcohol-fuelled accusations and caustic wit. Directed by Michael Gow and starring Andrew Buchanan, Jodie Buzza, Benj D’Addario, Veronica Neave, the Australian premiere of God of Carnage promises to be a sharp and entertaining play. God of Carnage runs until June 6, 2009, and you can book tickets online.
Fans of Irish comic Dylan Moran and his portrayal of bitter bookshop owner Bernard Black in the BBC’s Black Books may wish to tune in to Brisbane Powerhouse’s limited season of A Film With Me In It. The dark tale starts with Mark (Mark Doherty, who also wrote the screenplay), who is a money-troubled, out of work actor whose day starts to go bad when his girlfriend Sally discovers that he hasn’t paid the rent for a couple of months. Mark knows that Sally (Amy Huberman) will go and tell the landlord (Keith Allen) as soon as possible. He begins to see his world and his shabby apartment – which also houses his paralysed brother (David Doherty) and dog – start to fall apart at the seams. But his day is about to take a turn for the worse. With nowhere to go and everything to hide, Mark confides in his best mate Pierce (Dylan Moran) and the two begin to concoct a way out of the awful mess around them. A Film With Me In It is showing at Brisbane Powerhouse from 26–30 April.
While wallpaper is experiencing a stylish redux in the home, designer wallpaper is making its way to a computer screen near you. Get rid of boring computer backgrounds forever by book-marking a few handy sites that boast original and creative wallpapers. Kindred Spirits is a joint project between two bloggers who share a love of all things pretty, individual and stylish. Catering to the fashion conscious, the site uses colour schemes according to the latest season’s Pantone colour report. Featuring a range of free artist-designed wallpapers, Kindred Spirit also features a small Q&A with each artist about his or her work. Graphic design fans may wish to look to the Kitsune Noir’s Desktop Wallpaper Project, a wondrous archive of visual matter that features animation, artwork and quirky patterns. The site’s author started the project by writing to all his favourite artists and designers to see if they would contribute a wallpaper design. Releasing one new desktop wallpaper every Wednesday (California time), Kitsune Noir lets you chop and change your computer desktop design just as often.
Those of you missed the muddy musical love-in of the Byron Bay Blues Festival last weekend may wish to treat yourselves to the Lior concert at Brisbane Powerhouse next Thursday. With his lilting voice and laid-back tunes, the Israeli-born Australian singer-songwriter made a splash on the scene in 2005, with the release of his debut album, Autumn Flow. With a handful of Aria nominations and a lot of radio airtime, Lior’s album went on to become one of the biggest independent albums of the year. His initial success spawned a follow-up live CD. Currently on tour before heading back to the studio for his third album, Lior has teamed up with the Tailem Strong Quartet and shadow puppet masters Stephen Mushin and Anna Parry to create a visually and aurally stunning live show.
Like a day turning almost imperceptibly into night, Polaroid film is slowly fading into oblivion. It was a sad day for photography enthusiasts across the world when, in early 2008, Polaroid announced a landmark decision – it was no longer going to produce Polaroid instant film. With rumours that there is enough film left in the world to last until the dying light of 2009, people have been buying up big in an attempt to stockpile and save the precious film. Following the announcement, and subsequent public outpouring of disbelief and outrage, there has been a resurgence of love and dedication towards the iconic film. One such source of love has come in the form of For The Love of Light blog. Continue reading ‘long live polaroid’
Fresh from a sell-out season at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, La La Parlour are embracing the unique performance skills of its members – from burlesque to angle grinding, acrobatics, dance and cabaret – to present a unique, awe-inspiring and visually arresting show. Mixing a tantalising touch of burlesque, circus, aerial acrobatics, sideshow stunts and old-world glamour, La La Parlour’s Garnished is leaping into Brisbane for a limited 3-night season. Combining the humour, physicality and ladylike talents of Kellie Vella and Tigerlil – with guest gent stars Rudi Mineur and Mark Winmill – Garnished promises sparkle, feathers, chorus lines, contortion, aerial high-jinks and beefy sailor boys. With a short season running from April 15–18, check out the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Art for details and tickets.
Image credit: Stills by Hill.
From her artists’ studio in Alice Springs, Dorothy Napangardi paints her country. As a Warlpiri woman from Mina Mina, Dorothy has significant ties to her land and her people. But instead of using the visual language of the Mina Mina people, Dorothy has created her own language and bounces from one perspective to another. Using an intricate system of colours, lines and dots to create beautiful and complex paintings, Dorothy is a highly respected contemporary Aboriginal artist. Bringing her paintings to Brisbane’s Institute of Modern Art (IMA) this month, Dorothy will exhibit alongside John Reynolds, a New Zealand painter. Often using systems of broken lines to create architectural and abstract paintings, John is considered to be one of New Zealand’s key artistic figures. Catch Dorothy and John’s joint exhibition at IMA until April 25.
Image: Karntakurlangu Jukurrpa (Women’s Dreaming) by Dorothy Napangardi
map magazine and the Brisbane Powerhouse are proud to present a special screening of Iranian documentary, Be Like Others, as part of the Queer Film Festival. Tickets will cost $15 and money raised will go to the Gay and Lesbian Welfare Association. Winner of the Teddy Jury Award at Berlin International Film Festival 2008, and an Official Selection at Sundance Film Festival 2008, Be Like Others is a fascinating look at those on the fringes of Iranian life – young people looking for acceptance through radical means. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, a country with strict social and traditional values, sex-change operations are legal, yet homosexuality is still punishable by death. With Iran’s international arms negotiations dominating news headlines, a very private kind of drama is unfolding behind the scenes. Continue reading ‘be like others’
With a barely functioning alcoholic mother, a cruel bully as a sister and an absent father, Hugh is trying to keep his family from falling apart at the seams. Flying in from overseas, he is met with an emotional minefield of anger and fragility. A tale of a contemporary middle-class family in turmoil, That Face has opened this week in an Australian premiere by Queensland Theatre Company at the Bille Brown Studios. British playwright Polly Stenham wrote That Face at the tender age of 19, and has received critical acclaim across the UK. Queensland Theatre Company’s production, directed by recent NIDA graduate Nic Dorward, is set for an equally electrifying and popular season.
Brisbane artist Anthony Lister has opened a show, titled The Pain of Feeling, in Italy.
One album that should be on high rotation this month is M.Ward’s Hold Time. Hailing from Portland, Oregon, M.Ward (or Matt Ward to his friends) is a singer/songwriter who has an impressive history in the music industry and yet is only just starting to blink on the consciousness of music lovers outside the U.S. He has most notably worked with Jim James of My Morning Jacket and Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes. He also recently linked up with actress Zooey Deschanel to put out an album titled Volume One as She & Him. Hold Time is M.Ward’s seventh album, in which he effortlessly mixes tone-tapping indie tunes, chilled out harmonies and acoustic guitars.
Daft Punk’s tune, Harder Better Faster Stronger, has inspired many offshoots. We’ve seen the Kanye West remix and the Daft Hands YouTube video, which is ranked as one of the most popular videos of all time and has inspired its own offshoots, including Daft Bodies and even Daft Scrabble. Now fans can have a go at keyboard karaoke with Najle’s iDaft Daft Punk Console. Plug in your headphones and test your co-ordination by tapping along to the song. Touch typists will do well!
Via World Architecture News: The controversial Tsunami Museum in Aceh, Indonesia, will come to represent a fitting place for reflection but at its opening last week a row over the 700 families still to be re-housed overshadowed the event. Accusations of misplaced priorities over the locals left homeless after the Tsunami of 2004 were triggered by the investment of millions of dollars in a monument rather than housing, but now the Tsunami Museum in Aceh is complete it presents an opportunity for closure and a chance to move on. Continue reading ‘reflection in the water’
Wallpaper is making a fashionable reappearance in modern homes, whether its entire rooms covered in bold paper prints or a single feature wall. Designers and textile lovers are relishing the opportunities to design modern, fun and creative wallpapers. One such designer is New York-based Aimee Wilder. Growing up around fashion showrooms and with a background in graphic design, Aimee has designed an innovative and playful range of beautiful, contemporary wallpapers that make you want to redecorate. From sumo wrestlers to squirrels, pigeons and clusters of stereo speakers, Aimee’s wallpapers showcase the best practical application of modern design.
With his master keeping a low profile in his country home to avoid the plague outbreak in London, butler and conman Face hatches a brilliant plan to trick his gentleman boss and swindle him of his fortune. Left alone in the old man’s London home, Face engages the talents of a fellow conman, Subtle, and Dol Common, a prostitute. They must work as a team to pull off the elaborate cons, but when your partners are crooks, who can you really trust? Queensland Theatre Company will kick off its 2009 season with Ben Jonson’s classic play, The Alchemist. As a co-production with The Bell Shakespeare Company, The Alchemist is coming to Brisbane, then heading off on its national tour.
Johnny Miller is an American photographer who has earned some impressive big-name advertising clients, such as Kate Spade and Real Simple Magazine, with his perfect studio shots and wonderful attention to light and colour. His past work has been exhibited in George Eastman House and The Museum of Contemporary Photography, among other places. But his most remarkable work is his personal portfolio of shots, which include a simple and touching documentation of his parent’s love letters to each other during the Vietnam War. On the verge of adulthood, the pair swapped intense declarations of love and longing for each other, while Johnny’s father completed his tour of duty. Forty years later, Johnny’s parents are divorced. Upon his discovery of the love letters recently, Johnny says, ‘I cannot remember now where I first discovered their love letters and tapes, but it was probably from my father’s kit bag from Vietnam. Recently, I asked my mom to ship some of them out to me. She sat down, reread the letters and cried for two hours. She called my father and asked him, “What happened to these two people?”.
If, mid-afternoon, your brain starts to slow down and your eyes are going all squinty from peering at your computer screen, it might be time to take a little afternoon tea break. Here’s a fun little tea-making gadget that will capture your imagination – the Sharky tea infuser from Argentinean designer, Pablo Matteoda. With a mesh underside, the Sharky tea infuser releases tea into your cup, while the sleek silver, air-filled fin floats above the waterline, which means there’s no fishing around for a sunken teabag at the bottom of the cup. What a great excuse to put on the kettle.
