Well, hello Melbourne! It is nice to be back. Especially when you put on such a beautiful day for my first trip back to the city after being away!
No-one does laneways quite like you <3
Tag: excitement
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Chess
I think I must be going through a theatre phase. This is the third production have seen in the last month and I can't remember how many I've seen this year. It's a lot!
We lived around the corner of the National Theatre in St Kilda for almost six years and never managed to step inside this gorgeous old grande dame. She's a bit run down but I think it that only adds to her charm. The foyer and sweeping staircase are fabulously over the top and ornate. I felt as if I should be wearing diamonds and a sweeping ball gown as I posed for a photo with my gloved hand resting lightly on the bannister.
I saw my first production of Chess in Sydney when I was in my teens. At the time I loved it so much I bought the jumper! Last time I visited my folks in Canberra, Mum was wearing it around the house. So it was well worth the I'm sure exorbitant amount we paid for it back in the day. There wasn't a lot of merch on sale at this production by CLOC and I even resisted the urge to buy a program because a) I never read them and b) we are about to move to a smaller house and I need to get rid of stuff, not buy more of it!
I have to admit I wasn't expecting much from an amateur theatre production group but I am more than happy to say that the production was excellent. I know that's a bit snobby of me but it's been a while since I've seen amateur theatre and I had forgotten just how darn good it is. The set was fabulous with huge moving parts that slid across the polished floor. Both the floor and this blocks would light up at different times. Two huge screens flanked the stage and a third was located at the back. Live footage from the production was streamed straight on the screens. and filmed b
The costumes were fabulous
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Perfect Chromatic Pitch
I knew nothing about this exhibition before I went see it because I had never heard of Bonnard. What drew me in was the poster outside the front of the NGV and the name India Madhvi. Oh and my poetry friend George raved about it. That helped.
When I got into the exhibition I was a little surprised to learnt that Bonnard was an impressionist French painter who was considered one of the greats. I have to say that as much as I appreciate this style, I've seen rather a lot of white, male artists painting blurred images. Where's the rest of the world beyond Europe? Where are the folks who don't identify as male?
Where Bonnard stood out for me however was that he painted domestic interiors and also nudes of himself. Most male painters have been obsessed with the female form and I am sick of the objectification of women. Hew as also invested in the portrayal f street life and called it 'the theatre of the everyday'.
Bonnard was also an early adopter of photography and took many selfies! He was alive when cinema first began and the exhibition included vintage footage from his friends, the Lumière brothers, shot in France in the 1809s. Seeing ordinary people on the streets of Paris in their old fashioned clothes was fascinating. A small glimpse into the everyday life of yesterday.
The exhibition features more than one hundred works by Bonnard and was created in partnership with the Musée d’Orsay in Paris. Many of my favourite pieces in the exhibition were created by his contemporaries including Vuillard.
I can see parallels with William Morris from the UK as Bonnard also designed fans, folding screens, posters, sets and costumes. And Bonnard even illustrated children's music primers for his brother-in-law who was a composer.
It's interesting to see an artist of the past straddling the fine art and commercial worlds in this way. When I think of artists, I tend to see them as non commercial, that is to say, not using their art to illustrate products, objects or furniture. Bonnard's approach is a much more pragmatic one ensuring he earns an income and also a more egalitarian one (whether he intended it to be or not) allowing his art to be affordable for everyone and not just hidden away on some collector's wall or in a museum's collection.
The NGV commissioned the celebrated architect and designer India Mahdavi to design the exhibition’s scenography. The New Yorker calls her a ‘virtuoso of colour’ and ‘possessor of perfect chromatic pitch’. According to the NGV website, 'Her singular approach to colour, structure and texture has resulted in numerous acclaimed projects, including commissions for hotels, restaurants and retail…'
My favourite section of the exhibition was the latter half with theitsbold coloured walls, carpets, chairs and lamps. Large canvases hung on the walls which sometimes had windows cut into them, giving you different views of the gallery space.
I can see why my friend George raved about this exhibition. The design by India Mahdavi took it to the next level. The paintings were good, don't get me wrong but I don't think they were necessarily outstanding or ground breaking, although they may have been at the time they were made. However, the design of the exhibition with its bold colours, patterns, space and light made the exhibition as a whole created than the sum of it s parts. Design is usually a silent partner, not noticed until it goes wrong. In this exhibition, deign is the assertive big sister, saying 'Yes, I am here too!'
This painting of an almond tree was my favourite. It was also Bonnard's last completed painting. Of course this photo sones't do it justice. You'll have to check out the exhibition for yourself if you want to see it in its full glory.
I'll finish this post with a quote from Bonnard that is spot on for any artist or person wanting to learn and do.
'A painter should have two lives, one in which to learn, and one in which to practise his (sic) art.'
Pierre Bonnard
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Moulin Rouge
I think this is the best production I have seen in the last couple of years. It was totally different from Death of a Salesman which I saw last week. The Regent Theatre on Collins Street was the perfect venue for Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge The Musical with its gothic styled lobby and Louis XVI style auditorium. Built in 1929, the Regent was designed by Charles Ballantyne and was a movie theatre or as they were called in those days, a picture palace. It's one of six theatres that make up Melbourne's East End theatre district. The whole place was decked out in red to recreate the famous Moulin Rouge nightclub and take the audience back in time as soon as they stepped off the street and through the doors.
We arrived early and saw some of the actors come out on the stage and start lounging around the incredible set. One of those times when it pays to be early! This production was magnificent. The sets were fantastic, the costumes sublime and the actors brilliant. The choreography was incredible (those dancers, those moves!) and the songs were fabulous – snippets of everything from The Sound of Music to A-ha's Take on Me and Adele's Rolling in the Deep. The lines were used to great effect and the timing was impeccable. It was funny, poignant and heart wrenching. The musical had it all.
I walked out on a post-show high like I haven't experienced since I was in my twenties and first saw Slava's Snow Show in London's West End. If you've got some cash to spare or a birthday coming up, grab tickets fro this brilliant production before it ends in mid November.
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High Society
After we visited Floriade yesterday, we strolled across to The Marion for high tea. Mum was really keen to take the girls somewhere nice for cake and this place came up when I searched online for a suitable venue. The Marion is named after Marion Mahoney who was the partner and wife of Sir Walter Burley Griffin. She was a landscape architect and responsible for much of Canberra's beautiful early design. When you think of the bush capital, you really should be thinking of or thanking her.
I didn't manage to get a photo of the first course because I was too busy inhaling it. Pancetta, seed crackers, vegan feta, vegetable fritter, chutney and artichoke soup in a little cup. It was followed by the traditional high tera cake stand filled with dei,icous goodness. The top tier held bite-sized cakes of magnificence, the middle tier contained sandwiches with the crusts cut off (I had slalom & dill and egg & chives) and the bottom tier a scone with lashing of jam and cream. All of this accompanied by an individual pot of tea for each person from a very extensive menu. You can also get coffee. My choice was the woku tea.
The best thing for me about this incredible high tea was that everything was gluten and dairy free. I didn't always have exactly the same as everyone else but for once I didn't care because the food they made me was just as good, if not better! If you're like me and have dietary requirements, I would highly recommend coming here for a real treat. You just need to give the kitchen twenty four hours notice to cater for your needs. My other tip is to ask for extra servings. Apparently they can't give you a whole additional savoury plate but you can ask for parts of it which I did – getting some more pancetta, vegan feta and crackers. I also asked for extra sandwiches and got a refill of boiling water for my teapot when it was empty.
The views from the restaurant, located at Regatta Point on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, were magnificent. They were the icing on a rather fabulous cake!
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A Blooming Good Time
This morning we managed to sneak in a visit to Floriade on our way to our other engagements (high tea at The Marion and a concert at St Paul's in Manuka). When we left my parents' place in Tuggeranong, it was slightly overcast but by the time we had found a car park, it was a classic Canberra spring day of blue skies, sunshine and a slight crispy edge to the morning air.
It wasn't too crowded given the earlyish hour so we had ample room to wander along the garden beds checking out the magnificent displays of tulips, daffodils and irises. So much magnificent colour all artfully arranged. It is such a magnificent sight.
On our drive from Melbourne to Canberra I had remembered that Floriade was on again but I figured we wouldn't have time in between catching up with family and friends. I am pleased to say that I was wrong! It's one of the many blessing of having older children. You can easily do several things in a day because there's no need for naps or constant snacks!
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Death of a Salesman
In the last year or so I've been going to the theatre again. When I was a teenager I would attend every performance put on by the Canberra Repertory Society and the Canberra Philharmonic. I've felt that there's something magical about a live performance. The greasepaint and the the actors treading the boards. The spotlights and the orchestra. And that magic happens when the curtain rises and you're transported to another world.
Miss Seventeen has been studying The Crucible for school this year so when I saw that Death of a Salesman was coming to Melbourne's Her Majesty's Theatre, starring Anthony LaPaglia in his Australian stage debut, I just had to get us tickets. Unbelievably I've never seen an Arthur Miller play so I was super psyched to see this production. After all, Miller is known as one of the greatest American playwrights of the twentieth century.
Given the title of the play I wasn't expecting an uplifting afternoon but it wasn't as bleak as I thought it would be either. It was more of a slow burn with characters and moments that stayed with me after the play was over. La Paglia's performance was quiet and understated. The standout for me was the actor playing his wife – Alison Whyte in the role of Linda Loman. Her performance was powerful and painful.
The play was a combination of delusions, dreams, memories and events that played out against a set of bleachers for a baseball game. The actors not involved in the scene sat in the stand instead of being offstage and played the part of the crowd for the game. The story of Willy Loman, the travelling salesman was tragic in every sense of the word and it's easy to see why the play is so famous. What's not so easy to fathom is why it is so popular given its scathing commentary on the unobtainable nature of the great American dream.
Part way through the second half there were some technical difficulties that stopped the play and dropped the curtain. Just before the play recommenced, La Paglia came out on the stage to tell us an anecdote about being on the set of a Miller production. Apparently there were a whole heap of magazines on a table and one had Marilyn Monroe on the cover. The cast would always hide the Marilyn magazine when Miller visited the set except one day they didn't. They all anxiously watched Miller, wondering if he would spot the magazine. He did, flipped through the pages, read a bit, closed the magazine and said, "Well you learn something new everyday.'
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Of Lakes
I've been watching Lakshmi R Kanchi (aka Soul Reserve) posting about the Cockburn wetlands and all the amazing events she created when she was their poet in residence. I wanted so badly to visit this beautiful place and this morning my dream came true!
Her husband Ro picked me up from my digs and along with the Washington State poet Laureate, Arianne True and her fiancee Liz, we headed out of town. On our way out, we drove past the Derbal Yarrigan / Swan river which is huge! After the Birrarung Mar in Naarm, I was so surprised to see this mighty river. It looks more like Sydney harbour than a river! We headed south along the coast, stopping at Cottesloe along the way to meet the Indian Ocean. Ro was a great guide telling us so many stories about the places we were driving through.
The wetlands centre in Cockburn is on land that was going to be cut through by a major highway but local residents and scientists banded together to save the bushland. They established the wetlands centre to educate locals, especially children about the beauty and value of the swampy area containing two unique lakes and eco systems. This idea worked because when the government again tried to develop the area, the kickback from voters was immense, stopping the roads and saving the lakes.
On our arrival at the wetlands in Cockburn we were met by Lakshmi, Jaya Penelope and the WA Poets Micro Poet in Residence, Gillian . The centre is a beautiful building that until recently was shared by many local groups, including their oldest scout group in WA. They have just finished the display in the entrance which is filled with imagery and captions in Noongar. Ro introduced us to many of the people working in the wetlands centre, including some of those who fought to save it.
We then walked through the bush to the lake. As we walked along the path about twenty metres (I think, but I'm hopeless at estimating distances!), a kwenda/bandicoot, scurried across the path behind us. It's not often that you see mammals out and about in the middle of the day (except for homo. sapiens that is). As we walked, accompanied by bird song my eyes were everywhere, drinking it all in. Seeing the details, noticing the little things and the big. Trying to see what is different and what is the same. The soil was sandy and the trees were familiar but different.
I was hoping to see some new birds but there were a lot of familiar faces. Kookaburras, fairy wrens, magpies, galahs, ravens and on the lake Eurasian coots, black swans and purple swamp hens. Walking back along the boardwalk from the lake I spotted some smaller birds in the bushes. And then later, some of the endangered black cockatoos flew over the Wetlands centre. After our walk we were treated to a traditional Aussie BBQ cooked by the volunteers. And we met some alpine dingoes.
It was so good to be out of the city. To be in the bush. To be walking the naked land.
Lakshmi's poetry residency has ended and as a farewell gift she left a poetry trail around the wetlands. these boxes contain treasures, writing prompts, waterproof pencils and notebooks so you can add your poetry to the collection. A wonderful idea and a great legacy for a remarkable year of poetry from a brilliant poet.
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A Poemabulation
I'm in Perth for a week to attend the 2023 Perth Poetry Festival curated by the incredible community organisation, WA Poets Inc. The week is chock-a-block full of incredible events, open mics and workshops.
This morning I braved the rain (hello Melbourne, brought the rain and clouds with me!) to do the Searching for Uglieland walking tour of the Perth CBD. When I read the description of this event in the festival program, it immediately went to the top of my list of things to do. I love walking around cities, wandering down laneways and popping into galleries and shopfronts. What more do you want really when visiting a new city?
The best things about this tour was that it was run by locals with added poetry! That's right people, this walk included the poetic history of the city as well as poets reading their poems along the way. We stopped for coffee (or a hot chocolate for me because it was freezing!) and ended the morning with lunch together in an underground food court.
picture of Jaya Penelope (left) and Mar Bucknell (right)
I had the best morning meeting new people, hearing poetry (I even recited one that I had composed that morning on the walk from my hotel to the meeting point. Fresh!) and wandering through Perth's arcades. The original plan to walk further afield was changed because it was pouring.
It was so inspiring, particularly meeting Davina Edwards and seeing her belligerent bunting project. She dyes scraps of fabric, writes on them with marker and exposes them to the sun through the cyanotype process which I am now keen to check out.
If you're coning over to Perth, I highly recommend checking out one of these tours. Mar Bucknell is a wellspring of information!
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A Week in Paradise
I have just spent six wonderful days in Bali wth my gorgeous younger daughter. We had the best time lazing by the pool and slowly defrosting after a Melbourne winter. It was so lovely to be back in paradise, staying at our favourite hotel and eating all the amazing local dishes. Gado gado and lumpia for lunch, mie goreng, beef rendang and satay ayam for dinner were a few of the stand outs for the trip. And checking out all the new little cafes that have popped up since we were last here four years ago. We just had to sample the cakes and find our favourites.
As well as snacking, there was swimming, snoozing, massages and of course shopping for sunnies and Balinese silver for the folks back home. I could have easily spent a month here, being pampered and having delightful people cook and clean for us.
When I go travelling one of my favourite things to do is to go to the local supermarket and see what things are the same and what are different. I love discovering and sampling new food items and supermarkets are great places to do so. it's also interesting to see how tings are packaged and displayed differently in different places. When we were in South America, you could buy milk in plastic bags!
We were in Bali to surprise my Dad for his 80th birthday and it was wonderful to celebrate this milestone with both him and Mum. The look on his face when we turned up for breakfast at the hotel was priceless.
On his birthday, we took him out to a fancy hotel restaurant for happy hour cocktails overlooking the beach. At his request, we had made the ultimate sacrifice and got up earlier than the sun to start the day with a sunrise walk along the beach to meet Angelique the cow. Dad can befriend anyone and anything!
It was the perfect mini break and the only fly in the ointment was that the lovely man and the oldest girl couldn't be with us. They were at home working and studying and keeping the cats company.