It all starts abruptly when the musicians and several cast members surprise the audience in the foyer. An atmosphere of exploitation and degradation is built from the very beginning in this way, as well as being a wonderfully effective method of stripping the spectator of a critical eye. The world of Woyzeck plunges into the pre-show chatter and grabs your attention, without giving you the chance to settle in, have the house lights dim and sit there expectantly.

As the main performance begins it became clear that the director has chosen a very clever way to modernise the unfinished 1837 classic. Director Netta Yashchin represents the poverty, degradation and desperation of the time in which the play was written in a traditional realist manner. The shabbily dressed Woyzeck shaves his captain (brilliantly performed by Anthony Hunt) with a precarious razor and his poverty and social degradation is evident.

The costuming and the old militarism that is displayed grounds the play in a historical that setting we understand – whilst the themes of jealousy, lust and violence are presented in a rampant and disturbingly modern fashion. There are beatings conducted in WWE takedown style, playful scenes in whorehouses with the sexiest of modern pop music slowed to a walk, so you can laugh at each lusty image of desire. In addition to modernising the play, these sort of farcical inclusions serve excellently to keep the pace at a run, transforming what could be a gritty and brooding piece into a smooth, bouncing journey where the madness that Woyzeck experiences is somehow both incomprehensible and natural.

Posted by Justin Wolfers in Culture, Reviews, Uncategorized

Tags: Anthony Hunt, belvoir downstairs, Michael Pigott, Netta Yashchin, Rebecca Johnston, Woyzeck

The key to consuming sonic cheese without waking up jaded the next day (the worst kind of hangover, right?) is to lose the irony, embrace the cheese that is actually good, and be completely shameless. Or even better, be at Shameless – the new monthly party where all the smoothest, creamiest, tastiest vintage cheese can be washed down “all night long” with $5 Pina Coladas and Blue Lagoons. Saturday night at Iguana Bar in Kings Cross, $10.

+ To get you in the mood, have a listen to the Shameless Mixtape made by Levins! Hot!

++ We’ve got some door spots to give away… email info@throwshapes.com.au with your best shameful/shameless story if you want in!

Posted by Jenny Noyes in Events, Music, News

Tags: cheese, hipsters, Iguana Bar, irony, Levins, rick astley, Shameless, toto

So, now that we’re well into the second half of 2010, that annoying little question is going to start popping up in conversation: have you got your New Year’s Eve celebrations sorted yet? Sigh – it’s August! And yes – it might seem a little far off to be thinking about your plans for what is probably the most annoying and expensive night of the year to do anything in this city. Or maybe you don’t want to be making any early decisions, in case you meet some celebrity between now and then who has a house with harbour views and is going to invite you to their amazing party full of A-listers and fancy catering. But seeing as that’s unlikely, and from experience it is no fun to leave it to the last second and be all dressed up with nowhere to go on NYE (no matter how much you insist you don’t care about one stupid night and would rather stay at home and watch a dvd with your cat), let me propose to you that Peats Ridge Festival is the solution!

I’ve never been to Peats Ridge, but from all reports it is pretty much a guaranteed super fun way to spend your New Year’s Eve. And seeing as I’d already (!) decided in the past week that I’m going there this year, getting the first lineup announcement today was pretty exciting. Usually a more low-key and locally-flavoured affair, some big international indie names like Built to Spill, Shout Out Louds, Born Ruffians and Lightspeed Champion alongside all our local faves will make this year’s festival even more worth the effort.

Posted by Jenny Noyes in Events, Music, News

Tags: Angus & Julia Stone, Belles Will Ring, big scary, Born Ruffians, built to spill, Cloud Control, decoder ring, Jonathan Boulet, Kate Miller Heidke, lightspeed champion, new years eve, Parades, peats ridge festival, PVT, Shout Out Louds, space invadas, the audreys, the ELF, the gin club, the jezabels, the lovetones, the seabellies, Washington

Luckily for all of us left behind in Sydney this weekend, Splendour has not created a good times vacuum. There’s plenty of gigs, parties, arts events and other fun stuff to go to – and I’ve compiled a list of activities that will deliver you a truly splendid weekend for $460 or (very) under.

Posted by Jenny Noyes in Art, Culture, Events, Music

Tags: biennale of sydney, big scary, brmc, Carriageworks, Circle Pit, Cloud Control, cockatoo island, Future Classic, gaelic club, good god small club, jingle jangle, laura marling, metro theatre, MIDLAKE, oxford art factory, rethreads, sandringham hotel, Splendour In The Grass, THE DRUMS, the factory theatre, THE MAGIC NUMBERS, the Maple Trail, the motifs

Walking through the streets of Sydney it seems that on just about every street, or possibly behind every street there’s a paste up by SMC3. An army of rats and fast food gripping to the walls waiting for you to spot them. Street art has no plaque next to it, no explanation of the works concept – and so I thought I’d throw a few quick questions at the artist to give us all a bit more insight into the workings of the mind of SMC3.

Posted by Scott Owen in Art

I think we’re all getting a little bored of going to the same venues all the time in Sydney. Oxford Art Factory, The Annandale, World Bar, you guys are really great but when your doorstaff all know me so well I start to feel like maybe I should stop going out to these venues and take up a hobby like macrame  or something.

Enter: Joe Hardy, who seems to have felt the same way, and who solved the problem by turning his North Shore back yard into a venue. It’s called The Gate, and I asked him some questions about it, because what a rad idea, and what a cool guy for making it happen, right?

++

+ What are the biggest problems with venues in Sydney?

> This is an interesting question to ponder. First, let me say I’ve got a lot of respect for the operators of conventional venues, and I’ve spent a lot of time enjoying their hard work!

Obviously venues in Sydney come in all shapes and sizes, so their problems vary depending on the scale of their operation. I do think financial viability is one of the biggest concerns for nearly all small-to-medium size live music outlets at the moment. Whatever you might attribute this to, I think now is probably a good time as ever to be experimenting with different approaches to running viable music venues, especially seeing the primary income model the live music industry relies on at the moment (sale of alcohol) seems to be biting us in the bum right now.

+ What other cities have solved these problems and how?

> I’m not entirely sure there’s one “big” solution I’ve seen for these problems! For some venues, the answer is to cut costs, but that just means that quality is lowered and less risks are taken, which probably also means that less people turn up to shows and so on….

I think every city is different, both in terms of problems faced and solutions invented – I think even across different parts of Sydney we’ve seen different reactions and counter-reactions to the challenges the live music scene faces. The warehouse scene in the inner west is one key example – that whole DIY culture has thrived as emerging bands have struggled to find gigs in normal venues, but then it also seems to be facing its own new wave of challenges as well. Read more for the full interview…

Posted by amelia in Features, Music

Tags: betty airs, border thieves, DIY event space, DIY venue, gerling, joe hardy, ryde, the ELF, the gate, yae!tiger

It’s not unusual to feel a little scared of names like Chekhov, Brecht and Beckett. These are the heady men of capital “T” Theatre. It’s also easy tune out or find boring what we don’t understand, a trap I have sometimes fallen into myself.

And I’ve certainly had icy relationships with all those writers in the past but none so cold as Chekhov, who I struggled to understand and whose work I have generally had an impulse to avoid.

The Seagull is among his best-known work, along with Three Sisters and Uncle Vanya. It reflects some deliciously Chekhovian themes that deal in essence with personal stagnation (I’m simplifying because I don’t want this to turn into a theory essay). It’s not a short piece, but this new version by Christopher Hampton comes in at a handy 2 hours 20 minutes, which is more than bearable, even in the cold (but desperately charming) Sidetrack Theatre. Read more for the full review…

Posted by Holly Orkin in Culture, Reviews

Tags: century venues, chekhov, holly orkin, sidetrack theatre, siren theatre co, the seagull, theatre review