In their 2019 return to the Independent Theatre, Acacia Quartet offered of program of tonal variety in the concert Testament. Balancing classic string composers against untested contemporary pieces made for an afternoon of pleasant playing and peppery moments.
Eyes to the Floor | Rough Hewn Theatre Troupe
Image by Stephen Reinhardt
The past few years has seen Australia rattled by revelations and testimonies of abuse suffered by children in the care of institutions whether schools, churches, or homes for juvenile offenders and abandoned children. Following on from Alana Valentine’s renowned script Parramatta Girls, Eyes to the Floor integrates memories from survivors of the Institution for Girls in Hay, NSW, where girls aged 13-17 who were expelled from Parramatta Girls Home and Cootamundra Girls Home were sent in the 1960s and 1970s.
Bare: a pop opera | Lane Cove Theatre Company
![LCTC Bare [5.5.19] 52](https://nightwrites.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/lctc-bare-5.5.19-52.jpg?w=730)
Image by Lachlan Bradbury
Playlist | PYT Fairfield & Sydney Opera House
Image by Daniel Boud
Five young women from Western Sydney have a lot of differences from their personal style to their family history to their cultural upbringing but music matters to all of them as comfort, inspiration, and a field to express themselves as growing and changing individuals. Playlist is about being a woman today with the soaring successes of legal and political freedom in hand with all the other ways woman are still kept quiet and scared.
The Director | Sydney Opera House
Image by Daniel Boud
It’s 2019 and death, the one inevitability, is still a taboo subject. Fascinated by the lack of transparency in the death and funeral industry, artist Lara Thoms has teamed up with ex-funeral director Scott Turnbull to lift the lid and answer some common questions about dying in The Director.
The Poor Kitchen | Patina Productions
Image by Clare Hawley
Elle is living a dream: her estranged Italian aunt has passed away and left her rural olive farm in its entirety to her. But after Elle has flown over from Sydney, it becomes clear that her aunt has left her a lot more than just the farm. In an unravelling story of family secrets, environmentalism, extortion, and murder, Daniela Giorgi’s Italian adventure covers it all in a homey and haunted kitchen.
My Urrwai | Sydney Opera House
Image by Daniel Boud
Ghenoa Gela is a multi-medium performer using dance, theatre, and a bit of stand-up comedy to tell the story of herself in My Urrwai. “Urrwai” loosely translates into English as a personal style or essence so Gela’s solo production represents many aspects of her identity as Torres Strait Islander woman, a dancer and performer, and someone finding her way outside the Western heterosexual binary.
Winyanboga Yurringa | Belvoir with Moogahlin Performing Arts
Image by Brett Boardman
Neecy has organised to have three generations of her family to meet at their traditional family camping spot for a secret occasion. Choosing to ignore their personal crises for the weekend, the women wear away the shine of happy quality time very quickly. The intrusion of a controversial photographer, employed to document the event by Neecy, doesn’t help to stabilise rocky communication.
Theatresports All-Stars: Battle of the Champions | Impro Australia
Image by Stephen Reinhardt
For this year’s Sydney Comedy Festival, Theatresports put a twist on the conventional competition structure and pitted performers from three generations against each other to find the ultimate improv decade. Bringing together stars new and old from the Sydney improv scene, Theatresports All-Stars was a celebration of the community and the performers keeping the form going.
Sun-Dogs | Bel a cappella
For their first concert of 2019, Sydney’s Bel a cappella performed a wide ranging program of pieces from familiar composers and some unusual outliers. Performing in the quaint Victorian St Augustine’s Catholic Church, the choir were additionally joined by AirCon, a whistling group, to add another flair to typical choral singing.
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