Posted by Penny Cropper on June 13, 2011
What with all the rain and downright nutso weather that's been holding Sydney-siders captive in their own homes of late, Bondi might not be the first place that springs to mind as a fun mid-winter destination. But there is at least one good reason to brave it and embrace the brisk (to put it politely) seaside air, we promise.
Rope is a play that'll scare the bejeezus out of you, in a good way. A new production of the classic noir thriller written by Patrick Hamilton and made famous by the Hitchcock film of the same name (this time directed by Iain Sinclair), Rope is being staged at the newly refurbished Bondi Pavilion, where dark furniture and art deco touches provide the perfect backdrop for this particular brand of chilling, old school "psycho-theatre". Without giving the game away too much, it's about two London sociopaths and a murderous party, with more than a few homoerotic undertones thrown in for good measure. Sound good? We thought so. It's on now until the 25th June, and our advice is to get down there and check it out, stat. Tickets from the website or phone 8019 0282.
Rope, Bondi Pavilion
Posted by Penny Cropper on December 15, 2010
To really put a yuletide smile on your face this week, Sydney designers Friedrich Gray and Romance Was Born are teaming up with swimwear label Jemma Jube for a four-day pop-up Xmas store. On offer will be a bunch of exclusive, unseen goodies including Friedrich Gray’s new basics collection, Injection, RWB’s 2011 summer collection (plus some special release prints), and Jemma Jube’s sophisticated, figure-flattering togs, made exclusively in France (ooh la la).
The Xmas store is open Wed 15th (that's today) – Saturday 18th Decmber from 10am-7pm. Find it at District 01 74-76 The Basement Oxford Street (corner of Crown and Oxford streets) Darlinghurst.
Romance Was Born, Friedrich Gray, Jemma Jube, District 01, Xmas Store
Posted by Penny Cropper on November 4, 2010
The Peats Ridge festival, which has already announced two rounds of a fairly awesome line-up and was already promising to be the best way to ring in the new year by far, has just announced its arts and theatre program and children’s festival for this year.
The arts program will be a mix of installations and multimedia, theatre, dance, cabaret, comedy, and (get this) a giant trapeze, acrobatics and plenty more. Winding along the riverbank and dotted through the lovely valley in which this pretty-as-a-picture festival is set, it’ll be darn picturesque too.
And as this is of course a family-friendly festival, the children’s festival means there is plenty for the young ‘uns to see and do. With specially dedicated areas with names like the Chill Out Lounge/Space, The Rainbow Garden and the Wet Zone, it sounds like the under 18s have got it made, to be honest.
The Peats Ridge Festival takes place at Glenworth Valley, NSW from December 29 until January 1. Family tickets are available. Check the website for more details.
Peats Ridge
Posted by Penny Cropper on October 26, 2010
The good folks at the Peats Ridge Festival just keep pulling through with the goods for us. They’ve just announced a second round of acts to ring in the New Year, bringing to more than 130 the total number of musical acts playing the festival’s ten stages over three days.
The new additions include the 2010 ARIA-nominated Dan Kelly’s Dream Band, Sydney two-piece kyü, US electronic/rock/jazz/blues slashies Love in the Circus, Sydney-based dub musician Know-U, and ‘boogie gangsters’ Muscletone.
The news should be the final push for those still dillydallying over tickets, topping up a pretty darn awesome lineup that already included Angus & Julia Stone, Washington, Jonathan Boulet, Trentemøller, Freestylers, Belles Will Ring, Space Invadas, The Dynamites featuring Charles Walker, The Delta Riggs and The Gin Club.
So what are ya waiting for, huh?
The Peats Ridge Festival takes place at Glenworth Valley, NSW from December 29 until January 1. For tickets and more info, go to the website.
Posted by Penny Cropper on October 5, 2010
Being married to Charlotte Gainsbourg must be tough. The daughter of one of France's most cherished and provocative artistic figures, Serge Gainsbourg, and his wife and muse, actress and fashion icon Jane Birkin, Charlotte is famous in her own right as an actress and musician and is much-loved in France. Meanwhile, her poor schmuck of a husband is a nobody who mopes around being jealous of her famous, handsome co-stars while she's off filming movies in glamorous locations in languages he cannot understand.
At least, that's the impression we get in the semi-autobiographical movie My Wife is an Actress, in which Charlotte stars with her real-life husband Yvan Attal, who also wrote and directed the romantic comedy about a 'normal' guy married to a famous actress and the problems they encounter. In real life, Attal is an accomplished film director, writer and actor, and surely nowhere near as insecure as his struggling sportswriter character, but you still get the impression much of the film's substance comes from experience.More...
serge gainsbourg, jane birkin, charlotte gainsbourg, my wife is an actress
Posted by Penny Cropper on September 8, 2010
After receiving a standing ovation on closing night at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and featuring at both the Sydney and Melbourne International Film Festivals, The Tree will be released in Australia September 30. The moving story of an eight-year old girl who’s convinced her dead father has come back to protect her family and speaks to her through the leaves of her favourite tree, it’s an absorbing and touching film. Set and filmed entirely in Queeensland but with a French director, Julie Bertuccelli, and actor, Charlotte Gainsbourg, this is an Australian story with a difference.
To celebrate the release we have an in-season double pass to give away to five lucky new Kluster subscribers, so get subscribing.
To be in the running simply follow the instructions below.
Already a Kluster subscriber? No problem, just convince a friend to let you subscribe them too (include their name and email address in the body of the email).
To enter simply email info@kluster.com.au with the subject: Tree loving
Entries close 27.09.10
the tree, movies, charlotte gainsbourg, julie bertuccelli, cannes film festival
Posted by Penny Cropper on September 1, 2010
On at the Old Fitzroy Theatre until September 11, The Schelling Point is the story of John F Kennedy, Stanley Kubrick, Frank Sinatra, Peter Sellers, Dr Strangelove and the Cuban missile crisis. With lots of drinking. And singing and jazz hands and a burlesque singer. Capisce? No, fair enough. But go and see it before it finishes; it's well worth your time and includes some awesome performances from Jonathan Elsom, Jamie McGregor and Marshall Napier, among others.
Directed by Sarah Goodes, this production is the world premier of Ron Elisha's funny and often unsettling play, and gives a hilarious look into the lives of some of history's most powerful men and their attempts to control the unpredictable. It's basically a play about six drunk men and one unpredictable woman (in the form of Miss Lauren La Rouge, the aforementioned burlesque singer) and it's a lot of fun.
Tickets through Tamarama Rock Surfers (we recommend the Old Fitzroy's usual beer, laksa and show deal, plus there are cheap Tuesday night tickets on offer).
the schelling point, old fitzroy theatre, tamarama rock surfers, play, ron elisha, sarah goodes
Posted by Penny Cropper on August 24, 2010
As part of the Melbourne Spring Fashion Festival, the Australian Centre for the Moving Image will be screening a controversial documentary on the life and work of Yves Saint Laurent, the last documentary to portray the couturier at work.
Director Olivier Meyrou’s film, Célébration, was banned in France because it was considered too biting, but will be showing at Melbourne’s Federation Square during August and September as part of the ACMI’s season of documentaries celebrating fashion from around the world, titled Fashion Icons on Film.
Made of a two-year period and following Sain Laurent’s working and private life, the film reveals the man behind the legend, digging deeper than the designs that made him an icon, to expose a tortured artist and a fragile man.
Check the ACMI’s website for more info and don’t miss this fascinating film delving into an extraordinary, mysterious man.
melbourne spring fashion festival, celebration, yves saint laurent, fashion icons on film, ACMI
Posted by Penny Cropper on August 17, 2010
The brilliant cycling tour that was Small Stories Big Picture, where punters armed with Lomo cameras and pushbikes took to the streets of Surry Hills to capture the secrets that lie within, is now finished. But it won’t be forgotten just yet, with a closing party tomorrow night (Wednesday, August 18) at the Beresford Hotel to show off the amazing images taken during the three-day event.
The tours started and ended at Cloth and Metalab, and along the way, participants collected stories from retailers, cafes and designers, and went their own way looking for the essence of Surry Hills.
The pictures will be on display for a few weeks, so if you can’t make it to the party, make sure you get on down at some stage for a peek and see if you can’t discover something you didn’t know about the creative streets of Surry Hills, as depicted by these valiant camera-wielding enthusiasts as part of the Sydney Design 2010 festival.
small stories big picture, sydney design 2010 beresford hotel, cloth, metalab
Posted by Penny Cropper on August 17, 2010
One of our newer Surry Hills favourites and sister store to the most highly excellent Paris Texas, Bourke street shop The Candy Store is turning one this September and sure has picked a great way to celebrate. They’re introducing a bunch of new labels to the store, having handpicked them from Fashion Week earlier this year, with standouts including Karla Spetic, Ellery, Konstantina Mittas and Micahel Lo Sordo.
Candy Store and Paris Texas owner Annette Verrusio has been fostering young Australian design talent for years with this kind of thinking, and we hope she keeps at it.
Check the website and blog for news on how the they’ll be celebrating the introduction of these up-and-comers to their stable.
candy store, paris texas, surry hlls, annette verrusio, karla spetic, konstantina mittas, ellery, michael lo sordo
Posted by Penny Cropper on August 17, 2010
Attention motorcycle enthusiasts: get yourself and your faithful ride to Deus Ex Machina’s Festival of the Parallel Twin Motorcycle in Camperdown on Saturday 28th August. Infinite riches await you in the festival’s show and shine contest, as well as door prizes including a dinner for two at the Deus Café.
For those with no steed but a desire to drool at others’, the unveiling of the Tagand Springer W650 edition could well make your Saturday and/or whole year.
Sure to be a fun and testosterone-filled day.
deus ex machina, festival of the parallel twin motorcycle, tagand springer W650
Posted by Penny Cropper on August 10, 2010
This Saturday night, Sydney’s streets will be taken over by a pretty unique kind of dinner party. Ride On Dinner is an 'urban meal adventure' in which young designer Anthony Hamilton-Smith will lead a group of up to 80 people on a bike tour around the city’s inner suburbs, and then cook for them using his purpose-built roadside kitchen/trailer – and their own pedal power. His self-designed, award-winning ‘slow kitchen’ is powered by the energy produced during the ride, and Hamilton-Smith will cook up a storm for the troops with it drawing on the principles of the slow food movement.
One of Object Gallery’s 14 Spring Series events and running as part of Sydney Design 2010, the tour will incorporate the best of design, food and sustainability and should be a rather fun and funny night to boot.
Check Object’s website for more details.
ride on, object gallery, anthony hamilton-smith, sydney design 2010, spring series