amy jane stephenson

This year there are some especially great performances to check out in the festival. Each show reflects a contemporary edge which I am a huge advocate of. They re-work traditional texts to create original work, or don’t even use text, and cross boundaries to surprise the audience.

2 Dimensional Life of Her

La Petite Mort – The Orgasm

La Petite Mort – The Orgasm is a raunchy cabaret romp through sex and sexuality.

“A truly original, delightful, accomplished show, another of the shows that remind you why you love the Fringe so much.” The Scotsman.

Hamlet Apocalypse

A group of actors stage Hamlet the night the world ends. As the reality of the situation sets in, the play, the characters and the actors break down to the simplest of human states as they attempt to reconcile their lives in the face of a dying world.

I’ve crossed paths or worked with artists from each of these shows and have so much respect for the incredible art they’ve created. Keep going my friends.

The 2009 Melbourne Fringe Festival has awarded  Six Women Standing in Front of a White Wall;

• Best Dance Award &
• Gasworks Award (in-kind $3000)

(View here)

Not to mention the awards from Edinburgh Festival in 2007…

• Herald Angel Award Winner
• Scotland on Sunday Best Director
• Total Theatre Award Nominee

We are thrilled to have received these and look forward to using the Gasworks Professional Development Award to create a new production in 2010!

I wonder what exciting path we will take next.

Little Dove is delighted to announce that we will be bringing our acclaimed Butoh Live Art work Six Women Standing In Front Of A White Wall to the Melbourne Fringe Festival 2009! We would love to see you all there, so please start spreading the word to those you love, those you like a lot, or even just the lady at the cornerstore with the crinkly smiley eyes…

Browse Little Dove’s website to read the stunning reviews from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and bio’s for the performers.

*Please note that bookings are essential as there is limited audience capacity!

Northcote Town Hall
Ph: (03) 9481 9500
www.northcotetownhall.com.au

Melbourne Fringe Festival
Ph: (03) 9660 6666
www.melbournefringe.com.au

This is such a beautiful experiential performance, I cannot wait to be a part of it again. Won’t you join us?

Currently NGV have a free event running called  ’Art Chat’ which I am rather excited by. Tomorrow (July 30th) Chris Kohn (Artistic Director of Arena Theatre Company) will be discussing The importance of risk-taking in making theatre for the young and old. As a drama teacher and keen performer what could be more appropriate than “subjective perspectives on the topic”?!

Only yesterday some fellow drama teachers and I were discussing how drama in schools may or may not connect to the greater arts community. Does the VCE structure set aspiring actors and directors up for the arts industry? Is it too outcomes-based?  How can we make theatre which connects to gen y? Or conversely how do gen y make theatre?

I feel passionate about public programs between schools and companies such as Arena Theatre. Not only do they enhance learning experiences but also illustrates to students that there are many ways of expressing ones values and dare I say opening up one’s identity.

Next week is an exhibition which I have been awaiting for a few years. I am filled with absolute intrigue and excitement about the final prints and installations of Linden’s Masters after the many fragmented ideas and brief descriptions she has shared during the process.

It’s on in Hobart  and I have a feeling this will not be one of those passive, echoey exhibitions where you’re afraid a single cough might interrupt the flat atmosphere. No I think she may have some surprises in there…

I’ll be there.

Did I mention she’s my mother?

When we were performing Six Women Standing in Front of a White Wall at Edinburgh Fringe in 2007, we shared a neighbouring wall with a fantastic show called Smile off your Face by Ontroerend Goed (a Belgium company).

Well now they’re touring another award winning show here in Australia. The name of the show: Once and for all we’re gonna tell you who we are so shut up and listen (am I attracted to shows with long titles I wonder). It’s sounding like an energetic show with its “frank view of 13 youngsters who are at once rebellious, aggressive, vulnerable, cool, childlike, and sometimes surprisingly adult.”

Perhaps it’s just me doing some research into the minds of teenagers, will it help me in the classroom? Sure.

Richard Watts  has published an article on ArtsHub about a recent forum in Melbourne addressing the theatre industry. I just love that half the article is about failure – how artists need to take risks during their explorations of innovative new art  and this sometimes may mean failing! How refreshing to hear this, to be reminded that yes, art is a journey, yes it may take a few tries before something incredible is composed, indeed it may never happen.

Somehow this gives me more confidence to try.

I’ve recently found a new arts venue: Incinerator Arts Complex, in Moonee Ponds Melbourne. It’s an interesting building, built in 1929 as a collaboration between architect Walter Burley Griffin & engineer John Boadle.

They have an upcoming exhibition which I look forward to. “aRtECYCLE is an exhibition of indoor and outdoor temporary sculptural artworks specially created in response to the building and grounds of the Walter Burley Griffin designed Incinerator Arts Complex.

Inspired by the extraordinary architectural, philosophical and spiritual influences of Sir Walter Burley Griffin and his collaborator Marion Mahony Griffin, as well as the venue’s historical significance as an active incinerator that used the reverberatory system of waste disposal, all aRtECYCLE artworks are made of, or inspired by, recycled materials, salvaged waste, junk, flotsam and jetsam, debris, or saved, found, retrieved and reclaimed objects.”

Wednesday 13 May to Sunday 24 May

Each year at Federation Square in Melbourne is a funky festival promoting something which is close to my heart – sustainability. Growing up in Tasmania with mass old growth logging encourages one to think about this concept from an early age. Now as I’m studying to be a Geography and Drama teacher, I look forward to promote sustainability both from an environmental aspect and an arts angle.

An installation at the Sustainable Living Festival