The thing I love about live performance the most, is that the doors are closed, the lights are turned down, and the audience has to be reverential to what’s happening onstage.- Cate Blanchett. It’s no secret that COVID19 has hit the performance industry hard. As theatres and performance venues across the globe go dark, countless actors, musicians, designers, technicians and FOH staff have lost their income for the foreseeable future. Of course, It is easy to become overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of COVID19, but if there is one community that has proven time and time again that it is possible to bounce back, buck up and carry on, it’s that of the arts (check out Belvoir St Theatre’s moving address from AD Eamon Flack to really understand). This month’s SPOTLIGHT we’re celebrates resilience in the face of adversity as we highlight some of the artists, companies, venues and collectives that are looking onwards and upwards during this global group pause.
(Virus) Free Theatre Festival – Australian Theatre Live
Each week, Australian Theatre Live have has pledged to stream a great Australian piece of theatre for free every week via their Facebook page. The line-up for the next three weeks of (Virus) Free Theatre includes Sydney Theatre Company’s annual Wharf Review, Griffin Theatre Company’s production of David Williamson’s Emerald City, and Rumplestiltskin, a co-production between Windmill Theatre Co and State Theatre Company of South Australia.
Iso-Laid Music Festival
Last month some of Australia’s most well-known musical acts banded together for a weekly Iso-Laid Festival, where you can access your favourite artists without ever leaving your house! So far, the likes of Courtney Barnett, Montaigne, Sarah Blasko, Josh Pyke, Big Scary and Julia Jacklin have taken to Instagram, uploading intimate live sets straight from their bedroom to yours! Listeners can show their appreciation by making a listeners to make a small donation to Support Act, Australia’s only charity delivering crisis relief services to artists, crew and music workers as a result of ill health, injury, a mental health problem, or some other crisis that impacts on their ability to work in music.
Europeana
Fancy a fine art fix? Europeana has you sorted. Working with thousands of European archives, libraries and museums to share cultural heritage for enjoyment, education and research, Europeana delivers more via your screen than you could ever hope to cover in a day, let alone a lifetime. In March, the curated online gallery focused on Women’s History, celebrating remarkable women (beautifully in synch with The Office Space’s theme). What’s happening in April???
Grumble Boogie – Betty Grumble
Smile your way through an exercise session with self-proclaimed obscene beauty queen Betty Grumble – delivering her unshaming ritual, Grumble Boogie, to your living room every day at 10am. Join Betty for a deep disco aerobics class featuring gentle and sensual stretching, grape-vining, hip swivelling, carnally charged cardio and constant toe-ball-heel/healing – aka the most fun you’ve ever had working out. You can also catch Grumble and Friends, a genre-smashing variety evening via live stream on Instagram.
