Pinocchio by windmill theatre

Pinocchio  - The Musical, by Windmill Theatre

I was invited to the Opening of Pinocchio, the new show by Windmill Theatre. We all know the story about Pinocchio, and I thought this would be another cheesy production for pre-schoolers. Well, I was wrong. When I got there, nearly half the audience were adults!

It started out with an animation pictured on a big tree, made out of wood. It showed a blue person on a motorbike, speeding towards a tree and then crashing. Then Geppetto cut the tree down and started carving it into a puppet. Then some kids start teasing him about talking to his toys. They say “Crazy man, crazy man, talking to his toys”. But he shouts back, “One day they will talk back!”

And they did.

All the music was live. I remember four great songs from this show. They were “Run away, Blow away, Break away”,  “I Know”, “You get Lazy/You Get Crazy” and “Sign Here”. All of the band was wearing weird bunny hats and they were up in one of the theatre wings. The costumes were really funny, ‘cause Pinocchio and Stromboli had fake wigs that were made of felt. They were supposed to look fake. Stomboli’s face was white and had puppet-like makeup. He was living in a fantasy world.

I recently watched an Italian film of Pinocchio – all in Italian – I realized the character similarities and differences. The blue girl that helped Pinocchio, who was watching over him and helped him (in Windmill’s show) – was really the blue fairy. In Pinocchio, Cat & Fox didn’t know that they were evil, and didn’t try to be evil.

The blue girl (Blue Fairy) was played by a really petite actor, Danielle Catarazani. Wherever Pinocchio was standing on stage, she was always standing a step higher. When she got down, he was looking everywhere for her. When he eventually looked down, he put her up high again so he could look into her eyes.  They sang a beautiful duet, which was a love song and they fell in love. The chorus was “If you hold hands with a Lazy Boy, you get crazy. If you hold hands with a Crazy Girl, you get Lazy”. But then she remembers that she was the girl that crashed into the tree, and that tree was Pinocchio (when he was a tree).

It was a really great show and I’m happy I went to it.

Windmill are in town right now for the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with a new show, School Dance.

Here’s a link to the Windmill’s Website for more on Pinocchio

Me and Danielle at the after party for Pinocchio’s opening night at The Malthouse

Dear Hope Street workshop at Artplay

The woman taking the workshop – Alex - didn’t talk about the actual project – she talked about what she’d done. She talked loads about herself and what she did. She also talked about a book, and where people take photos of simple scenes like under a bed, someone’s hair you have braided. I think she acted inexperienced.

She talked about all sorts of stuff that didn’t really have anything to do with what we doing. She told us about a project where she put dirt in a teacup and planted a seedling, then left it on loads of people’s doorsteps.  I saw one of her artworks in High Street, Northcote. She has little figurines holding up blank signs, which people could write on. She left a note saying “take one of these, write on the sign and leave it on High Street.” We saw this and wrote some signs and put them in places.

the back of my postcard

In the workshop, we went on Google maps, which didn’t have very recent or good quality pictures of streets. The street name had to be a Hope Street but it could be anywhere in the world. I felt like I was pressured to decide on a location because of the disorganised timing. We each made our own postcards, and drew the house that we found on the front. We wrote a personal message to the homeowner. I still haven’t had a reply, but other people have. Have a look at the second link below.

The Dear Hope Street workshop didn’t have an obvious aim.  It was not very well thought out. They had a lack of materials (they said that they would have collage materials – they didn’t.). I didn’t find it was very uninteresting and the description in the Artplay program didn’t have much to do with the actual workshop, But it was a good idea.

the front of my postcard

Check out the ‘Dear Hope Street’ project blog.

maca-review

my coconut macaroon

Deep in the midst of the royal arcade there lies a …………………………… ‘Macaroon store’. “Hah you say”, “Yah I say” A whole store that sells delicious delectable macaroons. I loved the coconut macaroon. The soft and chewy taste of coconut milk, dried coconut on the top and the fluffy and creamy middle. Deeeeeeeliccccccccccciiiiiiiiiioooooooooooooouuuuuuuusssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Starchaser’s Aren’t Meant To Cry

Starchaser, written by Lally Katz

Arena Theatre, Victorian Arts Centre

A few weeks ago I went to the new show ‘Starchaser’ at the Victorian Arts Centre. It’s about a girl called Catta whose parents have recently died, but on her birthday she wishes there was some way that she could save them.  Catta thought that she should bottle up her feelings, but she learnt that to be strong you have to let your feelings out.

All of the actors played multiple roles and wore layers of costumes, except for Catta. All the costumes were uniquely shaped, so that they could be worn under other costumes. I liked the lighting and the background changes.  There was a projector at the back of the theatre that projected cut and paste style collage-like animations.

There was a question and answer session at the end. I didn’t say anything but other people had lots of questions.  We also met the writer, Lally Katz and the lighting designer, Richard Vabre.

“When there are questions that grown-ups just can’t answer, it’s time to chase the stars.”

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Design Concept Drawings Jonathon Oxlade.

ReLoved Princess

On a recent opp-shopping trip, I spotted this fashion queen – a total Melbourne girl. What looks like an eighties leather jacket is actually quilted satin. The turtle-neck top and chain necklace combines perfectly with her below-the-knee leather skirt and ankle boots. This whole outfit is topped off with red-framed glasses, bright red lips and a high blonde topknot.

As you can see, there’s a Red Cross Re-Loved Clothes sign in the back of these photos. This is a small opp-shop filled with Vintage clothes. Sadly, not any in kids sizes, but the accessories would suit any size. I think that nearly half of this girl’s clothes would come from this store.

Still Awake Still

Still Awake Still

By: Jump Leads.

Kids at The Arts Centre Program, Victorian Arts Centre.

Performers: Carolyn Connors, Dan Witton and Renato Vacirca.

Director: Jessica Wilson.

Composer& Musical Director: Sue Johnson.

Designer: Jonathon Oxlade.

Miss Ivory Tinklefinger is a classical music player in her own little world. She’s the Queen of dreamland, destined for greatness here to sing the world to sleep. This audience is being stubborn tonight – what’s going on ? Will the men that pop out of her piano be able to help her ?ANDWHAT IS WRONG WITH HER PIANO !!!!????

If I was 3 or 4 years younger this would be my slice of cake. Instead of ages 4 – 10, I recommend it for ages 3 – 7.  All the little tikes were loving it !

The only point of interest I had was at the end, when the beautifully made little world came up through the music in the piano. The little world was made of recycled items such as coke cans, old newspapers and other stuff.

The ‘Still Awake Still’ show is based on the well-loved songs from the book I’m still awake, still ! by Elizabeth Honey and Sue Johnson. One of the authors was in the foyer signing books.

Meet Poppy

Meet Poppy

meet poppy

Author: Gabrielle Wang

Published: in 2011

Poppy is an 1864 girl from a mission. She is half Chinese/half Aboriginal. Her brother Gus has lately been trying to run away from the mission. Once while cleaning Mother Hangtree’s desk, she saw a letter that said that Gus was being sent away. She quickly told Gus and that is when the story begins. 

Shortly after Gus had run away, Poppy ran away too. She cut her hair with a knife and dressed in her friend’s clothes so she would be disguised as a boy. She had to cross a river in order to find Gus. She found a small dog that seemed to like her. She named him Fisher. He disappeared into the bush and then she found herself in a town. She bought a loaf of bread but a policeman thought she stole it. She had to run away, but Fisher saved her. And that’s where the story ends…for now.

Meet Poppy was very interesting because it explained how racist people were as they were racist to her. It showed an important part of Australian history after the Gold Rush.

This is the first part of a four part series of books, ‘Poppy’s Story’. There are four series of each Australian Girl. Their names are Rose, Grace, Letty and Poppy.

I suggest people should read this in Grade 2 to 4, as a quick book as it’s only 102 pages long. It’s not just fiction, it’s history.

Gabrielle Wang was recently at Artplay for the Melbourne Writer’s Festival.

gabrielle wang

The Housing Project

The Housing Project.

a little house

An installation created by Ann Ferguson, Sue McCauley and Keith Deverell.

Exhibition at Lamington Drive, Keele Street, Collingwood.

There is a sound monitor table and a few speakers and a screen (but you don’t notice the screen much) On top of the table or on the little shelves there are little ceramic houses, trees, factories and skyscrapers. On the bottom of each ceramic house there is a special sticker with a digital code. Each of these codes are different and generates different sounds. It matters where you put them too. If you made a place with just trees, it would sound just like birds and trees rustling. If you put on lots of factories, you would hear the sound of lots of machines and men shouting.  If you put on only suburban homes, you will her the sounds of mothers, fathers and children talking about their neighbourhood. If you put on businesses and skyscrapers, you’ll hear the sound of people in apartments, offices and businesses.

a beautiful city

It was very interactive. You could be there for hours and hours and never be bored.

The houses that we made at Artplay weren’t used in the actual installation.

It shows growth and strength in our community and http://pool.abc.net.au/media/housing-project-night-air communities. It’s great for kids.

the installation

Important. Informing. Interesting.

ABC Radio’s show The Night Air did an interview and I was involved. You can look at the link here 

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows: Part 2

Starring Rupert Grint, Emma Watson and Daniel Radcliffe. And Raph Fiennes as Valdemort.

Harry searches for the remaining Horcruxes. Hermione breaks into Gringots dressed as Bellatrix. They escape on a dragon but a dwarf has stolen the Sword of Gryffindor. They start destroying lots of Horcruxes, but they end up at Hogwarts, where a big battle begins. Harry faces his biggest challenge – a life and death situation.

I thought the movie was very important in the Harry Potter saga. It was unmissable. The movie was not much like the book. They added scenes and cut out other scenes.

I would recommend it for children 7 or older or adults, especially Harry Potter fans. It has some swearing, adult themes and a medium level of violence.

Make sure you don’t sit next to your parents because they will embarrass the pants off you !

It wasn’t the best movie, but I thought it was very interesting.