Art Smitten

Christian, Jack and Ellie chat with actor Faran Martin from North of Eight's production of Gardner McKay's  Toyer , running at The Courthouse Hotel (86-90 Errol St, North Melbourne) until May 13. Click here for Christian's review See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Christian, Jack and Ellie chat to artists Ali MC and Rushdi about their exhibitions from the 2017 Human Rights Festival -  Rohingya: Refugee Crisis in Colour  (on display until May 25 at the Fitzroy Library) and Reframe “Home” with Patterns of Displacement (on display from May 9-14 at the No Vancancy Gallery in QV). Click here to listen to our interview with festival director...

Jack, Ellie and Christian chat with Lauren Valmadre, Director of this year's Human Rights Arts and Film Festival, running until May 14. Click here to listen to our interview with HRAFF artists Ali MC and Rushdi See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Federation Uni Graduating Class of 2017 I’m going to start by saying that my parents saw RENT on Broadway twice during its run from 1996 to 2008 and gushed about it to me as soon as I was old enough to understand. It’s the 11th longest running musical on Broadway when it finished and has won 4 Tony’s, 6 Drama Desk awards and The Pulitzer Prize for Drama. So, as you can tell, goin...

Jack and Ellie chat to Laura Morrisby and Jonathan Reeves from the FedUni Arts Academy Ballarat production of RENT, running until May 6 at the Athenaeum 2 (188 Collins Street). Click here to listen to Ellie's review See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Producer Christian chats to hosts Ellie and Jack about North of Eight's production of Gardner McKay's  Toyer , featuring Faran Martin and Kashmir Sinnamon, which runs until May 13 at the Courthouse Hotel, 86-90 Errol St, North Melbourne. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shining a spotlight on American independent cinema The American Essentials Film Festival, now in its second year, features a range of independent works produced over the last year and timeless American Masterpieces. The Artistic Director, Richard Sowada created a program that captured the essence of American culture. The program features G-Funk, Annie Hall and feature documentaries such as The Bom...

“I myself almost don’t know which season I like best;  I believe all of them equally well” -Van Gogh London 1873 The NGV has done it again.  The NGV has pulled off one of its most ambitious plans for the 2017 collection. The Winter Masterpieces exhibition, which started in 2004, features a beautiful array of Van Gogh pieces; some of which have never been on Australian s...

I often find myself unable to articulate what I feel, think and experienced after seeing a Rabble show, and JOAN was no different, so here’s my best shot at trying to speak about it. JOAN is an experimental theatre production exploring the story of Joan of Arc. It has no plot or story and very little dialogue, and it is made mainly of images inspired primarily from Joan of Arc. A lot of the...

Smithers and Samara chat to CEO and co-founder of CLIMARTE Guy Abrahams about the ART+CLIMATE=CHANGE 2017 festival, now running until May 14. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Part 2 of Samara and Smithers' interview with Rebecca Rosengrave about her debut young adult fantasy novel, Gumtree Gargoyles. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

CONTENT WARNING : Mental illness Part 1 of Samara and Smithers' interview with Rebecca Rosengrave about her debut young adult fantasy novel, Gumtree Gargoyles. Click here for Part 2! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An Intimate look into Brett Whiteley's life and legacy Whiteley uses Brett Whiteley's art and interview archives to take you on a journey into his inner psyche. Within the footage he tells of his relationship with Wendy,  his search for meaning and his push to create art that serves a purpose for the public. His life is summed up with tension and brooding that Brett unsuccessfully attempts to...

Samara and Smithers chat to Olugbade Okunade from the Nigerian afrobeat band Alárìíyá about their debut album launch on Saturday April 29, 7.30pm at The Toff (Level 2 Curtin House, 252 Swanston St) with Headphones Jones. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Smithers reviews Comedy Zone Asia , the Melbourne International Comedy Festival show featuring Jinx Yeo, Neeti Palta, Sumit Anand, Rizal van Geyzel and Douglas Lim that runs until April 23. Click here to listen to Smithers' interview with Douglas ! See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the Mens Interesting look into the expansive Australian male psyche. The show is a number of monologues dedicated to generations of male Australians. It highlights the weird, quirky and uncomfortable experiences felt in our own backyard. Characters included “shirtfront” the jockey addicted to cheesecake, a ex-greyhound racer, a stockbroker stuck between the bliss of the sea-change a...

Cal Wilson's show in the MICF this year is about 'Things I've Never Said', or, all things she's never focused on in her comedy. For Wilson, this means a focus on politics and feminism. Wilson flourishes on the topic, deploying a white hot commentary on sex, gender and equality. Throughout a series of anecdotal pieces which include her prejudice about playing to a room full of male mine workers; wh...

Colossal is a film about monsters, both literal and metaphorical. Written and directed by Nacho Vigalondo, perhaps most famous for his sci-fi dark comedy Timecrimes , it stars Anne Hathaway as Gloria, a young woman with a lot of problems. In an attempt to recharge, she goes back to her home town, which is small, nondescript and somewhere in the Midwest of America. She reconnects with a childhood f...

Raw has got to be one of the best horror films I’ve seen in recent years. It manages to create discomfort not only out of the deeply horrifying but also out of pretty much everything else. Cannibalism becomes as nasty to watch as skin rashes. The first film by Julia Ducournau, it’s grisly and very dark and shows an impressive flair for visceral tension and thematic construction. I was...

Jim, Gill and Smithers interview vocalist and viola player Biddy Connor from the Letter String Quartet, who have an upcoming concert,  Oracle Marker , on Sunday April 23, 6pm at the Hawthorn Arts Centre on 360 Burwood Road. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Smithers chats to Brenton Amies and Cam Ralph the morning after seeing she saw their Melbourne International Comedy Festival show  Everyday Monsters , playing at Tasma Terrace (6 Parliament Place, East Melbourne) until April 22. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nikki Britton is an excitable, full of energy Australian comedian whose show, Romanticide, reflects on her not so excitable love life. Britton reflects in her show on her romantic conquests, experiences and failures, and how they have shaped her as a person. The show is a one hour energised stand up routine in a small crowded room at The Forum, which boasts quite a hot time, as it’s stuffy i...

I grew up watching older British Comedy, so I’ve always had a love for it. Fawlty Towers was of course one of these loves, as well as Monty Python, The Goodies and Benny Hill. I’m shocked that I never heard about Faulty Towers, The Dining Experience until now, but better late than never, I finally went to go. Straight up, and I didn’t even realise until writing this review, the a...

A stunningly beautiful dive into humanity's dark future with cyborg implants and upgrades, skyscraper high advertisements and incredibly frightening half human half machine - cyber terrorists. Ghost in the Shell is effectively a dark futuristic crime thriller that follows the Character of Major, who is an all robot body with the brain of a human being. She’s an elite counter-terrorist workin...

For those who haven’t seen David O’Doherty’s comedy before, like myself, if you decide to see him in action you’ll be greeted by one of the most refreshing examples of comedy in modern day times. O’Doherty blends his own down to earth comedic vibe with music seemingly created on the spot in front of the audience. He covers both the biggest issues that the world faces...