Art Smitten

Come Away with Me to the End of the World by Ranters theatre was a series of conversations between nameless characters on stage. The actors seemed to be playing nobody or themselves - they talked of seemingly random things like their trip to Japan or the Italian dance classes they were taking, or meeting someone while going for a morning jog. Some of these conversations were mundane or even boring...

Our Kind of Traitor may well be the least confusing film adaptation of a John le Carré novel that we are ever going to see. If you enjoy political thrillers but don't exactly the have the head for real, convoluted espionage, Susanna White's film is sure to be the thing for you. Unlike the rather cold and brittle Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy , this story of a man about to inform on the Russian...

This season Art Smitten asked each guest to contribute a sentence to an ongoing story. Guests were only read the previous contributed line of the story. The end product was read aloud by producer Lauren on the last show of season 1, Sunday April 10th.  STARTING SENTENCE: Sarah didn't know what to expect when she walked in... Gemma Flack : She glanced around the room and noticed a strange...

Inspired by The Wheeler Centre's event, the  Gala Night of Storytelling: The Booked That Changed Me ,  hosts Andrew and Ebony, and producer Lauren, discussed the books that influenced them. Ebony: 'Men Who Explain Things to Me' by Rebecca Solnit Andrew: 'Jasper Jones' by Craig Silvey Lauren: 'The Witches' by Roald Dahl  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts Will & Ben (not the flowerpot men) chat to the comedic duo behind  YETI’S: Demon Dive Bar  - Jennifer Byrne and Vicky Falconer-Pritchard. YETI’S: Demon Dive Bar  is being performed at The Roxanne until April 17th as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts Will and Ben were joined in the studio with Melbourne International Comedy Festival Moosehead Award recipient, Kate Denhert. Her new show  SHABAMALAM  is on until April 17th at the ACMI Games Room.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts Rebecca and Jonathan are joined in the studio with award-winning Gaulier –trained sketch, clown, and dance comedian, Tessa Waters. Tessa returns to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with her new show Over Promises . See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dramaturg Tom Middletitch chatted to hosts Katie and Rebecca about  Genius , an immersive encounter with 8 unique thinkers and their perspective on the topic of their expertise. Tom explains what ideas lie behind the concept of neurodiversity, and how important it is for people to see life through an alternative lens.  Genius  is part of the Festival of Live Arts, and is being perfo...

Ebony MonCrief, the producer and host of  VOICES IN THE ATTIC   spoke to host Emma about how she discovered spoken word performance, and how it let to hear setting up an open genre mic night in the heart of Melbourne's CBD. Ebony even performed one of her original poems! VOICES IN THE ATTIC  - is held at Ferdydurke every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at 7pm NEW EVENT LAUNCH -&nbs...

Emma is fascinated with the haunting Australian story  Picnic at Hanging Rock , originally a book published in 1967 by Joan Lindsay.  She had the opportunity to speak to Tom Wright, the playwright of Malthouse Theatre’s production of Picnic at Hanging Rock , and to visit the Macedon Ranges, the home of Picnic at Hanging Rock, to experience where the mystery all began.  Pi...

Melbourne/UK artist, illustrator and zine maker  Gemma Flack joins hosts Christian and Michaela to discuss her solo exhbition  Angry Girls Club , which is currently exhibiting at Off the Kerb Gallery in Collingwood. (5-19th February) Gemma unpacks her ideas of the importance of santuary, freedom of expresion, and how she tries to approach life with "the zine spirit".  See...

Hosts Will and Beth discuss the recent announcement of the $152 million in new funds from the Victorian government's 2016-2017 Budget to support Victoria's creative and cultural sectors. How will these funds be allocated across the sector? What does this mean for arts funding in other states? See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

No cultural phenomenon is too low brow for Art Smitten. Hosts Beth and Will are joined by producer Lauren to discuss their experiences at Cat Cafes.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts Beth and Will were joined in the studio with  SIMON ABRAHAMS , CEO of Melbourne Fringe . Simon spoke about a new initiative to reach out to culturally diverse artists ahead of the opening for registrations for this year’s Fringe.  Melbourne Fringe applications are open from Monday 4 April – Monday 23 May . The Fringe will take place in Melbourne from 15 September &...

Super low-budget and full of charm, the Melbourne-made film  Pawno , released in 2015 at the Melbourne International Film Festival to sell-out crowds, is the first feature from director John Ireland and scriptwriter Damian Hill, who also stars in the film. Pawno  takes place over one whole day, and is largely centred around a Footscray pawn shop, referenced in the title. The shop is inha...

Hosts Christian and Andrew were joined in the studio with cast members Paul Knox, Hannah Vanderheide and producer Jorge Tsipos from Unnatural Selection Entertainment’s latest production – PURGATORIO .  PURGATORIO  is playing at the Brunswick Mechanics Institute, 13 th -16 th & 20 th – 23 rd April at 7.30pm.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informat...

Curator of the Next Gen program, THOMAS CALDWELL joined hosts Beth and Talisse on the line to talk about the Next Gen program and where it fits within the Melbourne International Film Festival.  Next Gen and the Melbourne International Film Festival runs 28 th July – 14 th August. Photo: Still from Next Gen feature film -  The Magic Brush See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...

Hosts Beth and Talisse were joined in the studio with SCOTT HOLLINGSWORTH & JOSHUA FIELDING from Performance Management - In Cabaret . Scott shares how  Performance Management - In Cabaret  captures the truth that the everyday office is madder than the circus!  Performance Management - In Cabaret is being performed at the Wonderland Spiegeltent, 101 Waterfront Way, Doc...

Hosts Beth and Talisse were joined on the phone with GABI BARTON from Retro Futurismus - a colossal future-focussed vaudeville featuring zero gravity circus acts, siren songs, boutique burlesque, and breathtaking performance art.  Retro Futurismus is being performed at fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane Melbourne from the 6 th to 31 st July. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy inf...

Talisse gave a live review of The Wheeler Centre’s election one-night special event - Stand Up...and be Counted .  Comedians at the event included: Toby Halligan (MC), Denise Scott, Zoe Coombs-Marr, Sammy J, Aamer Rahman, Mathew Kenneally, Claire Hooper, and Gerard McCulloch.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts Beth and Talisse were joined in the studio with Producer Lauren to discuss female body modification/body art. Has it become more socially acceptable? Or is there still a stigma associated with the practice?  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Albert Einstein is the latest scientific genius to have lured a scriptwriter into the trap of biography. Jess Newman was clearly intrigued by the mind of the famous theoretical physicist when she started to write the sung-through musical Einstein: Master of the Universe . Watching it, you can feel her yearning to see the world as he saw it, if even for a moment, and to understand what he saw. Her...

On Thursday the 23rd of June, I went to see Melbourne Playback perform 'On Ours Shores' at the Footscray Arts Centre. The troupe are a many things, or rather, become many different things over the course of one night, being one of Melbourne's leading improvisation theatre companies. The team consists of actors, organisers and musicians, with the roles interchangeable between the variously skilled...

Dancenorth Artistic Director, KYLE PAGE, joined hosts Michaela and Erin on the line to talk about the Melbourne premiere of IF_WAS – a double bill choreographed by Stephanie Lake & Ross McCormack.  IF_WAS will be performed at The Substation, 1 Market Street Newport, Melbourne, from the 29 th June to 2 nd July. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hosts Erin and Michaela were joined on the mics with Producer Lauren to share stories about their parents (trying) to use technology.  See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.