Grace Jones at Vivid
They don’t come much more iconic than singer-songwriter Grace Jones, who will perform at Carriageworks as part of the Modulations program for Vivid Sydney. The bill also includes jazz saxophonist Pharoah Sanders, a talk by provocative KLF member Bill Drummond, a Kooky Motorik Pelvis dance party that combines all kinds of fun and a one-stop food extravaganza put on by Sydney restaurateurs Icebergs Dining Room, Bar Da Orazio Pizza + Porchetta, Fratelli Paradiso and 10williamst.
Modulations, Carriageworks, Sydney, 31 May and 1 June
Bindjareb Pinjarra
For the Nyoongar people, the October 1834 battle of Pinjarra was the massacre of an entire community. Up to 150 Indigenous people were killed in a violent clash between local people and mounted police. While their story was not recorded in the history books, in 1994 theatre collective Pinjarra Project created Bindjareb Pinjarra, as an oral retelling of this shared history. No two performances are the same, each reshaped with audience input and moulded to their interpretation of events. On the 21st anniversary of its first performance, the play will be remounted at the Sydney Opera House, featuring one of the original creators, actor Kelton Pell
Bindjareb Pinjarra, Sydney Opera House, 27 and 28 June
Emerging Writers festival
Navigating the path to publication is more manageable with practical advice, something which will be in steady supply at this year’s Emerging Writers festival in Melbourne. The burgeoning program is filled with masterclasses, events and readings, including unconventional paths to the writing life, writing as therapy, a glimpse inside publishing house Hachette Australia, and a day in the writing life of author John Marsden. Pens at the ready.
Emerging writers festival, Deakin Edge, Federation Square, Melbourne, 26 May to 5 June
Tom Thum and the QSO
Classical goes head to head with hip-hop in an exciting collaboration between Tom Thum and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Composer Gordon Hamilton approached the talented beatboxer with the idea of combining jazz, hip-hop and an “off-the-wall” Rite of Spring. The performances are part of four-concert program QSOCurrent, which brings together modern sounds, technology and talent with the classical heritage of Queensland’s orchestra. Let the mash-up begin.
Thum Prints: A concerto contradiction for beatbox and orchestra, Powerhouse Theatre, Brisbane, 16 May
Médée in Fremantle
As a former asylum and women’s home, the Fremantle Art Centre is a pertinent venue for the staging of the Greek tragedy Medea. Perth opera company Lost and Found are remounting French composer Darius Milhaud’s 1938 opera Médée, which chronicles the final stages of Medea’s madness as she journeys from the torment of infidelity to her final murderous conclusion.
Médée, Fremantle Art Centre, 13 to 24 May
