Director of the Castlemaine Documentary Film Festival Claire Jager introduces their program of online films; writer/director Emma Muir-Smith chats about the MSO’s ‘Performance of a Lifetime’ campaign addressing vaccination hesitancy in the community; and Linda Thompson, Artistic Director of the Australian Contemporary Opera talks about their latest production, ‘The Enchanted Pig’. With presenter Richard Watts.  

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Castlemaine Documentary Film Festival, Performance of a Lifetime and The Enchanted Pig

Kyran Whealey, co-owner of Comedy Republic chats about the challenges of opening a comedy venue during a pandemic; David Freyne, director of ‘Dating Amber’ discusses his romance comedy film set in 90’s Ireland; and Briony Dunn, director of Iron Lung Theatre’s production of ‘When The Rain Stops Falling’ talks about their upcoming season at Theatreworks. With presenter Richard Watts. 

Comedy Republic, Dating Amber and When the Rain Stops Falling

Tai Snaith returns for another Art Attack, reviewing the 135-hectare Point Leo Estate Sculpture Park; Elisa Armstrong, co-artistic director of Heartstring Theatre talks about ‘Still’ at fortyfivedownstairs; and Will and Garrett Huxley introduce ‘The Huxleys Places of Worship’, opening at the Centre for Contemporary Photography. With presenter Richard Watts.   

Pt Leo Sculpture Park, Still and The Huxleys Places of Worship

Sharmini Kumar, writer and assistant director of ‘The Regina Monologues’ chats about their upcoming performances at the Meat Market Stables; director Mike Finch and performer Emily Zoe introduce the National Institute of Circus Arts’ latest student-devised piece, ‘Cirkus Plan 47 (b)’; actor Jess Clarke talks about ‘Iphigenia in Splott’, a one woman show at Red Stitch Actors' Theatre; and Louise Klerks, co-curator of visual arts exhibition ‘Papier Mache’ at Missing Persons discusses reimagining the French art form. With presenter Richard Watts. 

The Regina Monologues, Cirkus Plan 47(b), Iphigenia in Splott and Papier Mache

Graphic artist Safdar Ahmed talks about his novel ‘Still Alive: Notes from Australia’s Immigration Detention System’ which collates almost a decade of stories involving the Villawood Immigration Detention Centre; Nat Randall, co-creator of ‘Set Piece’ for RISING festival talks about their genre bending performance exploring intergenerational desire; and playwright Michel Paul Tuomy chats about ‘Little Brother, Big Sister’ at La Mama, a theatre piece exploring familial ties inspired by his own lived experience of schizophrenia. With presenter Richard Watts.

Still Alive, Set Piece and Little Brother, Big Sister

Artist Rosie Weiss joins Richard Watts to talk about ‘Do You Still Love Me (asked the earth)’, a solo exhibition utilising charred plant fragments for Silver Leaf Art Box.Yumi Umiumare, Artistic Director of ButohOUT! 2021, a festival inspired by the Japanese dance theatre artform, introduces ‘Odd Hours’, part of the festival’s exploration of ‘abnormality’ at Abbotsford Convent.Finally, Back to Back Theatre’s Executive Producer Tim Stitz and ensemble member Sarah Mainwaring discuss the company’s upcoming retrospective season, part of this year’s RISING festival. 

Do You Still Love Me, ButohOUT! and Back to Back Theatre

Bruce Beresford, legendary screen director, talks about directing Melbourne Opera’s production of ‘Macbeth’ which will be broadcast live using VR technology; Internationally acclaimed performer Meow Meow discusses ‘Meow Meow’s Pandemonium’, her latest collaboration with the MSO; and Roshelle Fong and Keziah Warner, co-creators of ‘Poona’ talk about their new work for Next Wave 2020, based on the controversial book, ‘Pauline Hanson: The Truth’.  With presenter Richard Watts. 

Macbeth, Meow Meow and Poona

Richard Watts is joined by comic book lover Bernard Caleo for this month’s Drawn Out segment, discussing Declan Shelvey’s Bog Bodies and Savage Town, two Irish graphic novels transforming the crime fiction genre, and Scribe Publications’ Two-Week Wait, a sensitive portrayal of the IVF process.Curator Dr Angela Hesson talks about NGV Australia’s latest exhibition, ‘She-oak and Sunlight’, featuring the nation’s largest collection of Australian impressionist pieces with a particular focus on the work of women in the movement.Finally, Wiradjuri man and choreographer Joel Bray introduces ‘Considerable Sexual Licence’, a participatory dance piece exploring sensuality down-under for Yirramboi 2021 and writer Helen Begley and performer Penny Larkins chat about ‘Voyage’, a new Australian musical blending folk music with the stories of Australia’s first female settlers. 

Drawn Out, She-oak and Sunlight, Considerable Sexual Licence and Voyage

Richard Watts is joined by Tai Snaith for their regular ‘Art Attack’ segment, discussing in depth Bus Projects’ ‘Notions of Care’, a multidisciplinary visual arts exhibition located in the newly completed Collingwood Yards space.  Actor Kristen Smyth talks about ‘The Gospel According to Jesus, Queen of Heaven’, playing at Theatre Works as part of Midsumma 2021. The solo performance reimagines the rituals of Christianity through a transgender lens. Finally, Hayden Tonazzi, director of Rock Bottom Productions, chats about ‘This Genuine Moment’, which after a sellout season in Sydney, will come to La Mama Courthouse as part of Midsumma 2021. 

Notions of Care and more Midsumma picks

This week Richard Watts is joined by co-curators Amy Forbes and Caitlin Mullaly of Veils of Cirrus introduce ‘Negative Capability’, an immersive, tactile exploration based on John Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale.Award winning playwright Yve Blake chats about the Melbourne debut of ‘Fangirls’ at Arts Centre Melbourne. Inspired by interviews with teenage fangirls, this musical celebrates generations of passionate fan culture.Finally, playwright Joanna Murray-Smith talks about ‘Berlin’, an MTC NEXT STAGE commission blending history and seduction into a taut romantic thriller. 

Negative Capability, Fangirls and Berlin

This week on SmartArts, Theatre-maker Mark Salvestro joins Richard to discuss ‘The Will to Be’, an award-winning solo show running at La Mama as part of Midsumma 2021. The piece blends Shakespearean language and Australian history to explore societal attitudes towards homosexuality in the 1960s.Artistic Director of Circa Yaron Lifschitz introduces the company’s latest performance, ‘Shawn the Sheep’s Circus Show’ produced in collaboration with UK animation studio Aardman.Finally, artist Kyoko Imazu talks about ‘Mayflies and Stars’, a visual arts exhibition at ArtSpace in Ringwood. Created during last year’s lockdown, the display draws attention to the tiny creatures who share the world with us through intricate paper cuts and shadow puppetry.

The Will to Be, Shawn the Sheep’s Circus Show and Mayflies and Stars

Musicians and visual artists Kim Salmon and Stu Thomas talk about their first-ever joint surrealist exhibition at the One Star Gallery; Karen Bryant, CEO of Midsumma, talks about this year’s program of events, set to run later in the year than usual; and Jamie Bretman, co-director and founder of circus company Dummies Corp chats about ‘Dumtectives’, a film-noir inspired circus piece for Melbourne International Comedy Festival. With presenter Richard Watts. 

The Surrealists’ Exhibition, Midsumma and Dumtectives

Boonwurrung and Wemba Wemba woman and Creative Director of Yirramboi Festival Caroline Martin discusses the festival’s 2021 program; Ukrainian-Australian Artist Stanislava Pinchuk talks about 'Terra Data', a museum survey of over 5 years of work mapping the Ukrainian civil war; and co-artistic director of RISING Hannah Fox chats about the launch of the brand new Melbourne arts festival, beginning on the evening of the total lunar eclipse in May. With presenter Richard Watts.

Yirramboi, Terra Data and RISING

Comedian and Triple R ‘Breakfasters’ regular Nat Harris joins Richard Watts to talk about her new show with co-creator Hannah Camilleri, ‘Pét-Nat + Han ah Chocolat’, playing as part of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.Actors Khisraw Jones-Shukoor and Keegan Joyce talk about 'Because the Night', the Malthouse Theatre’s immersive take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Set in the world of Elsinore, the piece allows audiences to choose their path through the story by journeying through different rooms and interacting with different perspectives.Finally, artist and entrepreneur Andrea Lane discusses 'School for UnTourists', the latest venture by FLOAT project, a floating arts residency on Lake Tyres, Gippsland.

Pét Nat, Because the Night and School for UnTourists

Resident comic book artist Bernard Caleo returns to the studio for the first time since lockdown with this month’s Drawn Out, discussing Zach Snyder’s ‘Justice League’ cut, Taiyo Matsumoto’s ‘Ping Pong’ as well as Safdar Ahmed’s ‘Still Alive’, which Bernard helped publish. Drawn from the stories of refugees detained in the Villawood Immigration Detention centre, ‘Still Alive’ is based on the Walkley-award winning webcomic ‘Villawood: Notes from an immigration detention centre’.Dancer and former lawyer Rhys Ryan chats about 'Bodylex', a dance work exploring how our bodies navigate the laws and regulations imposed on them. Blending legal theory and choreography, this new work for three dancers will premiere at Dancehouse.Multidisciplinary artist Candy Bowers talks about 'TAKE BACK!', a co-production between MAV and Darebin FUSE festival featuring a team of female and gender-diverse artists of colour both onstage and behind the scenes. Including both live performances and digital content, the performance explores and challenges the racialized gaze.Finally, MTC CEO Brett Sheehy announces the company’s Act 2 program playing during the second half of this year: ‘The Lifespan of a Fact’, a comic Broadway turn on the nature of truth, ‘The Truth’, a dark comedy on marital troubles, ‘Sunday’, the story of Heide Museum of Modern Art founder Sunday Reed, ‘Jacky’, Green Room Award Winner Declan Furber Gillick’s MTC debut, ‘Cyrano’, a gender-flipped adaptation of the Edmond Rostand classic, and ‘As You Like It’, which reunites the creative team behind MTC hit ‘Twelfth Night’.

Bodylex, Take Back and MTC's Act 2

Visual art, theatre, film and literature. Segments include: - 'Art Attack' - fortnightly visual arts reviews with Ace Wagstaff and Tai Snaith. - 'Shoot the Messenger' - fortnightly theatre news & reviews with Fleur Kilpatrick. - 'Drawn Out' - monthly chat about comic books and graphic novels with Bernard Caleo. Please email talks@rrr.org.au for all interview requests. About the Presenter Richard Watts has many years experience working in the arts industry, including five years as the Artistic Director of the youth arts organisation Express Media, seven years on the Board of Melbourne Fringe (including three years as Chair), and six years on the Committee of Management at La Mama Theatre, where he currently serves as Chair. Richard has helped program a range of festivals including Next Wave, the National Young Writers' Festival, the Melbourne Queer Film Festival and the Emerging Writers' Festival (which he founded) and he has written for various broadsheets, journals, zines and magazines. Currently he pays the rent by working as the Performing Arts Editor at www.artshub.com.au. In his spare time he watches old Doctor Who episodes. The intro and outro theme is Soft Illusion and was generously provided by Andras. https://andras.bandcamp.com/track/soft-illusion

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