Reasons to Leave the House Even If It's Winter

An Eclectic Selection of Goings-On and Happenings Kaurna Yerta / Adelaide

Jun 30, 2024

Hello friends

Welcome to Sunday Night In, my monthly eclectic selection of literary and theatre goings-on and happenings in Kaurna Yerta / Adelaide and surrounds. This month we’ve got two especially excellent professional development opportunities for artists; some theatre to entice you out of the house even on these cold evenings; and.

A most warm welcome to new subscribers. The form and format of Sunday Night In is still evolving, but it’s primarily focused on books and performance, but sometimes strays into other storytelling or narrative events. I focus on local artists, but also opportunities for local audiences.

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And now, let’s get on with the show …

Featured Events

This is an excellent initiative and opportunity for skills development by Australian Plays Transform: Developing the Dramaturg a one-year program designed for emerging and early-career South Australian dramaturgs from diverse backgrounds. It offers a comprehensive program of training, support and mentoring with a dramaturgy placement in some great organisations such as ActNow, Brink, State Theatre Company and Windmill. What a wonderful way to provide individuals with some strong professional development while also strengthening the entire local sector.

One of the most exciting recent developments in our literary scene is the launch of the new literary journal Splinter published by Writers SA with support from Flinders University, The University of Adelaide, UniSA and Arts South Australia. Submissions for the inaugural issue are now invited. Spread the word!

Books and Authors and Readings

On this week is a double book launch at the Flinders University Museum of Art (FUMA). If You Don’t Fight…You Lose: Politics and Posters and PAM is part of the FUMA’s artist-in-residency program featuring the prints and posters of the Progressive Art Movement (PAM) and is launched alongside Personal Politics: Sexuality, Gender and the Remaking of Citizenship in Australia. Get along for a nostalgia hit, and also as a reminder that Mary Oliver’s words still ring true: “to pay attention / this is our endless and proper work.”

I’m intrigued to read ARCANUM: Tales of Myths, Mysteries and Mishaps an anthology of 13 stories from Flinders University’s 2022 creative writing graduating class. Published in collaboration with local publisher Glimmer Press, each story is inspired by a randomly drawn card from the Tarot pack. It will be launched this week in our city’s most beautiful bookstore, the Regent Arcade Dymocks. The launch is free to attend but register here.

Dymocks are also hosting an in-conversation event with thriller writer Michael Robotham down the road at the Mercury Cinema. Tickets here.

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Theatre and Performance

Bluesky Theatre is a wonderful local company perhaps best known for presenting theatre in beautiful gardens in collaboration with Open Gardens SA each summer. But early this August they’ll be heading indoors to the Marion Cultural Centre to present Di and Viv and Rose starring Kate Anolak, Nicole Rutty and Allison Scharber. From the website: “three best friends take us back to when they first met in the 80s … the women retell their stories in a wise and witty look at friendship’s impact on life and life’s impact on friendship.” Definitely near to my heart, and I’ll be getting along to see it.

The University of Adelaide Theatre Guild continue with their busy season, with the student society’s production of The Haunting of Hill House opening this week and King Lear in August. My love of spooky house stories stems back from teenage years when I read and re-read Rebecca and other classics and The Haunting of Hill House sounds suitably spooky. A group of guests invited to stay at the isolated mansion which has been uninhabited for years and come to realise that one of them is in danger. I really do love the Little Theatre at Adelaide Uni and you could walk through the cloisters before the performance to give yourself an atmospheric warm-up. Tickets here. More on King Lear next time, but you can give the team a thrill by booking early here.

While you’re booking tickets in advance, Danielle Lim is making a one-night-only return to the Goodwood Theatre and Studios with her show Caught in Between. I saw this during the Adelaide Fringe this year, and thought it was outstanding. Danielle explores “the possibility of existing within two worlds at once and what it means to be a migrant.” It’s a dynamic and beautiful performance incorporating some fabulous video projections and soundscapes.

Still at Goodwood Theatre and Studios, this month you can see: Famous Last Word’s production of Red Sky Morning “a beautiful Australian play, exploring love, loss, and the resilience of the human spirit” which includes a free post show Q&A early in the season; Josh Belperio’s fundraising concert Songs for Crossing the Sea before they take off to New York City to study the Graduate Musical Theatre Writing Program at Tisch School of the Arts; and several excellent youth theatre productions.

Over at the Flinders University theatre you can see Starweaver by Jamie Hornsby and Ellen Graham and directed by Shannon Rush. The season has already started, but still has a week to go. “Crafted with a cutting-edge blend of CGI and gaming technology, Starweaver promises to be an urgent and unforgettable science-fiction epic.” This is part of the State Theatre Company’s Stateside program and is presented by one of our newest companies, Madness of Two who are already making their mark.

Also at Flinders, Hannah Smith is directing the mid-year honours production of WH*RE. From the website: “Young, fearless, and full of wanderlust, Sara meets Tim, and her life takes an unexpected turn.” (I’d also note it comes with a bunch of content warnings including strong language and mature themes, all of them detailed on the website). Great value with tickets between $10 and $20.

Deadset Theatre Company’s wonderfully titled, Nothing But The Servo opens at The Mill in a few weeks. From the website: “A stolen car, a petrol station, a gun and a piggy bank…follows Jade, Jett and Toby on the night of Gunner’s return. In the next 24 hours, their lives turn upside down…again.” Book here for a (free!) work-in-progress showing of Vitalstatistix’ Acting in Good Faith a conversational performance work by Sarah Rodigari that questions the labour of faith in power and art.

It wouldn’t be South Australia if we didn’t have some kind of festival going on and this month it’s the Glenelg Winter Festival, where fringe venue Gluttony pops up down at Glenelg. (I reckon the tents will be easier to heat in July than they are to cool in March). The full program is here, and my picks for great local acts would be Lori Bell’s Granny Flaps—Hot Off the Chest; the teaching inspired cabaret ExtraCurricular and Mim Sarre’s Friendly Feminism.

Workshops, Residencies and Other Opportunities

The new season of Writers SA workshops has just been launched, and if you’ve got any interest in writing for children, I suggest you hop on and book Tea & Top Tips with Andy Griffiths toot sweet. There’s also the usual excellent range including the Teen Writers Club, Observation and Voice in Fiction, Contemporary YA, Historical Fiction and Fantasy.

Looking through the program, one of the stand-out offerings is the latest in Writers SA’s next draft series. If you’re a writer who has a finished or almost-finished draft but feeling like there’s “something missing” you need The Next Draft with Laurel Cohn. It includes eight fortnightly group meetings, access to workshops, an in-depth consultation, a critical reading of parts of your draft and more. Laurel is an experienced developmental editor who will help you dig further into your work and get yourself a concrete finished draft. Read more about the program including application details on the Writers SA website.

Still on Writers SA, they host a weekly session of quiet writing time. Held in the Institute Building, the sessions are open to all WSA members, you just need to register to attend your first session. The sessions are structured around the pomodoro technique and perfect if you need a bit of help to get some structure in your writing life.

The Gawler Adelaide Plains Festival of Words is a great example of local and regional success stories. Now in its 10^th year, the festival features a full weekend program with a solid mix of readings and workshops. You can see the full program here.

Country Arts SA’s August round of project grants opens this week kicking of with an online information session to answer application questions.

The Grindells Hut residency is also managed by Country Arts SA. A stunning opportunity if you’re a South Australian artist and you think time at this hut in the in the heart of the Vulkathunha – Gammon Ranges National Park in the Northern Flinders Ranges.

Poetry and creative writing entries are welcome from writers with a lived experience of mental health challenges for the 2024 mindshare awards. Details including entry deadlines are available on the mindshare website.

And Just Quickly

The winner of the Deep Creek Residency Fellowship was announced by Writers SA and Matilda Bookshop. Congratulations to Rebecca Burton, in what was an extremely strong shortlist.

More winners, this time the finalists of the Ern Malley Miki prize. Congratulations to Tom Gurn, Kristian Olesen and Emily Wilson who will all be reading their pieces at the Ern Malley bar this week when the winner will be announced.

Don’t forget the wonderful Winter Words program highlighted in the last issue.

Advance notice for High presented by No Strings Attached Theatre of Disability. High “explores the extraordinary journey of Rachel High—the first person with Down Syndrome in Australia to graduate from university.” More on this brilliant production in the next issue.

There are still tickets available for Matilda Bookshop’s October Meet the Author with Tim Winton.

The Arts Industry Council of South Australia elected a new Executive Committee at their recent AGM. You can read more about their important advocacy work and how you can support them here.

Draw Your Swords have a spoken word event to accompany the visual arts show ‘Youth’ at Praxis; and No Wave continue their monthly poetry at The Wheaty.

The End of This Issue of Sunday Night In

Remember, if you think you know someone who might enjoy Sunday Night In: An Eclectic Selection of Happenings and Goings-On please do share this with them and encourage them to subscribe.

Talk soon

Tracy xx