When you can get all the books and information you want on line, what is the purpose today of the spaces in our public libraries? Do we need them? Certainly to sit in the Mitchell Library and reflect on the beautiful and cavernous room whilst listening to an audio performance is one way to use those public spaces! The Quiet Volume is an experience you can have over the next few weeks when you visit the Mitchell Library. You are given an iPod and you sit with another person at a desk and listen to instructions whispered into your headphones - an automatic generated performance. You are directed to read passages from the books in front of you, note the movements and sounds around you, silently acknowledge the person next to you, all the while feeling like a silent imposter in a space where you are meant to concentrate on books and learning. There is a real delight in the immersion of reading the passages and finding you want to read on when you are directed by the voice to go elsewhere. An intimate and slightly disconcerting experience but one that ultimately leaves you feeling refreshed, thoughtful and pleased that these special spaces still exist. $20/$15. 45 minutes.
Enjoy the fabulous views from Georges Head Lookout, Mosman, into the blue expanse of Sydney Harbour. At the same time you will hear the electronic music "Chronometer" by Sir Harrison Birtwhistle (from 1971)! coming out of drains, trees and tunnels. This is not relaxing nor even particularly pleasant music - but its percussive elements somehow work in this unbeatable setting. Settle into the beanbags under the trees, eat a picnic staring out to the water or chase the kids out of the underground tunnels which have a Do Not Enter sign on them clearly tempting the children to race into them and hear the music in an echoed chamber. Free. Drive into Georges Head Lookout and park. Follow the signs to the lookout. On till January 27 dawn to dusk.
Voices from the hijacked spring. The Sabab Theatre of Kuwait brings 6 monologues to the stage which focus on the changes in recent times to the Arab world. Written and directed by Sulayman Al Bassam and performed by Raymond Hosni, Hala Omran and Kym Vercoe, these monologues explore what should be powerful and personal themes in societies which are in civil unrest however the analysis of the issues raised appears very simplistic and patronising. There are moments that are riveting but these disappear as confusion sets in and it is an opportunity missed to hear the real voices of the people living through the turbulent times.
Set in rural Victoria where bushfires have ravaged the landscape for hundreds of years, a local firefighter and father, Tom (Alan Lovell) deals with his troubled 15 year old son Ben (Benjamin Ross). Ben mows the lawns for neighbour Viv (Natassja Djalog) who pays him and tries to befriend him. Ben is repulsed by the old woman whom he thinks is a frumpy simpleton. A steady update between scenes, Tom recounts the years in which bushfires have ravaged the area, the fatalities each time and the buildings destroyed. As a firey, he has insight into the arsonists that start these fires, in his view often young boys craving the attention of male figures in their lives. It is his insight into the unfathomable love of a parent for their child no matter how wrong an action that child can do, that creates a startling fierce and vulnerable moment in this play. The perils of firefighting and parenting - laid bare in 70 minutes. Directed by Zoe Carides as her first major directing production. Original music by John Encarnaco. Straight to the heart writing by Alana Valentine (Parramatta Girls, Run Rabbit Run). Darlinghurst Theatre, Potts Point.
How fabulous to see Belvoir full of kids watching Peter Pan in delight! Ralph Myers' production of JM Barrie's classic is like a sleepover where no one goes to sleep and it is non stop fun! Tommy Murphy has adapted the source texts and as the program notes, has indeed "created a Peter Pan like no other". Yes this is certainly one for the kids but adults will love it too. The set is like being in a friends bedroom with the beds that become ships, crocodiles and hiding spots. Peter Pan is a cool dude with a physicality on stage that makes it seems he really can fly. Captain Hook, the villain no one loves, is a model of an English pirate captain and loving every minute of it! Geraldine Hakewill is a gracious and kind Wendy both as a young girl disappointed Peter won't love her and as a mother who lets her own daughter follow the adventures. A great cast makes this such enjoyable theatre. Paula Arundell, Megan Holloway, Harriet Dyer, John Leary, Jim Bani and Gareth Davies. This is very cool panto. Great costumes from Alice Babidge and music from Stefan Gregory. Tickets $130 for a family package or $65 adults, $45 concession. When and where: Matinees 2pm Saturday and also Wednesday 16 January. Belvoir, Surry Hills
The red and white stripy mischief maker from Dr Seuss is up to no good at the Opera House. The poetry of this book is not brought across so well in this performance and so the magic that you get when you read it seems to have been lost. You will be glad when the wailing Thing 1 and Thing 2 get back into their box! The props are great and look like they have just come straight from the book. It is a very short play.
Purge ruthlessly: As a young plant-hugger I did not heed Vita Sackville-West’s advice that if you don’t like a plant in your garden, “hoik it out.” Perhaps I thought there would always be new garden beds when the old ones overflowed, or lots of gardening friends would appreciate my extras. I certainly didn’t just yank a so-so performer and compost it. But we should all do just that.
Why? No one can afford to tend a bunch of mediocre plants indefinitely. While perennials take at least three years to show their habits and qualities (and woody plants even longer), at some point it is clear that this plant in this location is not a winner. Either you just don’t like it or it does not work because of size, color, whatever. Move it, share it or compost it.
In case you think I’m advocating the whimsical tossing of $11.99 perennials because you don’t care for the shade of pink, I will modify this advice slightly: Location is everything. If it’s a decent plant, try a different location before giving up on it. Ideally, try a new perennial in two or three garden locations, as I once did with Rodgersia. It grew 1 foot tall with puny leaves in good soil in a lightly shaded border, but the one in the soggy bed in deep shade is a lush 3-foot giant. If I’d only planted it in the first spot, I would have hoiked it and never known the plant.
Dividing perennials can be done wrong in two ways. Doing it too early in its life can endanger the plant or set it back severely. Garden center customers often see a pot with a full root system and ask, “Can I divide it?” Usually the answer is, “Not yet.” The plant needs a couple of full seasons to establish its root system and recover from the shock of moving from a pot to the garden.
Later, the common error is not dividing or thinning thoroughly enough. Divide a clump of perennials more severely than your inclination. I have never yet been sorry I took out too much of a spreading ornamental grass or perennial clump. Then give it away – if it’s worthy – or compost it.
A soil improvement plan: This mental exercise of evaluating, thinning and dividing garden plants has left you with blank spaces – opportunities for new plants! But first, it is time for soil homework.
Almost nobody has naturally deep, rich topsoil, or ideal planting mix, unless you have had the luxury of professionally prepared beds. So you must amend the soil every spring – and every time you move plants or add new ones. Put organic matter, usually in the form of compost, under, next to or on top of all the plant’s roots.
First, choose your sources. For most gardeners, catalogs are not necessary or your best. In remote villages in Iowa, sure; you can’t find a garden center with more than 30 varieties. Plant collectors and specialists, sure; you do need the catalog to find a particular Orienpet, Arisaema or daylily.
But in Western New York we have garden centers and nurseries with CNLPs and educated professionals, who spend the winter choosing, growing or tending superior plants for this region. Tell them what you want.
Second, species and cultivars: Native plants and some tried-and-true species are often the best for many reasons. Every new cultivar is not a true improvement. Yet, for a bang-up flower garden, many cultivars are indeed better and longer performers. So it is not easy to choose plants for those blank spots in the garden.
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