With 10 days to go until Wollongong’s inaugural Anywhere Theatre Festival now is the time to start planning your calendar around it.
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From August 17 to 27 the city and surrounds will be transformed with dozens of different shows across an array of venues from the Arts Precinct to cafe’s to street performances and even someone’s backyard.
The shows range from family friendly daytime events, comedy acts, burlesque, cabaret and a magic show.
For tickets visit: www.anywheretheatre.com
Here is everything you need to know...
FOR FAMILIES
Theatre Visage
Phoenix Theatre performers will be roaming around the Crown Street Mall from August 17 to 27.
The street based dance movement uses masquerade techniques and Comedia Nouveau to excite the senses and raise the spirits.
Free.
The Laughter House
Find this daytime program inside the La Petite Grande tent set-up on the grassy area at the Arts Precinct, next to the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre.
Over Saturday August 26 and Sunday August 27 the tent will host circus, theatre, live music, drama workshops and food from 12 to 6pm.
Entry to the hub at the Arts Precinct is free and short performances are $5.
A Muggle Goes to Hogwarts
Magician Liam Power somehow finds himself in Hogwarts and has to learn old fashioned magic to pass his classes.
Power attempts to reproduce real wizard-style magic live on stage.
Meanwhile, you don’t need to know anything about Harry Potter to enjoy the show.
La Petite Grande in the Arts Precinct, August 25 – 27, 5pm. Tickets $15 – $20.
Circus Monoxide’s BUILT!
BUILT! is the newest show for the Fairy Meadow circus with acrobatics, aerialists, jugglers and some humourists.
A boisterous and energetic one-hour show that signals the company’s return to the professional stage.
Circus Monoxide Training Space, 3 Princes Highway, Fairy Meadow, August 19 and 26 7:30pm; August 27 3pm. Tickets $20-$25.
WHSPA Presents
Presented by Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts (WHSPA)
The drama students present an hour and a half of enthralling, engaging and energetic performances.
Wollongong Youth Services, 85 Burelli Street in Wollongong, August 19, 7pm. Tickets $10.
COMEDY
He Said She Said
There’s always two sides to every story – two comedians discuss their version of events of one story.
Great comedy couples from romantic partners, siblings, business partners, father and daughter.
The Stane Manor, 10 Porter Street in North Wollongong, August 18 and 19, 8:30pm. Tickets $29.
WomanGong Comedy
The funniest women of the Illawarra take to the stage at Cafe du Rude in the Arts Precinct.
It follows from their sold-out debut show celebrating International Women’s Day at Jane’s Bar.
Cafe du Rude in the Arts Precinct, August 24 to 26, 6:30pm. Tickets $20.
Death of a Ladies’ Man
RAW Comedy finalist in 2016, Joseph Green is bringing his stand-up comedy to Wollongong.
Cafe due Rude in the Arts Precinct, August 26, 8pm. Tickets $20-$25.
Kiki Bittovabitsch – Euro Trash
It’s a smack you in the face interactive comedy involving stand-up and physical comedy.
Le Petite Grande in the Arts Precinct, August 24-26, 7pm. Tickets $25.
THEATRE
First Draft, The Spark, Wet Wheat Bags
Three plays about fire presented by the Eaton Gorge Theatre Company families will enjoy.
Each have an underlying message of how fire affects the Illawarra from remembering the great fire from 1968, to adhering to fire-bans to what a small spark can cause.
Mount Keira Scout Camp, August 19. Performances at 10:30am, 11:15am, 1pm.
Free.
Albert & Jameson: A Play With Vampires
Join the world’s worst immortals, vampires Albert and Jameson, as they struggle to deal with the afterlife’s three big E’s – eternity, enraged peasants and each other.
Wesley Church, 116 Crown Street in Wollongong, August 24 -26, 7:30pm. Tickets $20-$25.
Elsie and The Bird
Elsie is a psycho. She controls her world through her own fabulously unhinged internal logic, until she buys a bird.
An evening of magic-realism, serial circus, live music, sumptuous acrobatics and eccentric characters.
Circus Monoxide Training Space, 3 Princes Highway in Fairy Meadow, August 18, 8pm. Tickets $25, for mature audiences.
The Dapper One
A waiter who has served at the best restaurants in Europe finds himself at the end of his career in a small cafe in Wollongong. He looks over his life and what brought him to where he is.
Presented by the Phoenix Theatre, with performances including a set meal.
Ziggy’s House of Nomms, 3/163 Keira Street in Wollongong, August 17-19 and 23-26, 9:30pm. Tickets $35 (including meal).
The World Is Strange
A collection of short, devised scenes presented by young performers.
There are shadow performances about the holocaust, absurdist duologues about workplace relationships, reactionary scenes about the rise of the media and comedic commentary about the general state of the individual.
Wesley Church Auditorium, 116 Crown Street in Wollongong, August 18, 7pm. Tickets $15.
The Glass System
The year is 2030 and nothing much has changed in Australia. Although people live on Mars and the government’s bad decisions lead to a worldwide declaration of war.
Sci-fi sketch comedy play about existentialism, the future and Tasty Toobs.
Wollongong Art Gallery, August 18-19, 7:30pm. Tickets $10-$15.
Stapled Fingers & Other Disasters
A drama/comedy full of family, love and wisdom about grief and coping with loss, moving forward and being able to laugh again. Audience participation is encouraged.
The Little Prince, Globe Lane in Wollongong, August 17-19, 7pm. Tickets $20.
The Three Paths
An intersection of the past, present and future.
The Three Paths is a new original work by all-female contemporary performers The Adelphi Experiment inspired by Hecate, an ancient Greek Goddess.
Lower Town Hall, 34 Burelli Street in Wollongong, August 24-26 7:30pm; August 27 4pm. Tickets $13-$23.
Believe It Of Not!
Wollongong Playback Theatre is an improvisation group which interpret stories told by audience members.
Performances can be hysterical or deeply moving, or both.
Wesley Church Auditorium, 116 Crown Street in Wollongong, August 27, 3pm. Tickets $10-$15.
CABARET
Oh My Gosh it’s Burlesque
No two shows are alike. Join a bevy of performers for a glitter filled night and quirky circus shenanigans.
Hey Day (Upstairs), 27 Crown Street in Wollongong, August 17-19 and 24-16, 8:30pm. Tickets $35.
The Kiama Kabaret
Kiki and Pascal have a wild night of comedy, burlesque and circus up their sleeves.
Let Petite Grande in the Arts Precinct, August 24-26, 8:15pm. Tickets $30 (contains nudity).
Con Voci
Catch a Capella action with this Wollongong-based chamber choir, their repertoire ranging from the Renaissance to the present.
Wollongong Art Gallery, August 20, 5pm. Various ticketing prices.
The Petite Crazy Rouge
Capturing the essence of the Paris Theatre scene in all its glamour and cheek with showgirls, vocalists and speciality acts.
Le Petite Grande in the Arts Precinct, August 25-26, 9:45pm. Tickets $40.
Hot Bod 65
Vocal dance performance and demonstration celebrating the beauty of moving and giving voice.
Some chairs available for those who can’t sit on the floor. BYO yoga mat, cushion or portable seat if desired.
Wollongong Yoga Centre, 18 Kenny Street in Wollongong. August 17, 19 and 20 1pm; August 18 7pm. Tickets $20.
The Anywhere Theatre Festival, August 17 to 27. For tickets visit: www.anywheretheatre.com
Desiree Savage
At the helm of Australia's premier publication for people aged over 55, covering hard hitting issues, travel, lifestyle and entertainment. Got a hot tip? Email me - edit@TheSenior.com.au
At the helm of Australia's premier publication for people aged over 55, covering hard hitting issues, travel, lifestyle and entertainment. Got a hot tip? Email me - edit@TheSenior.com.au
