and tragic to the desserts of the personal and comedic, the 10-minute plays to be presented each night will please all theatrical tastes. HOT SHORTS 2017 runs over two weekends from Friday till Sunday 12 November. Fridays and Saturdays at 7.30pm and Sundays at 2pm. The audience gets to vote for their favourite plays and the playwrights get to share in $1,500 prizemoney. Tickets are $20 full and $18 concession and are available online at drillhalltheatre.org.au or from The Bookshop, Burringbar St, Mullumbimby.
DANGEROUSLY POETIC ODE TO JOY Dangerously Poetic Press presents Ode to Joy, Poetry and Music, on Friday, 7pm till 9 pm at Brunswick Heads Primary School Hall. Featured readers include local actor Susan Hayward and the founder of VoiceJam, Julia Williamson with poetry to lift the spirits. The always-spirited singer Elena B Williams, daughter of poets, will offer her lyrical blend of soul, folk, jazz How do you deal with the transition from and blues. appearing nude on stage to realising the Bring along a poem to share for the very proper character of an Edwardian open section that makes you smile. Let’s English nanny? That’s one way of looking co-create an evening of Joy! Join us in an at the recent acting career of awardend-of-year toast to community poetry. winning Veronica Lovejoy, who plays the Entry: $15/ ($10 for DP members) includes magical Mary Poppins in the forthcomlight refreshments. ing Ballina Players production.
MARY POPPINS!
BYRON SHORTS Byron’s very own biennial short-play competition that has now been running for 15 years is set to delight audiences once more. With nine short plays by local writers featuring a cast of local actors and a variety of styles and themes, HOT SHORTS 2017 is a nine-course theatrical feast. With a wide cross-section of subjects from the main courses of the universal
Firstly the ‘nude’ scene, as Veronica explains. ‘It was Calendar Girls in 2013; there were six female characters and there was that scene where we each posed for a calendar – discreetly behind a variety of objects. Playing Mary Poppins is so different as she is a very proper and conservatively dressed English nanny.’ Ballina Players transforms the stage into 1910s London where, from the rooftops, the jack of all trades Bert introduces us to the Banks family children and their new nanny, Mary Poppins.
TAKE YOUR PICKERING C H A R LIE P IC K E R I NG IS H A R D A T W O R K . H E ’S H E A D D O W N C R E A TI NG TH E E ND O F -YE A R S H O W F O R TH E W E E K LY C A LLE D TH E YE A R LY .
China is funding infrastructure projects in Africa, helping them build and get better at farming. And to have better industries. That’s planning. They want to run the show in 50 years and they want people who will run with them. We are well located in Australia to be really interested. We have so much sun and wind. If they didn’t feel it was so good for their election to be angry at One of the challenges is: How windmills then we would be way does a comedian and satirist satiahead of all this shit. Millions of rise Trump, the man who seems to people have solar on their houses do a pretty good job of it himself? because they wanted it and in the end they don’t trust the govern‘I have parked Trump to one side ment so they’re going to go with until I come up with a good idea solar.’ of how to deal with him, like the rest of the world I guess…’ laughs As a comedian, what does PickerPickering. ing think Shorten needs to do ‘I just spent a couple of months doing standup in the States, and he is everywhere in the forefront of people’s minds but finding a new way to talk about him is the challenge.’ Pickering muses on the concept of an incompetent man in such a powerful role and the impacts that has had on how the world sees ‘The President’.
over the next eight months? ‘Keep his mouth shut,’ he laughs. ‘He doesn’t have to be a magician; it’s a pretty easy job from here.’ Pickering has just returned from the US. where he was performing regularly in New York. This really hones a comic’s material.
‘It’s a tough standup scene. They want lots of jokes very quickly. A nice 10-minute ‘It’s amazing how non-resilient a brand can be in the wrong hands routine for them has them fatiguing at – a Rolls-Royce is a prestigious three minutes. car, but if an elephant took a shit I had an hour in it it wouldn’t be so amazing is what it feels like; UNICEF are great, show come down to eight they do wonderful work around minutes!. It the world, but if they were led by Warwick Capper it wouldn’t be so makes you work really good…’ hard. It’s taken Back in Australia, Pickering a while but I believes there’s no belief in now know how politics, especially by Australian to do standup politicians. there. ‘Its just a bunch of scared people who are scared they won’t have their job in three years time. There is no plan. They don’t stick to their beliefs… If you look at what is happening in the world, look at what China does.
ENTERTAINMENT very fortunate with my opportunities. I walk on stage and people have an idea of me before I get there. In New York I’m pretty well hitting as an unknown.’ As a TV host Pickering says although it’s cliched, he still loves standup. ‘Every comedian with a TV and radio show always say standup is their favourite, but it’s still the most fun, and it is still important to have situations where there is no-one between you and the audience; when you make TV there are producers and network and lawyers and editors and so many people between you and the audience. There is a skill to that but I also love being in the room and being able to talk to the audience; that’s why I am excited about the gig next week in Byron. I haven’t done a gig for three or four months and am really excited to be back and getting loose and talking with the audience. ‘It will be my first one in Australia since coming back from New York!’
What I enjoy the most is starting at zero again. I have been a comedian here for almost 20 years and I have been CHARLIE PICKERING HEADLINES AT THE BYRON BAY BREWERY ON THURSDAY WITH DAMIEN POWER AS SUPPORT AND MANDY NOLAN AS MC. SHOW STARTS AT 8PM. DOORS AT 7PM. TICKETS $25. BOOKINGS WWW.TRYBOOKING.COM/SLDY
40 November 1, 2017 The Byron Shire Echo
Byron Shire Echo archives: www.echo.net.au/byron-echo