Cirrus@Austlit

'“People went on about death bringing friends together, but it wasn’t true…”

'Four women have known each other for decades, and have a friendship that goes with it – good-humoured, caring, and forthright when required. But Sylvie has died, and when the remaining three come together to pack up her beach house, they find maybe they haven’t been as honest – or as good friends – as they thought.

'Adele, a once-well-known actress, Wendy, a high-profile academic, and Jude, who ran one of the city’s most celebrated restaurants, learn things they should have learned years ago. There’s a difference between growing old, and growing wise.

'And at the heart of it all, an old dog keeps them company, silently bearing witness to the folly of age, and the warmth of true friendship.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'Significant Others tells the intriguing story of a single mother who fails to return from her morning swim, leaving behind two teenagers and a fractured family searching for clues in the rubble of the catastrophe. Putting the pieces together is the awakening that threatens to tear this family apart.'

Source: Screen Australia (https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/media-centre/news/2021/11-25-abc-screen-australia-significant-others). (Sighted: 03/03/2022)

'They were writers, dreamers and free spirits. In the 1950s, Australian authors Charmian Clift and George Johnston fled halfway across the world to the idyllic Greek island of Hydra, determined to carve out a bohemian living as artists.

'As they revel in their picturesque community, far off the world’s literary map, inspiration for the great Australian work strikes. But a many-headed monster of jealousy, infidelity, illness and alcoholism also rises from the crystal blue waters of their sun-kissed island home.

'Award-winning Sue Smith weaves the original writings of two of Australia’s literary icons into a moving relationship drama. She conjures the passion and intensity of the near mythical ‘King and Queen of Hydra’ as they follow their dream, only to end up in a Greek tragedy of their own making.'

Source: Publisher's blurb.

'The true story of one woman's experiences teaching English to asylum seekers at the Curtin Detention Centre in remote Western Australia and the unexpected bond that develops between her and one of her students.'

Source: Screen Australia funding approvals.

'Machu Picchu follows Paul and Gabby, two mid-life civil engineers who seem to have it all. After a horrifying car accident, Gabby walks away unscathed but Paul is badly injured and their lives are forever changed. Both are forced to reassess priorities, and reevaluate long held dreams. They must also fight to maintain their personal connection, and, in many ways, learn not only how to love again, but also how to simply … be.

Exploring mindfulness, altruism and the challenge of staying true to yourself, Machu Picchu slips back and forth over the history of an ordinary— and extraordinary—love story.

Theatrically rich, bluntly human and wickedly humorous, it’s a celebration of courage that explodes the belief that bad things only happen to other people. And asks a question: when catastrophe strikes, and the normal clutter of life is stripped away, can something purer and more precious be found?' (Adelaide Festival Centre)

'Shifting back and forth between 1961 and 1907, this film tells the story of P.L. Travers (Pamela), the woman who created Mary Poppins. Framed by her experiences negotiating with Walt Disney and his team for the film of Mary Poppins, the main story of the film is of Pamela's childhood, in rural Queensland. Living in a small country town with a depressed mother and an alcoholic father, Pamela used her vivid imagination to create a richer, more welcoming environment for herself. From the characters of her childhood, and the worlds she invented, Pamela eventually created Mary Poppins, a character who has given pleasure to generations of readers and filmgoers, adults and children alike.'

Source: Essential Media Entertainment website, www.essential-media.com (sighted: 17/04/2012)

'Commissioned by Sydney Theatre Company, Sue Smith (Mabo, Brides of Christ) has created a cerebral and thrilling play for the ‘Asian Century’. Dylan, a carefree and charismatic Aussie bloke enjoys a fleeting flirtation with Lian, a shy international student at Sydney University. Years later their paths cross again when he is a politician whose career is on the rise, and she is living back in China as a senior executive. Against crosscurrents of politics, economics and scandal the stakes are higher than they could ever have imagined as they attempt to bridge the cultural gap. Directed by Geordie Brookman, Kryptonite is co-produced with State Theatre Company of South Australia.'

(Source: http://www.theatrepeople.com.au/newsflash/andrew-upton-announces-sydney-theatre-company%E2%80%99s-2014-season )

'A centrepiece of the festival, 'Bungalow Song', is an extraordinary, new production set within the landscape and compound of the Old Telegraph Station, just outside Alice Springs.

''Bungalow Song' uncovers the hidden history of the Bungalow, and pays homage to the children who grew up there through story, song and spectacular audio visual.

'The show will bring together live performance, light, audio, song, and powerful narratives. Through the use of multiple projection, the walls of the buildings will magically appear to melt away and become a canvas to dramatize the extraordinary photographic archive of images taken there.

'An ensemble of young Indigenous performers cast from Alice Springs will play the Bungalow children.

'Created in association with the Stolen Generation Office, this powerful and moving production is finally a celebration of resilience, love and survival and conceived as a major healing event for the site.

It is a one off and un-missable experience!' (Publisher's blurb)

'Tells the story of one of Australia's national heroes: Eddie Koiki Mabo, the Torres Strait Islander who left school at fifteen, yet spearheaded the High Court challenge that once and for all overthrew the fiction of terra nullius.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 20/5/2014)

'Rembrandt's Wife is a compelling story that explores the tragic relationships of one of the world's greatest painters: the death of his beloved wife Saskia, the madness of his lover Geertje and the haunting visions of his muse to be Hendrijke. A chamber opera, this work will reflect in words and music the light and colour that are the hallmarks of Rembrandt's style.'

Source: CUB Malthouse website, http://www.malthousetheatre.com.au/
Sighted: 20/04/2009

'Deep in Western Australia’s mining country, against the blood-red landscape of the Pilbara, a cyclone has wreaked havoc in a remote railway construction camp. Now, a small team of employees anxiously await the arrival of ‘the company man’, sent up from Perth to do his own investigation before a coronial inquiry.

'Dog-tired and in search of drink, they do their best to distract themselves, coming together in a makeshift mess hall. But a stormy evening of shared memories soon takes a strange and unexpected turn… From the writer of Bastard Boys and Brides of Christ comes a gripping, contemporary tale of free-will and responsibility in the face of great temptation. With explosive characters and a wily sense of humour, Strange Attractor is a stunning portrait of small-team camaraderie in a globalised market.'

Source: Griffin Theatre Company.

Twelve year-old Violet lives at 143 Union Street, Newtown, Sydney and it's 1931. She runs the streets stealing from the local Chinese grocer as the Depression bites and her Dad walks the wharfies' Hungry Mile, desperate for an income. Violet's Mum, Lenie, ekes out what she can from cleaning, and the rest. When evicted Violet's family are supported by the Unemployed Workers' Movement. This is red rag not simply to the cops, but to the burgeoning fascists. The forces of the Right are looking to make an example out of this last stand of resistance, no matter how tiny, no matter how personal the fight really is. In this battle of baton and fist, ideal and identity, who's got the most ticker? A raucous, loving and poetic story about a pivotal moment in Australian social and political history, all through a 12 year-old Newtown girl's eyes.

Source : QTIX web site (https://www.qtix.com.au/show/NPF_Violet_Time_08.aspx)

Sighted 09/01/08.

'Helen Tremaine returns to a remote island in Australia's far north Torres Strait where she had previously worked as the Remote Area Nurse (aka RAN). Helen has a talent for breaking rules and taking on the bureaucracy. That, along with local politics, love affairs and a savage outbreak of Dengue Fever, RAN draws you into the world of a woman who yearns to belong, and a community who love her but want her gone.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 12/6/2013)

'The body of a young woman has been found in an abandoned mineshaft. The discovery brings together the three people: an estranged father, a love-struck police officer and the madam of The Pink House, one of the remaining brothels in the city.'

Source: Old Fitzroy Theatre website, http://www.oldfitzroy.com.au/trs/shopdisplayproducts.asp?search=yes
Sighted: 16/08/2006

'This is the story of teenage girl Steph, who is brought up by her fiery aunt Jude after her pregnant mother Jass and Vietnamese father are killed in a car crash. The arrival of her late mother's diary reveals the colorful, sexy secrets of Jude and the foreman Alan that allow Steph to reinvent her vision of the world. ' (Production summary IMDB)

The Cooks, a 13-part series made for Network Ten, centres on the relationships between the staff of rival restaurants. The series first went into production in October 2003 after the screening of the telemovie Temptation, on which it is based, in August. Episode one was screened on Network Ten 18 October 2004. Only one season of the series was produced, the final episode was screened 2 July 2005. The series was also screened in Canada.

'The Cooks begins with the return of Gabe Francobelli (Toby Schmitz) a young hot-shot chef who comes back to Sydney's inner-west after a year away working in the top kitchens of Europe. Gabe is shocked to find his family restaurant has closed down, having lost the battle to rival restaurant "R & R" run by Rita (Rhondda Findleton) and Gabe's former classmate and lover Ruth (Kate Atkinson). With help from two of his best mates Sachin (Nicholas Brown) and Dishpig (Leon Ford), Gabe reinvents his family restaurant renaming it "Snatch and Grab" and throws down the gauntlet to the girls. The battle of the restaurants begins: Classmate vs Classmate. Lover vs Lover. Boys vs Girls.'

Source: Network Ten publicity, October 16, 2003 (Sighted 27/01/12)