Sydney 2022 Loaded

Rebecca Varidel
13th Jan 2022

Shaky past, shaky start - yet we're excited and hope you are excited too. Here's some of our Sydney Scoop favourites that we're looking forward to in 2022! (Don't you love all those 2s... !!)

The Garden Social harbourside summer pop-up by the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney and The Domain kicked off our fab-u-lous year! This bespoke event is a super duper way to re-discover the beauty of our own city, by experiencing world class harbour views and mesmerising light displays, alongside food and drinks and music performed by Australian artists. Be prepared to also be swept off your feet with talented performances by home grown musicians with over 64 eclectic acts lined up from classical, alternative, pop to DJ sets,with attendance free of charge.

www.rbgsyd.nsw.gov.au/What-s-on/The-Garden-Social

And of course there is Sydney Festival each January.

Flickerfest Australia’s most respected short film festival kicks off the summer cinema season in an enchanting pop-up festival garden under the stars and under the big top, park side at Bondi Beach from the 21st January. This not to be missed ten day event will showcase some of the worlds best short films from Australia and the world on the big screen. Now in its 31st year, this year Flickerfest has handpicked 200 of the most inspiring short films from a massive pool of over 3,150 entries.

Flickerfest is Australia’s largest short film competition and the only one with Academy® accreditation and BAFTA recognition ensuring all of the selected films are entertaining, inspiring and highly creative cinema gems.

www.flickerfest.com.au

Puppets by Olivia Ruggiero and starring Olivia Ruggiero is one hour of existential crisis and millennial dread through the lens of dating whilst simultaneously destroying your happy childhood memories of Sesame St. Puppets follows a 20-something year old woman as she reflects on her search for love, and her ultimate failure to find it. A whacky, weird and wonderful cabaret that provides insight into the frenetic nature of dating in this modern age, using everyone’s favourite Puppets to help tackle the sense of dread as a young woman reflects how she got here…

Puppets is a serious cross blend/mix of genres and weird mashups (Have you ever wondered what it would be like to mash up Stephen Sondheim and Bruno Mars? Taylor Swift and Judy Garland? I did and I have!). It's quirky, its uniquely Australian... I mean where else in the world can you get away with calling people "muppets" and slightly sexualising Sesame St characters and not be condemned for it! Australian theatre! That's where! Part of the Panimo Pandemonium Festival taking over KXT 17 January - 13 March.

www.kingsxtheatre.com/panimo-pandemonium-2022/puppets

At What Cost? a robust and provocative modern tragedy by award-winning Palawa playwright Nathan Maynard who was awarded the Balnaves Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Fellowship in 2019, supporting the writing and development of this play.

In Maynard’s home state of Lutrawita (Tasmania), Boyd’s got enough on his plate between keeping a family together and his responsibilities to land and people. But something’s happening. Every year more and more folk are claiming to be Palawa too. Folk no-one’s heard of until now, who haven’t been ‘round before. Are they legit? Or are they ‘tick-a-box’? Who decides? And how? If Boyd’s going to take everyone forward, they’re all going to have to go back, old mob or new, into the island’s knotty past. And they might not like what they find there...

Directed by Noongar man Isaac Drandic (Griffin Theatre Company and Queensland Theatre’s City of Gold), At What Cost? stars proud Wiradjuri man, Luke Carroll (The Cake Man, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, ABC’s Play School), Gumbaynggirr, Dunghutti and Bundjalung woman Sandy Greenwood (Griffin Theatre Company’s Dogged), Alex Malone (JackRabbit Theatre’s A Little Piece of Ash) and Jayden Popik (Queensland Theatre’s Mouthpiece, Our Town).

belvoir.com.au/productions/at-what-cost

Mono a comedy tour de farce from three of Australia’s best loved performers, will run from 1 February 1 - 12 March, exciting news for those of us who love the funnies. Featuring our Australian Grand Dame of Comedy Noeline Brown (The Naked Vicar Show), Max Gillies (The Gillies Report) and John Wood (Blue Heelers), Mono is a comedy revue play in the tradition of Joyce Grenfell, Alan Bennett and Bob Newhart, with nine comic characters brought to life through hysterical monologues in 90 minutes of wit, fun and laughter.

A hectoring Headmistress, a bad Bush Poet (and he don’t know it), a puzzled Policeman, a meandering Minister, a chaotic Conductor, a mindless 'Mindfulness' teacher, a surreal Sotheby’s Auctioneer, and a very, very sozzled Mother of the Bride. One night shows in NSW at Chatswood (Sydney), Newcastle, Wollongong and Port Macquarie.

monoshow.com.au

The Great Gatsby an original production inspired by the novel and supported by The Arts RISE Grants, will open next month in a specially designed, stylish labyrinth at Wonderland Bar, Potts Point.

Talented performers who will inhabit the famous roles from the novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald and audiences will be moving through and around the three-storey building in this immersive experience. Expect secret rendezvous, dramatic confrontations, bootleg gin and a party that only Gatsby could throw.

The audience inhabits the character of Nick Carraway, as he tells a tragic love story. Midwest native Nick arrives in 1922 New York in search of the American dream. A would-be writer, he moves in next-door to millionaire Jay Gatsby and across the bay from his cousin Daisy and her philandering husband, Tom. Nick becomes drawn into the captivating world of the wealthy and, as he bears witness to their illusions and deceits, pens a tale of impossible love, dreams, and tragedy. A fable of the Jazz Age, of enchantment and illusion, of a wo rld where love and dreams are pursued and betrayed.

 explorehidden.com

Le Dîner en Blanc the white-only dress code event of the Sydney social calendar promises an evening of a great culinary and wine experience and an opportunity to meet new people or reunite with long time friends. And getting dressed up in white to attend a dinner à la Française, where conversation and champagne flow, is just part of the magic of this exclusive event.

In the past, Le Dîner en Blanc Sydney has been staged at iconic locations such as Bondi Beach, Centennial Parklands, and the Sydney Opera House forecourt. The 9th edition of Le Dîner en Blanc in Sydney on Saturday 26 February will regale at a new secret location.

register.dinerenblanc.com/sydney

The Royal Agricultural Society of NSW (RAS) is providing a rare glimpse into its heritage collection after launching a virtual museum in celebration of its bicentenary. The RAS Heritage Centre boasts an incredible collection of artefacts, images and catalogues that tell the story of the organisation's inception in 1822, the development of agriculture in Australia and connecting cultural and economic periods in Australia's history.

From Parramatta to Sydney Olympic Park, the virtual museum allows you to delve into the organisation's timeline, explore its museum for objects and images, and look at records such as past champions, trophies and competition histories in the information section.

Did you know: Despite military occupation at Moore Park Showground throughout WWI, the Show continued to be held. In WWII, this tradition was continued, with the military vacating each Showtime until 1941 to ensure the RAS could still run the Show to help boost community spirit.

www.rasnsw.com.au/heritage

In the exhibition Iridescent by Gerwyn Davies on until 24 April, queer photographic artist and costume maker Gerwyn Davies responds to and reimagines the museums, archives, historic houses and gardens under the care of Sydney Living Museums and NSW State Archives.

In a series of 12 large-scale photographic works, Davies dramatically transforms each property into a stage on which an extravagant performance is played out for the camera by the artist as a vividly costumed character.

sydneylivingmuseums.com.au/exhibitions/iridescent-gerwyn-davies

Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras much-loved Festival events make their grand return in 2022 including: the annual flag raising at Sydney Town Hall, all-day community spectacular Fair Day, the official Mardi Gras Party, Laneway recovery party, the glam Paradiso Pool Party, queer comedy gala Laugh Out Proud, breathtaking ballroom extravaganza Sissy Ball, retro soiree Kaftana Party, Mardi Gras Film Festival and Queer Art After Hours – joining the Parade for next year’s Festival program.

The 2022 Mardi Gras theme is UNITED WE SHINE, signifying that LGBTQI+ communities shine brighter together. It is a reminder of all that we can achieve when our communities rise as one. It is a call to stand united against the inequalities LGBTQI+ people continue to face and empowers us with the strength that our history shows: that we have the power to create a more equitable society.

Tickets to Mardi Gras Festival events and Parade 18 February – 6 March 2022 are on sale now.

www.mardigras.org.au

UTS Gallery opens its 2022 program with I will tell you my story a group exhibition led by guest curator Talia Smith, 8 February — 1 April.

I will tell you my story engages with the UTS Art Collection to consider how the collection can be re-read in light of the present, challenged as an archive, and imagined anew. It features new works commissioned and selected to bring new context to the UTS Art Collection, by Christopher Bassi, Jess Bradford, N. Breedon, Kevin Diallo, Jazz Money, Thea Anamara Perkins and Genevieve Felix Reynolds.

Commissioned for the exhibition, Jazz Money's poem big museum little story is displayed as a large-scale text work, standing as a reminder of the many generations of oral storytelling that predate the concept of the colonial archive.

"Like many tertiary art collections, the UTS Art Collection was born from the passions of a few and has matured along with the tastes and values of the university over its 33-year history. As young as it is, the UTS Art Collection exists as a record of origins and aspirations as well as being a home to works by some of Australia’s finest artists. The task of understanding who we are and where we are going cannot be determined by the few. To grow, it is important to reflect on these beginnings and welcome new perspectives."

I will tell you my story is accompanied by a catalogue featuring essays by guest curator Talia Smith and writer Aneshka Mora. Public programs to be announced on 1 February.

The Bob's Burger's Movie an animated, big-screen, musical comedy-mystery-adventure based on the long-running Emmy®-winning series will open in Australian cinemas on 26 May. The story begins when a ruptured water main creates an enormous sinkhole right in front of Bob's Burgers, blocking the entrance indefinitely and ruining the Belchers plans for a successful summer. While Bob and Linda struggle to keep the business afloat, the kids try to solve a mystery that could save their family's restaurant. As the dangers mount, these underdogs help each other find hope and fight to get back behind the counter, where they belong. Voice talent which includes Kristen Schaal, H. Jon Benjamin, John Roberts, Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman, Larry Murphy, Zach Galifianakis, Kevin Kline, and David Wain. The film's director is Bernard Derriman and its co-director is Loren Bouchard. The screenplay is by Loren Bouchard and Nora Smith. The producers are Loren Bouchard, Nora Smith and Janelle Momary.