Fortyfivedownstairs Announces New Shows & Galleries for November

The last week of a bitter sweet fable to entertain you, A Stranger In Town, the newest original Australian musical. A Stranger in Town is presented by Essential Theatre.

A young Australian performer, Sophie Lampel, goes to England, where she meets her step-grandmother, widow of Otto Lampel, a Czech born singer/songwriter/composer, a man with a mysterious past. There she discovers that the grandfather she never met, had been a radio star in Canada.

Sophie was given six recordings, made during the years that Otto became a well known performer in Canada -where he wound up after fleeing Czechoslovakia when it was invaded by the Nazis.
The bare bones of Otto's story have been transformed into a charming musical production, a bitter sweet fable, written by Christine Croyden, with a lyrical score by Matt Lotherington.

This is something for those who love the way an apparently simple production can create other worlds without elaborate scenery - just four talented performers, a pile of ancient suitcases and evocative lighting by the brilliant Richard Vabre.

It performs Thur 27 October - Sun 13 November, Preview 26 Oct, Tue to Sat 7.30pm, Sun 5pm. Tickets are Full-$35, Concession- $28

Book online at http://www.fortyfivedownstairs.com/buy-tickets/?event=strangeror call 03 9662 9966.

The gallery of Gavin Brown and William Eicholtz,Gratuitous Garland: A Botanical Metaphor is open Until Sat 12 November.

Gavin Brown returns to fortyfivedownstairs, and is joined by the inimitable William Eicholtz in the most dramatic explosion of flowers, animals, insects and gorgeous people. William Eicholtz won Australia's richest sculpture prize, The Helen Lempriere award, in 2005, and many people will be familiar with the cast and plate aluminium sculpture Lady of Justice on the façade of the County Court in Lonsdale Street. This is his first exhibition at fortyfive, and we are very happy to welcome Gavin Brown for his fourth dazzling exhibition here.

William's baroque sculpture, flowering sugar bowls, bejeweled chairs and magnificent male figures and Gavin's luscious paintings, abounding in exotic flowers, butterflies, insects and animals, are perfect complements to each other: while both revel in the beauty of life, they also look beyond the immediate.

"Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today,
Tomorrow will be dying" (Robert Herrick: c. 1647)

Herrick's message is that "life is short, the world is beautiful, love is splendid, and we must use the short time we have to make the most of it." And you can make the most of it by enjoying what's on offer at fortyfivedownstairs!

Coming up at fortyfivedownstairs:

Australian National Academy of Music presents Bach Suites.

fortyfivedownstairs welcomes the Australian National Academy of Music following the free lunchtime recital they gave in the gallery last month.

This short season is based on Bach's wonderful solo cello suites, 1 - 6, written almost three hundred years ago, and the subject of almost as many interpretations. In this case a designer, dancer and choreographer have been brought together to interpret the music in visual terms.

The creative group includes the great talents of Howard Penny, Helen Herbertson, Michelle Heaven, Ben Cobham and John Salisbury, as well as cellists of ANAM..

Performances are Wed 16 November - Sat 19 November, Wed to Sat 8pm, early performance 6pm Fri and 5pm Sat. Tickets are Full-$50, Senior-$35, Concession-$25.

Book online at http://www.fortyfivedownstairs.com/buy-tickets/?event=ANAM or call 03 9662 9966.

The Large Gallery of Wendy Kelly, Undercurrent will be exhibited 15 - 26 November.

Wendy Kelly's minimalist paintings include an approach to colour, which while "almost monochrome", nevertheless has a richness that makes the works resonate with the viewer. She has also incorporated subtle texture to develop her personal visual language in these coolly seductive works. Her work is intruiging and calm, more about how the world feels than how it looks.

The Small Gallery of Celia Bridle and Aphra Perkins, Resonance will be exhibited 15 - 26 November.

Both Celia Bridle and Aphra Perkins are deeply involved with the act of drawing. Bridle magnifies her black and white pen and pencil drawings to discover another world of flowing organic shapes, patterns, plant like expanses and streams of water.

Aphra Perkins' large scale works, using gouache and charcoal, combine painting and drawing that reference natural forms - rocks, flowers and bird's wings. They are a celebration of space and spatial freedom.

For more information visit www.fortyfivedownstairs.com, become a fan on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/fortyfivedownstairs?ref=nf or follow on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/fortyfive_ds.

Since 2002 fortyfivedownstairs, a not-for-profit organisation, has offered an evocative urban space and a personalised service to an eclectic mix of artists for theatre, visual arts, forum, music and dance.

 

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