Peace Not War

It’s Sunday afternoon and I’m back in Sydney. I spent a few hours this afternoon planning my time for the next few weeks. I have decided I will definitely march in the Anti-War Rally, which is being held in Sydney next weekend.

I spent much of yesterday wandering around Melbourne, including a fair deal of time at the National Gallery Of Victoria. I suspect the move to Federation Square has attracted a lot of people who would normally not have gone to the gallery before. The gallery attendants acted more like bouncers as they informed people not to eat and drink near the works. It was also the first time I have had a good look through the gallery. I was impressed by many of their recent purchases, including some wonderful photographs by Bill Henson and some of the seminal 80s artists, such as Juan Devila. I thought, however, the indigenous collection was a little narrow and there were far too many landscapes, all looking remarkably similar.

Unfortunately my flight back to Sydney was delayed by an hour. Aside from the delay, I thought the Virgin Blue service was excellent. The food and beverages were reasonably priced, they didn’t annoy us with half-hour US sitcoms on the screen, and the flight attendants were genuinely pleasant. Oh… and they were cheap! I think they will become my airline of choice for domestic flights in the future.

It was tight getting back to Sydney in time to see

Three Winters Green by Australian playwright Campion Decent (which) has just had its 10th anniversary premiere at the Stables Theatre. Totally rewritten and updated by Decent, the play follows eight people’s dreams and journeys over a three-year period. Herald critic Stephen Dunne described it as “one of the most striking and entertaining new Australian plays”.

I thought the play was good, although a little dated. I also thought the female roles (with the exception of the mother) were a little one dimensional. The two young men who play the lead roles were gorgeous, although still very “young” in their acting abilities. There were also a couple of celebrities in the audience, including David Campbell and Alan Jones.

I have a few things planned for the week, including seeing the movie, “Undercover Brother”, the “Fred Hollows Tribute” at the ABC tomorrow night and a couple of Mardi Gras events. I’m also heading off to the Depot Gallery tomorrow to take a couple of photographs of the new artwork purchased by the Hawkesbury Group by Dorothy Napangardi. Oh what a life!