SmartArts

Although the podcast format of SmartArts has now wrapped, this show continues to be broadcast on Triple R. You can now listen to new episodes on Triple R's FM On Demand service at rrr.org.au/explore/programs/smartarts.Thanks for listening!

SmartArts takes over the Triple R Performance Space for a very special broadcast to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary!Richard Watts OAM first brought Triple R's flagship morning arts program to life in December 2004, hosting hundreds of conversations every year with local artists, established talent and international touring legends from across the visual and performing arts spectrum. Listen back to this celebration of twenty years on the airwaves, broadcast live from the Triple R Performance Space, featuring an assortment of talent including: A live stand-up set and interview with comedian Tom Ballard. Berlin's "prince and pricess of art rock and Europop" Otto & Astrid who perform their track Tasty Snak. Bernard Caleo chooses his favourite comics of the year. An interview with photographer and visual artist Pia Johnson. Actor and theatremaker Candy Bowers performs YO MAMA SO PHAT from her show 'Australian Booty' (with music by Busty Beatz). Theatre icons Susie Dee and Patricia Cornelius read from Patricia's play SHIT, and chat theatre with reviewer Anne-Marie Peard. An interview with MTC's Artistic Director Anne-Louise Sarks. Comedian and musician Geraldine Quinn performs The Peel from 'The Last Gig in Melbourne'. Tai Snaith chooses her favourite exhibition of the year, and the past 20 years! And a chat with MQFF Program Director Cerise Howard. To listen back to the whole broadcast, including live music from Peggy Frew and Guy Blackman and the GBs, head to the Triple R website: https://www.rrr.org.au/explore/programs/smartarts/episodes/31949-smartarts-20th-anniversary-special

Join Richard Watts for his penultimate episode before he closes out 2024 with his 20th anniversary next week! Details for the live event happening on Thursday 19th can be found here: https://www.rrr.org.au/events/smartarts-20th-anniversary-special Whether you're a Midsumma Festival veteran or you're wanting to go for the first time, Chief Executive and Creative Director, Karen Bryant, is here to give us a 2025 program overview. The theme for 2025 is Collective Identities, and the festival runs from 19 January - 9 February at various locations around the city and the regions. Full program here: https://www.midsumma.org.au/info/program-guides/We've been showcasing the 2025 programs of theatres around Melbourne for a few weeks and now it is time to hear from Red Stitch!! Artistic director, Ella Caldwell, tells us all about what to expect (perhaps the unexpected) next year and a bit about their fundraising campaign, Long Live Big Little Theatre - which you can donate to now to help them get to their multi-year goal of $2 million. TarraWarra Museum of Art Curator, Anthony Fitzpatrick, tells us about the current exhibition, Intimate Imaginaries. Get along to the picturesque gallery in Healesville from now until March 10 to see contemporary and lively art from a collection of 13 artists. Tickets available here.Australian soprano, musical theatre royalty and actress, Marina Prior AM, joins Richard to talk about her latest project with Victorian Opera, Follies. They talk about her character (Phyllis Rogers Stone), what it's like to be a legend among legends, and performing at The Palais! You can catch Follies from February 1-6 at The Palais Theatre in St Kilda.Was ACCA's new CEO and Artistic Director Myles Russell Cook always destined for the job? Myles joins Richard to talk about taking on the role, and The Art of Lazy – an evening with Lady Susan, showing Saturday December 14th, plus gives us some highlights for the year to come at ACCA.

Malia Walsh, the guest director of Women's Circus annual Member Cabaret, tells us all about the end of year showcase, Braver than a Bear. Music therapist Paul Byrnes joins discusses the federal government's decision to remove Music Therapy as a recognized therapeutic support under the NDIS; according to the Australian Music Therapy Association (AMTA), this decision was made without consultation and will profoundly impact some of our nation's most vulnerable individuals. Dean Bryant and actor Kala Gare talk about the Melbourne Theatre Company adaption of the iconic Miles Franklin novel My Brilliant Career, an adaptation of the iconic Miles Franklin novel. fortyfivedownstairs Artistic Director of the theatre Cameron Lukey gives Richard the lowdown on the theatre's 2025 program. Stuart Braithwaite, the guitarist from Mogwai, tells Richard all about the band, his biography, and touring solo… which he is doing in Melbourne this weekend! Catch him at Northcote Social Saturday December 7th.Writer and producer Clare Mendes and director Emily Farrell talk about Skating in the Clouds at Theatre Works. Plus, Anne Marie Peard is back with theatre reviews!

Tai Snaith is back with Art Attack! She checked out the latest exhibition at the new Ordinance Gallery, Cardboards by Darcey Bella Arnold. The Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) Head of Percussion Peter Neville stops by to tell Richard about their festival, Sounds of Australia. It runs from the 28-30 November at the Abbotsford Convent. Tickets and info: https://abbotsfordconvent.com.au/whos-here/anam/ Caitlin Dullard and Nadja Kostich, the Artistic Directors & CEOs of La Mama Theatre & St Martins Youth Arts respectively, are in the studio to tell us about how they're working to fundraise, including their s2m sector pilot program. Brett Sheehy AO, Artistic Director, is on the line to give all the juicy deets on Adelaide Festival 2025! There's nods to the past and an embracing of the present, so something for everyone… start planning your roadtrip! Program available here: https://www.adelaidefestival.com.au/whats-on/Lucy Guerin, Tra Mi Dinh and Joel Bray on PIECES 2024, playing at UMAC (the new Union Theatre, Arts and Cultural Building at Melbourne Uni) for 4 special performances from 28 – 30 November. Tickets at www.umac.melbourne

With MQFF closing on Sunday November 24th, filmmaker Alice Maio Mackay and actor Connor Pullinger join Richard to talk about the last few days of the festival. Alice's film Carnage for Christmas screens on Sunday 24th (last day of MQFF) at 3.15pm at Cinema Nova. Connor's film Bulldog is a contender for Australian Shorts & Awards (screening and awards are 6pm on Saturday 23rd at ACMI Fed Square). Then, from the La Trobe Art Institute, Dr. Karen Annett (director) and Amelia Wallin (curatorial lead) talk about the new exhibition Parched. The exhibition features over 8 artists interpreting cultures of drought around regional Victoria. The exhibition runs from November 20th - February 9th at La Trobe Art Institute (121 View Street Bendigo), with an opening event on November 29th from 5pm, plus artist and curator talks from 2pm on November 30th.Have you ever wondered what an artists interpretation of waves and bubbles might sound like? Wonder no more… local composer, sound-artist and musician Elissa Goodrich has conducted a unique cross-disciplinary collaboration with fluid dynamics researcher Professor Richard Manasseh and his team at Swinburne, who are working on an Australian Research Council project on the sounds naturally emitted by ocean bubbles. Catch their project Waves and Bubbles at Tempo Rubarto (34 Breese St, Brunswick) at 8pm on November 28th. Author Gillian Wills on her debut novel Big Music - set in a music college, exploring sexism in arts leadership and drawing upon Wills' lived experience as the Dean of Music at the Victorian College of the Arts, it is a tale of triumph over adversity. Choreographer Sandra Parker and sound designer Lawrence Harvey on their production, Safehold. Safehold is a “new choreographic work drawing on themes of collaboration and unity”, performed by dancers Anika de Ruyter, Rachel Mackie and Oliver Savariego. At 7pm, on Thursday 21 until Saturday 23 November 2024 at the ETU Ballroom, Trades Hall!Sue Healey, award-winning choreographer and filmmaker, presents ON VIEW: ICONS - six screendance portraits, where attendees will experience a moving celebration of some of Australia's pioneering women in dance including: the late Eileen Kramer, plus Lucette Aldous AC, Elizabeth Cameron Dalman OAM, Nanette Hassall AM, Elma Kris, Shirley McKechnie AO. Showing at Dancehouse from 4-7pm, Thu 28 — Sat 30 November 2024.Plus, Anne Marie Peard has plenty of fabulous theatre reviews!

Jeff Khan previews the 2025 Asia Topa program, Katarina Paseta discusses two Geelong Gallery exhibitions (the Noel Counihan retrospective A People's Press which is on display until March 10th 2025 and Social Studies which is on display until February 9th), actor/psychotherapist/applied theatre practitioner Benjamin Rivers chats about The Invaders' Fear of Memories, Glen Downey discusses the Off The Kerb exhibition You Can Be… Anything!, and actors Declan Harrison and Sophie Graham and director Steffi Gil explore Close Company's debut production Gruesome Playground Injuries.

Richard speaks to actor Tamblyn Lord on the Australian premiere of Philip Ridley's play The Poltergeist, at La Mama Theatre. Gertrude Studios curator, Dr Amelia Winata, introduces the 2024 exhibition. Giovanni Adams joins Richard in studio to discuss his role as Ike Turner in Tina, The Tina Turner Musical. Director Anna Reece gives an overview of the Perth Festival 2025 program. Finally, the cast of Your Name Means Dream, Caroline Lee and Lucy Ansell talk about performing the show at Red Stitch.

Buckle in for another ride of the SmartArts-coaster! Richard Watts OAM, is here to guide you through all the twists, turns and thrills of this weeks episode… Kicking off with a Melbourne Queer Film Festival (MQFF) program overview with program director Cerise Howard and CEO David Martin Harris. MQFF is screening across Melbourne from November 14-24, tickets available now.Visual artist, Dominic Kavanagh, is in the studio to talk about his work ‘The Blooming'. It's a Lennox award-winning artwork, on display now at The Lennox, 208 Lennox Street Richmond, until November 3rd.Spinning Plates Co-founders, Jess Stanley and James Cerche discuss working once more with the team behind The Crocodile to create Rhinoceros at Fortyfivedownstairs. Plus, we get a Sydney Festival 2025 program overview with Festival Director Olivia Ansell https://www.sydneyfestival.org.au/

This week on SmartArts with Richard Watts,As we all know, Melbourne is the most Irish city in Australia, and Dr Enda Murray, the Festival Director of the 2024 Irish Film Festival is here to tell us how we can embrace our Irish-ness through cinema. Showing from 24-27 October, find something on the program for yourself here: https://irishfilmfestival.com.au/ Academy Award winning filmmaker and artist, Adam Elliot has a new exhibition showing at Beinart Gallery. Opening on October 26th, All The Lonely People is a personal collection, resonating with the same melancholy and emotional depth characterising Elliot's film work. As we've been launching the various calendars for Melbourne's performing art scene, it is now time to launch next years Victorian Opera 2025 season with Artistic Director Stuart Maunder! Have a look at the full 2025 program here: https://www.victorianopera.com.au/victorian-opera-announces-season-2025/ Richard is joined by the world renowned, host, actor, writer, comedian, philosopher Stephen Fry to answer the big questions. What is art? How do you choose an acting role? And of course, what do we need to know about his upcoming Australian tour, An Evening with Stephen Fry? Hopefully all questions are answered but here's the link for tickets and more info if you need it: https://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=STEPHENF24&v=PLN Co-Artistic Directors Emma Valente and Kate Davis come on to discuss their project, THE RABBLE's Wake. It is showing 25/10 and 26/10 at Burrinja Cultural Centre in Upwey, tickets available here: https://thesubstation.org.au/program/wake Merlynn Tong, writer and co-star of Golden Blood, the story of a brother and sister left to fend for themselves in Singapore. Showing at Melbourne Theatre Company with a preview performance on the 25th and Opening Night on October 31st.Plus, Anne Marie Peard, wraps up Melbourne Fringe for another year!

Richard starts off this week's show with a Malthouse Theatre 2025 season overview with Artistic Director Matt Lutton. Gunai/Kurnai woman and curator Amanda Haskard talks ACMI's major exhibition The Future and Other Fictions. And three interviews about Melbourne Fringe: performer and choreographer Alix Kuijpers tells Richard about Grim Grinning Ghosts, Mitch Jones (Oozing Future) discusses new alt-circus/theatre performance Apocrypha, and Oli Mathiesen talks about about the Aotearoa production The Butterfly Who Flew Into The Rave.

Welcome to another fabulous episode of SmartArts, where Richard Watts OAM is serving up a delightful platter of comic book chat, theatre and art.First up, it's Bernard Caleo's monthly Drawn Out comic books segment. To talk about the upcoming Femmural production, Dredge, is Rosa Ablett-Johnstone, Producer & cast member and Jack Brumeister, Composer & Sound Designer. Opening at Theatreworks on September 18, Dredge is an immersive and physical piece which is an adaptation of its initial 2022 run - tickets available here.Chloe Powell, artistic director of Radiant Pavilion 2024 comes in to tell us about the Contemporary Jewellery & Object Biennial - a celebration of contemporary jewellery and object, Radiant Pavilion brings together 100+ local and international jewellery and object makers in 60 events across the Melbourne CBD and inner metro over nine days.Rick Prakhoff, artistic director of the Melbourne Bach Choir & Zelman Symphony tells us all about their upcoming performance of Verdi's Requiem. Richard finds out more about the wellbeing aspects of choral singing and how being part of a choir helps you find your own voice. Artist Michael Fikaris' new exhibition Where Ends Meet is on now at Backwoods Gallery in Collingwood, exploring 200 pieces exploring comics, painting and collaboration.Plus, Anne Marie Peard joins us for theatre reviews.

Host Richard is joined by Director Anthea Williams and Actor Rachael Edmonds to talk about upcoming Melbourne Theatre production "The cost of Living" which won the 2018 Pulitzer prize for drama, written by Polish-Amercian Playwright Martyna Majok. Plus, we dive into the political power of posters and street posters, future founations past present and future of poster print making. with Troppo Prints. Simon Abrahams from Melbourne fringe pops in to talk about some of the highlights of the 2024 Melbourne Fringe Festival program, playwright Daniel Keene talks about his one-woman play "Mother" Starring Nonie Hazelhurst and Artist Rob McHaffie and curator Emma Busowsky chat about exhibition "We Are Family" on at the Bendigo Art Gallery.

Richard is joined in today's show of Smartarts by a whirlpool of talent including: artist Cindy Campbell, Sharmini Kumar & Arthur Pontonio of Around the World in 80 Days and Paul Mitchell & Theresa Borg who discuss their latest theatrical, You're the Man.From the behind the scenes we peak into an array of art organisations hosted by guests from the likes of MAGMA gallery director Jake Taylor, executive director of Arts Project Australia Liz Nowell & CEO of Arts Access Victoria Joshua Pether.Finally to conclude, Richard brings Anne Marie Peard to review the latest and greatest of theatre.

Richard Watts OAM has a plentiful basket of curators, directors, artists and critics for you to choose from this week. If you're looking for an art exhibition, and perhaps you've been chewed up by bureaucratic systems… look no further than Gertrude Contemporary Exhibition, And This Time the Well Is Alive. Joining Richard is Curator at Gertrude Contemporary, Amelia Winata who guides us through the works making up this thought provoking exhibit. If you're seeking MIFF recs, Secret Mall Apartment is a stranger-than-fiction documentary about a 2000s artist collective hiding away inside a shopping mall filming and documenting all their work at the same time. Director Jeremy Workman and artist Michael Townsend (one of the artists featured in the film), tell us about the process of creating, and living, the experience of this film. If you're looking for a thrill, Co-Director Nick Skubij is here to tell you about the latest adaptation of Frankenstein. Showing at the Princess Theatre by Shake & Stir for a limited run, 23 Aug - 1 Sep 2024. For more MIFF, Simon Hunt (aka drag artist Pauline Pantsdown), producer and creative collaborator of Stephen Cummins, tells us about the Stephen Cummins Retrospective - showing on August 23rd. Cummins was an openly gay filmmaker whose works were produced during the cultural upheaval of the 1980s - and while the showing is currently sold out, get yourself on a waitlist!If you need more theatre, French author, artistic director and performer, Clyde Chabot and Producer Tom Gutteridge, talk all about the Clyde Chabot Trilogy - three of Chabot's works in collaboration with students from Monash University's Sir Zelman Cowen School of Music and Performance. It's showing in English on August 16th and in French on August 17th at the David Li Sound Gallery.And if you need theatre reviews… well aren't you glad Anne Marie Peard has stopped by to update Richard on all the recent happenings.

Richard is joined by a whole slew of guests including: Bernard Caleo to talk all things comics, Tai Snaith with the fortnightly Art Attack, Nela Trifkovic who is the vocalist behind new performance 'The Resonant Heart – The Heart Whispers and Whirls', Jeff Khan pops into the studio to chat about Asia TOPA, Rhys Graham presents a new documentary Rewards for the Tribe (2023), Andrew Gyopar, the Executive Producer and AG Theatre Founder on all things musicals!

Richard Kicks off this jam packed episode with Simona Jobbagy of NICA and Sam Jacob, CEO of Collarts as they talk about Australia's only Bachelor of Circus Arts finding a new home for 2025.We have Tilly Boleyn, Science Gallery Melbourne's Curator & Gail Chin Curator from Art/Science Museum Singapore as they introduce new exhibition SCI-FI Mythologies Transformed, on-now at Science Gallery Melbourne.Curator Vipoo Srivilasa & Artist Zhu Ohmu join Richard in studio to discuss Generation Clay - Reimagining Asian Heritage Curated at Bunjil Place.Nicola Gunn Writer, director and performer also jumps into the studio to talk about her new play ‘Apologia' premiering at the Beckett Theatre on 6-18 August 2024.Band members Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh & Naoise Ó Cairealláin of Irish rap outfit KneeCap chat about the new film, in which they star and play as themselves, which premieres at MIFF later this month.hJames Jackson, Castmember and Artistic Director for Bloomshed productions has a yarn about their new production, ‘The Importance of Being Earnest', and lastly, in preparation for Poetry Month 2024 we are joined over the phone by Creative Producer Izzy Roberts-Orr for Red Room Poetry.

Host Richard Watts is joined by Christof Wehmeier, head of international & festival promotion at the Icelandic Film Centre, and they discuss the 2024 Scandinavian film Festival program and highlights. We also have Artist Madeleine Flynn and Arts Centre's Director of Programming Marshall McGuire from the Arts Centre, discussing Installation, how do we remain at Melbourne Recital centre.We also have Christopher Gurusamy, Performer/Choreographer of Ānanda: Dance of Joy discussing the performance at Dancehouse and we are joined by Director Cynthia Wohlschlager on Two Remain - the first opera to portray the persecution of gay men during the Holocaust.

Richard Watts OAM reporting for SmartArts! As always, he's here to give you an inside look into the fabulous people behind all of the brilliant goings-on of Naarm's flourishing art scene. Let's go!Amid the housing crisis, Midsumma's CEO Karen Bryant is on the hunt for office space. The festival is Australia's premier queer arts and cultural organisation, bringing together a diverse mix of LGBTQIA+ artists, performers, communities and audiences. So, got a spare 200m sq space for a few legendary creatives? Get in touch: admin@midsumma.org.au What do you know about Romeo & Julie? You read that right. Director Kamarra Bell-Wykes and actor Damon Baudin are in the studio to tell us about the Red Stitch production of Romeo & Julie which has previews 20 - 23 July, and is showing for Season 24 July - 18 August. Opera Australia's staging of Breaking the Waves is coming to Hamer Hall, at the Arts Centre Melbourne on Friday July 26. To tell us all about the opera based on Lars von Trier's 1996 film is Jennifer Black, Lead Soprano, who plays the role of Bess.Queer artist and performer Tristan Meecham has a new gig hosting the Arts Centre Melbourne audio series ‘Queering the Collection' available to listen to now here (spotify) and here (itunes)Plus, art world figure Melissa Loughnan has been appointed by Melbourne Art Fair as Fair Director for 2025 and beyond. Hear her speak about her future vision for the Fair and what the opportunity means to her.And of course, Anne-Marie Peard, is in for her Theatre Review round-up.

SmartArts with Richard Watts OAM back to keep you company on these chilly winters days...Starting out with Artist Kate Wallace on her new exhibition ‘Details of a room and other places' - on now at LON Gallery. In the coming years there will be a big redevelopment of the Melbourne Arts Precinct & the Queen Victoria Market - to tell all about it is Principal Architect at NH Architecture, Emily Von Moger. The new exhibition ‘Brand New' at Fortyfivedownstairs gallery shows a behind the scenes look at the development process.To tell us about the return season of Three Magpies Perched in A Tree is the award winning Ngarrindjeri Wathaurong playwright, Glenn Shea. Glenn joins Richard to talk through what it's like to revive art and give performances a second life. Showing at LaMama Courthouse from August 14-25.Writer and producer Future D Fidel and Director Budi Miller talk of the opening of their play La Belle Epoque at Theatreworks.Plus, artist Gabrielle Leah New tells us about her work Reclaim the Crone, showing at the Explosives Factory from the 17-27 of July.

Richard Watts OAM (!!!) is back in the studio after taking a mental health reset. He's back, and he's got the best of Melbourne's performance, art and comedy for you to fill your diary with. First up, Bernard Caleo is in for Comic Books Chat, telling us about all the fabulous local creators we should know.Anne-Louise Sarks and Nikki Shiels, talk about MTC's A Streetcar Named Desire - which they are dubbing “theatre at full throttle”! Don't miss out, tickets available here.Curator, Beckett Rozentals, joins to chat about a new exhibition exploring the creative partnership between pioneering abstract artists Grace Crowley & Ralph Balson. Now showing at the Ian Potter Gallery until September 22.Melbourne comedy duo Jon & Jero (Jon Walpole & Jeremiah Detto) are in the studio to get us across their show in the La Mama Kids program ‘The Forgotten Tales', a new improvised show for children - perfect for our little funny ones on school holidays.New Zealand comedian, playwright and performer, Abby Howells on her Australian tour ‘La SoupCo' as part of Replay festival at Comedy Republic. If you missed it the first time around, go see this comedy Doctor on July 5!Plus, as always (every fortnight) Anne-Marie Peard is in with theatre reviews galore.Welcome back, Richard!

Steph Teitelbaum fills in for Richard Watts this week for chats with Lara Thoms, the Executive Director of experimental theatre collective APHIDS about their 30th birthday; Young Australian Broadway Chorus talent James Pringle and Charlie Abbot-Higgins stop by to talk about bringing Shrek JR to life on stage; Open House Melbourne's Chief Curator Tania Davidge highlights all the big moments of the 2024 festival program; and regular theatre reviewer Anne-Marie Peard stops by to talk through her recent highlights.

For one week more, Oliver Coleman keeps the seat nice and toasty for resident SmartArts host, Richard Watts. And what a cracking show to end the run!Writer Georgia Ketals & scent artist Erin Adams tell us about Recollection, a unique play that offers a sensory experience. Based on a story about a mother trying to recreate her late daughters smell, it's an aromatic journey that guides the audience by the nostrils. The show is on at Fortyfivedownstairs from the 26th of June until the 7th of July - get tickets here.Moira Finucane & performer Piera Dennerstein, on the latest Finucane & Smith production The Exotic Lives of Lola Montez. In this chat we hear about the trials and tribulations of these effervescent artists while learning about the history of theatres original bad girl… The show will be on from 20th to 30th of June at Chapel Off Chapel - and Piera delights with a performance from the show!The CEO of Arts Access Victoria, Caroline Bowditch on 50 years of Arts Access Victoria, ‘The Collective!' a month long exhibition celebrating AAV's past, present and further throughout July for Disability Pride Month. We hear about the origins of the orginisation in prisons, hospitals, residential care and how it has evolved to bring art to hundreds of people every week.Plus, writer and director Francis Greenslade & actor John Leary are in the studio to talk their show The Platypus premiering at Theatre Works from 19 June - 6 July. John divulges what it's like to become the leading man, and Francis brags about his perfect marriage.

Back to fill the enormous SmartArts shoes of Richard Watts OAM is resident funny guy, Oliver Coleman.Kicking off the show is Tai Smith with the latest visual arts reccs - think cutesy wholesome for the Under Five Windows exhibition at A Reading Room, collaging fun at the Ripped - a Punk Collage Workshop, and writing extravaganzas at Alta Forma. Multidisciplinary artist, Lisa Waup, tells us about her experience creating fashion for the Piinpi: Contemporary Indigenous Fashion exhibition which is now showing at Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre. On until November 17, go and see the inspired and revolutionary wearable art made by First Nations artists right around the country. Lucy Guerin, dancer and choreographer, shares her experience creating her latest performance for RISING 2024, One Single Action. In this piece, “two dancers traverse a narrow path, in and out of sync, in conflict and in harmony”. The opening show is June 13 and there are 4 performances happening over that weekend - get in quick, tickets are selling fast.Then, Carita Farrer Spencer, director at the National Circus Centre (NICA) joins Oliver to give all the goss on the NICA third year students ensemble show, Famous. This narrative circus performance is running from June 14-22 at the NICA Centre in Prahan! Find tickets here.Plus, theatre's darling, Anne-Marie Peard, serves up a multitude of fun, funky, experimental, fascinating and interactive shows happening all around you right now.

Welcome back to another instalment of SmartArts! Oliver Coleman is steering the ship for you again and boy are we in for a cruisy ride... First up, CLIPPED music video festival director Samuel Bright and James Tran going Oliver to talk all things CLIPPEDKilda, music video festival championing the underrepresented creative community behind music videos! If, like Oliver, you dedicated Saturday mornings to hours and hours of RAGE… this cinema style screening of music videos will be right up your alley… Director Tom Healey comes in to talk through his latest production, Red Stitch's Blackout Songs. It is a two hander performance which explores love, addiction and memory. Open from June 5, tickets are available here.Then, we get a MIFF 2024 First Glance programming announcement, by Artistic Director Al Cossar! He discusses highlights of first films confirmed for opening night, music on film gala and other premieres to pencil into your diary.Plus, much treasured theatre goer and reviewer, Anne-Marie Peard, tells us all the hottest stuff hitting our stages this week!

Oliver Coleman takes the SmartArts seat this week, and he's keeping it toasty for the next few weeks while Richard is on break. Tai Snaith comes in for Art Attack to talk all things Melbourne Design Week and Melbourne's thriving design scene. Oliver and Tai recommend finding an art opening and going along!Mark Poston, event creator and friend of Shannon Michael Cane, gives us a look into the life of times of his dear friend, and tells us about the upcoming RISING event in his honour. Shannon Michael Cane, Someone Great - A Celebration is an exhibition, a remembering, and a party. Limited tickets still available. Artist Michelle Hamer's latest work, I'm A Believer, is an exploration into chronic health issues and gendered language in the health system, as well as a lack of access and erasure for people experiencing difficulty getting a diagnosis or even help. The exhibition is showing at the Linden New Art Gallery - with the opening night event happening on Saturday, June 1st and showing until August 25th. The Victorian Government Inquiry into Women's Pain submissions can be made here.Plus, artist Melanie Lane and composer Chris Lane (AKA Clark) discuss their collaboration RISING Festival 2024. Arkadia is a mythic dance opera that imagines life and afterlife in a garden of paradise - how divine! Find tickets here.

Oslo Davis fills in for Richard Watts for a jam packed show. Oslo chats with Mark Kilmurry, the Director of Neil Simon's 'The Odd Couple' at the Comedy Theatre, and John Gethin Lewis, the Creative Director of a new exhibition at ACMI called 'Beings'. Also joining Oslo on the show is Geelong Gallery Senior Curator Lisa Sullivan who breaks down new exhibition 'Cutting Through Time' and Comedian Tom Ballard drops by to talk about organising a fundraising event called Comedy in the West in Yarraville.

This week, Dan & Steph Teitelbaum take the SmartArts reins and gallop effortlessly into another episode... this episode (as always) is jampacked with recommendations, artist deep dives and what's coming up in Melbourne's performing arts scene.Tai Snaith gives a raving review of ACCA's current exhibition Oui Move In You by artist Laure Prouvost for Art Attack. Director Gavin Webber, from the Queensland based dance-company ‘The Farm' comes into the studio to talk all things Hold Me Closer Tony Danza - an immersive dance production at Monash Performing Arts Centre running from May 1-3, 2024. Any one itching to be part of a dance off à la Michael Jackson's Beat It should not miss this one...Arts Wellbeing Collective's Head of Program Jim Rimmer joins the team to discuss the launch of Navigate Well a free resource/career guide for arts sector workers especially gig workers & freelancers.Anne-Marie Peard comes in to share all the theatre you should be seeing around Melbourne over the next couple of weeks - including an immersive dining experience? Delicious…PLUS Drag and visual artists, The Huxleys, beam in to tell all on their new exhibition as part of Southside Festival 2024 (May 10-19), Gender Fluids - exploring the gender fluidity of sea creatures.

It's that time of year again… Melbourne International Comedy Festival! You can't escape it… so let's embrace it, with two fabulous comics joining Richard on the program. But he's got art and theatre covered too, of course! Kicking off with comedian Darby James whose kooky cabaret, ‘Little Squirt' (formerly SpunkDaddy), turns the big but rarely discussed topic of sperm donation into a naughty, risqué and sincere performance. Catch Little Squirt at the Malthouse Theatre, until April 21.Comedian Nathan Hugh Robért comes on to discuss, ‘Tiny King', a stand-up comedy hour about height, power and living with hemilpegic cerebral palsy. Nathan's show is running from the 9-21 April at The Dove Club.Artist Pia Johnson calls in to talk about her exhibition ‘Re-Orient' at the Immigration Museum, which launched on Saturday March 16 and is running until April 11. The collection is a site specific work exploring how we understand transnational communities and their histories.Producer Emma Khamis talks us through the magic of Monkey Baa Theatre's production of Possum Magic. After celebrating 40 years of Possum Magic in 2023, try your mightiest to take a child to the enchanting stage renditions Mem Fox and Julie Vivas' beloved picture book. The show runs from April 5-7 at the Alexander Theatre at the Ian Potter Centre of Performing Arts.

Join Richard Watts in the studio with Liz Knowles, the new Executive Director of Arts Project Australia about their upcoming 50th Anniversary, Tai Snaith for the fortnightly review of current Melbourne exhibitions, and Director Charlotte Rogers and Hazel Pigrim on their production called Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons, Lemons. Richard is also joined on the line with John Richards, the Festival Director of the Bendigo Pride Festival, Ros Abercrombe, the Executive Director of Regional Arts Australia chatting about the 2024 report of State of Australian Regions, and Effy Increna, the Director of a new production at the Substation called Akaraka.

Richard kicks off this week's epic show with Irish band, The Mary Wallopers. The cheeky, rowing brothers, Charles and Andrew Hendy, talk sibling rivalry, genre shifting, and their anticipation of Ireland's global domination… Professor Lisa Given is on the line to celebrate Dungeons & Dragons 50th Birthday. What is the legacy of DnD and tabletop roleplaying? Lisa's recent research goes into the mental health benefits and value of playing it.Naser Shaktour, the Festival Director of the Palestinian Film Festival 2024, calls in to give us a program overview and talks through why it is so important to engage with Palestinian media right now. The Palestinian Film Festival starts at Cinema Nova on March 14.Actor, Yvette Turner, who stars in The Hearth Theatre's iteration of ‘The 39 Steps', gives an insight to the tongue-in-cheek-love-letter coming to us at Chapel off Chapel from March 8.PHOTO 2024 Curator, Brendan McCleary, and visiting artist, Clifford Prince King, give a big festival overview chat with a focus on the regional weekend on March 7-10. The dangerously in sync Helen Hopkins and Carolyn Bock from The Shift Theatre tell us about their new production ‘Eat Your Heart Out' at La Mama. How devilishly fun, darling!PLUS The brilliant Anne-Marie Peard reviews the latest and greatest theatre performances around town.

Richard Watts is back in the studio to chat to director Gary Abrahams and actress Evelyn Krape on the production of Yentl, an adaptation of a Yiddish short story. Plus, S.Shakthidharan, the writer and associate director of Counting and Cracking for the 2024 RISING festival; conductor Carlo Antonioli visits the studio to discuss the new performance of When We Were Young at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, showing off new and emerging composers; and Richard celebrates a new achievement with Bruce Gladwin, the artistic director and Co-CEO of Back to Back Theatre, recipients of the Venice Biennale's Golden Lion Award for Lifetime Achievement in Theatre.Into the last hour, Richard catches up with Anne-Marie Peard on all things theatre in Melbourne, and co-curatorsa Tilly Boleyn and Bern Hall, aboout the new new exhibition of Not Natural at Science Gallery Melbourne.

Jess McEvoy talks about their solo rock musical, 'The Show,' and the way that the show came about naturally after years of performing as a singer-songwriter between Naarm and New York City.Sandrine Lescourant, dancer and performer in Oona Doherty's piece 'Hope Hunt and the Acension into Lazarus', discusses the way the work looks at suburban youth culture in Northern Ireland, focussing on young men and the 'id of the Northern Irish chav.'Director Kitan Petkovski speaks about his 7-hour theatre work, 'The Inheritance,' and how this piece honours the importance of elders in queer spaces, especially gay men in a post-AIDs crisis context.Hosted by Richard Watts

SmartArts' 19th birthday was celebrated on the day of broadcast (December 14, 2023), which was also Richard's last show for 2023! Richard is joined by Liam James, Deputy Director of Linden New Art. They discuss the gallery's Postcard Show 2023-24; how it celebrates the hobby artists, makes art accessible and defies the meaning of “postcard”. Richard also hears about fortyfivedownstairs' 2024 program from Artistic Director, Cameron Lukey. Plus, everything you need to know about the Women's Circus Member Cabaret as told by Kate Fryer, co-director, and Hanne Grant, communications manager and circus performer, in the lead up to their annual showcase.

Artist Agnieszka Pilat on her optimism towards AI in art and walking Richard Watts through the process of training three robot dogs to oil paint, for her new exhibition at the NGV Triennial; Ersin Han Ersin, director of Marshmallow Laser Feast collective on their latest installation, ‘Works of Nature' at ACMI, a hypnotic display of rhythmic lights, exploring the connection between humans and nature; Director of Sydney Festival, Olivia Ansell unveils the exciting new line up for the festival in 2024, focusing on the theme of ‘water and weaving'.

Writer and director Glenn Shea on his unabashed new play ‘MI: WI 3027,' unpacking the unlikely friendship between an Indigenous soldier and a Jewish-German ethnologist and prisoner of war, as they bond over the notions of freedom and country; Curator Rona Green unveils ‘Whereabouts: Printmakers Respond,' a new exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ballarat, delving into the connections between artists and their sense of home; Richard Watts reflects on the importance of mental health in the arts space, with Head of Program from the Arts Wellbeing Collective, Jim Rimmer

Ewan McEoin, the Senior Curator of Contemporary Art, Design and Architecture, NGV and lead curator on Triennial for a NGV Triennial overview chat; Primal Screen's Flick Ford &  Zero G's Rob Jan talking about the legacy of film Blade Runner ahead of Blade Runner live at Hamer Hall; Jennifer Monk & Lisa Dallinger present Slightly Cracked, the new show from Girls Act Good showing from Nov 2-12 at La Mama; Plus, New Reality - a multisensory futurist installation by MaggZ at the Immigration Museum.

Ruth McKenzie, Artistic Director of Adelaide Festival gives an overview of the exciting new festival program; Dynamic duo, choreographer Stephanie Lake and composer Robin Fox astonish Richard with their exhilarating performance art piece, Manifesto, featuring a frenzied nine-person troop dancing to the beat of nine frantic drummers; Performer and choreographer Thomas E.S Kelly on his playful First Nations performance art piece, Weredingo, exploring identity through the historical practice of Indigenous 'shapeshifting', and its status as fantastical and irrational in a contemporary Western society; Ukrainian-Australian photographer, Daniel Hasset brings Ukrainian stories to the forefront of viewers' minds with his exhibition, ЖИТТЯ, battling the Australian ‘news fatigue' towards the ever-present war in Ukraine

Ania Reynolds & Alisa Tanaka-King join Richard to talk about their show 'Dumplings Darling' and their approach to cultural sharing; being un-pretentious and inclusionary, using the cultural cross-section that is made up of food, music and storytelling.Joining Richard next is Anna Louey, the creator of 'A Dodgeball Named Desire', a show set up as a dodgeball game between theatre performers and professional sportspeople that playfully investigates the competition between theatre and sport in Australia and delves into the divide between high art (theatre) vs high spectacle (sports).Lastly, but definitely not leastly, playwright Patricia Cornelius & actor Darcy Kent talk about Patricia's new work 'In The Club', which makes a case study of and interrogates the idea of 'pack mentality' and the power it holds in society, especially in so-called 'Australian' culture. The show is also designed as a vehicle to bear witness to the bad behaviour that comes with pack mentality.Hosted by Richard Watts

Writer and performer Candy Bowers reveals the horrors of type 2 diabetes and its disproportionate effect on Black communities, in her afro-futuristic, genre-bending show, ‘Sweet Mama'; Deborah Cheetham Fraillon, AO, On her composition of ‘Eumeralla, a War Requiem for Peace,' written in the Gunditjmara language to commemorate Indigenous lives lost in the forgotten resistance war of Eumeralla, performed by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra; Lead artist Emilie Walsh on Laneway Learning's comic trails, featuring glow-in-the-dark comic panels illuminating city walls; Wellington-based dance-theatre artist, Daniel Nodder on his cosmic performance exploring the vast expanse of the universe in ‘Only Bones'.

Artist Telia Nevile on her new one-woman cabaret performance ‘Insomniac Mixtape' at Melbourne Fringe Festival, capturing the unsettling and relatable descent into chaos that is sleep deprivation, through a range of bizarre goth, electronic and punk tunes; Melbourne Art Foundation CEO and Melbourne Art Fair director, Maree Di Pasquale gives a rundown of the newly annual 2024 Art Fair program, and explains the recently revamped artist commissioning process; NGV senior curator, Susan van Wyk on the creative process of photograph selection to put together her new exhibition, ‘Real and Imagined', exploring the concepts of historical reality and illusion at the Ian Potter centre; Executive Director, Richard Hull and Artistic Director, Anni Davey of Flying Fruit Fly Circus walk listeners through their exciting program at Albury Wodonga's Borderville Circus Festival

Irish Film Festival Director Dr Enda Murray walks listeners through the exciting 2023 program overview for the Irish Film Festival; Program Director Hadley Agrez unveils the diverse 2023 Melbourne International Jazz Festival lineup; Accessed via a real phone number audiences can call, Kasey Gambling explains her new interactive work, ‘The Hotline' at Melbourne Fringe Festival, which allows audiences to experience a satirical critique of real anti-choice pregnancy hotlines, and their place in a patriarchal medical system; Artistic Director Anne-Louise Sarks gives an overview of season 2024 of the Melbourne Theatre Company