May is upon us, and the calendar is full with movie, theatrical revivals, and comedy to help pull us through the change in seasons.
We kick off the month with the chaotic and dependably hilarious Tommy Little. Expect sharp observational humor and outrageous antics that border on the absurd when he hits the stage. A few days later we shift to a more serious register with Kapodistrias: The Governor. Directed by Yannis Smaragdis, this historical drama explores the life of the first Governor of independent Greece. The laughs return when Jenny Tian brings her show, When Life Gives You Oranges, back home. Fresh off a US tour, she will telling us her most character-defining relationships with honesty.
The fashion world returns to the big screen for The Devil Wears Prada 2. This highly anticipated sequel focuses twenty years after the original, exploring not only the world of fashion but also the rapidly changing landscape of modern journalism. Sunday, May 10, is Mother's Day. Consider this a gentle nudge to make your reservations and remember the mothers in your life before it is too late.
The middle of the month brings a mix of high stakes and high theatricality. Tuesday, May 12, is Federal Budget Night, a particularly crucial evening for Gen X. With new tax offsets and shifting rules around superannuation and negative gearing, this year's budget announcements will directly impact many of us. Also we have The Pirates of Penzance. The wildest part of this Gilbert and Sullivan revival is that a ensemble of just five actors plays every single role. Then we are off to see the fast-rising Irish comic Kyla Cobbler takes over the stage with Gone Rogue. She tackles everything from the chaos of dating to backyard barbecue power plays. We wrap up the comedy trifecta on Thursday, May 14, with Con Coutis. His new show, Joke Protocol, is supposed to be structured like a spy movie heist complete with high-tech wizardry and surround sound.
As we get into the second half of the month the month, we will be adding The Birds to the itinerary, a bold one-woman adaptation of Daphne du Maurier's gothic horror story. This survivalist tale captures the paranoia of an environment turning against us. For a highly civilized Sunday evening on May 17, we will gather for A Symphonic Sunset. An open-air performance by the local symphony orchestra headlines. Then a once-in-a-generation event takes place. Split Enz returns for their Forever Enz Tour. Tim and Neil Finn, along with Eddie Rayner and Noel Crombie, are reuniting for the first time in nearly twenty years to celebrate their legacy.
We will then return to the cinema for Franz: Becoming Kafka. This kaleidoscopic biopic by Agnieszka Holland traces the imprint Kafka left on the world, from his birth in Prague to his final days in Vienna, offering a fresh perspective on the anxious, visionary man behind the literary giant. Sydney then transforms on Sunday, May 24, as the harbor lights up for our annual Vivid Sydney Visit.
Finally, I will be signing off from local duties as I head to Japan starting Tuesday, May 26. This trip is a solo street photography discovery tour of Tokyo. I plan to get lost in the neon-hazy backstreets of Shinjuku and Shibuya, capturing the raw, cyberpunk underbelly of the city entirely without a tripod. The goal is to document the fleeting, unposed moments of urban life that only reveal themselves after dark. I will also be catching a baseball game at the Tokyo Dome to experience the legendary energy of Japanese sports fans. Visual evidence of the entire adventure will be shared in the group upon my return, Look forward to reading all about it in July.