fortyfivedownstairs Announces Upcoming Events And Shows

After a short break, more good things are happening at fortyfivedownstairs. Looking for a bit of sophisticated humour after four weeks of stand-up? We have the answer!

Theatre: Urban Display Suite
Michael Dalley and High Performance Company

Urban Display Suite, devised, written and performed by the sharp-witted Michael Dalley, is bound to delight anyone who has been afflicted by the national obsession with the property market. It's a world where every bedroom looks as if it's never been slept in - where every kitchen bench is bare - and the city is awash with auction anecdotes and underhand tactics -this cynical cast on to every one of them!

Joining him in this musical open house are Gabrielle Quin, Lyall Brooks and Sharon Davis, with musical direction by John Thorn.

Season Tuesday 3 - Sunday 15 May
Dates: Preview Tue 3 May, opens Wed 4 May
Times: Tue - Sat 7:30pm, Sun 6pm
Tickets: Full $28, Conc $23, Preview Full $20, Preview Conc $15

Book online or call 9662 9966

Large Gallery: Sam Songailo
Overkill
Until Saturday 30 April

The gallery has never looked more dazzling than this week with the giant wall panels by South Australian artist Sam Songailo. Intense and relentless, these are works that can make you dizzy, saturated with colour and geometric movement. While there are obvious associations with the work of Bridget Riley and the wall paintings of Sol LeWitt , Sam Songailo has a distinctive personal aesthetic, and an overwhelming fluorescent palette.

Small Gallery: Megan Evans
TO Bee
Until Saturday 30 April

Honey is a magical substance, and it fills 37 precious hand blown glass vessels, like giant tear drops, hanging in a glowing amber line in the small gallery. Each is filled with honey from a different source... Greybox, Red Springy Bark, Manuka, Ti Tree - the palest is orange blossom from Milawa, the darkest - mango from Kuranda, Far North Queensland. Megan Evans has had a romantic vision, which continues in the large screen dvd , where honey continually drips in sensuous slow motion.

Coming up in the Gallery

Small Gallery:Christine Larsen
Encrusted
Tuesday 3 - Saturday 14 May

This is for those of you fascinated by the natural world, by the ocean depths, and the giants and microflora and fauna which inhabit them. Christine Larsen's background in natural history illustration perfectly suits her to these depictions of the unexpected, the marvelous, the almost unbelievable inhabitants of a marine world.

Large Gallery: Emma Coulter
Shedding Skin
Tuesday 3 - Saturday 14 May

Jewel-like, impressionistic, Emma Coulter's paintings may not have as obvious a link to the natural world, but the multiple layers of paint, referencing "shedding of skin" are the result of intuitive mark making - with each layer informing the next.

Coulter says "Layers of paint are sometimes disconnected and at other times they juxtapose to find harmony. Each painterly layer informs the next, shaping the work and recording a mark in time."

For the diary

May - June The Haunting of Daniel Gartrell

We're delighted to be welcoming back Lucy Freeman, and Samuel Johnson who first collaborated at fortyfivedownstairs last year in Brendan Cowell's Men. From 20 May Sam will be appearing in another powerful contemporary Australian play The Haunting of Daniel Gartrell, in the great company of Marcella Russo and John Wood. This is the first Melbourne performance of this humourous and thought provoking play.

June - July The Burlesque Hour Loves Melbourne

The return of Finucane & Smith's The Burlesque Hour has been eagerly awaited - and there's not long to go! The incomparable Moira FInucane is joined by Rhonda Burchmore (4 shows only, June 17 &18) and Deborah Conway (6 shows only, June 23 - 26) and there are all the other things you just have to have - circus and sideshow, music hall, gothic spectacle, and more, much more!!!

Bookings for all fortyfivedownstairs shows: www.fortyfivedownstairs.com tel 9662 9966

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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 .