Interested in a new kind of storytelling?
If so, you might want to check out a live music and theatre event this weekend at Newcastle Writers Festival.
Starring musicians, actors and performers, Voyage: a New Kind of Storytelling uses music, movement, words and fire.
Voyage features a new play by Fiona Leonard, of Germany's Blue Goat Theatre.
The Hum is a raw and honest look at the world of rock music, as told by three musicians who have been at the heart of the Australian music scene since the 1990s, including the band Tumbleweed.
"As a writer, this is a dream job," Leonard said. "It's not often that you're given the opportunity to work with artists who have had such incredible careers and are willing to be so open and generous with their stories and insights."
Drawing on hours of conversation and archival material, The Hum explores the twisted road that musicians walk and the hold that music has on them, even in the midst of a chaotic world.
Starring Tumbleweed front-man Richie Lewis, bassist Matt Houston and drummer Darren Ireland, The Hum features three songs that will be performed live.
Tumbleweed have shared stages with Nirvana, The Ramones and Iggy Pop.
Wollongong-raised singer-songwriter Kay Proudlove also combines storytelling with original music.
Emotional and witty, Kay is an indie-folk musician with an agile mind, soulful voice and a dry-ice sense of humour.
With a live performance style that is much like being invited into her lounge room, her songs are stories set to melody. They're relatable, humorous and heartbreaking.
Kay will present songs from her Dear Diary stage show, with lyrics and storytelling based on diaries from her teenage years.
Voyage producer Helen Hopcroft compared the show to Puberty Blues, saying the writer "managed to capture the pathos and exquisite vulnerability of the teenage years".
Helen said Kay is "an engaging performer", who is known for her "honesty and humour".
The Majishans, meanwhile, highlight "unreliable narration" in their Nashville show. It tells the story of this almost famous Australian band whose dodgy manager scores them a breakthrough gig in Nashville, Tennessee.
All they have to do is get on a private plane - take off from a deserted airstrip at night - and all their dreams will come true. As a meditation on authenticity and desire, Nashville fuses audacious storytelling with original live music.
As part of Voyage, iconic firedancer Wolf Ifritah will enchant audience members with a new narrative-based work inspired by the story of Circe.
The show will be held at Civic Theatre Playhouse in Newcastle on Saturday at 7pm.
Ironic COVID
We were chatting to University of Newcastle virologist, Professor Nathan Bartlett, for a story on COVID published in today's news section.
Nathan was talking about how Omicron and its subvariants swept through society last year.
"Many of us got infected, and many of us got infected for the first time including myself. It finally got me," he said.
"I caught it at a virology conference on the Gold Coast, would you believe."
Joke of the Day
Why do bees hum? Because they don't know the words.
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