Puffio

Puffio was dismayed and hungry to discover that, upon dropping in to the Festival Centre's 'Tutti' backstage bistro, a pre-theatre snack was not the remotest possibility. Gazing around a substantially empty dining area one evening last week, Puffio's enquiry for a table was met with a "Do you have a booking?" and "I'm sorry, we're unable to serve you as not enough staff have been rostered on." Well stone the crows and starve the lizards, is not the idea of a bistro being there that it might serve those who drop in for a quick bite to eat? This is not good enough Douglas!!!

The silver lining on Puffio's comestible cloud is that a quick run over to North at Skycity revealed friendly staff, a beautifully decorated room, some tasty wine and excellent food, all served and completed before curtain up, and at very good rates. Well done!

There's been rumours around the area that changes were being made, and it's all true: the Fringe are relocating their offices after nearly a decade in the city's East End. Shortly, the Fringe moves back to the West End of the city, into what were once the Festival's offices on Hindley Street, in fact. It's not exactly a full-circle scenario, but interesting enough to note that the Fringe will soon be found alongside the ASO's Grainger studios and Imprints Books, and across the road from ArtsSA (which also means just up the road from dB Magazine). Welcome.

'Love', written by Patricia Cornelius, is the new production from Vitalstatistix Theatre Company, and it opens on Wed 22 Aug (the date this edition of dB Magazine hits the streets) at the Bakehouse Theatre. 'Love' is about two young women who love each other utterly, but their love is not the kind that anyone dreams of... directed by Catherine Fitzgerald, 'Love' features two young graduates Ellen Steele (Annie) and Joseph Del Re (Lorenzo) from the Flinders Drama Centre.

Last week the office of the Feast Festival (this year running from Sat 10 to Sun 25 Nov) reeled a little, rocked a little, then sashayed back to their normal imperturbability with the shock and sudden resignation of Manager Alan Joyce, who has relocated to Melbourne. In a swift move to fill the vacancy left by Joyce's departure, the previous Feast honcho Geoff Crowhurst has stepped in alongside Artistic Director Daniel Clarke to ensure the show goes on. Crowhurst has been busy: he's also directing the musical 'Everything's Fucked' at the Festival Centre.

Speaking of 'Everything's Fucked', there's been some polarising of opinion on the show, with a couple of quite negative reviews, causing not a little consternation at the Centre. Staff thought they were onto a good thing with a show which addressed issues for 'young people', yet which evidently failed to connect with a couple of younger reviewers. Rather than weigh into the debate, Puffio makes one point: if you bring them up on a diet of McDonalds you can hardly expect them to love bouillabaisse at first taste, eh?

And a big hello to all at the ABC out at the big white house at Collinswood, who are currently gearing up for their 75th anniversary. Yes, that's right, Aunty is 75, and in honour of that auspicious occasion the ABC is throwing a big - and they mean big - public party. The place to be is Elder Park on Sunday 2 Sept. This is a day full of activities, starting at 10am and going until 4pm, and featuring special performances from both The Audreys and James Reyne. In attendance will be 'identities' from both the ABCs radio and TV departments, there's a special concert for kids, a cake (of course there'll be a cake) and much much more. Happy birthday, Aunty!!!

As a sidenote: the ABC's 75th birthday bash will also be travelling to Mt Gambier on Sun 16 Sept for a bit more cake and fizzy drinks, and can be found at Frew Park on that date. Will Peter Goers make the trip in his new old heritage listed Volvo (Mark II)?

Has it really been 10 years? The folk at Trasharama-agogo touring Film Fest-evil/competition claim it is so, and Puffio isn't gonna disagree with them! So, 'Trasharama' is Australia's nastiest and the original touring horror film festival, and with a banshee's howl they're on the prowl, stalking Australia's most sick and twisted short movies for the 2007 National tour! The deadline for submissions is Sun 9 Sept, so get fiddling. For an application form, tour details and more info etc check out their groovy website at www.trasharama.com.au

For the launch of their 2008 calendar of events the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra have adopted something of a motto. Quoth they: "All about the Music", which is a pretty fair sort of summation for a symphony orchestra to adopt, Puffio supposes, since they're clearly not in it for the sex or the drugs... or maybe there's something the rest of us don't know. Find out all when the ASO launch next year's programme at the beginning of Sept - there'll be a special report in the next issue of dB Magazine.

The Adelaide Festival Centre has a rare opportunity for just for the right person since they are currently asking for applications for The Anthony Steel Adelaide Festival Centre Fellowship. For the second year running they're offering a 12 month fellowship in programming and marketing to someone who is determined to develop a career in the arts. For more information, and for a Position Description see www.adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au