Canberra Daily curates a selection of happenings in the local arts and entertainment scene. This week a superstar cover band return to Australia, motor clubs fly through the forest for research and whitlams front man heads to the NFSA to discuss their iconic album, Eternal Nightcap.

Bee Gees tribute act staying alive

The Australian Bee Gees Show is set to thrill a local audience when they bring their world-renowned tribute show to The Q in Queanbeyan on Thursday 4 August.

Michael Clift, who takes on the role of Barry Gibb, returns to his hometown of Queanbeyan for the show. The group has been performing for the past 25 years, holding a decade-long residency on the Las Vegas strip where it was voted best tribute show. Now, for the first time since 2019, they are returning to Australia to celebrate their silver anniversary with a string of performances.

The two-hour multimedia concert will be presented in two parts and will take the audience on a nostalgic trip down memory lane as they play the band’s most iconic hits.

Tickets available at theq.net.au

Rally for research at Kowen Forest

Three motor clubs from Canberra and the NSW South Coast are banding together at Kowen Forest on Sunday 31 July to raise funds for Motor Neurone Disease Research Australia.

Attendees are invited to strap themselves into a purpose-built rally car and go flying through the forest accompanied by some of the East Coast’s best rally drivers. Current Australian Rally Champion Harry Bates will be there, along with his brother Lewis, to take a limited number of guests on rides. Plenty of food, drink, and other activities will also be available.

The funds raised will go toward research and developing a cure for MND, which affects the brain and nerves, weakening muscles and eventually leading to paralysis. Those diagnosed currently have a life expectancy of two to four years.

Head to Kowen Forest near Queanbeyan on Sunday 31 July from 10.30am. Find out more at canberrarallyexperience.com.au

Emilia celebrates women

In an Australian debut (after a quick stop in Melbourne), multi-award-winning play based on the speculated ‘dark lady’ Shakespearean sonnets, Emilia comes to Canberra Theatre this December.

British playwright Morgan Lloyd Malcom was inspired by 17th Century revolutionist and poet Emilia Bassano when creating this female championed production. The play has been praised as the perfect combination of comedy and fury to unite and celebrate all women as they try to discover why this woman was all but erased from history.

Who was Emilia? In this production, we see Manali Datar, Cessalee Stovall and Lisa Maza all take on the role – but perhaps we will find out Emilia is, in fact, all women trying to find their way in a man’s world.

Be inspired by the women of Emilia at the Canberra Theatre, 1-4 December; canberratheatrecentre.com.au

Regional artist scholarship now open

Now in its 25th year, the 2022 Windwill Trust scholarship for Regional NSW Artists has opened applications for one artist from a regional community to receive $10,000 towards furthering their professional development.

Last year’s winner, Dr Judith Nangala Crispin who hails from Wamboin, just outside Canberra, used the funds to honour the lives of the birds and animals from her matriarchal ancestors of the banks of the Murray River.

Artists who work within the mediums of painting, printing, sculpting or drawing have until 4 September to complete their applications.

For more information head to windmilltrust.org.au

Canberra artists recognised in national art prize shortlist

The shortlist has been released for this year’s National Capital Art Prize, featuring work from 10 artists from the Canberra region.

Four of the 129 entries will share in a cash prize pool of $47,500. Winners from the open Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander categories must be paintings while the brand-new sustainability category can be from any medium, they will each take home a cash prize of $15,000. The people’s choice award is now open for online voting with the winner to be awarded $2,500.  

All the works are making their way to the capital for the final round of judgment. Winners will be announced in early September with a public exhibition of the works to follow.

To vote, head to nationalcapitalartprize.com.au

Tim Freedman live at NFSA

The Whitlams front man Tim Freedman heads to the National Film and Sound Archive to discuss the band’s album, Eternal Nightcap, as part of the Archives’ Classic Australian Albums series.

Turning 25 this year, the album captured Aussie audiences as it took them on a journey of love, heartbreak and wild parties. The highest-ever selling independent record produced in Australia also brought us the iconic No Aphrodisiac. Join Freedman and the album’s producer, Rob Taylor, as they relive the creation of the album, along with acoustic renditions of some of the tunes.

Catch Tim Freedman at the Arc Cinema, NFSA Friday 5 August 6pm; nfsa.gov.au

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