After the theatre

Wharf Theatre, Walsh bay

Go to a performance of Sydney Theatre Company at the Wharf Theatre at Walsh Bay, stroll along to the bar and restaurant at the end, and here's the view.

Terrific adaptive re-use of historic finger wharves.

Sydney Theatre

Today I went with my lovely friend Lynelle to Sydney Theatre in the Walsh Bay area to see a compendium of 5 short ballets, called Body Torque. It features new choreographers, and younger members of the Australian Ballet.

You can watch a live streaming of it on the net on Sunday (tomorrow) at 3pm Australian Eastern Standard Time. Click here.

Moore's Wharf building, Millers Point

Moore’s Wharf building at Miller’s Point was built in the late 1830s using local sandstone and remains in operation as a base for Sydney Ports’ harbour operations.
It was the site of Sydney’s first shipment of Australian gold to England, with the clipper ‘Phoenician’ departing in 1851.

Sadly, in many respects, Sydney Harbour has finished as a working port, other than for cruise ships. All the commercial port activity has moved to Botany Bay to the south.

Walsh Bay

Watersedge

One of the old finger wharves in Sydney Harbour, now a function centre and cafes.

Set in concrete

In the pavement on Pier One at Walsh Bay, I found these signatures/imprints in the concrete. They date from the 1980s, and I guess they will fade over time. Many of the people will be known only to Aussies "of a certain age"....underneath the collage I've listed who they are.

How many do you know of?

Top: Rolf Harris - entertainer

Collage:

Slim Dusty - country singer (died 19 Sep 2003)

Betty Cuthbert - athlete

Stuart Wagstaff - actor

Ben Lexcen - designer winged keel on "Australia II" yacht, winner of America's Cup (died 1 May 1988)

Bazza (Barry) Crocker - actor

Brian Wenzel - actor

Kamahl - entertainer

Pro Hart - painter (died 20 March 2006)

Robert Helpmann - dancer, choreographer (died 28 Sep 1986)

Tom Keneally - writer

Julie Anthony - singer

Joy McKean - singer, and wife of Slim Dusty

Nat Young - surfer

Pat McDonald - actor (died 10 March 1990)

Dawn Lake (died 1 Jan 2006) and Bobby Limb (died 11 Sep 1999) - entertainers

Syd Heylen - actor (died 4 Dec 1996)

Santa Claus! !

Humphrey B Bear - children's TV character

Andrew Peacock - former politician and friend of Shirley Maclaine

Roger Woodward - pianist

Doug Sutherland - former Lord Mayor of Sydney

Abigail - actor

Pier One

Hickson Road, Dawes Point/Walsh Bay.
This area of Sydney has been revitalised by theatre and other performing arts companies, and upmarket housing and hotels. This building on the former finger wharf Pier One is a Sebel Hotel.

You can read about its history here.

Across the water you can just see the ferris wheel at Luna Park, and the tall buildings of North Sydney.

For previous pics of Walsh Bay - click here
For previous picks of Dawes Point - click here

PS For some reason yesterday's post would not allow comments to be left. I have no idea why. Just a Blogger quirk...

Pottinger Street, Millers Point (Walsh Bay)

WOW, bridges....where do you start in Sydney, a city with stacks of bridges. I've posted lots before, Tom Ugly's and Captain Cook over The Georges River; the soaring Anzac Bridge; Gladesville over the Parramatta River; Sydney oldest bridge the convict built one at Lansvale; and even have a page on Sydney Daily Photo Extra dedicated exclusively to the Sydney Harbour Bridge. I've done railway bridges and footbridges, and even the little bridge we call 'Pooh" Sticks Bridge' at my home away from Sydney. (If you don't know what Pooh sticks are and what it has to do with bridges, well, AA Milne can help...or Wikipedia.)
So, I agonised over what to go and photograph, as I like to go out and do something specific for each theme day. Then I got sick (see yesterday's blog), and had to dive into the reserve stack for inspiration....and I guess it's back to the bridge with a zillion images, and I thought - here it is without any water, just like any old suburban bridge really.... (though rents round this gentrified part of inner Sydney can be $2000+ a week!)

Here's links to bridge pics in 128 different places:

Boston (MA), USA - San Diego (CA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - New York City (NY), USA - Portland (OR), USA - Montego Bay, Jamaica - Inverness (IL), USA - Singapore, Singapore - Stockholm, Sweden - Setúbal, Portugal - Brussels, Belgium - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Seattle (WA), USA - Hyde, UK - Manila, Philippines - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - London, England - Austin (TX), USA - Toulouse, France - Weston (FL), USA - Sesimbra, Portugal - Selma (AL), USA - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Saarbrücken, Germany - Cleveland (OH), USA - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - American Fork (UT), USA - Seoul, South Korea - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Norwich (Norfolk), UK - North Bay (ON), Canada - Arradon, France - Paderborn, Germany - Durban, South Africa - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Cypress (TX), USA - Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - Portland (OR), USA - Greenville (SC), USA - Boston (MA), USA - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Wichita (Ks), USA - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Petaling Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Grenoble, France - New York City (NY), USA - Nottingham, UK - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Arlington (VA), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Miami (FL), USA - Cheltenham, UK - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Saratoga Spgs. (NY), USA - Las Vegas (NV), USA - Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina - Nashville (TN), USA - Toruń, Poland - New Orleans (LA), USA - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Melbourne, Australia - Moscow, Russia - Trujillo, Peru - Château-Gontier, France - Quincy (MA), USA - Melbourne, Australia - Port Vila, Vanuatu - Joplin (MO), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Brookville (OH), USA - Chateaubriant, France - Chandler (AZ), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Baziège, France - Auckland, New Zealand - Wellington, New Zealand - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Subang Jaya (Selangor), Malaysia - Detroit (MI), USA - Riga, Latvia - Nelson, New Zealand - Budapest, Hungary - Cape Town, South Africa - Sydney, Australia - Dunedin (FL), USA - Sofia, Bulgaria - Radonvilliers, France - Turin, Italy - Montpellier, France - Kansas City (MO), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Haninge, Sweden - Wailea (HI), USA - Lubbock (TX), USA - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Terrell (TX), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Budapest, Hungary - Montréal (QC), Canada - Sharon (CT), USA - Le Guilvinec, France - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Saigon, Vietnam - London, UK - Crepy-en-Valois, France - Orlando (FL), USA - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Paris, France - Mainz, Germany - Newcastle (NSW), Australia - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Darmstadt, Germany - Naples (FL), USA - Torino, Italy - Saint Louis (MO), USA - Bogor, Indonesia - The Hague, Netherlands - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Anderson (SC), USA - Melbourne (VIC), Australia - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Christchurch, New Zealand

Sydney Theatre Company, Wharf Theatre, Walsh Bay

Sydney Theatre Company (soon to be under the artistic direction of Cate Blanchett and her husband Andrew Upton) has several venues: Wharf 1 and 2, Sydney Theatre (opposite the Wharf) and the Drama Theatre at the Opera House. I particularly love The Wharf - a great example of re-use of older facilities (ie a finger wharf on Sydney Harbour), when it is so easy to demolish redundant buildings from an earlier age. I love the use of painted iron and wood.

Piers 4/5 at Walsh Bay serve as home to many arts companies. Apart from STC, there are rehearsal spaces and offices for various performing arts companies: Sydney Dance Company, Australian Theatre for Young People, Bangara Dance Company, Sydney Children's Choir, Sydney Philharmonia Choirs.

When you come to Sydney, make sure to enjoy some of our outstanding performing arts offerings!

The Hungry Mile

B ig controversy about the naming of this part of Sydney Harbour. It is part of the end of Sydney harbour as a working port - the last remaining port facilities are being moved south to Port Botany and Port Kembla (near Wollongong).

This area, currently referred to as "East Darling Harbour" is to be redeveloped. Here's all the "concept' guff.

A competition has been announced to rename the area. There is quite a campaign lobbying for one name already ruled out: The Hungry Mile. This is the wharves and port area where men during the Great Depression walked searching for work as wharf labourers (wharfies in Australian parlance) on a day hire basis. Sometimes they were lucky, many times not. Conditions those 'lucky ' enough to work under were atrocious.

You can read more about the Hungry Mile Name Campaign here.

The current Labor government has ruled out this name - maybe it is too embarassing a legacy in these days when their largest political donors are property developers, who tend to prefer much more anodyne and "naicer" names than something which recalls hard times and political struggle?

Postscript 27/9/06: The government has announced that Hickson Road, along which the men walked will be renamed The Hungry Mile, and that there will be history markers. Story here.

Asian Field by Antony Gormley

One of the exhibitions in this year's Biennale of Sydney, is Antony Gormley's installation of 180 000 hand-made clay figures. It is located in one of the finger wharves in Sydney Harbour, which makes a marvellous backdrop. We had a mosey around yesterday (Saturday). I've put some more photos, including a close-up, on Sydney Daily Photo Extra. (do have a look there: the figures are all so individual!)

Gormley says of his work:

"I've been making the Field project for over 15 years - taking the clay of a particular region of the world...and allowing local people to form a surrogate population."

This installation was made by 500 villagers in a southern Chinese village. The exhibition includes photos of those people, with one each of their clay models. It is almost as engaging as the installation itself. My 12 year old son was captivated.

You can read more about the making of them in the Chinese village : here and their installation in Sydney : here.

I can remember seeing his Field for the British Isles at the British Museum in London in 2003. That version of 40 000 sculptures has tourd throughout Britain. This art work has been exhibited in several countries - do you know if it has been in yours?

On the roof at Walsh Bay

This is another shot of the development at Walsh Bay shown yesterday. Now the people on the Harbour Bridge look like they are ants on top of the roof.

(I've been confined to barracks for a few days, so it's pics from the vault at the moment - the blue sky hasn't actually appeared much this week!)

Walsh Bay

The Walsh Bay area of Sydney Harbour contains a series of old finger wharves, no longer used for port activities. They have been converted to theatres, rehearsal spaces and offices for various performing arts companies: Sydney Theatre Company, Sydney Dance Company, Australian Theatre for Young People, Bangara Dance Company, Sydney Children's Choir, Sydney Philharmonia Choir.

There's also very expensive apartments and a private marina. It's a fabulous place to stroll around...I'll show a few more pictures in the next couple of days.

If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see people on the Bridge Climb.