The creative team behind AmaJayus, Jay Wymarra, Tegan Koster and Hairbrain, and delighted to share this deadly review by Theatre Matters.
After some ‘shock’ dramaturgy comments from ‘industry types’, and a total slap down from an uniformed The Age reviewer, it was a pleasant surprise to get an informed, considered and detailed review of the work.
“Wymarra is a powerhouse of performance.”
“Wymarra has delicately crafted a show that could be taken anywhere on Earth and still mean something to someone; be they First Nations or Indigenous, queer, or anyone else just outside of society.”
InReview had this to say about Jay’s stand up performance:
“The shining star of the night is Wymarra, the Torres Strait representation in the line-up. Harking from the Gudang/Yadaykenu, Meriam and Saibai Koedal peoples, his comedy is quintessential millennial humour and he knows exactly where to push forward and pull back.
That being said, he pulls no punches with the political figures that have been in the news over the past year and his commentary is both tongue-in-cheek and hilarious. Wymarra is quick, witty and his impromptu crowd work shows that the stage is where he belongs.”
Catch Jay and the amazing new show AmaJayus at this years MICF. April 8th – 21st.
Mixed Grill delivered – a poignant, evocative, critical and compelling journey across the broad landscape of ‘other’.
Produced in partnership with Northsite Contemporary Arts, across the various spaces within Bulmba-ja Arts building: foyer > gallery 1 > studio > car-park – studio, Mixed Grill platformed new work, discussion, improvisation and contextual programming.
Featuring amaze new works –
Tegan Koster‘s updated synth wonderland, the ‘Shapes’ project,
live improvised guitar noise trio Dero,
a large scale and slow moving co-joining of the evocative group works BLK&SBBTH + Exercise In Futility (feat: Rebecca Youdell, Tegan Koster, Doula, Roderick Newbury, John DeSatge & Fletcher Glover, devised and produced by Nicholas Mills),
‘Other Response’ performance & sound/screen work by Rebecca Youdell & File_Error,
John DeSatge‘s amazing ‘Majorities’ Flags gameshow performance with audience interaction,
a yarning panel with the ‘other’ artists,
and an amazing sneak preview of Jay Wymarra‘s new cabaret show AmaJayus.
Plus two of the finest DJ’s in the land, DJ Whichway, and DJ Mr Tarago (the people mover) book-ended a crackin’ art-party to get the year started.
A super day in the studio for the creative development of Jay Wymarra new show ‘AmaJayus’. Some serious composing at hand – with Tegan Koster upfront and @hair_brain_ok lurking in the background.
Image: Rebecca Youdell & John DeSatge – ‘Exercise In Futility’ – Sub-Merge, April 2023.
We are super-excite to launch in 2024 with our first Mixed Grill event for the year, to coincide with the end of our group exhibition ‘other’ – showing at Northsite Contemporary Arts.
Experience an unforgettable guided journey through diverse performance spaces, where art comes alive through thought provoking exhibitions, performance, music, interactive showcases, and the chance to meet the brilliant minds behind the art.
Featuring performance works including Tegan Koster’s ‘Shapes’ project, live improvised noise ensemble Dero, a co-joining of the evocative group works BLK&SBBTH + Exercise In Futility, John DeSatge’s ‘Majorities’ Flags gameshow performance, a discussion panel with the ‘other’ artists, and a sneak preview of Jay Wymarra’s new cabaret show AmaJayus. Plus more to be announced!
Image: Tegan Koster – ‘Shapes’ – Sub-Merge, April 2023.
The 5Five collective produce arts/music events that intersect context, art form, culture and identity, that bring the avant- grade and underground together through a variety of programs and events.
Mixed Grill is a program first produced at the Arthouse between 20112-2014, then re-emerging at Screen Culture Club for a number of years. Mixed Grill is a mini-one day festival that enables and activates diverse cultural expressions, from the traditional to the avant garde to the experimental, across sound, screen, contemporary performance, dance, circus, installation and visual media.
Mixed Grill is produced by The 5Five Presents . Creative Producer: Nicholas Mills.
Ticket prices are tiered for accessibility. Ticketing supports our local artists and helps us manage event capacity. If you are experiencing financial hardship and want to attend, please email connect@northsite.org.au for free tickets.
One of the country’s ‘most happening’ comedic performers is about to ‘unleash the beast’, their brand new cabaret styled stage-show at this years Melbourne International Comedy Festival.
AmaJayus is the quasi-musical, comedic cabaret special of the decade coming from eponymous artist Jay Wymarra.
The son of a former Foreign Affairs diplomat, Jay Wymarra was exposed to many aspects of Australian and international cultures from a young age, and Jay is a staunch activist for the rights of people across all spectrums.
Built atop of the decaying remains of the play, AmaJayusfollows the inner-life, conflicts, journey, and fashion choices of a young queer black boy who refuses the boxes society wishes him to occupy.
Entirely terrifying and wonderful, AmaJayustraverses Jay’s evolved identity from comedian to political figure, musical nerd to pansexual lunatic.
“I am totally excited to unleash AmaJayus onto suspecting audiences! I pay homage to the murky past, gaze into an unknown future, and lead the crowd into a playfully dark and fabulous space”, states Jay.
Part comedy, part ghost story, AmaJayus is a queer-feral rock-opera about self-acceptance and finding where you fit, all told out of order by a true First Nations renaissance man.
Jay is a formidable presence on any stage, whether hosting, MCing, performing stand-up comedy, acting or gracing the stage as his fabulous drag alter-ego, “Rhianna Mation”.
His unique voice in the entertainment space has seen him make appearances in ABC’s ‘Rosehaven’, writing and performing sketches for Get Up!, and touring Edinburgh Fringe Festival with the Aboriginal Comedy All Stars.
Tracing back to the Saibai Koedal people of Saibai Island, along with the Meriam people of Murray Island and the Gudang/Yadaykenu people of Cape York, Pajinka, and Somerset, Jay’s cultural roots inform his very sharp contemporary lens.
“He’s the cocky upstart child of Indigenous comedy that you wouldn’t let play with matches!” – Reuben Kaye.
The 5Five group exhibition ‘other’ opened on Friday 10th December, prior to a crazy week of Cyclone Jasper and the resulting rain and floods across the Deep North.
The exhibition was opened by new Northsite Artistic Director, Hamish Sawyer, and curator Nicholas Mills.
‘other’ references the unique spaces that artists from diverse backgrounds and identities occupy: cultural, gendered, outsider, age, genre.
The exhibition features six creatives that work with the collective, and together, form a body of work that explores the institutional and viewer role in defining ‘other’.
Featuring artists Roderick Newbury, Doula, John DeSatge, Fletcher Glover and Tegan Koster, with words by Nalisa Neuendorf, ‘other’ showcases a variety of art forms across film, visual media, sound and text.
‘other’ was born through the ongoing Mixed Grill multi-arts program produced by The 5Five through curator and creative producer Nicholas Mills.
Mixed Grill events break down art-form, social, cultural and genre boundaries, through thematic collisions in one-off, multi-time-space programs.
“Other denotes a person or thing that is different or distinct from one already mentioned or known about”, or to “view or treat (a person or group of people) as intrinsically different from and alien to oneself“. (Google dictionary)
Yet, as humans, as a species, we are intrinsically not different, or alien to each other.
‘other’ references the unique spaces that artists from diverse backgrounds and identities occupy: cultural, gendered, outsider, age, genre.
The exhibition will feature five artists that work with the collective, and together, form a body of work that explores the institutional and viewer role in defining ‘other’.
Featuring artists Roderick Newbury, Doula, John DeSatge, Fletcher Glover and Tegan Koster, with words by Nalisa Neuendorf, ‘other’ will showcase a variety of art forms across film, visual media, sound and text.
‘other’ was born through the ongoing Mixed Grill multi-arts program produced by The 5Five through curator and creative producer Nicholas Mills.
Mixed Grill events break down art-form, social, cultural and genre boundaries, through thematic collisions in one-off, multi-time-space programs.
The ‘other’ exhibition will capture an essence of a Mixed Grill event, refined and distilled into a gallery based exhibition of visual media, object, installation, screen, sound and movement.
Each artist explores their place in ‘other’ through personal and contextual manifestations: in film, screen media, performance, text and visual media.
Nicholas Mills is a creative producer, curator and artist that makes a range of work under various aliases, and enables artists and groups to elevate and celebrate their practice.
He is primarily concerned with the intersections of form and context, how diverse individuals value tradition and the new, and the interesting juxtapositions when these elements merge.
‘other’ will officially open on Friday 8th December, at 5.30pm at Northsite Contemporary Arts, Bulmba- Ja – Abbott St, Cairns.
The exhibition will be complimented by a contemporary performance focused Mixed Grill closing event on Saturday 27th January 2024.
We are beyond amazed and proud to have received the Best Music Video Award at last nights Understory Film Festival – Cairns for The Pad Boys music video, ‘1962’.
Such a deadly moment for everyone to be on the red carpet! And such a deadly mc Jimi Gela-Bani.
Big shout out to director Slim Deal for making this happen!
“1962 is a reflection on Mona Mona, and the Barron River, two very significant places for both the Djabugay Nation and Mona Mona Descendants.”
“We remember their stories told of the mission days, where the Bama (people) had to be strong and dependent on one another. This bond of strength, resilience, and determination saw the Bama adapt and thrive in this new world.”
“This is a Tribute to all the Bama of the Barron River – this place we call our Bulmba (home), our Bulurru (storywaters), that flows through the Djabuganydji Nation. This song is a testament to the Bama both in time and in memory” – William Duffin
Tegan Koster Project drops their super-fab new track and music video ‘Feet’, on Friday 17th November.
The 5Five Presents are all super excited for this new classic – big synths, jangly guitars, sublime beats and electronics, and of course Tegan Koster’s eerie-cute voice sailing over the top. With William ‘Biri’ Duffin on guitars and Hairbrain on electronics, this dynamic trio bring bold and diverse influences into the tasty mix of ‘Feet’.
The music video, shot and directed by Slim Deal, draws from a single shot slow-motion dance of the artist, first captured at the new digs a while back, and re-contextualised for this new work ‘Feet’.
