Polite Society's Social Diary - August

One disadvantage of hunkering down at home this winter, snug under a merino throw, is noticing walls that seem a little bare. Luckily for Melburnians, the Affordable Art Fair rolls into town this month, featuring work from over 70 galleries. Artworks range in price from $100 to $10,000, with handy stickers indicating pieces under $500 and $1000; cute additions to this year’s event include Jackie Case’s Art ATM, which asks customers to submit a prompt using a novelty credit card and gives them a custom artwork in return. August 27-30, Royal Exhibition Building, Carlton

In the past 30 years, the ABC’s flagship Australian Story has explored the lives of some fascinating people – everyone from documentary maker Alby Mangels (remember him?) to actors Rachel Ward and Sam Neill, and a host of other everyday heroes. To celebrate the program’s impressive 30 series, Australian Story Live brings together iconic Aussies such as Claudia Karvan, Olympian Michael Klim and the irrepressible Tim Minchin for one night only at the Opera House – and for those of us who can’t make the real-life show, it’ll be screened on the ABC on August 31. August 15, Sydney

Two and a half hours from Sydney, Bundanon isn’t the easiest gallery to visit, but it’s worth making the journey this month to see Man On Fire, an extraordinary new exhibition of Arthur Boyd’s ‘Nebuchadnezzar’ paintings. Quick refresher: King Nebuchadnezzar was punished by God for his pride and condemned to live as an animal in the wilderness. Boyd’s nightmarish works offer a response to the story and to the horrors of the Vietnam War, which raged during the 1960s when he lived in London. Meanwhile, contemporary artist Shaun Gladwell has created a significant new work in conversation with Boyd’s. Until October 11, Bundanon

They’re very different, but two plays from the Melbourne Theatre Company make the cut this month: a new adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya and Bloomshed’s irreverent version of Animal Farm. Having seen the company’s hilarious Pride and Prejudice at Melbourne’s Malthouse this May (Mr Bennett is a pot plant, surely perfect staging), this retelling of Orwell’s satirical dig at Stalin’s Russia promises many laughs and a send-up of some well-known Australian politicians. There’s also plenty of satire on show in Uncle Vanya, adapted by one of our most acclaimed playwrights, Joanna Murray-Smith, with a cast including Shaun Micallef and Ron Bridges. Fewer animal masks, though. Animal Farm, August 12-22, Arts Centre Melbourne; Uncle Vanya, until August 22

Yes, Cockatoo Island offers idyllic views of Sydney harbour and its guest houses and cottages look perfectly lovely. But the island’s troubled past as a penal colony and jail also means it’s an ideal setting for Fear Island, a large-scale immersive horror event featuring 30 performers, two terrifying tunnels replete with jump scares and roving contortionists (often scary in their own right). This is a new event and organisers hope it becomes an annual horror fest attracting the bloodthirsty from all over Australia, and beyond. August 28-30, Sydney

Continuing the gothic theme is Revivication, an installation that forms part of Melbourne’s most exciting festival, Now or Never. Revivication is complex, but here goes: Experimental composer Alvin Lucier donated his blood in 2020 before passing away in 2021 at age 90. His white blood cells were reprogrammed at Harvard Medical School to create stem cells, which were then made into ‘cerebral organoids’, living 3D structures similar to a developing human brain. In Revivication, the neural electrical activity of these organoids is used to create sound – enabling Lucier’s brain to create art beyond his physical death. Mind-blowing! And not to be missed. Revivication, August 21-29, Melbourne Town Hall; Now or Never, August 19-30, various venues