Remember the world before June 1997? If you can't, don't worry; you didn't miss much. The world was a dull, uninspired, basically pointless place. Nobody had ever heard of quidditch or boggarts or kneazles. Hardly anybody even knew how to pronounce 'Hermione'.
Luckily, J.K. Rowling stepped up and fixed everything. By imagining the incredible world of Hogwarts and writing the incomparable seven-book Harry Potter series, she delivered us from despair and brought us magic, adventure, intrigue and endless fun.
At the Athenaeum Theatre in October, we're celebrating 20 years since Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone with a night of storytelling, music, reading and revelry. And, in true Hogwarts spirit, there’ll be a competitive element to the night. We’ll broach the eternal, yet controversial, question: Who was the real hero of the Harry Potter series? Was it really the eponymous orphan wizard? Or was it misunderstood Snape, or heroic brainiac Hermione Granger? Was it the Sorting Hat who truly saved the day?
Ben Pobjie, Clementine Ford, Josh Earl, Justin Heazlewood, Jessica Walton, Nayuka Gorrie, Cal Wilson, C.S. Pacat and Candy Bowers will make the case for their chosen hero in an evening of wonder, wizardry and hardcore fanning out. Plus, there’ll be a performance by a quartet from the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. All houses welcome. Even Slytherins (sort of).
Suitable for ages 12 and over. For extra house points, dress as your favourite Harry Potter character.
This event will be Auslan interpreted.
Presented in partnership with Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
Featuring
Clementine Ford
Clementine Ford is a Melbourne-based writer, speaker and feminist thinker. She is a columnist for Fairfax’s Daily Life and is a regular contributor to the Age and Sydney Morning Herald. Through her twice-weekly columns for Daily Life, Clementine explores issues of gender inequality and pop culture. Fight Like a Girl is her first book.
Her ability to use humour and distilled fury to lay bare ongoing issues affecting women has earned her a huge and loyal readership. Clementine’s work has radically challenged the issues of men’s violence against women, rape culture and gender warfare in Australia, while her comedic take on casual sexism and entertainment has earned her a reputation as an accomplished satirist.
Ben Pobjie
Ben Pobjie is a writer, comedian and poet with no journalistic qualifications whatsoever. He has a weekly column at Australian news commentary site newmatilda.com, and his writing has appeared in Crikey, The Age and The Punch, among others.
Candy Bowers
Candy Bowers is an award-winning writer, actor, social-activist, comedian and producer. The co-artistic director of Black Honey Company, Candy has pioneered a fierce sub-genre of hip hop theatre that delves into the heart of radical feminist dreaming.
Born of multi-racial South African parents and raised in the Western Suburbs of Sydney, her life experiences have created a unique foundation to build her body of work upon. A poet, playwright and speaker from an early age, in 2001 Candy was accepted into the Bachelor of Dramatic Arts – Acting course at the National Institute of Dramatic Art.
Since then she has gone on to build her own company, star in sketch comedy, perform on Australia’s main-stages and tour the country with original works including: Sista She, Australian Booty, MC Platypus, Who’s That Chik? and Hot Brown Honey. You can also catch her on the small screen in Newton’s Law, Get Krack!n, Tonightly with Tom Ballard (ABC/Netflix) and The Cry (BBC.)
Candy is currently working on her first feature film with ArenaMedia, an anthology of Australian monologues for Actors of Colour called EVERYBODY ELSE, Twelve – a soul musical from the streets (after Shakespeare's Twelfth Night) and One the Bear – a fairytale for the hip hop generation heading to the Arts Centre Melbourne and Sydney Opera House in 2019.
Her awards and accolades include: Green Room Association Awards: Geoffrey Milne Contribution to Independent Theatre Award, British Council of the Arts Realise Your Dream Award, Australia Council of the Arts Cultural Leadership Fellowship, NIDA Glorias Fellowship, Creative Sydney Top 100 Creative Catalysts List, Philip Parsons Young Playwright Award Short List, Melbourne Fringe Best Performance and Director’s Choice Award and Adelaide Fringe Youth Education Award.
Jessica Walton
Jessica Walton is a picture book author, teacher, parent, daughter of a trans parent and proud queer disabled woman. She wrote Introducing Teddy: a story about being yourself to help explain gender identity in a simple, positive way to her kids. Introducing Teddy began as a Kickstarter project, but has now been published in the US, UK and Australia by Bloomsbury. It has also been translated into nine other languages. Jess lives in Pakenham with her wife, kids and cat.
Nayuka Gorrie
Justin Heazlewood
Justin Heazlewood is one of Australia’s most versatile storytellers. Music and comedy fans know him best as the ARIA award-nominated Bedroom Philosopher, a moniker under which Heazlewood has released several albums of incisive, brutally funny and often heartbreaking songs. Heazlewood is also a writer of journalism and essays – bringing humour and critical thinking to important issues such as mental illness, unemployment and the frailty of human relationships.
He has written two acclaimed books: the memoir The Bedroom Philosopher Diaries (2012), followed by Funemployed (2014), which focused on the ecstasies, horrors and realities of being a working artist. The latter earned praise from Tony Martin, Dave Graney and international writer Neil Gaiman, and featured interviews with over 100 local and international artists including Gotye (Wally De Backer), Clare Bowditch, John Safran, Tony Martin, Amanda Palmer, Christos Tsiolkas, Tim Rogers and Adam Elliot.
After its release as a book, Funemployed was commissioned into a radio series for ABC RN (Radio National) under the same name. Heazlewood also recorded the Funemployed LP, described as 'a soundtrack to life as an artist in Australia – from rejection to fame to selling out and giving up'.
He has written for Frankie, JMag, the Big Issue and literary journals such as Voiceworks, Sleepers and Going Down Swinging. Heazlewood is also accomplished in the world of television. In 2013, he was commissioned to make two station IDs for ABC2; he then won ABC’s Fresh Blood competition in 2014, allowing him to produce three episodes of Crazy Bastards – a parody of Mad Men set in mid-80s Australia.
Cal Wilson
Cal Wilson came across the Tasman in 2003 and has gone on to become one of our most popular comedians, a perennial favourite on television shows such as Have You Been Paying Attention?, Spicks and Specks, Good News Week and Thank God You’re Here. Her stand up shows are as engaging as they are hilarious, often bringing the audience’s stories to life alongside her own.
Cal earned herself a seat in one of Australia’s most sought after writers rooms at the ABC for The Weekly with Charlie Pickering where she returned for its first two seasons until she landed one of her dream jobs as an ensemble cast member in Whose Line Is It Anyway? Australia alongside some of the country’s brightest improvisers.
In 2017, Cal returned to the stage with Things I’ve Never Said which drew sold out crowds to comedy festivals around Australia, appeared on the prestigious Melbourne International Comedy Festival Oxfam Gala and returned as live host for smash hit story telling show The Moth and their regular monthly shows.
Cal’s brand new live show Hindsight will be touring Australia in 2018.
C.S. Pacat
C.S. Pacat is the New York Times and USA-Today best-selling author of Dark Rise, the Captive Prince trilogy, and the GLAAD-nominated graphic novels Fence, as well as a writer for DC Comics. Educated at the University of Melbourne ...
Josh Earl
Josh Earl is a comedian with a very weird family. His latest show for children is called My Family is Weider Than Your Family. And believe us, he's not lying.