TALK OF THE TOWN | Local business
TALK OF THE TOWN
Phone: +61 400 775 933
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22.01.2022 This Saturday: Famous Artist and Arts Activist, Vida Lahey (1882-1968) will time travel back to Brisbane for one last time for this year. On this 1.5 hour walking tour/performance, Vida will share her amazing and inspiring personal story with you in a delightfully theatrical and passionate way.... Some dates are already sold out but some new dates have been added! Phew! Last time a lady whispered in my ear, I am so delighted to have met you, in person, well it sure seems that way to me. Vida, you have really come to life. And I just didnt know any of these incredible stories were here. Im local and I just didnt know! The tour will conclude with Vida taking you upstairs to the door of the New Woman exhibition at the Museum of Brisbane. There she will share a secret with you, about a painting, that only she and famous sculptor Daphne Mayo knew. Shhh, until today. Bookings essential on the link below.
21.01.2022 Well, we keep adding extra Walking with Gertrude - Theatrical Walking Tour dates (8x more I think, but Im loosing count), and they keep selling out. Brisbane folks seem to really love and want to experience a real life story of fascinating characters. First show tomorrow - please no-one remind me to break a leg. )
17.01.2022 My fingers are crossed for a return. Hopefully soon.
17.01.2022 #LadyBowenBites with Natalie from Brisbane Time Traveller Tours I look into these eyes and wonder at what secret thoughts lay behind them Lady Diamantina Bo...wen (Countess Diamantina Di Roma) arrived in the dusty colonial township of Brisbane on the 10 December 1859 with her husband, Governor George Ferguson Bowen and her young 16 month old daughter, Nina. The child was actually christened Adelaide (on Queen Victorias instructions, she was involved with every decision!) but the childs middle name was also Diamantina. Interestingly the girl was always known only as Nina. But there were two other research facts I found interesting when trying to find Lady Diamantinas personality. She lost a child. Her first pregnancy. It was said to be a premature birth. Her marriage date was 28th April 1856 in (British) Corfu, and I count 262 days (37.4 weeks) afterwards she births her 1st child, a son. He is named Edward George di Roma, not baby George Bowen like his father, as is the custom. And sadly, he dies at only 12 days old. Fast forward to her arrival again... She was said to be rather seasick on her trip up from Sydney. So much so, that the captain detours, near Newcastle, to calmer waters causing the party to arrive in Brisbane some 4 days late. I again do my sums. Zoe (living child #2) is born 263 days later, suggesting that Lady Bowen was possibly seasick because she was already a few weeks pregnant upon arrival. And a post script: 1864 the cemetery where the first child was buried was closed down. The graves marked with headstones were re-interred in the British Cemetery. But those not clearly marked were put in a communal grave. Baby Edwards remains lie within this communal grave.
15.01.2022 The folks at the Museum of Brisbane have just added one more extra final Walking with Vida theatrical tour on March 14th. So, there are spots left for this session only, all others are Sold Out. My goodness! And then ..... I am going to morph into someone new in April. Standby. . I have my creative thinking cap firmly pulled onto my head.
14.01.2022 News Flash: Brisbanes (first) First Lady returns ... After a sell-out season last year, The House, The Garden and The Stories, are calling me once again. Will you be joining me for a spot of theatrical time-travelling?
13.01.2022 It has been 160 years since the young and talented Greek-born Diamantina di Roma arrived on our shores and made such an impact. In a theatrical time-travellin...g kind of way, she will return to her home, Old Government House as our first First Lady! (Im doing my best to channel her.) With her caring nature, and gracious manner, she set about establishing benevolent institutions such as The Servants Home, the Lady Diamantina Lying-in Hospital and the Diamantina Orphanage. Streets, Bridges, Towns, Parks, Ships, Trains, Bays, Waterfalls, Rivers and Cities have been named in her honour. So impressive was she. The Lady Diamantina Bowen tours at Old Government House Brisbane start in just 2 weeks time and already 100 tickets have sold. All dates and times are on the Old Government House website. Tickets include the show and tea & cake on Lady Diamantinas private verandah upstairs where those curious questions may be asked of her. Book tickets here: bit.ly/ladybowen-tix
13.01.2022 ... some more.
13.01.2022 Im sorry everyone. Postponed. As soon as I have a new set of dates, Ill try again. Stay well.
11.01.2022 What a lovely curious group of enthusiasts came to meet with artist Vida Lahey today on the Walking with Vida tour for Museum of Brisbane. One kind gentlema...n told me afterwards, I wanted to say, I kept forgetting that you werent Vida Lahey herself. You are so immersed as her and know her story so well. Thankyou. Warm feelings all over. Thankyou kind sir! I must admit, I fight the tears myself after singing at the Shrine of Remembrance. I get very emotionally lost in Vidas story at this point. Can I tell you something private? I was so hot from the humid Brisbane weather after the performance today, and my train was delayed. So I did something out of character! I went into the Whistlestop Pub at Central Station (dressed as Vida c1930) and drank a small alcoholic Cider, to whet my whistle. Now, women werent allowed by law to drink in Queensland bars until 1970. It was an interesting experiment. And I felt so daring and definitely like a New Woman.
11.01.2022 I recall it was a Saturday, yes, the 10th of December in the year 1859. Queen Victoria kindly named the State after herself and we politically separated away from New South Wales. These certainly were challenging times. ... And this is where my story begins.
08.01.2022 What a beautiful memory this day was. I was being the dedicated mother and Lady of the House, Anna Wickham of Brisbanes oldest residential home, Newstead House c1847. Anna Wickham (nee Macarthur) was a mother of 3 children herself, and the opportunity to time-travel into the future to share her unique story and celebrate all mothers today, on the delightful verandah overlooking the Brisbane River and Breakfast Creek, was truly special.
06.01.2022 Here is my next Time-Travelling incarnation, this time for the Museum of Brisbane. A Theatrical Walking Tour with influential Brisbane Art Critic, Dr Gertrude Langer (1908-1984). To say that Brisbane was not ready for me, would be an understatement, she said. Gertrude was an educated woman with a PhD in Art History in 1939!, a passion for The Modern Art Movement and she dressed with a Paris-Style. ... She was also keenly focussed on sharing her knowledge of all things Art with the people of Brisbane. I am looking forward to being Gertrude and bringing her amazing personal story to life. Tours start soon. Sept 19th. I hope to see/meet you all again... wearing a new hat this time.
05.01.2022 After a sell-out season last year (doesnt that sound grand ) I shall be channeling the charming and compassionate Lady Diamantina Bowen once again. This March through till May, I welcome you wholeheartedly to my House. I shall then share with you, in quite some detail, the experiences I encountered within its walls from the years 1859 -1868. And afterwards, please join me for tea and cake on my private verandah (upstairs off the childrens nursery). Tickets available on the Old Government House Brisbane website.
04.01.2022 A light dusting off of my silk skirt, hooped petticoat and underskirts, shawl and precious jewellery is now quite in order. I, Lady Diamantina Bowen, shall ag...ain return to the halls and rooms and garden of the magnificent Old Government House Brisbane in just a few weeks time and precisely 152 years after I last left (in a theatrical living history time-travel kind of way of course .) I should delight in sharing with you some secrets of the House. My role as Brisbanes first First Lady and wife of the first Governor is to set the social tone of the society. However, I saw a great and desperate need in the young Brisbane town of 1859, and a chance for me to help in a very practical way... The Lady Diamantina Bowen Tour at Old Government House Brisbane is coming back again after last years sellout season. March 17th 2020 - May 10th 2020 only. Tickets and dates available now at: bit.ly/ladybowen-tix
