26 May, 2015. 14:34
CLANCY OVERELL | Editor | Contact
Sydney Opera House’s 1500-seat Joan Sutherland Theatre, the Sydney home of Opera Australia and the Australian Ballet, will have to be closed for several months to undergo maintenance and the removal of the giant wooden soap box currently sitting in the centre of the venue after yesterday’s TedX event.
The Opera House said, in a statement today, the $45 million project is working alongside a much needed broader renewal project, which the Opera House has described as “critical”, and will see 40-year-old stage machinery replaced to address concerns about the efficiency, reliability and safety of the theatre.
Sydney Lord Mayor, Clover Moore says that the wooden soap box is a lot harder to deconstruct than the venue had initially thought.
“First of all, its way bigger than we imagined,” she said.
“When you get a consistent stream of privileged white people with ten minutes each… You better believe that soapbox is going to get bigger and bigger by the hour,”
“Almost 18 hours of amazing idea-spreading… Fuck me… The last speaker was up in the rafters by the end of it,”
However, despite the fact that Sydney’s premier live music and opera venue looks to be out of action until August – there has been some good to come from the TedX event yesterday.
“The venue and surrounding businesses have really benefitted from having a one-day forum devoted to spreading ideas,”
“We have learnt many new things about the way we do business and treat each other,”
“In fact I think this entire city will be able to thrive of the self-righteousness this event has provided us with,”
“The next scheduled white privilege gallery opening will be the Festival Of Dangerous Ideas. Make sure you come along if you want to hear people who haven’t studied law talk about drug reform,”
