Mammalian Diving Reflex and Streets Alive, in association with Mowbray Heights Primary School presents “Eat the Street – Children’s choice awards”.
Launceston, October 20th, 2009: Following its success in Canada and the Melbourne International Arts Festival, the popular arts project “Eat the Street” is taking over the restaurants of Launceston, Tasmania and is tickling the taste buds of kids across the city.
Eat the street, a project conceptualised by respected Canadian theatre and community cultural development worker, Darren O’Donnell, brings together a group of students from Mowbray Heights Primary School to give a brutally honest take on the restaurants of the Launceston shared through a unique series of dinners, and awards ceremony, where the only opinions that matter are those of the kids.
The project kick started with the students of Mowbray heights getting a tour of Drysdale, making sinful crepes and raspberry jam, followed by a crash course in making fresh pasta at Pasta Resistance. Armed with their critical learning, the students hit the restaurants with gusto, dining from the menus of establishments like Fresh, Romanelli’s, Fluid, Café @ Sebel, Toro’s, O Keefe’s and Archers Manor.
Each dinner has been a unique experience with the students getting to try a range of cuisine and comment on a variety of factors. Sharing his experiences Darren O’ Donnell of Mammalian Diving Reflex and the Artistic Director of Eat the Street said “We’re just over halfway through Eat the Street and we’ve had an amazing time and met some amazing people. The jury from Mowbray Heights Primary School has had some firsts: tempeh, risotto, oysters, quiche, mussels, and a never-ending stream of mocktails. We want you to come out, hang out with us and have an unforgettable meal. Why eat alone, when you can eat with a jury of opinionated children”.
The public is invited to attend the dinners and hang out and eat with the young jury and partake in the sipping, tasting, listening, gulping, spitting, sniffing, and touching eye-popping delectable’s. Over the next two weeks the jury will visit The Prickly Cactus, The Royal Oak, Stillwater, Flip Burgers and The Northern Club. The restaurant schedule is available on www.streetsalive.com.au so book your table now!
The critical dinner series will culminate in the official EAT THE STREET AWARDS CEREMONY will be held on November 3rd, at the Earl Arts Centre, where children will present their own handmade awards and tell the world where to eat in Launceston, what dishes to avoid, who has the best service, and which decor best suits the food and the ultimate award, The Best of the Best!
Notes to the Editor
About Mammalian Diving Reflex (MDR)
Mammalian Diving Reflex, led by Darren O’Donnell and Natalie De Vito, is an award-winning, internationally acclaimed research-art atelier dedicated to investigating the social sphere. Mammalian Diving Reflex smashes ideas together at high speeds to see what pops out, producing one-off events, theatre-based performance, theoretical texts and community happenings. Working with adults and children alike, Mammalian Diving Reflex creates critically-engaged participatory performances including Slow Dance with Teacher, the Children’s Choice Awards, Old People Shooting Guns and the international hit Haircuts by Children. Over the past year, Mammalian has thrilled audiences all over the world in Sydney, Melbourne, Dublin, New York, Los Angeles, Portland, Bologna, Terni, Oslo, Trondheim, Lahore, Mumbai, Montreal, Victoria, Vancouver, and at home in Toronto.
About Streets Alive Youth Arts Festival
Streets Alive Youth Arts Festival provides quality arts opportunities and experiences for young people aged 5 – 28. It offers an exciting, dynamic way for young people to express their ideas, opinions and concerns through positive, creative engagement with the community.
Eat the Street
