Serpent's Teeth Honoured

Congratulations to Daniel Keene who scored the NSW Premier's Literary Prize for playwriting.

In a very tough field (Andrew Bovell's When The Rain Stops Falling and Damien Millar's The Modern International Dead were both in the running) it's good to seem Keene, a Melbourne playwright often ignored in Sydney, get the gong.

It must be a good sign of the rising standards of playwriting when such a strong group of writers are in the mix. I share the sentiments about the lack of female voices. However Debra Oswald won it last year.

So congratulations to Daniel.

Literary Awards Shortlist Announced

A tip of the hat to these fine individuals...


The Play Award

The Play Award ($30,000) is offered for a play or a work of music drama given its first production in Australia between 3 November 2007 and 3 October 2008.

Assessment is made primarily on the literary merit of the written text, and not on the merits of a particular production, although the judges will take into account the success of the work within the medium for which it has been written.

Previous winners of the Play Award include Louis Nowra, Michael Gow, Tommy Murphy and Debra Oswald.

2009 shortlisted writers are...
Andrew Bovell - When the Rain Stops Falling
Brendan Cowell - Ruben Guthrie
Tom Holloway - Don't Say the Words
Daniel Keene - The Serpent's Teeth
Damien Millar - The Modern International Dead
Tom Wright - The Women of Troy

Judges comments can be found HERE.


Script Writing Award

The Script Writing Award ($30,000) is offered for the screenplay of a feature-­length fiction film, for the script of a documentary film, for the script of a play or documentary for radio, or for the script of a television program (whether fiction or non-­fiction).

Assessment is made primarily on the literary merit of the written text, and not on the merits of the resulting film, radio or television program, although the judges will take into account the success of the work within the medium for which it has been written.

Previous winners of the Script Award include Jane Campion and Gerard Lee, Rolf de Heer, Christine Olsen and Anna Broinowski.

2009 shortlisted writers are...
David Caesar - Prime Mover
Greg Haddrick, Felicity Packard & Peter Gawler - Underbelly: Series 1
Anna-Maria Monticelli - Disgrace
Sean Nash - All Saints Episode 447: Not What You'd Expect
Louis Nowra and Rachel Perkins and Beck Cole - First Australians


Judges comments can be found HERE.


Other award shortlist details can be found HERE.

Playwriting Workshops, Development and Funding

The always reliable Bec Clarke created a brilliant note on Facebook yesterday which I feel compelled to cut and paste for all of you who haven't quite caught up with the rest of us twitterbug facers. 

It is a comprehensive list of nearly every possible workshop program, support service and funding source for playwriting for NSW residents. It's rather quite impressive when you look at it from head to toe, but the gaps between writing and staging are pretty clear. 

So here is the list in its entirety with an addition of the Performance Space and Griffin Theatre Company residency opportunities. If you can think of anything missed, leave it in the comments.


2009 Playwriting Workshops, Programs and Funding Deadlines

- Playwriting Australia two week workshop - Feb 27
- Malthouse Theatre - March 1 and Oct 1
- Merrigong Theatre - March 6, May 8, July 10, Sept 11
- OzCo New Work - June 3 and Nov 3
- Arts NSW - July 6 - Grants not outlined until May
- Hothouse Month in the Country - Feb 15 and Aug 15
- Bell Shakespeare - Mind's Eye - 2009 dates posted soon
- B Sharp - Open policy
- Next Stage - By invitation
- Vitalstatix - Women's Theatre Adelaide

- Performance Space - Residency 

- Griffin Theatre Company - Playwrights Residency


***PLAYWRITING AUSTRALIA
National Script Workshop
an intensive residential studio for the creative development of new works

The 2-week residential Workshop programme provides writers with the resources to progress to the next stage of creative development, without the expectation of an immediate performance outcome or the need to produce a performance-ready draft.

Eight writers are invited to develop a new work in its early stages of creative development in an intensive studio environment with directors, dramaturgs and an ensemble of actors.

The Workshop takes place annually in June/July and also features:
a public programme, delivering professional development outcomes to local artists and exploring issues in local theatre-making, and

a graduate programme offering young playwrights, directors and dramaturgs the opportunity to work alongside our senior company on their own creative development.
Submissions for the Workshop are invited annually in March from any interested writer and are assessed by a panel of experienced readers. There are no application or participation fees. Theatre companies are invited to propose projects for participation.

Applications open
Until 27 February
Runs
27 June - July 10 July


***MALTHOUSE THEATRE
In sending a proposal to the company, we ask for the following: One A4 page synopsis of the work, including why you want to work with the Malthouse on this particular idea or script. We are especially interested in what you believe a collaboration with this company will bring to your work and why. We would like to hear about the form as well as the content of your work, and how this engages with the theatrical medium. A one-paragraph biographical note of yourself (150 words maximum) and individual notes of similar length for any other artist involved. If the idea is already a developed text or has been substantially written, a 10-page extract, preferably the first ten pages, of the script or the equivalent in another medium (e.g., 5-min DVD).

All of the above should be presented in a 12-font single-sided format and postmarked no later than the due date. We will not accept faxed or emailed proposals. Proposals may include more than one artist. We ask, however, that individuals or teams send no more than one proposal. This does not preclude you from being named on several proposals. We will assume that any artist named has a commitment to the project in question. Please note that due to time and resource limitations we will not accept anything that sits outside these guidelines.

SELECTION
In receiving a proposal, the company will undertake the following:
A letter acknowledging receipt will be sent to you. Each proposal will be read or viewed internally by the artistic team and may be sent out for an external peer assessment. If the company has an interest in the project, we will notify you within three months of the receipt of your proposal. If you have not heard from us within this period, you may assume that your proposal has been read or viewed but has not been shortlisted for development by the company. Timelines for project development are dependent on the nature of the work, what it requires for production and the programming schedule at any given time.

Please note that due to time and resource limitations we make no commitment to provide feedback on proposals not shortlisted for development. If you wish us to return your proposal and support materials, please provide a stamped self-addressed envelope.

DATES
Deadlines for proposals are 1 March and 1 October of each year. All proposals should be sent to the following: Artistic Department, Malthouse Theatre, 113 Sturt Street, Southbank. VIC, 3006. 

ENQUIRIES
Maryanne Lynch, Dramaturge in Residence, (03) 9685 5111
admin@malthousetheatre.com.au


***MERRIGONG THEATRE COMPANY
Theatre Development Program
This program aims to foster professional theatre practice in the region by providing an identifiable and achievable path for emerging and established artists. Artists can apply for support to develop an idea to its first showing (for example a play reading) or to extend an idea through a dedicated development process (such as a script development or workshop).
Application dates for the Program in 2009 are:
• 6 March
• 8 May
• 10 July
• 11 September
Projects can take place at any time of the year. For more information on how to apply, contact Anne-Louise Rentell, Producer and Theatre Development Manager on either (02) 4226 3699 ext 110 or arentell@merrigong.com.au.


***AUSTRALIA COUNCIL – NEW WORK GRANT
Closing date: 3 June 2009
Decisions advised: September 2009
Projects may start: 1 October 2009
Closing date: 3 November 2009
Decisions advised: March 2010
Projects may start: 1 April 2010

New work grants support one-off projects that result in the creation of new contemporary theatre work. This can include a new production of an existing text.

• Creative development – supports the development stages of a new work, such as research, creative development workshops or commissioning a writer
• Production – supports a public performance of a new work and any stages leading up to it, where a presenting partner has already committed to the project
Applications for production grants must have a presenting partner involved in the project. A presenting partner is defined as anyone able to provide or raise the resources needed to present the work to the public, and could include (among others) venues, festivals, other theatre companies, local governments, museums or independent producers.

Applicants are advised to speak to theatre staff.

Applications can now happen online, after receiving a user identification number. Grant rounds will open for online applications six weeks before the advertised closing date. When a grant round is open it will appear in the online system. (The first time you log into system you will be given a user identification number. This number keeps means you can revisit your application as many times as you want before you submit it.)


***ARTS NSW
The 2010 Arts Funding Program Guidelines and Application Forms will be available for download by close of business, Friday 15 May 2009.

The Closing Date for applications to the 2010 Arts Funding Program is by close of business, Monday 6 July 2009.


***HOTHOUSE THEATRE (Month in the Country)
Annual closing dates – Feb 15 and Aug 15

Funded through Albury City, Arts NSW, Arts Victoria, the Australia Council, Myer Foundation and operated by HotHouse Theatre, A Month in the Country is a national arts resource to facilitate the creation of new Australian performing arts work. The initiative involves an on-going residential program that brings creative teams of writers, actors, directors, designers and other performing artists from across the country to Albury Wodonga during the creative development stage of a myriad of different projects.

Groups of artists from around the country will be supported to live and work in a large farmhouse and adjacent studio just outside Albury for periods of one to five weeks. The use of the farmhouse and studio is free and financial support for transport and living allowances is available.

HotHouse Theatre has created A Month in the Country as part of the company's philosophy of supporting independent artists with good ideas to move those ideas closer to a public outcome. Freelance theatre artists who do not have access to a company infrastructure or support often struggle in the early stages of project development. Even funded companies often have no space resources allocated to developmental stages of projects.

HotHouse Theatre welcomes projects which will benefit from an intense period of creative development in this quintessential rural Australian setting.


***BELL SHAKESPEARE (Mind's Eye)
Shakespeare provides us with an inexhaustible repository of ideas. There is a philosophical debate in almost every speech and a new piece of theatre in every image. More than any writer, Shakespeare has inspired artists to imagine and to create other worlds.

Mind’s Eye, Bell Shakespeare’s development arm, will harness the best of these ideas and allow them to be put to the test. It will demonstrate a commitment to innovation, recognising that creative risk is at the heart of our practice. It will allow artists to push the boundaries of their form, explore their connection to the contemporary world and enrich their work with ambitious ideas.

Mind’s Eye will give artists a safe platform from which they can perform daring feats.

Works developed within the Mind’s Eye programme can be initiated by writers, designers, directors, composers, choreographers or performers. These may be cross art-form, hybrid works and not strictly text based. It is an opportunity to engage with a broader circle of artists, providing important industry access and support. It prioritises strong creative development and rigour as a means of ensuring artistic vibrancy.

Mind’s Eye calls for submissions on an annual basis.
Submissions for 2008 closed on 29 September 2008, with over 30 submissions received.
Applications, selection criteria and terms and conditions for 2009 will be posted in February 2009.


***STC NEXT STAGE
Throughout the year Next Stage will invite a group of artists to participate in our inaugural season of Rough Drafts. These week-long creative developments will give theatre makers the opportunity to experiment: to try out new ideas, new ways of working and new collaborations. There will be an opportunity for you to attend a free, one-off showing at the conclusion of each week-long development. If you wish to join us at these showings, visit this website regularly throughout 2009, sign up for our email newsletter or become our friend on Facebook.


***RIVERSIDE THEATRE COMPANY
PLAYWRITING MASTERCLASSES
Three intensive workshops with leading Australian playwrights

Each playwright will deal with different aspects of the process and disciplines employed in writing for the stage. Courses are designed for established and emerging playwrights.

Debra Oswald and Christopher Hurrell
Saturday 4th April

Katherine Thomson
Saturday 20 June

Timothy Daly
Saturday 29 August

PLAY READING OPPORTUNITY
Following attendance at the Masterclasses the writers are invited to submit a play. Two plays will be selected to be workshopped and read in Riverside's BREAKOUT development program under the guidance of a professional director and actors.

Cost
$80 per workshop including light lunch, morning and afternoon tea

Location Raffertys Studio at Riverside Theatres
Corner Church and Market Streets, Parramatta


***B SHARP
Open Door Downstairs: If you have an idea or project you would like us to consider for inclusion in the B Sharp season, or for development within the B Sharp creative development program please feel free to contact us anytime to discuss the work. We’ve moved away from the open pitch process, and programming for the B Sharp season (in the form of a new twin season model) will continue throughout the year through ongoing conversation and collaboration. The programming timeline for the July – December 2009 will be March 2009 and for the first half of 2010 will be November 2009. The B Sharp creative development program, supports the development of new Australian work, which means you can also talk to us about projects that are still in the dreaming stages We hope to see the fruits of this program fill the Downstairs stage over the coming years!

Simply drop us an email or give us a call.


***VITALSTATISTIX (Women’s Theatre Co. – Adelaide) 
- Vitalstatistix exists to curate, support and produce, new, high quality, provocative and challenging live performance by Australian women, which engages and entertains a diverse audience and contributes to Australian culture. Vitalstatistix is a catalyst and incubator for the development of important, innovative contemporary arts practice in Australia. 


***PERFORMANCE SPACE
Residency Program

As part of Performance Space's commitment to supporting dynamic collaborative processes between artists, we offer a residency program for independent artists, artistic teams and small companies collaborating across disciplines, technologies and/or artforms to create new performative work. The Residency Program uses in-house resources to support both R + D and creative development of new work. 

***GRIFFIN THEATRE COMPANY
Playwrights Residency

Griffin offers key opportunities for emerging playwrights through its ground-breaking PLAYWRIGHTS' RESIDENCY.

Over 12 months, Griffin invites four playwrights the chance to build a lasting, working relationship with Griffin Theatre Company – and provides collaborating artists to work with towards production.

Griffin's Playwrights' Residency has been responsible for introducing playwrights such as Tommy Murphy and Caleb Lewis to mainstream audiences hungry for new work and new voices. The former resident playwrights' work included the award-winning Holding the Man, Strangers in Between and Nailed.

Griffin's Playwright Residency is a valued source of play development and plays a vital part in helping a new generation of playwrights find their voice.

In addition to financial assistance, workshops and professional development, all four playwrights feature and participate directly in Griffin's annual program, with Seasons, four short ten-minute plays presented throughout 2008, and a further four full-length plays presented as public readings.

Review: Holiday

Holiday by Raimondo Cortese
Ranters Theatre and Griffin Theatre Company
SBW Stables Theatre



I've now had the fortune of seeing Holiday by Raimondo Cortese both at its Melbourne premiere last year and once again in a remount now playing at the Stables Theatre.

From a staging sense, it's always interesting to see a show in a different space and what the current production proves is how diverse and beautifully intricate this play is.

In a white space, a babies wading pool sits centre stage with two toy life rings and a beach ball. There are also two stools and a chaise lounge to the side. 

Two men enter the space - two men who are relaxing by a wading pool.

The silence of their presence is broken by the singing of a baroque song as they share the harmony and the verse. With warm eyes they look out into the audience, inviting us to listen and share in their presence on the stage. It's a beautiful opening which quietly slips into another silence.

The slightly older and greyer Arno (Patrick Moffatt) then begins his conversation with the taller and more lanky Paul (Paul Lum).

Arno: My mum sent me this parcel the other day.
Paul: What's that?
Arno: My mum sent me this parcel the other day.
Paul: In the mail?
Arno: Yeah.
Paul: She spot something... out shopping?
Arno: You know those plastic thingummies?
Paul: No.
Arno: The ones you used to find in the cereal.
Paul: The funny creatures?
Arno: She sent me a whole bag of them.
Paul: Why she send you those?
Arno: I don't know.

And so it begins.


From here a conversation takes us through ninety minutes of simple reflections, simple anecdotes all with the desire to fill a void of silence and be civil to one another. For the most part its amicable between the two men but as they start to get to know each other over the course of the play the tension slowly rises until it is broken by catholic guilt driven Arno who questions a statement made by the exaggerator Paul.

What made the evening even more interesting for me, was to see how the two shows evoked such different reactions from the Melbourne and Sydney audiences.

Spatially, the two shows are quite different. In Melbourne the play was performed under a white tarpaulin type shelter within the larger space of the North Melbourne Town Hall. The audience was seated in a proscenium formation and looked on through a fourth wall at the interaction.

In the unique and intimate space of the Stables, a fourth wall is not possible and instead, the audience is included within the space with designer painting the entire theatre white.

The change of space has had quite a profound affect on the play. The audience in Sydney found themselves more included in the action with the thrust stage and responded to the humour far more than the Melbourne audience. Add this to the fact that the black clad Melburniuns saw the play on a windy, cold and wet winter's evening and the happier Sydney audience were at the premiere on a balmy sub-tropical evening and the difference was palpable.

The loss of the fourth wall also meant directorial changes to the staging. Those long dramatic pauses between the bits of dialogue have been shortened substantially and the beach ball being hit into the audience to break the wall is also gone.

This is all replaced by a familiarity and constant interaction with the audience which didn't occur in the Melbourne version. Certainly this means the heights of tension are diminished, but what you receive instead is a closer look at the bare bones of each character as they expose themselves not only to each other but to fifty pairs of eyes looking on from two sides.

Holiday is one of those rare pieces of theatre writing rarely seen on Sydney's small stages. It is a play you just wouldn't see come out of our independent theatres for a number of financial, marketing and cultural reasons. It delicately flicks off the cloak of the overly dominant Anglo-culture and embraces the theatrically experimental writing of Eastern and Central Europe, housing it within the strong history of the universally-themed writing coming out of Melbourne's fringe sector.

In a recent interview with Currency Press, playwright Cortese explains in one sentence why he loves the theatre replying it is because "in theatre there’s nowhere to hide".

Every emerging playwright and director in Sydney should see this play if only to see how simplicity can fascinate. There's certainly nowhere to hide which means there's endless possibilities.

The provocative Berkoff to provoke

I have never understood why many don't like Steven Berkoff. Some people think of him as just some type of egotistical performer and director while others think of him as one of the most talented theatre creators of the late 20th Century.

My first experience of a Steven Berkoff production was in 2001 at the Belgrade International Theatre Festival where he presented Messiah - Scenes from a Crucifixion.

Berkoff wasn't in the original piece (although he later played the role of Satan when it returned for a London season) but he directed and wrote the piece which greatly humoured the Belgrade audience this particular evening.

Drenched in his typical humour and trademark physicality, it was a production that is a delight to remember. Jesus cast as some Machiavellan orchestrator, Satan taunting with a beautiful nonchalence and disciples in bowler hats beat any World Youth Day crucifixion recreation.

The 71 year old is back in Sydney to perform another one man show appropriately entitled One-Man.

But before he embarks on the tour, he is giving a talk at Sydney University tonight which will, fingers crossed, rattle a few cages;

Critically acclaimed UK actor, director, playwright and author Steven Berkoff will give his unique perspective on the art of provocation at an exclusive Sydney Ideas event to be held at the University of Sydney next Monday night.

In what promises to be a fascinating lecture, titled 'Provocation: How far can an artist go?', Berkoff will discuss how he has managed to stay on the fringe since he formed the London Theatre Group 40 years ago.

How far can an artist go...? In Sydney, a lot further.

Should be a great evening at the Seymour Centre. And there's even a great pub across the road for post-chat chats.


Event details:

What: Provocation - How far can an artist go? Steven Berkoff at Sydney Ideas, the University of Sydney's international public lecture series

Where: The Seymour Theatre Centre, Cnr of Cleveland St and City Rd, the University of Sydney. Phone: 02 9351 7940
When: 6.30pm on Monday, 25 August, 2008.

Tickets: $20/$15 concession.

Bookings: Box office 02 9351 7940 or online

Review: The Pillowman at Company B and In Bruges at Sydney Film Festival

The Pillowman by Martin McDonagh
Company B

In Bruges written and directed by Martin McDonagh
Sydney Film Festival


Martin McDonagh is flavour of the month in Sydney at the moment. Not only are you able to catch Company B's excellent production of the 2003 play The Pillowman, but over this weekend you can also catch the Australian premiere of his debut feature In Bruges at the Sydney Film Festival.

For fans of his dark and brutal writing, there couldn't be two better reasons to get out into the wet and wild winter that Sydney is having at the moment. Just don't take anyone who is slightly sensitive to what one might call 'rich' language because from some reports people are walking out of the theatre production. This is not to mention the people I witnessed who got up in disgust from the film.

Doesn't it just give you the warmest feeling to know that people still get up and leave 'shocking theatre'? And it happens despite all the protective cushioning dressed up as warning signs that now plague our theatres.

So I will give it to you clearly. Martin McDonagh's plays are filthy rich in swearing, as he litters the text with feck this and feck that like confetti over a bride and groom.

The shame of it, for those that leave, is that the swearing is the least shocking element of his plays (or film for that matter). He has an elegantly forceful way of placing very normal people in extraordinary, absurd and violent situations that ask the big questions of personal responsibility, fate and choice. And despite the heightened situation it is all beautifully placed within the realms of possibility.

In The Pillowman, we meet Katurian K. Katurian (Damon Herriman), a writer living in a police state, somewhere, sometime with his mentally affected brother Michal (Steve Rogers). It smells instantly of the world of Winston Smith as the play opens up with Katurian interrogated by good-cop Tupolski (Marton Csokas) and bad-cop Ariel (Dan Wyllie).

Central to the allegations are some short stories which Katurian has written that depict violent scenes and violent deaths of children. A string of unsolved murders in the town similar to the stories as well as the toes of a child discovered in Katurian's home leads him to become the prime suspect.

Although the play is set within the confines of the interrogation rooms the stories of Katurian are told throughout, taking you to dark fairytale worlds of his imagination. But the dark fairytale soon becomes a reality as the childhood of Katurian and Michal expose a fractured and unresolved past.

Director Craig Illott has crafted a stylish and honourable production for Company B and along with designers Nicholas Dare, Jo Briscoe, Niklas Pajanti and Jethro Woodward they have created a world that does not overstate but passionately delivers the reality and fantasy of the worlds.

What is most beautiful, aside from the excellent performances from one of the strongest casts to be ensembled in Sydney this year, is the simple story-telling that has you enraptured like a child.

It was then an unexpected delight to then find myself walking into the State Theatre just yesterday to witness the Australian premiere of In Bruges directed and written by McDonagh in his first venture into the world of feature films.

Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) are hitmen who have suddenly had to hot-foot it to the Flemish town of Bruges at the order of their gangster boss (Ralphes Fiennes) after an accident. Waiting for 'the call' to give them the all clear, Ray despairs at the thought of having to spend two weeks in the 'shithole' of Bruges while his older companion delights in the medieval history, the canals, cobble-stone streets and the beautiful tower of the city.

Ray explains to Ken, "I grew up in Dublin. I love Dublin. If I grew up on a farm, and was retarded, Bruges might impress me but I didn't, so it doesn't."

And so it goes, with Ray despairing over his 'accident' until he stumbles across a film set in the alcoves of Bruges where he meets the stunning Chloe (Clémence Poésy).

The performances by Farrell and Gleeson are spot on as they wrap the delicious one-liners around their tongues, playing brilliantly off each other.

It's interesting to see McDonagh translate his writing style to the world of film. His biting dark humour, the swearing, the politically incorrect comments and the violence are all there. So too is his trademark ability to ask those questions of personal responsibility.

But somehow, his transition into film loses a certain something. Within the beautiful realm of theatre, it is his unique strength of conjuring up worlds and people outside the four walls that makes him such a stunning playwright. The theatre is a place where he can let loose his imagination onto the audience and create a pressure cooker of tension as the outside forces bear down on the stage.

In film, he has found the restrictions and is forced to re-create the reality of his imagination and show all his cards. Don't get me wrong, this is a fantastic film that is a hilarious and brilliant ride but for those who have followed his stage work, there is that missing element.

But then again, maybe that's the nature of the film beast.


The Pillowman - Directed by Craig Ilott Set design Nicholas Dare Costume design Jo Briscoe Sound design Jethro Woodward Lighting design Niklas Pajanti. Cast: Amanda Bishop, Marton Csokas, Lauren Elton, Damon Herriman, Steve Rodgers, David Terry and Dan Wyllie.

Images:
Top - Dan Wyllie and Damon Herriman. Photo- Heidrun Lohr
Bottom - Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell

Dark Stories A Winner

Debra Oswald has managed to secure 15,000 big ones and a whole lot of prestige after her play Stories in the Dark won the 2008 NSW Premier's Play Award this week.

Published by that god-send publishing house Currency Press, the play was up against a tough field this year and had to beat a field which included the absolutely stunning Parramatta Girls by Alana Valentine, The Story of the Miracles at Cookie's Table by Wesley Enoch and Tender by Nikki Bloom.

I haven't seen or read Stories in the Dark, so I will have to rely on the blurb sent out by Currency Press;

Stories in the Dark explores the power of storytelling, mingling the magic and earthy wisdom of folk tales with the hard-edged story of violence, conflict and the struggle to survive: In a war-torn city, 12-year-old Tomas and 16-year-old Anna seek refuge in a derelict house. To distract them both from the horrors lurking outside, Anna tells Tomas folk stories she remembers from her childhood. And so begins a journey into the shifting, shimmering world of ogres, princes, singing bones, foolish lads and wolf-mothers.

The play, which was written for an Australian Theatre for Young People production, was presented at Riverside Theatres in May last year. It is presently the only outing for the play, but after this week's recognition that will hopefully change.

So too Parramatta Girls by Alana Valentine. I am told that some Melbourne theatres are wary of staging it because it has 'Parramatta' in the title. All that Sydney blah blah Melbourne rivalry bollocks.
Let me assure all of you that it will be worth every cent if you present this very important and theatrically stunning story.

And maybe Stories in the Dark as well.

Playwrights in the sunshine state

It is only a matter of days until the inaugural PlayWriting Australia National Play Festival kicks off.

If you didn't already know, PlayWriting Australia is the brand spanking new organisation headed up by ex-STC Literary Manager Chris Mead and is the amalgamation of the Australian National Playwrights Centre and Playworks.

Although based in Sydney, their first festival is (appropriately) being held in Brisbane which is moving and shaking as one of the new centres of writing in the country. They already have the Queensland Writers Centre which has become the darling of the Queensland Government and they are also throwing down the guantlet with their annual Brisbane Writers Festival.

It is also appropriate because Queensland's new premier Anna Bligh was the state's arts minister under Peter Beattie and no doubt would have helped Mead and his board stage the event. Something that would only be in the realms of fantasy for our Rugby League Premier Morris Iemma.

John Doyle, who is suddenly becoming a darling of the theatre industry (he has his first play premiering at the Sydney Theatre Company this year) is giving the opening address on Sunday 10th February.

What follows is a bunch of play readings which showcases new works from Kylie Trounson, Rosalba Clemente, Mary Rachel Brown, John Fraser, Steve Rodgers, Ross Mueller, Sven Swenson and Sue Smith.

You then have what are called Access Sessions. I have no idea what that means, but essentially there are a host of talks given by playwrights and producers including Daniel Keene, Joanna Murray-Smith, Lally Katz, Michael Futcher, Helen Howard, Scott Rankin and Cathy Hunt.

The entire programme is intertwined with performance seasons of new Australian works at the Queensland Theatre Company, Brisbane Powerhouse and La Boite Theatre.

Sounds fascinating. Check out the programme and get yourself a cheap flight up to Brissy for a weekend.

PM calls on best and brightest?

It's all over the front page of The Australian today:

"The Prime Minister announced yesterday that 1000 of the nation's 'best and brightest' would be picked to attend a two-day summit in Canberra to articulate radical solutions to the 10 most pressing problems facing the nation over the next decade."

And to my general shock and amazement The Arts gets a guernsey, coming in at number 8 (just after Indigenous Australia and just before Democracy).

It does have to share a place with film and design, but I suppose that if The Arts are considered more important than democracy we shouldn't complain too much.

To be held in April, the weekend forum will aim to propose long term options for the development of Australia towards 2020. Rudd's press release goes on to explain that "this Steering Committee will select up to 100 participants in each of the Summit areas who will attend in a voluntary capacity. The participants will be drawn from business, academia, community and industrial organisations, the media and include a number of individual eminent Australians."

This is where you, dear reader, come in. The last thing we need is for the usual suspects to be lining up and representing 'the arts'. Can you imagine anything worse than a continuation of the status quo? It's enough to make you shudder.

It's very important that a 'real' cross section of the industry needs to be represented at this event in April, not just the institutionalised individuals at the top of the pecking order. You need your James Strong representatives in their bow-ties and jaguars, but you also need your fringe theatre artists. You need your Cate Blanchetts with their business sponsorship deals but you also need your regional arts organisation and their struggling relationship with state governments.

Unfortunately state premiers will be in attendance, so you can look forward to Premier Iemma of New South Wales having a chat with you about the merits of rugby league over opera. So the two day ideas-fest will spend at least one of the days discussing terms of reference.

Unless of course you convince Premier Iemma not to come, explaining to him that there isn't a sport category up for discussion. In fact, maybe he can just stay in Sydney that weekend and check out the footy. Doesn't the rugby league kick off that weekend?

I think there are a number key areas that must be addressed by the two day forum. The first is, of course, the funding structure of the arts with a greater integration of federal, state and local funding. The situation in New South Wales where funding keeps get cut and cut and cut, will soon enough spread to other states and territories. How can greater integration stop this from happening?

A new and fresh vision for the Australia Council must be discussed. The grant application procedures are at times ridiculous and anti-creative and the whole idea around 'peer review' needs to re-evaluated.

One of the other things that could be discussed would be an equivalent of the Australian Major Performing Arts Group (AMPAG). Maybe we could call it the Australian Minor Performing Arts Group (AmPAG), representing artists outside the gates of Troy.

The third area of importance is the state of arts education. This is an area that needs critical attention not only at a school level, but more urgently at a tertiary level. Arts faculties across the country have shrunk and a stream of subjects have disappeared at every institution.

And don't even start me on the National Art School which each year struggles to stay afloat. Just fund the damn thing.

The fourth area of importance is arts reportage. Is the standard offered by our media outlets (I'm looking at you Mr Fairfax and you Ms Rural Press and also you Mr Murdoch) really that good enough and how does it need to be renewed with vigour. And how do we stop the arts section from being just a pit stop for cadet journalists to practice their prose?

The fifth area of importance is greater integration of multicultural arts and collaboration on an international scale. Why is the AsiaLink programme so under utilised for cross-cultural collaboration? What does the Federal Government plan to do about expanding the touring programme for artists and arts organisations? What will be our vision for cultural exports?

There are more and you will be able to make your submissions online, when a website is created for the summit. So don't be silent and don't rely on those that are currently in the ears of government. It does make a difference.


Story UPDATED HERE.

Review: Construction of the Human Heart

Construction of the Human Heart by Ross Mueller
BSharp & Keep Breathing Productions
18th October 2007

Full-text version of review published in The Daily Telegraph.

What’s going on in Melbourne at the moment? What are they feeding into the theatrical water trough that is producing all of this daring and intense work?

In just over a month, this reviewer has had the pleasure of seeing three independent theatre productions come up the Hume Hwy and in different and unique ways push theatrical boundaries that Sydney groups just don’t seem to be pushing.

It seems that where Sydney seems to be falling behind is in experimenting with theatrical form, that is, the way that material is presented. Construction of the Human Heart, by Ross Mueller is in so many ways the apex of what is being investigated on Melbourne stages with a form that challenges not only theatrical but audience expectations as well.

As the house lights are up, two actors introduced as Him and Her (Todd MacDonald and Maria Theodorakis) walk onto a stage that contains nothing but two chairs and two bottles of water. With scripts in hand they acknowledge the audience, take their seats and begin reading. It seems as though we are at a public reading that could be in any hall or room in the city.

It appears they are reading from a script she has written as some fantasy child’s tale. But then, Him, drops the script, pages go flying and without a beat the script continues. The play takes on another play. Are we hearing a play that both of them have written? Or is it a play that is merely about them, the two writers? The troubles they encounter, the feelings between each other and the lost tenderness are all being exposed.

At the same time the lights on the audience gradually grow darker as the overlapping plays start to fill up the imagination of the audience. Then a blaring voiceover announces the stage directions. The fantasy tale is blending with the reality of the two characters lives and the consciousness that this is theatre.

The power of Mueller’s play and the imagery it evokes is a stunning theatrical work (the story of the angels encountering a small boy in the forest is a devastating image). Coupled with the stark simplicity of Brett Adam’s direction and Rob Irwin’s lighting as well as the intricate performances of the two performers, this theatrical piece daringly asks audiences to fill in the gaps, to make up their own minds and to engage. This is beautiful theatre.

Till 28 October
25 Belvoir Street, Surry Hills
(02) 9699 3444
www.belvoir.com.au $23-29

Some juicy lil bits

What an interesting evening last night!

A colleague of mine and I have been bemoaning the utter lack of new Australian plays being presented in Sydney at the moment. They're all English or American or Australian plays from eons ago...

"The last one would have to be Mulvaney's The Seed wouldn't it?" I say.
"Yeah, that's about right." He replies.

And then on my way home from a wonderfully interesting production down at the Sydney Theatre Company (more on that in the next day or two), I run into a colleague who informs me that The Seed has just got a guernsey and will be transferring from the Belvoir downstairs space where it premiered earlier this year to an upstairs season next year.

Well, here's to that!

It's a very interesting play which I reviewed when it opened. A wonderfully diverse text with some powerful images that will no doubt work even better in the upstairs space.

I am informed that Neil Armfield will be the associate director on the production, which will no doubt pull it some rank. But hopefully the good word will spread about the show, with it working off its own merits like it did this year.

However (and a lot of people won't like this) I think that the show would benefit by having Mulvaney take off the actor hat and concentrate on the text and the changes it will no doubt go through in its transfer upstairs. This would also mean that another actor could fill her role and add a more objective dimension to the story.

But either way, I am glad to hear that The Seed will grow and grow.

And there have been some interesting developments down at the STC Actors Company. I have been informed that Steve Le Marquand replaced Colin Moody as of last week, Dan Spielman is leaving and relocating to Melbourne and Deborah Mailman is also departing the ensemble.

There are a couple of other movements which I need to verify, but it seems that it is all systems go for the ensemble as they continue to find their feet and discover the right balance. Next year should be interesting.

And the debate still rages... but it's still all white on the night

For those of you new to this little blog site that concerns itself with all things artistic and cultural, let me recap on what has been happening this last week.

In short, I made a brief summary post about an essay published in an Australian performing arts publication about the lack of multi-racial casting on the stages of Sydney. It fit nicely with another event that occurred when the major Shakespearean company, Bell Shakespeare, cast an Indigenous actor for the first time in this country's history as Othello.

It was merely a summary, but it seems to have gone a little berserk and the traffic flow into the site has gone through the roof. At the same time, my esteemed colleague Mink Tails was diving into this blog, making excellent and passionate comments as well as having an excellent summary of the essay on her blog.

But, for fear of losing the central focus here and diving into an 'i love my stc/i hate my stc' argument, let's steer back to the nuts and bolts of what Lee Lewis said in her essay. (But I implore you all to read the full text, for fear that certain quotes I select below could be taken out of context, which I will desperately try not to allow.)

'This essay,' Lewis writes, 'argues that aggressive cross-racial casting of the classical repertoire is needed in order to subvert the 'inevitability' of White-centric theatre. It is a necessary step if we are to rid our mainstages of their current, implicitly colonial, practices and make them a cultural territory that is fully engaged with the socio-political complexities of representing hybridisation'.

That is the central theme of her essay, and I applaud her for making it.

Since reading her research and her ideas, it has started to put a barrier between myself and so much of what I am seeing at the moment. She is bloody well right and what is sad is that these arguments have been made before and nothing has been done about them.

A few weeks ago I had the fortune of teaching some high school students from a number of schools in the Penrith area of Sydney. These classes were made up with ethnically diverse students from a wide variety of backgrounds. We worked on devising short pieces of theatre which would culminate with a performance evening in front of their peers, friends and families.

It hasn't been until now, that I reflect on the workshops and realise how out of touch the mainstages are to the world that these students live in. Cultural diversity, ethnic diversity and racial diversity is the norm for them. How must main theatre companies look to them when they see a constructed world that does not reflect their own?

'The construction,' Lewis continues, 'of the all-White cast in Sydney as the 'natural order' is inherited from the British theatre, which functioned as the cultural face of imperial politics of domination. Our mainstages have yet to mount a serious challenge to this state of affairs. An all-White cast in a classical play on a mainstage in Sydney in 2007 is a nationalist strategy for reaffirming the dominant fantasy of Australia as an all-White nation...'

In the essay, Lewis makes fantastic arguments and provides excellent evidence that irrefutably shows that the cultural diversity of the Australian stage is at best, lacklustre. At worst, it verges on racial exclusion. When you compare the diversity that is gracing the stages of progressive institutions such as Performance Space, Sidetrack and Opera Australia, you get a sense of who is being left behind.

I would, however, give more weight to the role that programming plays in the lack of multi-racial casting. Someone mentioned in the previous post the speech that Richard Wherrett gave about anglo-centric programming and to be honest, I don't think that there is any evidence that the mainstage theatre environment has changed much since that speech was given in the mid-90's.

The conservative programming of mainstage theatre in this city is a central problem to the acceptance of a more diverse stage and until we start to develop audiences with more diverse points of views, more diverse texts, more diverse theatrical practice and scripts that don't prescribe to the US and UK stereotype, it will be very hard to move beyond the present situation.

Don't get me wrong, I like to hear what writers in the US and UK are talking about and the mainstages do those productions competently, but I would really LOVE to hear what Biljana Srbljanovic is saying, or Gao Xingjian, or Sabina Berman, or Yukio Mishima, or Andre Hieng, or Maribel Carrasco, or Jose Ramon Enriquez, or Noda Hideki, or the Presnayakov Brothers.... or maybe even someone from Sydney.

There is a tunnel vision in the diverse cultural impact of texts used by mainstage companies in Sydney. That is a hurdle they and their audiences need to get over if there is any hope for a more diverse cross section appearing on their stages.

Lewis uses Barrie Kosky as an example to be emulated. Again, I couldn't agree more. While I was studying theatre in Slovenia, I would occasionally indulge myself, catch the train a few hours north to Vienna and have a sticky-beak at what Kosky was doing at the Schauspielhaus. The production that stays in my memory more than any other was his production of Medea, starring Melita Jurisic in the title role.

At the beginning of the production, Kosky gets Jurisic to speak in Croatian, while someone in the lighting box did a voice over translation into German. Such a simple acceptance of diverse culture and language that enhanced the theatricality and impact of the play in such profound and beautiful ways. And not to mention pointing a big finger at the sore on the butt of Western Europe and what to do about those 'damn Eastern Europeans' who look so similar to us, but are so poor.

Lewis suggests the term 'Third World Looking Person' in preference to Non-English Speaking Background in the essay. She quotes Ghassan Hage who explains that 'when white people who embrace the White nation fantasy look at a migrant, what they differentiate between are not those who are NESB and those who are not, or those who are European and those who are not, but those who are Third-World looking and those who are not.'

From a theatre viewpoint, I think that the non-English speaking background influence has as much to do with the way that non-White actors look. The intolerance towards those that have an accent sits uncomfortably with our romantic notion of the days when actors spoke in Received Pronunciation - and this intolerance is stifling our theatre.

Lewis' essay is so much more comprehensive than I can give justice to in a short blog entry, but the study she gives to the situation is compelling. She is careful not to point the blame, and prefers to blame professionals for being naive. But at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter whose fault it is. What matters is how we are going to change and when.


Image: Luke Chueh, Black in White

Stephen Jeffreys: guiding Sydney's stages

As published in ArtsHub Australia

by Nicholas Pickard
Thursday, June 07, 2007

The Sydney Theatre Company headquarters is one of the most beautiful places during the day. On a long finger wharf that’s nestled in the heart of Port Jackson, the view pans out to the east, with the Harbour Bridge arching over the waters that glides from the river out to the Pacific Ocean.

At 10am, I am introduced to Stephen Jeffreys, a tall and amiable Englishman who has one of those rich home county voices that has that quiet and respectable authority to it.

The two of us are decked out in our fair skin and we cover for shade on one of the beautiful decks that takes in the harbour. In no less than one minute, a waitress swiftly announces that we are in the way of preparations for lunch and shuffles us down to the blaring sun of the morning. Welcome to Sydney.

Jeffreys is synonymous with the rise of new theatre writing that hit the British stages during the late 80’s and 90’s. As resident literary manager of the Royal Court, he implemented a revolutionary programme that put new British playwriting at the centre of the rich platter of theatrical delights that that little island has to offer.

Names such as Sarah Kane, Jez Butterworth, Mark Ravenhill, Conor McPherson and Marius von Mayenburg were tried and tested as part of one of the most aggressive playwriting programmes ever introduced in the theatrical world. And it was the rise and rise of Jeffreys programme that has made him one of the most well known writers in the United Kingdom. It was his play The Libertine that caught the attention of actor John Malkovich and was then presented at the Steppenwolf and then turned into a feature film.

It was the British summer of last year that STC Artistic Director, Robyn Nevin flew to the UK to meet with Jeffreys wife, Annabel Arden who is a director most notably known through her work at Theatre de Complicite. Approaching Arden with the idea of directing something down at the Wharf, it was suggested that the play they should produce be one written by Jeffreys.

The collaboration was agreed on by the party of three and the result is The Art of War now showing at the Sydney Theatre Company. Jeffreys explains that The Art of War “is part of a trilogy… although it didn’t start out like that.”

“I did a play in 2001 with Annabel in California called Wind Interruptions and the idea behind it was to do a political play in a post modernist way to find a new style for that kind of work. The style of was an imaginary coup with little bits of 20th century history from all over the place and it out of chronological time - and I said to her at the time that I think that there are another couple of plays that will belong to this one.

“And I described a very sketchy idea to Robyn which was called The Art of War which was about warfare and Sun Tzu’s ideas of warfare. And she thought immediately that this was the right idea to do”.

Immediately Jeffreys set about writing the third part of the trilogy, before he had even finished the second. The result, after intense collaboration with Arden and the STC’s Actors Company is what he calls “an unsual play.”

“This meat of the play,” he says, “is in the Iraq scenes which I became very interested in researching. And I discovered that when the Americans were planning to invade that there were some dissident voices in the US army who were essentially saying they can win a conventional war against the Iraqis. But what will happen when they get to Baghdad, is that instead of fighting the US directly, if they have got any sense at all, they will take the Sun Tzu theory and not oppose the initial invasion. What they will do is they will take all of the key guys out of uniform and keep them in the background for six months and fight an insurrection – which is precisely what happened.

“The Americans have got themselves in a classic situation that Sun Tzu would have avoided. To be embroiled in an endless conflict without any clear strategy, where you are just bleeding resources the whole time”.

Jeffreys has framed the present conflict onto Sun Tzu’s theories with three different strands in the story. There first is the story set in Iraq in 2003, the second a series of love affairs and the final part is a business story centring around an Australian company. All twelve actors from the company are on stage almost the entire time and the result is what Jeffreys describes as “a free flow between the chorus part of the work and the more naturalistic play which is going on around them”.

Jeffreys couldn’t be a more qualified literary influence for Sydney’s performing arts.

He spent nearly 11 years as literary associate of the Royal Court and he holds workshops in the UK and often travels to countries to work with emerging writers. While he has been here, he held workshops with a young group including Hilary Bell, Greg Woodland, Nick Simpson-Deeks, Patrick Carr, Jack Douglas, Jane Harrison & Nicki Bloom.

While researching this article and looking at his website, I noticed one of the major selling points of his workshops is – What Theatres Want. “I will tell you exactly what they want,” he says. “They want the writer to speak with their own voice. I always start from the point of view that you can’t actually teach someone to be a writer unless they have got something to say, some urge to put it out there. And they either have that or they haven’t got that.

“I am really against the word ‘develop’”, he explains. “I don’t think that plays nor films are ‘developed’ actually. When a producer tells you that they are ‘developing’ something – you think, actually you are not. The writer is sitting there writing it and every couple of weeks you meet this guy for a coffee and you think it is work. But it’s not. The work is done. It’s the person sitting alone in a room.

“What they want is your own voice. A lot of writers seem to think that you have to fulfil a lot of prescriptions of what a play is or how a play is constructed. Really, when a literary manager is reading between ten and twenty plays a week, they want to open it and think - there is something original here, they don’t want to hear imitations of people.

“Its amazing! When we did a play by Jez Butterworth called Mojo, which is about gangsters, six months later you get a whole bunch of scripts with severed heads in the fridge and stuff like that. Or The Weir, suddenly there was a bunch of plays set in an Irish pub. You think, well if we just had a big hit with a play set in an Irish pub, why would we want to do that? It’s incredible how imitative people become”.

The Art of War plays at the Sydney Theatre Company till Saturday 30 June.

For tickets and more info, visit www.sydneytheatre.com.au

Patrick White Playwrights' Award Announced

The Sydney Theatre Company's Wharf headquarters was near to overflowing this afternoon, as the Sydney Writers' Festival hit its stride during its last two days. The bustle of the crowd, hurrying between one event and queueing up to the next was excitable and earnest with a good dose of old-age grump to go with it.

In one quiet corner of the wharf and away from the hordes downstairs, fifty people had gathered to hear the winner of the 2006 Patrick White Playwrights' Award. With prize money worth $20,000, this event is the richest playwriting award in Australia and has some substantial street-cred that goes with it.

Future STC Artistic Director Andrew Upton coughed and spluttered his way through the introduction to the presentation. The winner, from a shortlist of ten finalists including Antonia Baldo, Paul Galloway, Steve Hawke, Simon Luckhurst, Katherine Thomson, Mirra Todd, Christopher Watkins, Anthony Weigh and Matthew Whittet, was Patricia Cornelius with her play Do not go gentle...

Upton explained that as one of the judges, along with Chris Drummond, Lenny Ann Low, Rachel McDonald & Chris Mead, it was a very difficult choice to select one winner from 179 applicants.

Lenny Ann Low, a journalist from the joint sponsor, the Sydney Morning Herald, also made a brief speech bringing praise to the winner, as a play that has 'theatrical foresight'.

Cornelius is a founding member of the Melbourne Workers Theatre and has written more than twenty plays, many of which have won awards across the country.

The judges believed that Do not go gentle... "is a play brilliant in conception and execution... It tells two stories at the same time: one is the expedition of Robert Falcon Scott and his team's gradual envelopment by the Antarctic; the other follows residents in an Australian nursing home on a journey towards bewilderment and death."

A rehearsed reading followed with director Julian Meyrick and performers Helen Noonan, Ralph Cotterill, Victoria Longley, Don Reid, Betty Lucas, Ian Watkin & Russell Kiefel.

It was a very interesting choice of play, and indeed beautifully poised in its dialogue and flow. I found, however, the choice of winner a little conservative and uninspired and am still unsure of the connection between Scott of the Antarctic and the effects of dementia and old-age. Nevertheless, it will be interesting to see what a cast and crew do with the theatrical elements of the play, of which there are many.

One thing was left unanswered from the whole awards ceremony. What happens with those 179 other plays?


POST SCRIPT 4/6: Does anyone understand why the Sydney Morning Herald, who sponsored this event, has not run any article on the award winner from Saturday. Is that strange, or is it just me?

-------- Apologies to the SMH. They ran a small piece on page 3 today within the article "Scares & Whispers..."



Image: In Imagine

Review: Corvus

Corvus by Jasmine Chan

Directed & Designed by Kate Davis

Presented by The Rabble in association with Carriageworks

29 May 2007

Finally, finally, finally I have found a group of young Australian theatre makers who are pushing the boundaries of theatrical exploration. And I use the term 'theatre makers' quite deliberately to differentiate them from the more usual theatre collaborations.

It was through Alison Croggon's Theatre Notes that I first heard of this group, saying 'Sydneyites interested in bold new writing' should get to this production. But it is quite clear that it isn't just new bold writing that is on display.

Essentially this production is a monologue of poetic rantings from the self baptised character of Corvus - a name that originates from the Latin meaning 'crow'. It is the mythology that surrounds this symbol that provides the basis for this production and springs into a theatrical exploration of space, time, imagery and ritual. Think Greek Mythology, Apollo, Volpone, The Alphonso, Ted Hughes, John Fowles.

Entering the large and cathedral like theatre in Carriageworks, it is clear that this show is the first time that a company has created something specifically for the Carriageworks space. The balance and decoration of the stage, the lighting and the depth of movement make this a unique event that should be experienced within this theatre. From the moment you walk in, there is a manipulation of the eye and you quickly become aware of how vast the space is through the exposure of its industrial skeleton.

Like a wind-chime frame over the stage hangs a collection of gates, grills, metallic frames, window frames, prison beds. The immense size of it creates a cocoon for the audience, or more specifically, a kind of cage, from which we view the travellings and emotions of the raconteuse.

The writing is some of the most robust I have heard in a performance in this city. It is provocative and poetic and provides a stunning platform for the collaborators to create visual images that are so striking that you almost forget where you are, so dizzying is the look and feel of this piece.

At times the writing does envelop itself and loses certain ideas by being occasionally self-conscious. But as a text, it is throwing the gauntlet down. It is experimenting with the form of words through metaphor and ancient symbol and slamming them down upon a character's shoulders and allowing that character to breath a rhythm that can be at times shocking.

This theatrical rhythm is explored through one performer who makes her way from one station of the space to another. At each station, Corvus will deliver a piece of her monologue and will be accompanied by a subtle yet striking theatrical image through the use of the space, lighting and sound. She carries us on this raw emotional journey, at times talking to herself, talking to us, talking to her mother, talking to a priest and moving through the space in the most painstaking way.

I want to fly, full of lightness. To be a sparrow, a bluebird, a blackbird, a wren. Small and buoyant. Easy in the air. I want to move through stories, through the ages. I want to glide across the years. I want to peel the moments away from me like skins. To haunt the wings of the poet. I want to pepper the prayer book with whispers of love and dreams of love. I want to be a sparrow, a bluebird, a blackbird, a wren.

It is at its simplest a production that blends performance art with text. It is, at its most complex an exploration of individuality, sexuality, love, feminist identity, responsibility and expectation with the backdrop of man-made devastation and the original sin of Adam and Eve.

Dancing in the afterglow of the mushroom cloud. The crow moves with an unbearable weight—fashioned from all the world’s night—inside herself. The crow flies from nightmare to nightmare, infecting mythologies, polluting the transparent drop of rain, of flame. The crow flies sickly though black wave after black wave, the ocean floor concealed by oil.

But what stays with me the most from last night is the photographic type imagery that was created within the space. From the far reaches of the back wall and the experimentation of side and foot lighting, to the use of shadow, silhouette and the use of sound that at one moment is emotionally frightening. This production is pure theatre that has brought together the talents of some exciting individuals that are at the forefront of a theatrical exploration. It is brave, honest and passionate and a desperately needed influence in Sydney.

This production is on till Saturday. Go and see it.

Image credit: Brett Boardman

A Letter from the Past (Part 4)

Yesterday, I was reprimanded by someone for being so slow in getting the next installment of A Letter from the Past. "It's Thursday!" they said.

My apologies to everyone for promising a next installment on Monday and not delivering. It has been a frantic week of interviews, writing, Anzac Day and going to shows.

So, back to my series of extracts from Entertainment Arts in Australia - 1968. The critic.

The status and role of critics is changing and their position within our small community is altering dramatically.

This year's Sydney Writers Festival is having a forum on blogs as well as the changing face of theatre criticism. SAMAG at the Australia Council is having a forum in a week or two about critics as well (but no critics will be speaking??). It's a bit of a hot topic.

Alsion Croggon's Theatre Notes recently had a great discussion about some mainstream theatre criticism that she was brooding over. She took some of them to task for reproducing press release copy in some of their reviews.

But that is now. Let's have a gander at 1968...


The Critics
People agree that a nation gets the theatre it deserves, but there is some quarrel as to whether the theatre gets the critics it deserves, or the critics get the theatre they deserve. Here are some of their opinions, and some opinions on them.


Some people in the theatre comment on criticism:

The history of Australian theatre, unlike the history of European theatre, is simply a history of first nights. Unfortunately, critics think that once they have seen a play, they have done their bit with the play. I think often they should go back and have a second look.
John Tasker, Director

There is a core of them who manage to put things in the right box, and judge them in that box instead of in the context of one whole overall field.
Desmond Digby, Opera Company Director

I think it is pretty outrageous. I think they are far too sure of how they want a play to be done. I also think that there is a general atmosphere of knocking, or if they do praise they take it away with the other hand later on.
Alexander Archdale, Director, Community Theatre

What critics!
Robin Lovejoy, Director, Old Tote Theatre


The critics have their say about the main weaknesses in Australian theatre:

1. We still have a psychological tendency to look overseas for the theatre which is fashionable and famous there
2. There is a lack of playwrights and creative artists
3. We do not have enough actors experienced in the style needed to present the classics, or enough directors with intelligence and imagination to impose their views on the classics as they affect modern society.
Harold Kippax, Sydney Morning Herald

I don't know that we have any basic weaknesses. There is not a very large pool of qualified people to draw on like, say, the National Theatre in England - we're scratching a bit. But I think there has been a great improvement in production in Australia in the last ten or fifteen years.
Geoffrey Hutton, The Age

There are very few interpreters of plays in the country - there are a lot of people who do a workmanlike job on a production. The scripts are often held in much more awe than is necessary. There is [also] a lack of good administration, and the misuse of people.
Catherine Brisbane, The Australian

Well, I think the musicals might die away a bit, and the music perhaps be integrated more generally into productions. Nobody knows what the public wants. If they did, all theatre people would be millionaires.
Howard Palmer, The Sun

I do not see any significant changes or developments in local theatre in the past twelve months or so... Drama as drama is being left almost entirely now to the fringe theatres, the commercial theatre seems to have given drama away almost entirely for light farce.
Norman Kessell, Daily Telegraph


Tomorrow, I will give you a couple of extracts from sections of the book entitled Towards a New Theatre. It looks at the training of actors from the point of view of directors and teachers of theatre.


All extracts above are from:
Entertainment Arts in Australia
Copyright Paul Hamlyn Pty Ktd 1968

The future of Wharf 2

Last week, Simon Ferguson reported in the Daily Telegraph that Brendan Cowell will be leaving the Sydney Theatre Company and heading to the UK to be with long term partner, Rose Byrne.

This is hot on the heels of Chris Mead's departure from the Wharf2Loud season to head up PlayWriting Australia.

Earlier this year I interviewed the two of them as Mead's tenure was drawing to a close, and I recall asking them about the future of the programme. I remember feeling that there was more to it than met the eye, also suspecting that Cowell would be out of there soon as well.

This is a big blow to the Sydney Theatre Company's Wharf 2 programme. Robyn Nevin's commission of these two has boosted the profile of the company to a more varied audience in a spectacular way. Their instinct and vision contained a clarity that allowed for an efficient and experimental programme that has been beneficial to individuals and the industry as a whole.

As I wrote in my article in January;

Creatively they are challenging the independent scene to steer away the aspirational high-tech productions and to get back to the basics of story telling. But the introduction of these Pushes has really meant that more and more emerging writers, directors and actors are walking through the stage door of the STC, and a platform is being provided to harness their skills closer to the professional stage.

This is a relief to many. The infrastructure of Sydney theatre means that there are two distinct tiers in place with little cross over - the funded professional theatres and the non-funded fringe scene. Between the two of them, there is little to prepare independent artists for the responsibility and glory of a larger venue.

The loss of the playwright and the dramaturg who have been the first to engage with audiences through the Wharf2 programme is naturally a cause of concern, especially after the less than impressive programme previously implemented.

What should the Sydney Theatre Company's vision be for Wharf 2 next year? How should they advance the credible start to Mead and Cowell's programming? How else can the STC spend that $500,000 allocation?

It would be nice to see a continuation of the development of playwrights along with design and directing teams. It would be advantageous to continue seeing more and more young talent being shown the inner workings of the Sydney Theatre Company. As well as this, the concept behind giving a showcase to the more successful Push Teams to create a full production is something definitely worth continuing.

Building further bridges between independent artists and the STC is paramount. The work that Mead and Cowell have done has brought down large barriers between these two sectors and made the institution a lot more accessible.

What is missing between the two, however, is a middle ground. It's certainly one thing to produce a show at any of the smaller venues in Sydney, but quite another to produce something at the Wharf.

I suppose that this is really the realm of a third party, or an initiative that could be established between the two sectors and some funding arrangement. There would be no reason for the STC's Wharf 2 activities to be restricted to just Wharf 2.

It would be extremely interesting to see what a working group could come up with. A dialogue between the STC, independent artists and venues along with the Australia Council, Arts NSW and ABAF to see how the channels between all these stakeholders could be opened up even further.

A working group that could establish a ten year plan or a proposal for the sector in ensuring the long term viability of its artists, its playwrights, directors and future audiences. The theatre scene is very different to what it was a few years ago and the cooperation between the now, very different elements, would be creatively and financially sensible.

The departure of Mead and Cowell may be a blow, but the potential that they have created could turn their vision into something that is even more tangible, even more adventurous and make a mark for the future of Sydney's theatre industry.

Image: London Tube

Let's Bang a Few Heads Together

The Sydney Morning Herald today published the programme for this years Sydney Writers' Festival.

This is timely, considering my last couple of posts dealt with the lack of theatre industry forums.

I have had a quick look at the programme and have found a few highlights that may interest Arts Journalist readers.

The number one talk is being held on Friday June 1 at the Sydney Dance Company Studio 4 at 1.30-2.30pm - Everyone's a Critic: Has arts criticism become lost in the white noise of "arts and entertainment" journalism? Gerard Windsor, Alan Saunders, Julie Rigg, Andrew Ford and Bruce Elder - argue the importance of critical debate in forwarding cultural and intellectual life.

Other highlights I saw today, from my quick flick through the programme include:

• Jennifer Byrne is in conversation with Wah-Wah director and Withnail & I champion, Richard E Grant (Sydney Opera House)

• this city is a body - a cross disciplinary arts project that blends together the stories of migrants through theatre, dance, music & film (Hyde Park Barracks)

• The Book Thief author, Markus Zusak has a chat about novels set during the holocaust (Sydney Jewish Museum)

• UK writer Andrew O'Hagan gives an address about the power of literature through the media (Sydney Theatre)

• There's a multi-lingual performance of the work of Sufi poet Rumi (Auburn Council Gallery & Liverpool Migrant Centre)

• Internationally acclaimed Russian-French author Andrei Makine is in conversation (Sydney Theatre)

• The co-directors of the German Literature Institute give a talk about the state of German literature (Sydney Philharmonia Choir Studio)

• Blogs also get a guernsey at the festival too (hooray!) when The Monthly writer Gideon Haigh, Bille Brown and a few others talk about the contemporary memoir (The Mint)

• There's a forum on new writing from western Sydney sponsored by Powerhouse Youth Theatre (Museum of Sydney)

• Herald journo David Marr presents his Quarterly Essay on public debate in Howard's Australia (Richard Wherrett Studio) and also hosts a forum about the silencing of dissent by the Howard Government (Sydney Dance Company Studio 4)

• Eric Rasmussen talks about his new edition of the complete works of William Shakespeare (Richard Wherrett Studio)

• Currency House organises a talk about the preservation of Australian stories in the arts (Sydney Dance Company Studio 1)

• The Patrick White Playwrights' Award is announced, followed by a reading (Wharf 2 Theatre)

• The marvellous Don Watson gives a talk about his life's work (Sydney Theatre)

• There's a talk about the two newest British novels that are causing a lot of buzz (Sydney Theatre)

• Richard Flanagan, the Tasmanian author with no shortage of chutzpa has a chat with Malcolm Knox (Sydney Theatre)

• My new favourite journalist Rosemary Neill hosts a forum asking the question; are we neglecting Australian literature? (Sydney Dance Company Studio 1)

• and Chris Masters talks about the Jonestown journey (Sydney Philharmonia Choir Studio)

Sorry.

I didn't quite realise how many events I was excited about. Not surprisingly, it's only a snapshot of the whole programme which is to say the least, vast.


Image: knitsisters.com

Panel Beating

One of the blogs I pop into regularly is Histriomastix. It's an excellent way of keeping up with the news, events and gossip of the theatre industry in New York.

Hosted by David Cote, a critic and magazine editor for all the good publications in that end of town, the blog often talks of the theatre forums that he takes part in and reports on.

In fact, they have a series of them coming up which tackle a range of issues including: Next Generation Critics; Theatre, the Media and Blogs; Why Theatre Still Matters; and The subscriber and the season (How audiences are killing the theatre).

My mind boggles at the opportunity. Imagine a Woody Allen street scape, a winter wind blows, you grab your duffel coat and scarf and catch the subway to some little theatre on the edge of 42nd street. You have a good, healthy and passionate discussion, then walk to the nearest bar and de-brief.

The closest thing that we have to forums are the occasional ones put on by Currency House. Company B also hosts the Philip Parsons Memorial Lecture and the Sydney Festival has talks with international guests at the Mint in January. And each of the events is always packed out.

What is needed in Sydney is the opportunity for these discussion to happen regularly. The rarity of the events means that when they do happen, issues get washed over and the amount that needs to be said gets pushed aside. The topic area is often too broad and discussion gets lost.

Coming face-to-face with your comrades, the critics, the managers, the financiers and the columnists and having regular discussions reflecting on the industry and where the issues surrounding its existence would have a positive effect that would open up the passion and honesty of its members.

People would become more accustomed to being constructive, critical and considerate and not so precious of their opinions. It would open the industry up and make it more accessible on so many different levels.

Just for a moment imagine. The call is put out - we are going to have a chat about - let's say - The subscriber and the season. It's a Monday night. Belvoir Street is dark and agree to host the event. We put the call out and get the heads of a couple of theatre companies together. Throw in some writer from a newspaper and maybe some accountant who works behind the theatre scene. Add some visiting director or producer that has flown in from Auckland or Singapore or Berlin and set the watch.

And like a good episode of Donahue, get someone to run around with a microphone in their hand and get people to put forward their point in an atmosphere of universal goodwill.

I agree that it is better to act than talk, but in an environment where everyone is a little scared and a little intimidated, it could be inspired and open up a world of possibility and healthier industry overall.





Image (top): Nataliedee
Image (bottom): Phil Donahue, courtesy Wikipedia