Review: Taming of the Shrew

Taming of the Shrew
Sydney Opera House
Until 21 November
Tickets $30-60
Bookings (02) 9250 7777
Critic’s Rating 4/10

As published in the Sun Herald


It’s amazing that a production starring some of this country’s finest female stage performers could be so badly conceived. On the page, the idea of having an all-female cast performing in Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, looks interesting.

It certainly has sex appeal. The misogynist Petruchio (Jeanette Cronin) who has been historically played by swaggering Don Juan leads (Kenneth Branagh, Peter O’Toole, Michael Siberry to name a few) tames the wild and disobedient Kate (Lotte St Clair).

It may have worked if the women were mocking the male species through caricatures but instead director Marion Potts hurtles head first like a train-wreck into a mock-lesbian world that is confused, predictable and unwittingly sacrifices the beauty of the text.

Setting the action in an atypical leagues club Chinese Restaurant doesn’t help. It certainly looks good as the lights go down, with its glitter balls and karaoke machine, but as soon as the characters enter the space in their mixture of '30s, '70s, '80s, '90s and contemporary clothing, you start to feel dizzy, unable to give the setting any context or meaning.

In one corner you have Kate’s wealthy father Baptista (Sandy Gore) playing cards and acting like a Sopranos mafia boss next to her slightly goofy mob. In the other corner you have a Sly Fox Hotel/The L Word love tryst of the butch Lucentio (Luisa Hastings Edge) and Tranio (Ksenja Logos) wooing their way to Baptista’s beautiful daughter Bianca (Emily Rose Brennan).

Sadly, this all-female Shrew is full of colour and possibilities but in the end it’s not thought through. The contemporary parallels shift so much that neither the actors nor the audience can focus in on what is actually being said. A perfect example of this is in the final scene when Kate delivers one of the most beautiful Shakespearean passages written for a female character to be then upstaged by Bianca for a cheap laugh.

All the performers fulfil their roles as well as they can, although some of the younger performers could learn some stillness from their older colleagues. The stand-out among them is Judy Farr, who steals the show with barely a line to say as the widow and Biondello.

Bell Shakespeare is a unique company in that they tour extensively through the country and caters to both schools and the general public. Creatively this can be a blessing – at other times it can be a burden as production teams try to find "contemporary parallels" to make Shakespeare more palatable. This Shrew is one of the latter.

Review: The Ruby Sunrise

The Ruby Sunrise
Ensemble Theatre
Until 14 November
Tickets $23-63
Bookings (02) 9929 0644
Critic’s Rating 5/10

As published in the Sun Herald


The character of Ruby Sunrise is as American as apple pie. A Midwest teenager, she dreams of a better world and thinks her new idea of a Tele(from the Greek) vision (from the Latin) will stop wars, educate and bring humanity closer together.

Set in the 1920s, at a time when television science was racing ahead in leaps and bounds, it’s a world away from daytime soaps and episodes of Bridezilla.

When Ruby’s daughter, Lulu (Catherine McGraffin), gives the idea to writer Tad Rose (Glenn Hazeldine) 30 years later at the height of Joseph McCarthy’s anti-Communist investigations, they think they have a hit on their hands with a story that is an optimistic tale of determination that has a female heroine.

But censorship rears its ugly heads and the story gets diluted and changed along the way.

For The Ruby Sunrise to have its full impact, the stakes need to be high and the opening scenes set in the '20s need to have a gravity and realism that will drive the rest of the play.

Unfortunately this doesn't happen. It would have been a perfect opportunity to explore audiovisual styles but instead, director Sandra Bates has opted for a realist production, where even the make-up and costumes look like they’re straight out of a community theatre wardrobe.

Review: Silver

Silver
Belvoir Street Theatre
Until 25 October
Tickets $10-29
Bookings (02) 9699 3444
Critic’s Rating 6/10

As published in the Sun Herald


Welcome to the land of nightmares and dreams, where the imagination of a child could be illusion or reality. Silver, written and performed by Matthew Whittet, is a first-person account of a journey of a little girl who finds her way miles from home.

With the horror of Blair Witch Project and the charm of a European fairytale, there’s a great simplicity at work here in this production; but to my mind is over-simplified.

Theatre is the best place in the world to tell and hear a story but Silver would be just as riveting if it were read off the page.

Director Ben Winspear has split the already small downstairs space and has Whittet sitting plainly on a chair in front of only about 40 people.

There’s some novelty in the fact that Whittet is a charmingly good male performer telling the story of a girl's life but that’s about where it ends. Nick Schlieper does a good job with the lighting to create a mood at the beginning but it isn’t followed through with anything physical to carry that further.

If however, you’re up for a good romping tale with no bells or whistles, then this is the ideal production.

Review: Missing The Bus To David Jones

Missing The Bus To David Jones
Performance Space, Carriageworks
Until 24 October
Tickets $15-30
Bookings 1300 723 038
Critic’s Rating 9/10

As published in the Sun Herald


“He who dies with the most toys wins” was last week reported to be one of James Packer’s sayings. For the rest of us, the end of life is a little more than accumulated possessions and will most likely involve a nursing home.

These homes might be considered the unlikeliest place to find celebration or solace but in Carlos Gomes’s production, they contain the meaning to life.

Six characters enter an open space with simple furnishings, a television, a cushioned floor and soft music. Dressed in white they strip down and put on elderly clothes and take up residence. It’s just one of many beautiful moments as you witness the proximity of age and your own mortality.

Gomes has created an ensemble piece with movement, story-telling and short scenes after the group completed six months of observation and interviews in nursing homes across Sydney.

The result is one of the most celebratory pieces of theatre you will encounter. From the intricate hand movements of the performers to the sadness and humility of the stories, it will have you laugh and reflect.

John Donne said death was a slave to fate, chance, kings and desperate men and this production shows why. This is a wonderful show. Take an elderly relative.

Review: The Bougainville Photoplay Project

The Bougainville Photoplay Project
Old Fitzroy Theatre
Until 31 October
Tickets $21-35
Bookings 1300 438 849
Critic’s Rating 7/10

As published in the Sun Herald


The first thing you realise while listening to Dr Paul Dwyer is how little many Australians know about the small island of Bougainville, its history or its people.

With the aid of slides, projections, videos and personal anecdotes, Dwyer takes us through his journey on the island in 2002 while researching restorative justice.

He explains that on the eve of his journey, he suddenly realises he’s following in the footsteps of his father, who worked on the island as an orthopaedic surgeon in the 1960s.

It’s a beautifully personal way to explain a place that, despite a beautiful landscape has been beset with a violent history – with questions even about the culpability of our own nation’s leaders: Bob Hawke, Paul Keating and Gareth Evans.

Dwyer paints a picture of an island that has changed a lot since his father first arrived. But what is most touching is the way the character of these people has survived, with a genuine desire for reconciliation after 10 years of war, pollution and poverty.

Directed by David Williams and with video design by Sean Bacon, this is a production of simple and earnest story-telling.

Creative roles for women hard to find in Australian theatre

Summary article as published in Crikey

Crikey’s anonymous tipster who last week expressed dismay at the lack of women programmed in Sydney’s Company B theatre season for 2010 was certainly not alone. A wave of dissent in the blogosphere has descended on the theatre, in what one commentator has called a “public relations disaster”.

Yesterday it reached page three of the Sydney Morning Herald with Neil Armfield having to defend his final season launch as artistic director saying, ”When it comes down to planning each season, you just have to go with the best ideas, the best projects that are out there. I had interviews with half a dozen women directors, and we actually offered three women gigs for next year, and only one of them was taken up …”.

But it’s not just Company B that’s on notice — it’s the entire performing arts industry.

In The Age, the Melbourne Theatre Company was also questioned about its gender balance yesterday. The MTC’s response was a little bit more extraordinary saying it was not the MTC’s responsibility to provide gender equality when it was a problem for the whole theatrical industry.

”It is unreasonable to expect one level of the industry to compensate for the shortcomings of another,” MTC chairman Derek Young told The Age’s Robin Usher.

It’s hardly surprising that this issue has blown up in the face of some of the country’s leading arts companies and all it took was a couple of young female bloggers in Sydney to bring it to the attention of the major metropolitan news outlets.

A young director, Joanna Erskine gave her opinion saying “… I struggle to understand how such a prominent and successful and LOVED company such as Company B Belvoir, has openly produced such a female-less season. I don’t mean actors, I mean females in integral creative roles — as playwright and director.”

And then a blog run by seven writers based in Sydney (and mostly women) opined that “… in nearly every instance female students greatly outnumber men. So what happens to them? At what point in the process are they being passed over? Do they give up when the going gets tough? Are they perhaps less committed than their male counterparts? Or do they side-step more readily into admin and support roles?”

And then there was the anonymous rant on Crikey that said: “Even hardened members of the theatre community well used to the boys’ club of the Sydney theatre scene were taken aback at the launch of the much anticipated swansong from outgoing artistic director Neil Armfield at Belvoir on Monday night.”

Another young director in Sydney, August Supple put the issue plainly by pointing that, “If you look at Belvoir as a place of equality —  let’s look a little further,” and pointed readers to the Contact Us section of their website.

As Supple shows, the “creatives” in the company are all men and the women are all in positions of education, promotion and admin.

If you look at theatre company websites throughout the country the story is the same with a few exceptions (most notably in Western Australia where the artistic directors for Black Swan and Perth Theatre Company are both women).

Accusations of a “boys’ club” are extreme, but when you have the MTC saying that it is “unreasonable” for them to employ more women because that’s what everyone else is doing you start to feel like you’re in a time warp. And now heads are turning towards the film, television and music industries.

The arts need to address the problem head on and look at why women aren’t pursuing creative careers within the industry because the new found citizen journalists are starting to notice not much has changed in nearly thirty years. And for an industry that should know better, excuses are starting to run dry.

Where are the women?

I was hoping to ignore this issue until the weekend when I've got more time to write a more in depth piece about Company B's new programme - but that's no longer possible.

There's a lot of disquiet about the lack of women in the programme they announced on Monday and murmurs have now turned into quite large rants. Some anonymous. Others not.

The same response happened last year and even this website was guilty of looking at the issue too simply.

Many people are pointing their finger at Company B which I think is extremely problematic and ignores an issue that is systemic and industry-wide. But continually I ask myself as I travel around and see shows throughout the professional and independent sector; Where are the women?

Where are the women directors? Where are the women writers? Where are the women designers? Where are you?

The one exception to this rule is down the road at Performance Space, now based at Carriageworks... but we all know that the text-based industry doesn't venture that far unless they're visiting Playwriting Australia's headquarters (and vice versa to be fair... but that's another story).

But the story is different elsewhere and I still can't quite put my finger on the reasons behind the complete absence of women within the industry.

Joanna Erskine has given her opinion HERE saying "... I struggle to understand how such a prominent and successful and LOVED company such as Company B Belvoir, has openly produced such a female-less season. I don’t mean actors, I mean females in integral creative roles - as playwright and director."

And Gus Supple has had a say HERE asking some timely questions;

"...in nearly every instance female students greatly outnumber men. So what happens to them? At what point in the process are they being passed over? Do they give up when the going gets tough? Are they perhaps less committed than their male counterparts? Or do they side-step more readily into admin and support roles?"

And then there was this anonymous rant on Crikey today;

Even hardened members of the theatre community well used to the boys’ club of the Sydney theatre scene were taken aback at the launch of the much anticipated swansong from outgoing artistic director Neil Armfield at Belvoir on Monday night.

As production after production was announced and their creators called to join Neil on stage, the row of young male lookalike writers and directors fawning over Belvoir’s incumbent grew. It is hard to know who was more embarrassed -- the single token female Lee Lewis sitting resplendent in white among the sea of black-clad masculinity, or the audience, immediately and significantly more aware of the company's gender problem than, it seems, any of those at Company B who put the 2010 season together.

The fact that the majority of those on stage also served on the company’s programming committee only reinforced the accurate image that Belvoir is a closed male shop -- a more sterling example of jobs for the boys is hard to imagine.

Armfield's late elegy to the list of all female managers who have done his paperwork over the years was in stark and telling relief to the male visions they have been charged to realise.

All hale Sydney theatre in the 21st Century! Next up, Sydney Theatre Company's launch on Friday. Will Blanchett and Upton serve the sisterhood any better? They sure as hell couldn't do worse than the disgraceful team of patriarchs at Company B.


As harsh as that comment is, what we can assume is this is now an issue that won't go away and is something not just Company B needs to look at. And by that I don't mean the industry should suddenly turn around and start programming more women but they need to look at a serious campaign, whether its mentoring or financial, to keep women in the game past their early twenties.

Kit Brookman gives a great summary of the Sydney-wide problem on Gus's post;

"The last female director to work at Company B upstairs was Rachel McDonald, who directed 'The Pianist,' which was a co-presentation with Sydney Festival 2009. The production opened on 16 Jan 2009.

"Prior to this, the last female director to work at Company B upstairs was Marion Potts in 2006 with her production of 'The Goat, or Who is Sylvia,' although this production was a buy-in from STCSA, and not originally produced by Company B.
The last female director to work on a Company B production was Kate Gaul, five years ago, for her 2004 production of 'Our Lady of Sligo.’

"Female writers are slightly better represented, with 5 productions in 2004-2009, not including playreadings. Perhaps encouragingly, all 5 of these writers are Australian.

"While the 2009 B-Sharp season, as noted above, has a distinct lack of female writers or directors, women have been better represented in past seasons, for example the 2008 season (10 productions) had 4 female writers and 5 female directors.
Griffin's 2009 season has 2 female writers in a 5-play season, and 1 female director. Of its current resident playwrights, 2 of the 3 are female. In the Griffin Independent season, a discussion of Australian playwrights of either gender is defunct since the plays are exclusively by international writers. 4 of the 7 productions are directed by women.

"Sydney Theatre Company's mainstage 2009 season (as first announced) has 4 female directors and 3 female writers in a season of 12 productions. Their Next Stage season has 1 female director and 1 female writer (working on a creative development).
The Ensemble Theatre Company in a season of 11 plays has 2 female writers and will employ 3 female directors over 5 productions.

"The Tamarama Rock Surfers’ 2009 season at the Old Fitzroy has 2 female writers (and 1 female co-deviser) and 3 female directors in a season of 11 plays.

"And finally, on a brief national note, of the artistic directors of what might be, say, the 10 of the largest theatre companies in Australia (STC, MTC, QTC, STCSA, Black Swan, Malthouse, Company B, Griffin, Windmill, The Ensemble), 3½ are women (the ½ coming from STC where Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton are co-artistic directors).

"Of the companies that have associate director or associate artist positions (to my knowledge MTC, STC, Belvoir, QTC, STCSA, Griffin, Black Swan, the Ensemble) only Griffin has a woman in this role."


That last sentence is one of the most telling ... (I think Bell Shakespeare is another exception).

All I know, from someone that sees a lot of theatre, that there's a big drop off from female theatre makers who emerge from drama school and university to positions of importance and influence in the 30-50 year old age bracket.

I don't have a solution or an answer to the problem but it's there and it needs to be rectified. The debate has started, so lets keep it going.

Where are the women?

The Wonderful New Era of Theatre Trailers

I absolutely love this new practice by theatre companies in Sydney to make trailers to help promote their shows. It was something that first emerged in the UK and the North American fringe but gradually the practice has filtered through other places around the world.

In some cases the trailer is better than the show - which can be slightly problematic for producers - but most of the time, an innovative theatre trailer often represents an innovative creative team.

Here's a pick of some of the best that have emerged in Sydney in recent times. And if there are any more you have come across send them my way and I'll post them up.

The Duel - Sydney Theatre Company




References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot - Griffin Independent




St Nicholas - Bondi Pavilion




Wicked - Capitol Theatre

Back In The Spotlight

As published in the Sun Herald


It’s an interesting situation to interview an actor not long after who you’ve given them a ho-hum review. The review was for the Bell Shakespeare's Pericles. The actor was Marcus Graham.

Graham's eyes light up when he's introduced to me and he gives me a genuine smile as we sit on the balcony of the Sydney Theatre Company's headquarters, where he is rehearsing their latest production, Yasmina Reza’s God of Carnage.

But he is frank. “That weekend we opened [Pericles] there were some scathing reviews in Sydney. I’ve never been so beaten up in my life – but on the Monday after those reviews came out we sold $30,000 worth of tickets. Over 600 tickets in one day.

“Are people listening to reviewers?” he asks rhetorically.

“It put a wind back in my sails because you’ve got to get back up every night and do it.”

This tale gives some insight into a tenacious actor who has survived 20 years of working inf ilm, television and theatre and has only just returned to live in Sydney after coming out of a "very dark period".

He doesn’t elaborate on what the darkness was but it was enough to make him spend the last couple of years away from it all in the Blue Mountains, returning only six months ago to set up again in Kings Cross.

He has returned with a vengeance and seems be enjoying his new-found fame with interesting roles on both stage and screen that included appearing in Underbelly, the film Three Blind Mice and Pericles.

“I used to live in the Cross years ago and it’s very social and very interesting. And because I did Underbelly people come up to me and say: ‘I did time with the guy you played’. From a human standpoint, it’s great.”

His latest production re-unites him with director Gale Edwards in the newest hit from French playwright Reza, a play that has had different productions in Brisbane, Melbourne and now Sydney just in this year.

“It’s like the world’s favourite play at the moment … it’s such a wonderful representation of life as we know it … the ruthless nature of business, of humanity,” he explains.

Graham plays a corporate lawyer who works with a drug manufacturer that has put out a product that, while making millions of dollars for the company, is also making a lot of people sick.

He’s also the father of a boy who has had a fight with another young kid in the playground of the local school. The fight brings together two sets of parents from different socio-economic backgrounds to try to sort out the issue.

“It’s a lot about responsibility,” he explains. “Who’s to blame, who hit who and who will take responsibility.

"It then gets into semantics. Instead of he hit my son with a stick you say he hit my son, furnished with a stick. Because that’s what we’ve become [with] the fear of litigation. The protection we need to give ourselves because we might be f--ked over by someone else is paramount.”

The play becomes a comedy of errors as the two sets of parents (played by Graham, Sacha Horler, Russell Dystra and Helen Thomson) become more and more childish as the night wears on.

God of Carnage premiered in 2006 and has already had hit seasons on Broadway and the West End.

“It’s beautifully constructed and beautifully written – it’s such a joy to work on something that’s so wonderfully written,” he says. “There’s something really simple about theatre.

"You rehearse a show, put it on, people pay fifty bucks at the door - whatever – sit down, you tell them a story and that’s it.”

“There’s something really uncomplicated and honourable about that.”


God of Carnage opens on the 8 October and runs until 14 November at the Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House. Tickets: $30 - $85. Bookings 02 9250 1777 or sydneytheatre.com.au.

Review: One long night in the land of Nod

As published in the Sun Herald.

One long night in the land of Nod
Old Fitzroy Theatre
Until 3 October
Tickets $17-35
Bookings 1300 438 849
Critic’s Rating 8/10


A fly screen door slams shut on the back room of an old fibro shack in the middle of a drought-ridden farm. Aaron (Patrick Graham) sits in a half-light, drinking beer and holding a rifle.

His brother Kane (Chris Pitman) arrives in the middle of the night with news that his parents aren’t doing to well and Aaron is badly affected by the isolation of the farm.

Like Cain and Abel, the two are set against each other with jealousy, rivalry and desperation on a land beset by bad harvests. It’s a bleak outback Australia that may as well be the world of Genesis.

This production, directed by Iain Sinclair, pitches together two exceptional actors who are always a joy to watch. Graham is eerily unpredictable as Aaron and Pitman creates a Kane not unlike Atlas, with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

One long night in the land of Nod is the best new piece of Australian writing to hit Sydney’s independent stages all year.

Plywright Duncan Graham (who had another success with Ollie and the Minotaur earlier this year) has an ear for dialogue that transcends gender, space and time as he creates a mood that is hypnotic right up until the play’s haunting end. A must-see.

Review: Gethsemane

Published in the Sun Herald

Gethsemane
Belvoir Street Theatre
Until 18 October
Tickets $34-56
Bookings (02) 9699 3444
Critic’s Rating 6/10


Whether it’s John Della Bosca, Milton Orkopulous or Matt Brown, political affairs in NSW make this British play about power, politics, party donors, sex and drug scandals all a bit polite.

This is a major problem for Gethsemane, a new play from British playwright David Hare that rails against another failing government - Britain’s New Labour.

Even though Hare stated the play was ‘pure fiction’ when it premiered in London last year, it clearly targets Prime Minister Tony Blair and vilifies his government for Iraq, Afghanistan and everything else that’s wrong with the world and British society.

The title refers to the night of the Last Supper when Jesus is tempted to not carry through with the responsibility he has been given by God. It’s a moral quandary as Hare asks: how far have our governments, elected representatives and society strayed from our own responsibilities?

Prime Minister Alec Beasley (Rhys Muldoon) is running a government sliding down the polls. But he seems to be more occupied raising funds for the party with bovver boy Otto Fallon (Hugh Keays- Byrne) and his spooky sidekick (Charlie Garber) than looking after his increasingly dysfunctional country.

Meanwhile, Beasley’s Home Secretary, Meredith Guest (Sarah Peirse), is trying to contain a potentially explosive situation involving her teenage daughter Suzette (Emily Barclay), a tabloid journalist (Dan Wyllie), drugs and a sex scandal.

Seeking the help of her advisor (Paula Arundell) and Suzette’s old teacher-turned busker (Claire Jones), Guest attempts to contain the situation, stay in politics and save her daughter.

This new production directed by Neil Armfield at first appears quite timely, but the depth to Hare’s characters (along with some far-fetched notions around the influence of Suzette’s teacher in a scene with Fallon) makes it fall short of the real-life melodrama we already have going on around us.

On a set by Brian Thomsen that looks strikingly similar to My Zinc Bed - another Hare play he designed for Armfield - the performers are all faultless. Peirse has that British neurotic quality of a minister battling to be a mother and Garber brings a Transylvanian quality that injects some life into a play that is intelligent but not as witty as it first appears.

With a tone that rarely gets above a royal family Christmas message it’s all too genteel and pales in comparison with the bearpit of the NSW parliament.

Review: This Kind of Ruckus

Published in the Sun-Herald

This Kind of Ruckus
Performance Space at CarriageWorks
Until 12 September
Tickets $15-30
Bookings 1300 723 038
Critic’s Rating 7/10


Whether it's Rugby League players in bouts of group sex, violence broadcast on plasma screens in bars across the city or a group of teenagers fighting in the street, there’s something disturbing about the circle of violence within our community and the way they all relate.

Theatre company Version 1.0’s most recent shows exposed various Howard Government stains using primary sources as material: the Australian Wheat Board inquiry, weapons of mass destruction and Guantanamo Bay to name just a few.

Now they turn their hand to the issue of violence within our society. Performers Danielle Antaki, Arky Michael, Jane Phegan, Kym Vercoe and David Williams open the production playing caricatures of cheerleaders and make the Rugby League industry a clear target.

With their unique didactic style that uses multimedia (Sean Bacon and Gail Priest) with physical movement, the group have created a show full of striking imagery that creates a link between the reasons, excuses and consequences of violence.

[But the drama floats off and tries to incorporate other elements of social violence when the production may have been better served with a direct attack on the football code and the responsibility it bares.]

This Kind of Ruckus may not be as powerful as their previous work, but it still carries an important message that reminds us that violence affects us all.

Review: Once And For All We’re Gonna Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up And Listen

As published in the Sun Herald.


Once And For All We’re Gonna Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up And Listen
Wharf 2, Sydney Theatre Company
Until 29 August
Tickets $30-50
Bookings (02) 9250 1777
Critic’s Rating 8/10


The days when children were seen and not heard died about the same time as the baby boomers started to have their first offspring.

Now their grandchildren are in their teens and this new generation will not only be heard but will be heard loudly.

The brazenly titled Once And For All We’re Gonna Tell You Who We Are So Shut Up And Listen, from the Belgian group Ontroerend Goed, proves that what seems like teenage anarchy is quite simply ritual – a ritual we have all experienced. Maybe it’s a ritual we wish we could have over again.

Entering the space to the sound of the 13 performers who are hidden behind the walls screaming and banging memories come flooding back of mad bus rides home in the back seat and playground antics.

To the guitar riffs of the Velvet Underground, the teenagers enter the stage in a frenzy of pubescent energy, filling the space with youthful celebration.

With balloons, plastic bags, bottles of water, cups, string, roller skates and other everyday props, a scene is created that may seem chaotic but is orchestrated with absolute precision by director Alexander Devriendt. What the group shows is less about what happens but is more about flourishes in mood and tone as you have moments of love, affection, playfulness, naivety, strength, leadership, loneliness and belonging.

A bell then goes off, the teenagers retreat and the scene is once again played out and your eyes are drawn to any action on stage you may have missed earlier.

Then it is re-interpreted again in a multitude of parades, giving you the time to appreciate how you can see in each young face the child being left behind and the adult coming into focus. Ultimately, however, you start to see a reflection of yourself in days gone past.

But this isn’t just teenage kicks. In a scene more Radiohead than Jose Gonzalez, the ensemble dive deep into the fear of drugs, violence and addiction. It’s a fear for ourselves, for them and, by default, our community. The play then returns to the youthful abandon it began with.

Ignore the Board of Studies and their tired syllabus because this is the type of theatre that every student and teacher in Sydney should be made to go and see.

For those in their teens, as much as for those who are older, it is a delicate and beautiful offering that captures the spring awakening of the next generation and reminds us what it was like to be young.

Vale Victorian College of the Arts

Victorian College of the Arts (VCA)
One of Australia's premier arts training grounds of the late 20th century

Born 1972 - Died 2009


A coincidence of time and place, and sheer hard work, enabled the Victorian College of the Arts (or VCA as she was known to her close friends and acquaintances), who has died aged only 37, to become one of the 20th century's premier arts training grounds in Australia.

Gillian Armstrong, Bill Henson, Sibylla Budd, Isabel Lucas, Vince Colosimo, Hannie Rayson, Adam Elliott, Nicole Youl, Phillip Adams, John Butler, Robert Luketic and Sarah Watt are just some of the alumni who had the fortune of her fine and cutting edge teaching practices.



The VCA's premature death, just yesterday, was after an assault many have called one of the most violent in the nation's history. Despite an enormous amount of witnesses coming forward, Victorian Police and the AFP say that the assailants are still on the loose. There was a spotting as recently as this morning of one of the alleged perpetrators in Canberra seen in a white car not far from Parliament House.

The VCA was at the height of her star studded career in what was a relatively short rise to fame, glory and respect amongst her peers.

Producing some of the best artists, directors, actors and film makers this country has seen, VCA was renown around the world for her vibrancy, originality and professionalism as a laboratory of investigation for the arts.

Although she had a rough first few years, her luck came when she amalgamated in 1978 with the VCA Technical School and welcomed musicians and dancers into the fold of artists. The result would make her the jewel in the crown of arts training grounds and set her on a path of collaboration and investigation that would be the envy of every state around the country.

Sadly, VCA was diagnosed with a massive brain tumour in April this year after Dr Sharman Pretty of Melbourne University prescribed incorrect medicines for what she believed was a simple cold. Police are investigating whether Pretty should face manslaughter charges.

VCA was taken to the Royal Canberra Hospital for further tests and treatment but she died on arrival.

The arts community was in mourning and shock with the news today, as it was revealed that VCAs death was the same as that suffered by her cousin Theatre Nepean just two years ago.

Some within the community are calling for a Royal Commission into how these deaths could have been avoided and whether there is any evidence of malpractice from within either the State Government of Victoria or the Federal Government.

VCA was born to Polish immigrant parents in Paris, France but moved as a toddler to Melbourne, Victoria, which gave her a lifelong love of the arts - most particularly theatre and music. When she was 12 the family moved to Perth, Western Australia where they gave birth to another child, WAAPA, but VCA stayed with close relatives in Melbourne.

At the age of 17 she was already deemed the top of her class in all forms in artistic expression and her reputation was quickly consolidated.

VCA is survived by an elder sibling NIDA, a younger sister WAAPA and twin brother AIS. VCA will be laid to rest next to her beloved cousin Theatre Nepean at a ceremony on Thursday.


Further information on VCA's death can be found HERE and HERE.

Joel Edgerton: object of desire

Joel Edgerton puts down much of his success, as one of Australia's most respected actors of his generation, to the one time he had to wear a dress.

"My trajectory was a combination of luck. I mean, I back myself but I had a few moments of luck," he says on the sunny deck of the Sydney Theatre Company's Wharf Restaurant. "I was cast as a woman in my graduating show, called The Poet, the Women and Frocks, and Alan Wilson, who was an agent at the time, took me on because he was impressed by me in that play.

"I don't think I would have stood out as much if I wasn't wearing a dress."

Fifteen years later, Edgerton, 35, couldn't find himself in a more different role as he takes on the part Marlon Brando made famous: Stanley Kowalski in the classic Tennessee Williams play, A Streetcar Named Desire.

Directed by Norwegian star of the stage and screen Liv Ullmann and co-starring Cate Blanchett, Streetcar is this year's big-ticket item for Sydney's theatre scene.

But Edgerton, in his laconic way, is unfazed by the media hype surrounding the role of Stanley, which has been played by some of the greatest West End and Broadway stars since it premiered in 1947.

The rest of my article on Joel Edgerton can be found HERE.

Williamson disses Kosky after Kosky disses Williamson used by The Oz to dis Manne

My interview with Barrie Kosky, much to my surprise, lept from the back pages of The Sun Herald to page 3 yesterday.

Today, The Australian used the interview to have a subtle little jab at Robert Manne.

Unsurprisingly, Williamson came back to have a go at Kosky once again in The Canberra Times later this morning.

This will be ripe for the picking for Jonathan Biggins and Julia Zemiro who are hosting tonight's Helpmann Awards.

Anyone else?

The Speech of Angels Ignored

"There is pleasure in the pathless woods, there is rapture in the lonely shore, there is society where none intrudes, by the deep sea, and music in its roar; I love not Man the less, but Nature more." George Byron


This is a travesty of epic proportions and should be on the front page of every daily rag around the country. A Current Affair should be stalking Arts & Education Ministers from Perth to Sydney. My mate Alan Jones should be concerning himself with something important like this. In fact, we should be on the street protesting.

"A major national review of Australian school music in 2005 estimated that about 10% of Australian schools have no music program of any kind," Stephen Crittenden has reported in his latest broadcast for Radio National's Background Briefing.

Crittenden interviews Richard Letts, the executive director of the Music Council of Australia, who explains that seven years ago they did a national study and "found that, on average, people who are training to be primary classroom teachers got 23 hours of instruction in music and music pedagogy. With that 23 hours, they have to be ready to teach six years of music."

That's right. A child in this country can be taught music for six formative years at primary school by people who have learnt the art in just 23 hours.

No wonder Richard Tognetti calls music education in Australia 'neanderthal'.

But wait. It gets better.

35% of primary schools have absolutely no music in New South Wales. The data across the nation, according to Crittenden's report, is not much better.

Crittenden compares what's happening in Australia with what is happening in a country just across the Pacific - Venezuela.

"Established in 1975, El Sistema [Venezuela's national system of youth and children's orchestras and choirs] was originally conceived as a social program for young people in Venezuela's crime- and drug-ridden slums. It's an intensive after-school program that takes children from 2 years old to 20, with much of the tuition provided by young people who are graduates of the program.

"Because of El Sistema, Venezuela is now a country awash with music — in fact it now has more than 200 youth orchestras," he reports.

But its not just quantity Venezuela is producing - it's quality as well. Gustavo Dudamel, a 28-year-old Venezuelan has just been appointed chief conductor of the Los Angeles Philharmonic.

It's worth taking an hour out of your day to hear this report which is quite an astonishing snapshot into the current state of affairs in music education in this first world nation known as 'Australia'.

I'd be very interested to hear how you think this compares to other arts education programmes - particularly theatre and the visual arts.

Werbeloff Ya Arts

I've been inspired by an article in Crikey today to get some interesting Werbeloff takes on our local theatre industry.

According to Crikey;

There are two ways to werbeloff:

Classic werbeloff: Convey a current news story, literary or popular classic using the elements of polar opposites plus a racial epithet (e.g. fat/thin, tall/short, wog skip dago poofter etc) with a brief contrary exchange, followed by onomatopoeic gunfire or mimicry thereof.

Freestyle werbeloff: The same, using a limited palette of racial slurs, "sick" "chick" "totes" "mate" and a few other terms, in such a disdainful way that not even the desperate "politically incorrect" right would want to own it.


For instance, there were a few theatre examples in today's edition.

(Romeo and Juliet). There were these two wogs fighting and the fatter wog said to the skinnier wog, "Oi bro, your brother Romeo slepsht with my cousin Juliet" and the other one said "Nah man, he didn’t for sh-t, eh" and so Romeo took some fully sick poison and Juliet pulled out a gun and went Chk Chk Boom.

(Medea). This full bitch wog chick gets back at her bloke Jase cos he got off with some rich chick when he was on a footy trip by fully shooting her own kids, Chick Chick Boom!

(On The Merchant of Venice). The big nosed wog said to the skinny wog "Oi bro, you ripped me off eh, I'm going to get my fully sick boys to cut a pound of flesh from you", the skinny wog said "no you wont for sh-t eh cos you cant take a drop of blood" then he looked at the big nosed wog and said Rip Rip Jew.


So tonight, like, I'll be going to Ruben Guthrie where this ad guy, who's the total bomb, decides to like give up the booze and shit. But then his skip boss starts to get sick on his arse. But then, like, the ad guy says, "no way, you can stick that shit, I'm goin wiv ma fully sick boyz to AA Bro."

Any more?

Review: Ollie and the Minotaur

Ollie and the Minotaur
Downstairs Belvoir
Until 3 May
Tickets $23-29
Bookings (02) 9699 3444
Critic’s Rating 7/10


Ollie and the Minotaur opens like a fresh sea breeze of familiarity as old school friends Thea, Bec and Carla come together for a coastal weekend reunion.

It’s the type of weekend based on simple pleasures we’ve all had – lie in the sun, get drunk, relive your youth and maybe listen to Gen X anthems like Pump Up The Jam for good measure.

The dominant Thea (Wendy Bos) and the more retiring Bec (Sarah Brokensha) arrive first and from the first moments a pecking order of their status is established. Advertising executive Carla (Adriana Bonaccurso) is not far behind them as she quickly dons her sunnies and starts ordering young Bec to fix her a gin and tonic.

From Shakespeare to Chekhov, the dramatic potential and tension provided by three women on stage has been used by the greats of the stage.

Ollie and the Minotaur is no different. The three talk about boys, dance and yell madly but the innocence of their get-together unravels as a dark secret between the three opens a Pandora’s box.

It’s here that the dramatic tension lifts off and takes what could be a very ordinary plot into a complicated and more sinister world.

Working with three quite wonderful performers, playwright Duncan Graham has grabbed that tradition and developed a story that is engrossing and, when it reaches the end, very disturbing.

Director Sarah John allows the story to be told with a respectful simplicity and allows the gifted actors to deliver what is a sharp, realistic and well-crafted new Australian play.

Review: I Shall Be Remembered

I Shall Be Remembered
Parade Theatre, NIDA
Until 3 May
& 6-10 May at Glen Street Theatre
Tickets $20-55
Bookings 1300 795 012
Critic’s Rating 5/10


It was a fortune teller who first predicted the rise and rise of Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, more familiarly known as Madame de Pompadour.

With an insatiable drive to 'be remembered' she conveniently got rid of her tax collector husband and rose from her more humble bourgeois origins to become part of the royal court at Versailles and eventually mistress to King Louis XV.

This monologue written by Elizabeth Woodman for performer Elaine Montgomerie follows the mistress from her early childhood - when her mother dreamt of her daughter rising to the aristocracy - to her later years when she yielded power within the court as confidant to the king.

Adorned with beautifully intricate costumes, Montgomerie performs the tale framed by enormous reproductions of the portraits the mistress commissioned while living at Versailles.

Unfortunately, neither the satin gowns nor the historical interest of the plot can carry this museum like piece of theatre. From the rather earnest voice-over commentary to the trumpeting musical interludes it’s all just a little too curious.

Montgomerie who worked extensively with the JC Williamson Shakespeare Company in the 1950s and 60s is accomplished but not enough to give it the life it needs for its two hour duration.