Christmas and the New Year is hurtling towards us. Have the Holiday wishes from me. I thought I would go back over the year and list responses that left impressions upon me. I hope it leads to some ease of conversation for you.

I feel that the possibility for good work in the performing Arts has most to do with the writing.The writer as “GOD”. So, that’s where I’ll begin.

After drawing up a rough draft and some cogitation here we go. This is mostly in a chronological order of experience.

• THE SERPENT’S TEETH by Daniel Keene. Two one act plays: CITIZENS. SOLDIERS. Two contemporary plays that have a feel that is universal, made manifestly impactful with the particularity of the timing of their telling at the Opera House in April. A poet of the theatre. Spare and demanding. Neither play had the direction or acting qualities to match the vision and daring that could have revealed their full power, although the Design, in all aspects, were staggeringly conceived and executed. Particularly the Lighting of Nick Schleiper.
• In May,a modest CO-OP production in the Stablemates Season at the Griffin: COLDER by Lachlan Philpott. The structure and form of this story of a missing person was refreshing and challenging to experience and solve. The writing continually poetic. I was moved to silence and stillness on the night I attended. Once again the direction and the acting were not on an equal par to reveal the work. It would be interesting to see it again.
• In the middle of June: THE GREAT by Tony McNamara. I feel that this a very literate script of some wit and skill in form and vision. Full of promise. Some editing of the trendy usage of vulgarisms and tightening of the scenes, that I felt took to long to unravel, the audience was often ahead of the writing and patiently waited for the performance to move on. It should be looked at again, somewhere. I hope.
• In July, the winter month, I saw terrific work. At the Griffin as part of their main season DON’T SAY THE WORDS by Tom Holloway was a very exciting night in the theatre. The play using some (small) inspiration of Euripides’ AGAMEMNON, as written by Holloway, presents a contemporary war veteran returning home to find a relationship between his wife and best friend, a “battlefield” equally as confronting as what he has just left behind. This writing was fully supported by a terrific production by Matthew Lutton and his three actors: Anna Lise Phillips, Jack Finisterer, Brett Stiller.
• September produced the best of Australian (Sydney) writing and production. Again the Griffin Theatre in its main season with Riverside productions continues its “genius”, this time presenting THE MODERN INTERNATIONAL DEAD by Damien Millar. A scorching examination of the lives of three ordinary Australians doing heroic things in the course of their contemporary “duties”. Mr Millar reveals an adroit ability to organise his material into an amazingly thrilling and confronting theatrical venture. Intelligence, wit and a compassionate heart. This production would be my favourite home grown experience of the year. The direction by Chris Mead outstanding in all areas of his responsibility.
• JUST MACBETH! by Andy Griffiths presented by Bell Shakespeare at the Seymour centre,was a totally unexpected joy. And certainly, not only the target audience of young theatre go-ers but us adults, had a wonderful and educational time. Theatre for young people that transcends its ordinary objectives. Truly clever writing for all ages.
• Justin Fleming’s adaptation of Moliere’s TARTUFFE, called THE HYPOCRITE for the Melbourne Theatre Company was outrageously hilarious in its liberties and accuracies as it skewered satirically parts of contemporary Australian “life”.
• The next of the Australian writing that was outstanding, was a revival of a B Sharp production at the Griffin as part of the Stablemates season: TENDER by Nicki Bloom. On a second viewing this work stands up to scrutiny and hopefully presages an exciting voice in the Australian landscape. A CO-OP Production.
• The last work that I recommend is FRANKENSTEIN by Ralph Myers and Lally Katz. A collaborative effort with an entirely wonderful ensemble of artists in the New Work project at Wharf 1 for the Sydney Theatre Company.

The next big skill in order of responsibility for success in the Performing Arts is the Director, in my estimation, so….

Let’s start with the younger practitioners that would cause me to hand over my money and time as a matter of artistic interest. The new Directors on my list to watch and follow would be:

• Matthew Lutton (DON’T SAY THE WORDS)
• Geordie Brookman (TENDER)
• Tanya Goldberg (AN OAK TREE)
• Ralph Myers (FRANKENSTEIN).

Directors of the next generation who have been around for a while, knocking down the door for proper support from the leading companies:

• Chris Mead (THE MODERN INTERNATIONAL DEAD) – I’d say the best production of the year.
• Kate Gaul (ALTAR BOYZ, QUEEN C) and other work during the year – a tireless operator developing her opportunities relentlessly. Worth following and supporting.

• Consistently, Neil Armfield with his work on SCORCHED for Company B (Flawed) but with an irresistible vision, followed by two peerless evenings at the opera, both revivals: BILLY BUDD and THE MAKROPULOS SECRET. We need to see Mr Armfield’s work in the theatre more regularly to maintain a consistent benchmark in directorial excellence for Sydney audiences. A mentor for apprentice directors.
• Two of the best experiences I had in the theatre this year were CODGERS by Don Reid (an old fashioned but thoroughly rewarding new Australian play) and JUST MACBETH! by Andy Griffiths both directed by Wayne Harrison. A thoroughly commercial and totally professional eye that delivers productions that are not only entertaining but have great artistic integrity and skill. Another essential mentor for apprentice directors.
• Another director that I watch with interest is Peter Evans. Although I felt his work on THE GREAT did not serve the play to its full potential, I thought the work on THE HYPOCRITE for the MTC was a return to form (last year’s DON’S PARTY being a revelation of the play in an exciting contemporary re-reading.)

Now, here is a list of performances by the actors that I enjoyed….

• Yael Stone in a series of performances in THE KID, STONING MARY, SCORCHED and FRANKENSTEIN.
• William Zappa in ROCK AND ROLL.
• Genevieve Picot in her double as Eleanor/Esme in ROCK AND ROLL.
• Toby Schmitz in RUBEN GUTHRIE.
• Tom O’Sullivan in DEATH OF A SALESMAN.
• Marton Csokas in THE PILLOWMAN.
• Paula Arundell in SCORCHED.
• Will O’Mahony in R&J.
• Sam Haft in pool (no water).
• Gillian Jones in HOMEBODY/KABUL. (I would say the most outstanding of the year. NB a CO-Op production.)
• Odile De Clezio in HOMEBODY/KABUL.
• Kate Box in TENDER (also THE CLOCKWORK FOREST.)
• Cheryl Barker in THE MAKROPULOS SECRET.
• Tim Richards in JUST MACBETH!
• Phaedra Nicolaidis in FAMILY STORIES: BELGRADE.
• John Bell in ANATOMY TITUS FALL OF ROME: A SHAKESPEARE COMMENTARY.
• Peter Fraser in TARKOVSKY’S HORSE and TRIPTYCH.
• Gary McDonald in THE HYPOCRITE.
• The Individual and Ensemble work of Colin Moody, Belinda McClory and Ian Meadows in THE MODERN INTERNATIONAL DEAD – the best of the year!
• The Ensemble work of Ronald Falk, Ron Haddrick, Edwin Hodgeman, Jon Lam, Graham Rouse and Henri Szeps in CODGERS.
• The Ensemble of Ralph Myers, Lally Katz, Yael Stone, Benjamin Winspear, Simon Cavanough, Nick Schlieper, Stefan Gregory, Joshua Emanuel, Matt Schubach, Terri Richards of FRANKENSTEIN.

Other Favourite Productions….

• ROCK AND ROLL, Tom Stoppard directed by Simon Phillips.
• GALLIPOLI, Nigel Jamieson directed by Nigel Jamieson. The flaw of this achievement, that for me prevented it from being great, was the writing.
• SCORCHED by Wajdi Mouawad directed bt Neil Armfield.
• BILLY ELLIOT, The Musical by Lee Hall directed by Stephen Daldry.
• 360 (DEGREES) choreographed and created by Rafael Bonachela for The Sydney Dance Company.
• BILLY BUDD by Benjamin Britten directed by Neil Armfield for Opera Australia.
• THE MAKROPULOS SECRET by Leos Janacek directed by Neil Armfield for Opera Australia.

International productions of unforgettable memories:

• Lloyd Newson and DV8: TO BE STRAIGHT WITH YOU.
• Thomas Ostermeier presenting the Schaubuhne CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF.
• Tim Supple’s multi-lingual A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM.
• Simon Mc Burney and Complicite: A DISAPPEARING NUMBER.

The best of my alternative theatre experiences:

• Trash Vaudeville in FOOL’S GOLD at QUICK AND DIRTY at Performance Space.
• THE BLAND PROJECT by Gravity Research Institute Inc (Alan Schacher) at Performance Space. This was an outstanding multi-media dance/theatre exploration.
• LIVEWORKS curated by Fiona Winning at Carriageworks for Performance Space especially FRAUDULENT BEHAVIOUR written and performed by Rosie Dennis and TARKOVSKY’S HORSE with Peter Fraser directed by Tess De Quincey. (The most disappointing contribution was by the visiting PACITTI COMPANY U.K. with presentations of underwhelming work CIVIL and later FINALE.)
• THE AGE I’M IN by FORCE MAJEUR directed by Kate Champion at Carriageworks.

Let us look at some technical contributions that I registered as arresting.

Set Design:

• Robert Cousins for THE SERPENT’S TEETH.
• Jacob Nash for RUBEN GUTHRIE and YIBIYUNG.
• Gabrielle Logan for THE KID.
• Stephen Curtis for SCORCHED and THE HYPOCRITE.
• Genevieve Blanchett for THE MODERN INTERNATIONAL DEAD.
• Nigel Jamieson, Alexandra Somner and Brad Clark for GALLIPOLI.

Lighting Design:

• Verity Hampton for THE FABULOUS PUNCH AND JUDY SHOW.
  
• Luiz Pampolha for THE KID and RUBEN GUTHRIE.
• Nigel Levings for SCORCHED.
• Niklas Pajanti for SPRING AWAKENING.
• Trudy Dalgleish for GALLIPOLI.
• Geoff Cobham for THE AGE I’M IN.
• Bernie Tan for THE MODERN INTERNATIONAL DEAD.
• Nick Schleiper for THE SERPENT’S TEETH, HAMLET, FRANKENSTEIN and much more. I think Mr Schleiper is the most outstanding and consistent Artist contributing to our theatre experience in Sydney.

Sound Design:

• Paul Charlier for THE SERPENT’S TEETH.
• Kelly Ryall for DON’T SAY THE WORDS.
• Nick Wishart for THE MODERN INTERNATIONAL DEAD.
• Jeremy Silver for pool (no water).
• Daryl Wallis for QUEEN C.
• Max Lyandvert for THE AGE I’M IN.

Now I shall be a little contentious. I thought I should list work of some disappointment.

• ANTIGONE or THE BURIAL AT THEBES adapted by Seamus Heaney directed by Chris Kohn at Company B – a jumble of intellectual conception and very uneasy acting.
• ROMEO AND JULIET directed by Wayne Blair for The Sydney Theatre Company Education.
• HAMLET directed by Marion Potts for Bell Shakespeare-a totally inadequate technical performance by Brendan Cowell in the lead as Hamlet. No Hamlet = no play.
• ORLANDO by Handel directed by Justin Way and designed by Kimm Kovac and Andrew Hays for Opera Australia- an over designed and directed work that appeared to have no confidence in the work as it exists.
• THE NARCISSIST by Stephen Carleton directed by Ian Lawson for La Boite and The Sydney Theatre Company- a truly terrible evening in the theatre in 2008. It lacked good judgement in almost every area (exclude the valiant actors.) This was my personal low point in the theatre in 2008.
• THE CONVICT’S OPERA by Stephen Jeffreys directed by Max Stafford Clarke for the Sydney Theatre Company and Out of Joint.- a totally bewildering conception and offer in 2008.
• THE PIG IRON PEOPLE by John Doyle directed by Craig Illot for the Sydney Theatre Company – a first play that did not feel developed enough to be presented in 2008. Brought to production too early. (Craig Illot seems to lack the director’s eye for textual detail. See THE PILLOWMAN and R&J.)
• MARY STUART by Schiller directed by Mark Kilmurry for the Ensemble Theatre – a truly misconceived and executed production of one of the great plays in the classic repertoire – a disaster.
   

My Best Experiences:

1. A DISAPPEARING NUMBER by Complicite.
2. THE MODERN INTERNATIONAL DEAD at the Griffin Theatre Company.
3. TO BE STRAIGHT WITH YOU by DV8.
4. THE BLAND PROJECT by Gravity Research Institute Inc at Performance Space at Carriageworks.
5. THE MAKROPULOS SECRET by Opera Australia.
6. FRANKENSTEIN by Sydney Theatre Company.
7. GALLIPOLI by Sydney Theatre Company.
8. SCORCHED by Company B.
9. JUST MACBETH! by Bell Shakespeare.
10. CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF by The Schaubuhne.
11. DON’T SAY THE WORDS by the Griffin Theatre Company
12. TARKOVSKY’S HORSE at Performance Space.
13. 360 (Degrees) by Rafael Bonachela for Sydney Dance Company at Carriageworks.

I felt the work at The Griffin has been the most consistently interesting. Company B the most disappointing. The Sydney Theatre Company’s huge range of work has, for me, both some of the best and some of the worst experiences of the year. This year should be vital for us to know what direction that company is headed.

Happy New Year to you all.