Year: 2008

Makropulos. Greek. Secrets. Crete. “Vanitas… ashes and dust.” Lawyers. Intestate will. Prima Donna. Opera. Magic. Madness. Suicide. Sex. Beauty. Potion. Hieronymous!!! (What an excitingly thrilling name.) Eternal life. Mystery. Words that to me conjure melodrama. These were the promise of an exciting and intriguing night in the theatre and they all appear in THE MAKRPULOS SECRET by Janacek. I had never seen this Opera before. I went to a Dress rehearsal on Saturday and was so moved, excited that I went again on Opening night. This is a revival of Neil Armfield’s 1996 production. The Design is by Carl Friedrich…

On entering the theatre, one encounters the seats swathed in white dust covers. (You are also provided with a history of the Trojan war and the events leading up to the play, neatly printed out for your perusal on your seat.) The stage is lit with fluorescents. Stark, cool unattractive reality. (Lighting by Damian Cooper.) Along the entire back wall of the raised theatre stage there is a huge jigsaw of wooden and metal lockers which you might find in a very old gymnasium dressing room. They are either stacked horizontally or vertically, some with doors but most not. It…

This play was the winner of the 2005 Griffin Award for New Writing. It is the first production of this play in Sydney after an initial presentation at the New Theatre as part of its New Directions season in August. The CARNIVORES. One would expect with a title like that the resonances of “an animal that feeds on flesh” would be reflected in the play. In the publicity description we are told “Thom and Graham are small players in the ethical murkiness of global capitalism, both up-market and black-market. As they grapple with family loyalty, rapacious multinationals, sexual opportunism and…

“Oh I love the world! I love love love love the world.” Later. “I love the world. I know how that sounds, inexcusable and vague, but it’s all I can say for myself, I love the world, really I do….. LOVE” Later still… “The dust of Kabul’s blowing soil smarts lightly in my eyes, but I love her, for knowledge and love both come from her dust.” Homebody speaks to us for almost 40 minutes. She then disappears and her knowledge and love become part of the dust of Kabul and Mr Kushner leaves one with ones eyes smarting lightly…

I need to disclose that I saw this production at the final rehearsal on Monday night (22nd Sept). I am writing this because I know this is a revival of a production. I also know that I will not get to see it again this season (work commitments) and I feel that for anybody out there who reads my stuff it is a very highly recommended experience. It is “horses for courses” of course. I happen to like going to Opera. I probably won’t go to see the STC presentation of HIGHWAY ROCK ‘N’ ROLL DISASTER in the Wharf 2Loud…

This play is the story of Yibiyung, a young Indigenous girl at the turn of the last century living in Western Australia under the increasing control of laws and policies concerning Indigenous affairs under a government appointed officer called the Chief Protector of Aborigines, who was made under the 1905 Aborigines Act “the legal guardian” of all “aboriginal” and “half caste” children up to the age of 16 years, enabling him to send any “aboriginal” and “half caste” child to an orphanage, mission, or industrial school, with or without the child’s parents’ permission. This story sounds very familiar. It should,…