Year: 2009

TRAVESTIES by Tom Stoppard was first presented in 1974 at the Aldwych Theatre in London for the Royal Shakespeare Company. Stoppard’s work was last seen in Sydney in the MTC’s production of ROCK ‘N’ ROLL at the Sydney Theatre as part of the STC season last year. TRAVESTIES is a relatively early play by Stoppard, who is regarded, by some, to be one of the great living playwrights. Each of his plays is highly anticipated and highly debated. Like most of Stoppard’s work this is “History rewritten as fiction (and) it is the motif of TRAVESTIES, a work that exploits…

Opera Australia at the Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House present WERTHER. An Opera in four acts by Jules Massenet. Libretto by Edouard Blau, Paul Miliet and Georges Hartmann, after Goethe’s Die Leiden des jungen Werthers (1774).   I love French Opera music, (the little that I know): Offenbach, Gounod, and Massenet. I have fond memories of Massenet’s CENDRILLION which I saw In San Francisco with Renee Fleming way, way back then; and only a month ago at the Chauvel Cinema I watched a screening of THAIS, again with Rene Fleming plus Thomas Hampson, from the glorious series of the present…

Hoipolloi’s FLOATING with Hugh Hughes, presented in association with TEN DAYS ON THE ISLAND (Tasmania) and ARTS HOUSE (City of Melbourne) at the Sydney Opera House Playhouse.   This show apparently (I will explain the “apparently” in a moment or two) begins with a quote from Luis Bunuel on a screen “about lies becoming truth if they are told often enough.” In fact the quote appears several times on the screen. It is about imagination and memory interacting to create fictionalised events that over time may become our truths. Mr Hughes the, co-creator of this show in the program notes…

  An Antipodea, Stories Like These and Griffin Independent present an Australian Premiere of TATTOO by Dea Loher at the Stables SBW Theatre. So the booklet goes: “For 30 years Griffin Theatre Company has been at the forefront of New Australian Writing. In 2009 we’re putting Griffin’s Mainstage Season of New Australian work in a global context with the launch of Griffin Independent, a season of new, cutting edge international companies. Berlin – Costa Mesa – Dublin – New York – London. You would have travelled 53,725 kilometers to catch the original productions….. (Blah, blah, blah)… Griffin Independent brings some…

  TINY STADIUMS FESTIVAL 2009 partnered by PACT and QUARTERBRED present HOLIDAY, created by SPAT+LOOGIE; and AISTHESIS, created by JAMES BROWN.   QUARTERBRED is a 3 year old artist run initiative supporting and presenting hybrid arts projects. The TINY STADIUMS FESTIVAL 2009 has been presenting work from a wide selection of artists from the 24th February to the 7th March. “QUARTERBRED involves Blue Ribbon Artists cramming big experiences into small spaces.” The PACT Theatre has been the host building.   HOLIDAY, created by Spat+Loogie (Lara Thoms and Kat Barron) is interactive art “exploring the impersonal nature of conventional tourism.” Arriving…

Photo: Janine Jansen SYDNEY SYMPHONY, 2009 SEASON, EMIRATES METRO SERIES: ASHKENAZY CONDUCTS SHOSTAKOVICH at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall.   After the summer, end of holiday feel of the Mendelssohn presentation of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM last week, it was with excitement that I approached this concert. Once again I declare that I am only a concert goer in my appreciation and not an expert. I had in the Shostakovich, admittedly, one of my favourite composers, a great and shattering time.   The first half of the program was Antonin Dvorak’s VIOLIN CONCERTO in A MINOR, Op53 (B.108). The…