Year: 2010

Sydney Festival 2010 present HAPPY AS LARRY, Shaun Parker & Company at the Everest Theatre, Seymour Centre, Sydney. Like, but, unlike Michael Keegan-Dolan of Fabulous Beast who brought us GISELLE, Shaun Parker is credited as Director (as is Mr Keegan-Dolan) and then, Choreographer (not claimed by Keegan-Dolan). However it seemed to me that both these artists begin their work in a similar way. Select collaborators and from their uniqueness, their (gifts) develop a work from their range of possibilities and skills, predicated by the Director’s idea or “dream”. In the case of Mr Keegan-Dolan, this Festival, Giselle; in the case…

  Sydney Festival presents a co-production between Chichester Festival Theatre and Headlong SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR by Luigi Pirandello in a new version by Rupert Goold & Ben Power in the York Theatre, Seymour Centre. Written in 1921 and first performed in Rome in the Teatro Valle. “SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR” is a classic of modernism, a fundamentally subversive moment in the history of modern theatre. Its self conscious setting – an open stage prepared for rehearsal (of another Pirandello play THE RULES OF THE GAME) – its fragmented narrative, confusing time levels and…

      Sydney Festival present GISELLE from the Company FABULOUS BEAST led by Director, Michael Keegan-Dolan at CarriageWorks Bay 17. The first performance of GISELLE took place in June 1841 at the Paris Opera. It was conceived by the poet, author Theophile Gautier, inspired by Heinrich Heine’s work, De l ‘Állemange, where he came across a passage concerning “the snow white wilis (spirits of jilted brides) who walz pitilessly the whole night long” and lure and dance to death any who come their way during their dark haunting of the night. The music was sketched in 8 days and…

  Company B Belvoir and Kim Carpenter’s Theatre of Image present THE BOOK OF EVERYTHING. The Play. Adapted by Richard Tulloch from the Novel by Guus Kuljer. A few weeks ago writing about WAR HORSE and NATION, two projects that the National Theatre in London developed, with young audiences in mind , I “boldly” suggested that perhaps the STC could begin to be more enterprising in that area with the special commissioning of such like work for Sydney over our long festive summer break. Well, blow me down, there was I at the Belvoir on Saturday afternoon (after fearing I…

Sydney Theatre Company presents TOT MOM created by Steven Soderbergh In Wharf 1. Steven Soderberg has one of the most impressive list of achievements as writer, director and producer of contemporary film. Besides his own Directorial work which includes impressively for me, particularly, TRAFFIC and the recent release THE INFORMANT; the producing credits on such works as I’M NOT THERE, MICHAEL CLAYTON, SYRIANA and GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK are fairly awe inspiring. Important contemporary films with political observation and dramatic clout. Education and entertainment. Well worth watching more than once for lots of reasons. Artistry and integrity supports and…

In the program notes Tom Stoppard writes: “Andre Previn and I met in 1974 while he was principal conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra. One day not long afterwards he said that if ever I wanted to write something which needed a symphony orchestra, well, he had one. We agreed early on that we should try to go beyond a mere recitation for the concert platform, and also that we were not writing a piece for singers. In short, it was going to be a real play, to be performed in conjunction with, and bound up with, a symphony orchestra.”…