About this Blog
This website is the archive of Kevin Jackson’s performing arts diary – the ‘blog’ through which he shared his reviews of performances (and occasional books and screenings) attended between 2008 and 2022.
Kevin Jackson was a much loved and greatly respected acting coach and teacher, working in Sydney (1983 – 2022) and San Francisco (1989 – 2002). The many testimonials and memories shared by by colleagues, peers and former students in the Tributes section of this site, provide a moving and insightful testament to his special ability and insights as an artist, colleague and teacher. For more details on Kevin’s professional biography, refer to the Curriculum Vitae page on this website.
Kevin was diagnosed with head and neck cancer in 2018 and underwent extensive treatment over a 3-year period. His cancer was effectively cured by the end 2021 after a program of immunotherapy at the Garvan Institute Kinghorn Cancer Clinic, but he lived with chronic pain as a result of radiotherapy scarring, and also oedema and chronic fatigue due to heart disease. Kevin passed away at St. Vincent’s hospice on January 18th, 2023.
On June 10, 2024, Kevin was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia, for his services to the performing arts. His nominations were lodged in 2022, initiated by Oliver Wenn, a former student, colleague and Company Director of The Hub Studio.
The reviews on this site focus primarily on theatre performances, but also include music, dance, performance art and film. On many occasions during the years in which this blog was active, Kevin would attend, and then review up to four separate performances.
The sheer quantity of shows reviewed is testament to Kevin’s commitment as a colleague and audience member – to the continuation of the performing arts in Australia, and Sydney more specifically.
The blog was originally published online using Google’s ‘Blogger” platform, and was migrated to WordPress in 2024, with the addition of testimonials from friends and colleagues.
Here is the ‘Mission Statement’ that Kevin published on the original blog in 2008, providing some context for his motivations for this undertaking:
This blog developed out of another task. When talking to an I.T. savant, they suggested that I post some reviews I had written [for performing arts & education newsletter]. In doing so it struck me that in the cultural ether there is very little discussion of what is happening.
On the weekend (Sunday) I counted 34 pages of sport analysis. Maybe 10 or 12 pages on media celebrity, (centred mainly about Television) and no Arts. No diverse Music discussion. No Art discussion. No Dance or Theatre discussion.
So I feel that in writing this blog my intention is to help facilitate constructive Discussion. I see this blog as a CATALYST for real “speak”. I see it as some way to RECORD for History’s sake events and to INTERPRET them. I hope engagement and exchange evolves. I guess this might be what Marketing might call a ‘Mission Statement’.
– Kevin Jackson, 2008
Ways to search and read this ‘blog
There are several ways to search through this blog for specific productions, artists and companies.
The simplest way is to type a search term in the search window of the Blog/Reviews page. The search window – with magnifying icon – is located above the ‘Archives’ block, seen on the right-hand margin (when viewed on laptop/desktop), and at the bottom of the screen, when viewed on a mobile device.
Search by Date
The ‘Archives’ block (see above) provides directory to individual reviews, arranged by Month and Year, in the order that the reviews were published. Click on a Year, then Month to browse through performances reviewed.
Search by Category
You can generate a list of reviews to browse, based on a single, specific artist’s name, e.g. name of playwright/actor/director or company, by typing directly into the URL on your web-browser, after the word ‘category’. For example:
https://kjtheatrediary.com.au/category/tennessee-williams/
will provide a list of reviews of performances of the plays of Tennessee Williamshttps://kjtheatrediary.com.au/category/sydney-theatre-company/
will provide a list of reviews of plays presented by Sydney Theatre Companyhttps://kjtheatrediary.com/category/cate-blanchett/
will provide a list of list of reviews of shows that Cate Blanchett acted in
Here are some suggested links for searches based on playwrights that Kevin had a special interest in:
https://kjtheatrediary.com/category/edward-albee/
https://kjtheatrediary.com/category/anton-chekhov/
https://kjtheatrediary.com/category/arthur-miller/
https://kjtheatrediary.com/category/tommy-murphy/
https://kjtheatrediary.com/category/lachlan-philpott/
https://kjtheatrediary.com/category/lucy-prebble/
https://kjtheatrediary.com/category/tom-stoppard/
https://kjtheatrediary.com/category/caryl-churchill/
https://kjtheatrediary.com/category/william-shakespeare/
https://kjtheatrediary.com/category/tennessee-williams/
https://kjtheatrediary.com/category/tom-stoppard/