Category: Arky Michael

The Table of Knowledge 2011 from version 1.0 on Vimeo. A version 1.0 and Merrigong Company co-production presented by Carriageworks THE TABLE OF KNOWLEDGE. THE TABLE OF KNOWLEDGE by version 1.0 is the latest production from this company. It works, on its usual terms, very, very well. It deals with the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) investigation in February 2008, into the business of development at Wollongong Council. This work has been co-produced by a Wollongong theatre company: Merrigong and premiered at the Illawarra Performing Arts Centre in Wollongong in September of 2011. The season was extended down there and…

BELL SHAKESPEARE presents MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING by William Shakespeare at the Drama Theatre, in the Sydney Opera House. A set design (Stephen Curtis) sits in the space in a dominating fashion. A giant fresco wall of romantic images of giant mythical figures, the impact luscious at first glance, but on closer study reveals signs of wasting on the edges and hasty repair and ‘gutting’ by a large folding door, centrally. Pieces of odd and ruined furniture spread across the room – a piano of ruined tones and wear, included. There is a sense of a time when the wealth…

Company B Belvoir, Griffin Theatre Company and ThinIce present LOVE ME TENDER by Tom Holloway at Belvoir St Theatre, Upstairs. Tom Holloway has had DON’T SAY THE WORDS; BEYOND THE NECK and now LOVE ME TENDER produced in Sydney, in the last three years, and has successively demonstrated, and with this play confirmed his potential as a very important contemporary voice in the Australian theatre scene. All three plays deal with confronting issues and in a literary style that is poetic and beautiful. Challenging and satisfying. Both substance and style. A voice that is growing more and more unique in…

  Performance Space and THEATRE KANTANKA present MISSING THE BUS TO DAVID JONES at CarriageWorks. MISSING THE BUS TO DAVID JONES is a work developed by KANTANKA THEATRE under the direction of Carlos Gomes with performers/devisers: Valerie Berry, Rosie Lalevich, Arky Michael, Phillip Mills, Katia Molino, Kym Vercoe. This year I have had a very exciting (and hope filled) set of experiences in the Sydney Theatre scene. This work hosted in development by Campbelltown Arts Centre and Performance Space concerns a part of our community that is rarely exposed, explored or even acknowledged: The aged. It is odd since most…

  Performance Space and version 1.0 present THIS KIND OF RUCKUS in Bay 20 at CarriageWorks. In the program notes David Williams, Chief Executive Officer of version 1.0, Producer of this performance, one of the devisers and actual performers tells us “THIS KIND OF RUCKUS is a performance about power, control and violence in intimate relationships. The work explores sexual violence in a range of spheres – from the realm of the domestic, to the judicial system, to the media and popular cultural attitudes, to the recent spate of sexual assault scandals in the sporting arena.” It could be a…

  Company B presents BAGHDAD WEDDING written by Hassan Abdulrazzak at the Belvoir St Theatre. BAGHDAD WEDING is Hassan Abdulrazzak’s first play and it was first performed at Soho Theatre, London, in June 2007. Mr Abdulrazzak holds a PhD in Molecular Biology and works as a postdoctoral researcher at Imperial College. He has, since this play, also worked for the Royal Court in translation of an Israeli play (603 by Imad Farajin) and is on attachment with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). I mention Mr Abdulrazzak’s background because part of the fascination of this text and production, for…