Category: Damien Cooper

Photo by Lisa Tomasetti Sydney Theatre Company presents THE GOLDEN AGE, by Louis Nowra, at the Wharf 1 Thearte, Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay.  19 Jan – 20 Feb. THE GOLDEN AGE, by Louis Nowra was published in 1985. The first production was given at the Playbox Theatre in Melbourne, Directed by Rex Cramphorn. I first saw the play in a NIDA production by Neil Armfield with Richard Roxburgh, as Francis – it was a truly memorable production. I have had, always, a ‘romance’ about the early work of Louis Nowra. In the late 1970’s a group of artists, including myself, had…

  Photo by by Brett Boardman Belvoir presents, RADIANCE, by Louis Nowra, in the Upstairs Theatre, Belvoir Street Theatre, Surry Hills, 7 January – 8 February. From the writers notes the $13 Program and Currency Press text publication of RADIANCE, by Louis Nowra: RADIANCE is an exuberant black sabbath for three great Indigenous dames. Cressy, Nona and Mae are half sisters with little in common except the ghosts of their childhood. They gather, in the tropical Queensland landscape, for Mum’s funeral. These three sisters are forces of nature, and they haven’t been in the same room for many, many years. It…

The Belvoir production of Tennessee William’s THE GLASS MENAGERIE, is the third major production of that play that I have seen in the last four years. This production, unusual to the recent Belvoir general aesthetics – has stayed faithfully to the text as written, using even the American dialect. Eamon Flack, an Associate Director of the Belvoir, last year Directed ANGELS IN AMERICA and there, too, respected the writer’s work, and the audience’s intelligence, to the production’s and play’s ultimate great acclaim. This, THE GLASS MENAGERIE, is an Australian production of a great American classic, without re-writes (STRANGE INTERLUDE), or edits…

Sydney Festival and Sydney Opera House present AM I by Shaun Parker and Company. Music by Nick Wales. In the Drama Theatre at the Sydney Opera House. AM I is a new work arising from the creative inspirations of Shaun Parker, Nick Wales and their artistic team. Mr Parker and Mr Wales have collaborated on numerous works, including SPILLS AND TROLLEYS for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad, HAPPY AS LARRY (with Bree van Reyk), THE YARD and THIS SHOW IS ABOUT PEOPLE. It is a collaboration that is maturing into great things and it was a wonderful to watch AM I, unfold:…

Sydney Theatre Company and Barking Gecko Theatre Company present STORM BOY by Colin Thiele. Adapted for the stage by Tom Holloway in Wharf 1, Sydney Theatre Company, Hickson Rd. STORM BOY is a joint production of the Sydney Theatre Company and the Perth company, Barking Gecko Theatre. Directed by John Sheedy from a commissioned adaptation by Tom Holloway, of the 1964 children’s novel by Colin Thiele. A film was made in 1976 by the South Australian Film Commission (SAFC) and Channel 7. It won the Best Film Award from the Australian Film Institute (AFI) in 1977, and starred Greg Rowe,…

Dear Diary, Please view the Belvoir promotional clip, below, before you begin this ‘epic’ entry. (oh, Puleeease, even if it is tongue in cheek, it epitomises some of the attitude in approaching these works that give me an artist, even, moral, pause. Or, is it just my generational elderliness showing, here? I am just not hip.) CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF by Tennessee Williams (1955) is another production of a classic American work directed by Simon Stone for the Belvoir Theatre. STRANGE INTERLUDE by Eugene O’Neill and THE DEATH OF A SALESMAN by Arthur Miller were presented last year. Mr Williams…