Rinsing the Princess - 5 short works about love, sexuality ... and everything else. Aberrant Genotype Productions at The Street Theatre Studio, November 29 - December 7, 8.30pm.
Just ignore the overblown title this group have given themselves: this is the only sign of unnecessary pretension in a delightful evening of theatre.
Though Artistic Director Catherine Langman seeks to follow in the footsteps of the late David Branson, these 20 minute playlets are less confronting than his Short Stabs seasons, more conventional, less polemical, more lightly humorous, yet genuinely thoughtful. It was nice to find a quote from Heidegger's Introduction to Metaphysics used to make fun of intellectual pretension in Rosemary Fitzgerald's My Sinister Sister.
Perhaps the Medea sequence in Kate MacNamara's The Carnie Queen was the most disturbing in the Branson manner. She killed her children in this version because of Jason's physical and mental abuse. Yet by placing this and the scenes of Joan of Arc and Antigone as magic acts within a cheap circus setting, MacNamara distances us in the Brechtian sense, making women's issues stand out clearly.
Trampoline, by Mary Rachel Brown, has been seen in Sydney but here receives an original treatment by director Kelly Somes where the physical action reveals the metaphor of the poor jumping for their lives in the world of the rich.
Langman's A Stitch in Time was a much more predictable script, but with another interesting metaphor for life: grandmother's knitting does not follow a pattern, like her life, yet still things happen and seem to fall into place.
Puddle's Revenge by Adam Hadley was the most consistent script, giving Patrick Wenholz the most applause of the night. The absurdity of Puddle's life as a public servant was matched by his fantasy of becoming a Texas Lone Ranger, leaving us all wondering about love, sexuality ... and everything else.
Lighting, sound, sets, props and costumes were simple but effective thoughout. Enjoy the evening, and don't forget to discuss with your neighbours what the title Rinsing the Princess refers to. There's certainly irony there which David Branson would have appreciated.
© Frank McKone, Canberra
Saturday, 30 November 2002
Friday, 29 November 2002
2002: Dawn Casey as Director of the National Museum of Australia
Suspicion had been aroused about the long-term prospects of Dawn Casey as Director of the National Museum of Australia.
According to one report (by Penny Brown in The Australian 29/11/02), Minister for Arts and Sport Rod Kemp has informed Ms Casey that her contract will be renewed for only one year from this December, rather than a longer period of perhaps three or five years.
One external provider of theatre services to NMA expressed surprise at this possibility, considering the very great regard for Ms Casey's leadership style and program intitiatives among her staff. As a member of the Museum Performance Advisory Panel, in close contact with NMA Board members, he had heard nothing of the rumour. NMA's first Annual Report shows that more than 1 million people passed through the doors, and in evaluation responses covering the full year "91% of visitors state they are satisfied or very satisfied with their NMA experience."
Ms Casey will make no comment at this stage, her office stating that the report is no more than speculation. There is a suggestion, however, that an announcement may be made in about ten days. The Minister's office also refuses to make any comment either about the term of Ms Casey's contract or about any forthcoming announcement. On the other hand, neither the National Museum nor the Minister have issued a denial of the speculation.
© Frank McKone, Canberra
According to one report (by Penny Brown in The Australian 29/11/02), Minister for Arts and Sport Rod Kemp has informed Ms Casey that her contract will be renewed for only one year from this December, rather than a longer period of perhaps three or five years.
One external provider of theatre services to NMA expressed surprise at this possibility, considering the very great regard for Ms Casey's leadership style and program intitiatives among her staff. As a member of the Museum Performance Advisory Panel, in close contact with NMA Board members, he had heard nothing of the rumour. NMA's first Annual Report shows that more than 1 million people passed through the doors, and in evaluation responses covering the full year "91% of visitors state they are satisfied or very satisfied with their NMA experience."
Ms Casey will make no comment at this stage, her office stating that the report is no more than speculation. There is a suggestion, however, that an announcement may be made in about ten days. The Minister's office also refuses to make any comment either about the term of Ms Casey's contract or about any forthcoming announcement. On the other hand, neither the National Museum nor the Minister have issued a denial of the speculation.
© Frank McKone, Canberra
Thursday, 28 November 2002
2002: Energised, Engaged, Everywhere: Older Australians and Museums
Little did I think, when I first sang the song, that When I'm 64 would suddenly be only two years away. Will you still love me? Or is it time to display me in some Museum of Ancient Icons: an original Beatles fan who saw Paul wave his hand from the Sheraton window in Kings Cross, 1964.
Well, perhaps not. You see, I'd be embarrassed by all the Young-olds (aged 65-74 years), Old-olds (75-84) and Oldest-olds (over 85) bending down with increasing difficulty to read the label at my feet and wondering who on earth (or on Wings) Paul McCartney was. They might be having problems with the font being too small, and the overhead halogen lights are probably reflecting in their glasses so they can't really see me at all. If they're wearing multifocus glasses, they may as well give up and let the grandchildren take them on to K-Space.
Of course, when they get themselves down the stairs, they'll find all the interactive media flashes too fast for them to understand what's happening, and the background noise will mask their hearing aids. In fact having all those children around is just a bit too much as their energy fades.
What they really need now is not love, but peace, in the form of a comfortable high backed seat in a quiet corner. But not so quiet that nothing is happening. Something stimulating to watch, maybe about stories from our past, mainly entertaining but with new things to learn. A bit of a different perspective on history without trying to tell us that what we remember never really happened.
So we pick up a coffee from the mobile unit on the way to the theatre. Comfortable seats, with nice upright backs. The house lights dim to reveal some black-and-white television footage: the Sheraton, Kings Cross 1964, a window close-up with curtain drawn. Then the street below crowded with young people, cheering. Wait a minute: they are not facing the Sheraton, but the hotel opposite. Even the policemen (lots of them) are smiling.
On his balcony, waving to the ecstatic crowd, is the world renowned classical concert pianist, Artur Rubenstein. If the Beatles won't show, why shouldn't Artur get the applause?
But then, a hand - it must be Paul's (it's not long and thin enough for John's, or rough enough for George or Ringo) - slightly pushes the Sheraton curtain aside. It waves. And the crowd turns into even more ecstasy - while poor old Artur stands alone on his balcony and begins to understand what the new world of pop idols means for him.
The four Beatles walk onto stage left, Artur Rubenstein on stage right, as if they are apparitions from the film become real. They slowly approach each other, and Paul shakes Artur's hand. Films show behind them of their concerts. As the sound fades, Paul and Artur talk over their memories - the exciting concerts, the fears and failures. Ringo leaves the stage, John goes, Artur goes, George quietly fades away. Only Paul is left, looking 64 himself by now, to tell his latest story - about how he couldn't come to Australia in 2002 because he didn't want to offend the feelings of the families of those killed in Bali, and perhaps because of the fear of a terrorist attack if he gave a concert here.
According to the report Energised, Engaged, Everywhere: Older Australians and Museums, this theatre show would be just the ticket for Canberra's Olds especially. The research shows they have twice the interest in arts activities ( 8% against 4%) and three times the involvement in learning activities (24% against 8%) as Olds from Sydney.
When it comes to older people's motivation for visiting museums/galleries, in a survey of over-55s, 77% said "to experience something new" and 71% looked for entertainment. 67% considered themselves to be very interested in the arts (1.16 times the population average). What better way to satisfy these interests than by incorporating theatre in museums and galleries?
Yet the Report's 15 recommendations do not once mention the expansion of arts and theatre performances as important for Older Australians in museums, despite the international museum theatre movement which we have reported in The Canberra Times. Lots about labels, glasses, lights, wheelchair access, seating, sound, technical interfaces and cost - all most worthy issues which should not be ignored. But nothing explicit about the arts.
I just hope this nearly Young-old can look forward to an amendment to this Report before he reaches 64.
Energised, Engaged, Everywhere: Older Australians and Museums by Lynda Kelly, Gillian Savage, Peta Landman & Susan Tonkin. A joint publication by the Australian Museum and the National Museum of Australia. Copies available from Susan Tonkin, Evaluation and Visitor Research, NMA (s.tonkin@nma.gov.au).
© Frank McKone, Canberra
Well, perhaps not. You see, I'd be embarrassed by all the Young-olds (aged 65-74 years), Old-olds (75-84) and Oldest-olds (over 85) bending down with increasing difficulty to read the label at my feet and wondering who on earth (or on Wings) Paul McCartney was. They might be having problems with the font being too small, and the overhead halogen lights are probably reflecting in their glasses so they can't really see me at all. If they're wearing multifocus glasses, they may as well give up and let the grandchildren take them on to K-Space.
Of course, when they get themselves down the stairs, they'll find all the interactive media flashes too fast for them to understand what's happening, and the background noise will mask their hearing aids. In fact having all those children around is just a bit too much as their energy fades.
What they really need now is not love, but peace, in the form of a comfortable high backed seat in a quiet corner. But not so quiet that nothing is happening. Something stimulating to watch, maybe about stories from our past, mainly entertaining but with new things to learn. A bit of a different perspective on history without trying to tell us that what we remember never really happened.
So we pick up a coffee from the mobile unit on the way to the theatre. Comfortable seats, with nice upright backs. The house lights dim to reveal some black-and-white television footage: the Sheraton, Kings Cross 1964, a window close-up with curtain drawn. Then the street below crowded with young people, cheering. Wait a minute: they are not facing the Sheraton, but the hotel opposite. Even the policemen (lots of them) are smiling.
On his balcony, waving to the ecstatic crowd, is the world renowned classical concert pianist, Artur Rubenstein. If the Beatles won't show, why shouldn't Artur get the applause?
But then, a hand - it must be Paul's (it's not long and thin enough for John's, or rough enough for George or Ringo) - slightly pushes the Sheraton curtain aside. It waves. And the crowd turns into even more ecstasy - while poor old Artur stands alone on his balcony and begins to understand what the new world of pop idols means for him.
The four Beatles walk onto stage left, Artur Rubenstein on stage right, as if they are apparitions from the film become real. They slowly approach each other, and Paul shakes Artur's hand. Films show behind them of their concerts. As the sound fades, Paul and Artur talk over their memories - the exciting concerts, the fears and failures. Ringo leaves the stage, John goes, Artur goes, George quietly fades away. Only Paul is left, looking 64 himself by now, to tell his latest story - about how he couldn't come to Australia in 2002 because he didn't want to offend the feelings of the families of those killed in Bali, and perhaps because of the fear of a terrorist attack if he gave a concert here.
According to the report Energised, Engaged, Everywhere: Older Australians and Museums, this theatre show would be just the ticket for Canberra's Olds especially. The research shows they have twice the interest in arts activities ( 8% against 4%) and three times the involvement in learning activities (24% against 8%) as Olds from Sydney.
When it comes to older people's motivation for visiting museums/galleries, in a survey of over-55s, 77% said "to experience something new" and 71% looked for entertainment. 67% considered themselves to be very interested in the arts (1.16 times the population average). What better way to satisfy these interests than by incorporating theatre in museums and galleries?
Yet the Report's 15 recommendations do not once mention the expansion of arts and theatre performances as important for Older Australians in museums, despite the international museum theatre movement which we have reported in The Canberra Times. Lots about labels, glasses, lights, wheelchair access, seating, sound, technical interfaces and cost - all most worthy issues which should not be ignored. But nothing explicit about the arts.
I just hope this nearly Young-old can look forward to an amendment to this Report before he reaches 64.
Energised, Engaged, Everywhere: Older Australians and Museums by Lynda Kelly, Gillian Savage, Peta Landman & Susan Tonkin. A joint publication by the Australian Museum and the National Museum of Australia. Copies available from Susan Tonkin, Evaluation and Visitor Research, NMA (s.tonkin@nma.gov.au).
© Frank McKone, Canberra
Monday, 25 November 2002
2002: Eye of the Needle by Peter Robinson. Short feature.
Eye of the Needle by Peter Robinson, a script in development, received its first public reading last Friday evening.
Elbow Theatre, directed by Canberra Critics Circle award winner Iain Sinclair, used its second last bucket of grant money to employ a professional team of actors for a week: new young actors, Lara Lightfoot and Tom Woodward, with the well-known Hec Macmillan, Camilla Ah Kin, Susan Lyons and William Zappa (recently seen here with Bell Shakespeare).
The script is an interesting study, with a nice sense of humour and touching sadness, of a Canberra diplomat's attempt to bring his family together at what surely must be his Malua Bay coast house: he couldn't live in the Canberra house after his wife died, and now realises that he is on the way out too. His son, daughter-in-law, her sister, and their children have a skeleton in their cupboards which becomes revealed to all.
Though in the form of a farce, the revelation leaves the future to a dysfunctional arrangement. At the end of the reading (at this point only an hour long), there was a palpable sigh from an audience wishing for more. So Robinson now faces the task of either taking more time to reach the revelation, keeping the focus on the old man, or peeking into the inevitable emotional mess of a third act.
I spent some time talking with William Zappa about the week's process. He was clearly impressed with the easy relationship which Sinclair had set up between the actors and author: a thoroughly satisfying experience for him. I found myself immersed in top-quality professional development discussion, here, at the Courtyard Studio in Canberra. No need to go to Sydney, or Melbourne, or anywhere.
Elbow Theatre is the descendant of Theatre ACT and Canberra Theatre Company: the in-town professional company complementing the largely touring Women on a Shoestring and the specialist Jigsaw Company. But what's this about the second last bucket?
The last bucketful will go on the development of Mary Rachel Brown's Intimate Strangers, to be seen in February/March 2003. After that Elbow Theatre goes the way of its predecessors, ironically just as Iain Sinclair travels away on a Churchill Fellowship to build on his already extensive international training.
Once again at the political and administrative level Canberra fails its arts community. What will happen to Peter Robinson's script - a play directly relevant to Canberra audiences? Is the problem in the Cultural Council, in artsACT, in lack of Ministerial leadership? Any other city of 300,000 worth its salt would have three Elbow Theatres.
© Frank McKone, Canberra
Elbow Theatre, directed by Canberra Critics Circle award winner Iain Sinclair, used its second last bucket of grant money to employ a professional team of actors for a week: new young actors, Lara Lightfoot and Tom Woodward, with the well-known Hec Macmillan, Camilla Ah Kin, Susan Lyons and William Zappa (recently seen here with Bell Shakespeare).
The script is an interesting study, with a nice sense of humour and touching sadness, of a Canberra diplomat's attempt to bring his family together at what surely must be his Malua Bay coast house: he couldn't live in the Canberra house after his wife died, and now realises that he is on the way out too. His son, daughter-in-law, her sister, and their children have a skeleton in their cupboards which becomes revealed to all.
Though in the form of a farce, the revelation leaves the future to a dysfunctional arrangement. At the end of the reading (at this point only an hour long), there was a palpable sigh from an audience wishing for more. So Robinson now faces the task of either taking more time to reach the revelation, keeping the focus on the old man, or peeking into the inevitable emotional mess of a third act.
I spent some time talking with William Zappa about the week's process. He was clearly impressed with the easy relationship which Sinclair had set up between the actors and author: a thoroughly satisfying experience for him. I found myself immersed in top-quality professional development discussion, here, at the Courtyard Studio in Canberra. No need to go to Sydney, or Melbourne, or anywhere.
Elbow Theatre is the descendant of Theatre ACT and Canberra Theatre Company: the in-town professional company complementing the largely touring Women on a Shoestring and the specialist Jigsaw Company. But what's this about the second last bucket?
The last bucketful will go on the development of Mary Rachel Brown's Intimate Strangers, to be seen in February/March 2003. After that Elbow Theatre goes the way of its predecessors, ironically just as Iain Sinclair travels away on a Churchill Fellowship to build on his already extensive international training.
Once again at the political and administrative level Canberra fails its arts community. What will happen to Peter Robinson's script - a play directly relevant to Canberra audiences? Is the problem in the Cultural Council, in artsACT, in lack of Ministerial leadership? Any other city of 300,000 worth its salt would have three Elbow Theatres.
© Frank McKone, Canberra
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