Theatre Australia: Australia's magazine of the performing arts 5(5) December 1980 - January 1981 (2025)

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Australia's magazme of the performmg arts. December/January 1981 $1.95*

Theatre Australia

NIMROD’S 10th ANNIVERSARY

CELLIJLOID I[...]

as Hamlet.
_ March 23 to May 9

memory, t[...]

COVER POSTER BY MARTIN SHARP.[...]-\l'SIR/\I.I‘-N I)I’(‘. J/\.\ I98!

Theatre Australia

Telephone 699 5003
for your free copy of
the Nimrod Banner

with full subscription[...]

Their achievements have been
man[...]and inter-
nationally. without ever losing sight of
their specific local goals. They have
continued t[...]once said that at Nimrod
you count on one show in three being
really exciting or supremely good —
the o[...]l this has been
accomplished with no small amount of
critical hammering, cynicism and
plain bitchery.[...]They have complained about
derivative productions of the classics.
the Nimrod stable of actors, the

Sydney University theatrical mafia
and the showy dominance of design
(appropriate for ’Tinsel Town”).
Radic[...]nd it
titillatingly radical. Playwrights
complain of the condescension with
which they are treated (at least until
they are produced there); actors
complain ofof lively debate, and that is a sure
sign that you a[...]comfortable (and still. no doubt.
valuable) niche of its own; but it is to
be hoped that that time has[...]e
moment is that ofyet another, a third,
new wave of ”Nimrod playwrights” —
like Sewell and Nowr[...]areas theatrically
unexplored, and whole new ways of
processing information and ideas on
our stages.[...]mplaints, we thank Nimrod for
what they have made of our theatre in
the 70s and hope that they continu[...]tant:
Art Director:
Subscriptions Manager:

BOARD OF DIRECTORS:

Ken Horler. Robert Page (Ch), Diana S[...]a gratefully acknowledge the
financial assistance of the Theatre Board ofthe
Australia Council. the Literature Board of the
Australia Council. the New South Wales
Cultural Grants Advi[...]estern
Australian Arts Council and the assistance of
the University of Newcastle.
MANUSCRIPTS:

Manuscripts and editoria[...]ephone (049) 67 4470.

Whilst every care is taken of manuscripts and
visual material supplied for this[...]ssed in
signed articles are not necessarily those of the
editors.

SUBSCRIPTIONS:

The subscription rate is $2l post free within
Australia. Cheques should be made payable to
and posted to[...]re Publications Ltd, and to newsagents
throughout Australia by Allan Rodney-Wright.
Theatre Australia is produced by Soundlracts
Publishing Pty Ltd (Tel: (02) 3| 8006) on behalf of
Theatre Publications Ltd. Typesetting by G[...]

’ play is a touching and highly comic celebration of life in a country town
filrtlve Love of the West at the time of the Great War; and is fast becoming the
authors m[...]VE LOVE $3.95 paper
Peter K ennu

The second play of The Cassidy Album (the first is A Hard God), in which
Joe faces the question of identity without God and attempts to define his
o[...]ality. He is a playwright and finds in the world of

actors some whose tenuous sense of self makes them more real on stage
than off.

DON’S PARTY $4.95 paper
David Williamson ,

A new edition of Williamson‘s early and enormously popular play[...]y Ltd
The Australian Drama Publishers

4 THEATRE AUSTRALIA DEC. JAN. l9Xl

Michael Edgley, who has bee[...]k trip
with the most exciting and spectacular
bar of attractions and deals that he or
any Australian showman has ever
captured. Over the next three years
Edgley will present throughout
Australia in excess of l5 million
dollars worth of spectacular
entertainment.

Included are:

Disney World on Ice (a mass of
Disney characters on the largest ice
rink Australia has ever seen).

The legendary Marcel Marceau.
Th[...]ame Margot Fonteyn and Sir
Robert Helpmann.

Some of Broadway’s biggest
Musical Successes.

Major Co[...]Man From Snowy River”. lt is said to
be a film of action, adventure and
world wide appeal.

THE[...]s
Workshop in an attempt to rectify the
imbalance of women directors.

The workshop will be conducted[...]rector, whose latest
production is her adaptation of Zoe
Fairbairns’ Benefits.

Ms Sue Todd began h[...]early l970's, her work with Pam
Gems on a series of productions at the
now legendary Almost Free Thea[...]Edgar.

The workshop is sponsored by the
Premier of NSW through the Division
of Cultural Activities and by the
Theatre Board of the Australia
Council.

The Festival ofof Perth and with the assistance of
The British Council and The Touring Office, Londo[...]oners $6.00

“An open air theatrical experience of devastating impact"
Australian premiere of the international prize—winning Yugoslav drama

Zagreb Theatre Company

THE LIBERATION OF SKOPJE

Limited 2 week season in the unique open—air courtyard
of East Sydney Technical College. January 12-24 at 8[...]an. “Language is no barrier
to an understanding of this powerful moving drama"

In association with the Cladan Cultural Exchange Institute of Australia
and The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust

Bri[...]I COLOMBAIONI

Clowns in the theatrical tradition of commedia dell'arte

January 1931
York Theatre, Se[...]at at 8.00 p.m.

By arrangement with the Festival of Perth
in association with the Italian Foreign Min[...]1
9’-
:1
n
3"
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agencies

THEATRE AUSTRALIA DEC, JAN. [WI 7

Mary Gage's The Same Square of

Dusl on l7th October I980 (see TA’s
review in[...]on the
New South Wales Leaving syllabus.
Another of her plays about Charles
Kingsford Smith. The Price 0_/Pear/s.
tied first in Western Australia’s 150th
anniversary playwriting competition
in l979.

Though the plot and dialogue of
The Same Square of Dust were
scrupulously based on extensive
researc[...]AUSIR/\l.lv‘\ l)l{('. .lA\ l9Xl

understanding of the motives.
strengths and weaknesses of the
celebrated pilot of the Southern
Cross’. performances were terminat[...].

Nimrod is to be applauded for its
introduction of a Womens Directors’
Workshop (INFO TA Oct.), but the
impression that Nimrod is breaking
new ground in Australia is
demonstrably false. Two productions
reviewed i[...]The Maids, Kerry
Dwyer directed the world premier of
Traitors at the Pram Factory. Nano
Nagle another of the Pram’s l979
productions. Failing In Love.
M[...]urton and
Doris Fitton. must be equally eminent.

Australia's women directors would
undoubtedly more apprecia[...]cal audiences show so
little interest in the work of local
playwrights?

Sydney‘s darkest moment was the
loss of George Miller‘s Music Hall.
The Ensemble Theatr[...]demand for $80,000 back taxes on the
manufacturer of sets and props. the
first generous cheque came from the
Ensemble * and on the very day it had
been told of the Board of Fire
Commissioner’s recommendation that
it be c[...]in there in February).

Except for the aberration of The
Merry Wives 0_/‘Windsor, it has been a
triu[...]ydney Theatre
Company. Still to come (at the time of
writing) is The Precious Woman. by
Louis Nowra, a[...]mes,

No Pack Drill and Simon Gray’s Close
Of Play.

The Nimrod, on the other hand,
suffered an[...]lay, Celluloid Heroes, opening Dec-
ember 3. Best of the year at the
Nimrod, in my book. were Tom
Kene[...]chinson‘s
No Room For Dreamers, soon to have
an Australia-wide tour, and Ronald
Ribman’s Cold Storage, wi[...]performance by an actor. Jane Street
too, had one of the years best efforts
with John Clark's absorbingly detailed
production of Solomon Anski's The
Dybbuk.

The newly-launched K[...]The
Performing Arts Year Book

of Australia
Vol.4, 1979, Published 1980

No wonder that a[...]eception Hall, the volume’s more than
500 pages of text and pictures and its
4l-page index, listing by my count some
9000 names of plays and players in
theatre, film, television and concert, was
described by guest of honor John Bell as
an epitome of national pride.

Norman Kessell
Theatre A ustr[...]crisply
expressed and succinctly sum up the
state of the art during the past year.

Maria Prerauer
The A ustralian

This extraordinary record of the
details of professional performing arts
presentations around Australia.

Jill Sykes
Financial Review

Its niche in life is most definitely
the coffee tables of those thousands of
artists documented as having done
something for someone, somewhere,
and at some stage of 1979.

Malcolm Frawley
Sydney Entertainer

The Bu[...]new home in Kings Cross with financially by Shell Australia, The
Australian Film Commission, the

the Good Ol[...]show in which she is not appearing.
lt’ll be a three-hander built round
popular wartime songs and poss[...]go Lee, Ron
Frazer and Lee Young.

various Boards of The Australia Council,
Reg Grundy and the Elizabethan Trust,
bu[...]ise
publication, and a brave one, a vital one
for Australia’s producers, directors,
artists and musi[...]

by Irving Wardle

For collections of theatrical rows this
has been the best autumn in[...]than it was
succeeded by the even noisier affair of
Howard Brenton’s The Romans in Britain
(Olivier[...]h ofa tactfully
shadowed Celtic nude on the front of the
Evening Standard, and an upcoming
investigati[...]ns Squad. The whole episode
was a classic example of how these things
happen in England (and perhaps w[...]ry Whitehouse. our leading artistic
busybody, who of course had not seen the
show, and threats to with[...]he Greater London
Council. Sir Horace Cutler. who of course
vehemently denied all imputations of
censorship. For as long as we still have the

tim[...]under: and in the meanwhile, as
always, the cries of outrage have done the
Box Office a power of good.

All of which defers the evil moment of
discussing the play itself. What most
inflamed our moral guardians was a
display of ancient Roman buggery per-
formed upon the blameless person of a
trainee Druid, previously seen playing
nude football with his brothers in the pre-
Roman Golden Age of 54BC. Golden for
them. that is. Not for th[...]

invasions and the British domination of
lreland as all parts ofthe same patterns. It
take[...]ny
doubt Brenton possesses a black driving
vision of history that has given him the
energy to follow it through. ”What nation.”
asks one of the modern characters. ”ever
learned from the s[...]y
hand."

At such moments. the play enters a zone
of harsh poetry fully in keeping with the
epic subje[...]ts are few.
Otherwise there are extended passages of
attention-killing rhetoric, and (more da-
maging) a compulsive resort to images of
disgust. which lodge the impression that
the writ[...]lly, the colo-
nian equation is a constant source of
confusion. as one is required to view the
same set simultaneously as Britain and
Ireland; and the echoes of Waiting for

IT IONA I.

Godot form another eccen[...]-
danov‘s production is at its best in passages
of laconic anachronism. "Three little
wogs," murmurs an armour—plated Roman
on[...]ils Brenton in conveying the physical
actualities of the ancient world: as where a
desperate fugitive[...]oy dog, or a group stand
conversing over the body of a stinking
plague victim. The figure ofCaesar is[...]is charm, authority, devious-
ness, vanity, sense of personal destiny, and
total detachment from the s[...]ut rhetoric: it is just action/’On the
evidence of this piece, that seems a bad
rule.

Alan Bennett's Enjo_i'(Vaudeville) offers
another example of a fine writer attempt-
ing a work beyond his scop[...]e
genre comedy is then interrupted by the
arrival of an official observer. sent round
by the council t[...]al local
behaviour (with the well-meaning purpose
of understanding the lives ofthose who are
to be rehoused). Under the eye of this
unspeaking figure, Connie and Wilf start
per[...]t and paralysis.
By which time, the sad affection of the
opening scene has been overtaken by a
sense of rage against the commonplace
inhumanities ofof a master comic
stylist. even if he is inclined to[...]osition. but which
looks in public like a failure of nerve.

T
Comic revolutions

By Karl Levett

Comedy has ruled the opening of the
New York season — comedy with revolut-
iona[...]ision Street Mr. Tesich has taken
a popular topic of continuing interest:
whatever happened to the six[...]h blows his cover and brings his old
comrades out of the woodwork.

Mr. Tesich has conceived a wonderful
menagerie of farcical characters: a black
landlady who happens[...]a
former wife whose dialogue principally
consists of song lyrics; a Serbian restau-
ranteur who[...]

WORDS AND MUSIC SYDNEY YOUTH OR[...]l: 11am, October 27
Hamlet Discovered MUSICA VIVA AUSTRALIA
Drama Theatfei “am, ADV” 7. 14 Muzsikas Hunga[...]s make a Ballet
Opera Theatre: December 4
THE ART OF RECORDWG SONG AND SOUND — date to be ann[...]

casting. With the notable exceptions of
Mr. Jacobi and one other (John Heffer—
nan) the[...]bravura-style action the piece
requires. The lack of depth and technique
in many Broadway supporting p[...]o Hero and on the way there’s a whole
catalogue of emotions and styles to be
demonstrated. What an e[...]he has! There was a suspicion in the
early scenes of slumming. but as soon as
the heroic qualities eme[...]is season. Every
good play should come to the aid of the
Party.

THEATRE AUSTRALIA DEC. JAN. l98l I3

The palate had been prepared bef[...]e Leningrand Kirov toured Van-
ganova’s version of this same scene to the
West in l96l and Nureyev h[...]ing regional America.

The euphoria was a product of aud-
iences at last being able to see a full
performing version of a ballet that many
had thought was all but lost ([...]on).

The work is still before the eyes and
minds of the public only through the
extraordinary efforts of a number of
people over the years. Markarova's version
issues from that ofthe Kirov, which was in
turn a child of the version created by
Chabukiani and Fyodor Lupukov. The
West only has the Shades scene by virtue of
the muscle memories of Markarova, Bari-
shnikov and Nureyev.

The acid test of the ABT version will be
whether it can stand up t[...]ion in ballet as well
as to discount the function of structure in
the narrative of a full length work.

For my money. the complete L[...]nd a necessary addition to
anyone's understanding of the history and
canon of ballet.

Markarova has transposed certain parts
of the ballet as created by Petipa and filled
in many of the holes with her own

choreography. but the amendations make
for a more fairly divided weight of
choreographic interest and development
throughout the rambling structure of the
place.

There is a lot ofmime in the first two acts
but its necessitated by the convoluted plot
of what is basically a sort of Oriental
Giselle. The story of La Forza del Destino
has got nothing on th[...]

Of greatest interest though is the opium
smoking sce[...]died. It gives dramatic reason for the
appearance of the Shades (since Solor falls
into a drugged tran[...]them)
and is in keeping with the rich orientalism
of the entire work. Whatever one may loe
and admire in the rest of the ballet, the
Kingdom of the Shades remains the

crowning achievement of the ballet and
arguably Petipa‘s greatest creat[...]emember is that the
Shades is an idealised vision of Paradise,
but a very l9th century Paradise. Order[...]here are 32 "Shades”
in the scene and every one of them must
come onto the stage individually with an
enchainment of passe aruhesque penrhee
with a huge back bend. On[...]fthem.
repetition after repetition. until a sense of
other-worldliness occurs; until the aud-
ience is[...]n
entire person.

It is a joyous afterworld, full of choreo-
graphed friskings, garlands and groupings.
yet the sense of remoteness must remain.
Think ofthe Dryads'scene[...]said it is a l9th century choreo-
grapher's idea of Paradise and only the
most drearily dogged litera[...]nited with his beloved Nikiya. It is only
a dream of course and he can no longer
have any real contrac[...]as dc-deux and
he does so. solving the difficulty of a
meeting oftwo worlds by having Solor and
Nikiya dance with a long veil to symbolize
the vanishing thread of their association.

It is a very grand and swooni[...]suits Markarova’s
essentially Russian grandness of manner
and she makes the most of it, but the
greatest joy comes from Dowell. who.[...]s pallid. Here he gets the
full measure and scope of the Romant-
icism. the big gesture and full body line.
Other casts, like that of Marianna Tcher-
kassy and Fernando Bujones. dance[...]nthe
corps. La Bayadere is what makes the ABT
one of the greatest ballet companies in the
world today.[...]iction and ability it
would demand.

The Festival of Sydney and
The Sydney Theatre Company
in associat[...]dney Opera House Trust

presents

AND THE

Scenes of terror and enchantment
with Michele Fawdon[...]

BOOKINGS OPEN DECEMBER. 8

GENEROUS CONCESSIONS FOR PARTIES OF 10 OR MORE
— Phone 231 2300 for details.

A MID[...]ENEROUSLY SPONSORED BY COMALCO
LIMITED.

THE RAPE OF
LUCRETIA

Britten in English
January 23, 28, 31 m[...]NEY MORNING RALD is
proud to spo r The Aus "an
on of

Opera's prod ’ Otello as part of
the celebrations to mark the 150th
anniversary of founding of the
newspaper In .

THE BEGGAR’S
OPERA

Gay in[...]ing performances commence 7.30 p.rrI. except Rape of Lucreiln which commences at 8.00 p.m. Mati[...]

form
B

A superb new production of Boris
Godunov proved to be the unequivocal
highli[...]hinsky came up with a remarkably
coherent reading of an inherently frag-
mented opera, cursed both by excessive
length and an excessive number of prin-
cipal characters who cannot be pruned out
without grave loss to the musical integrity
of the piece.

Moshinsky’s overall concept ofthe p[...]their
lifestyles as well as the personal failings of
the opera‘s two central power figures, the
incu[...]on and massive
vocal sounds.

The low life scenes of this Boris were
even more memorable than the high[...]ossed to the starving populace
in the first scene of the prologue. a
miniature flock of real chooks in the scene
at the inn on the Polish[...]oss un-
failingly the personality and motivations
of the character despite the fact she
appears in only two of the nine scenes of
the opera as performed (all but the St
Basil's sc[...]ncipals
scarcely have an opportunity to make
much of an impression in Boris. an opera
where the chorus[...]the
Elizabethan Sydney Orchestra under the
baton of Elgar Howarth, making his debut

Donald Shanlrx a[...]wo works. Aided by the
enormous box office appeal of Donald
Smith and Margreta Elkins in the title
roles. the QLOC production of Saint-
Saens‘ Samson and Delilah was far and
away the commercial triumph of the
month, though it left a great deal to be
desi[...]hich was conducted
by Georg Tintner — who also. of course.
conducted the Samson and Delilah, in
which the excellent vocal work of Smith
and Elkins was supplemented unexpect-
edly[...]lljustice to the work
itself or the vocal aspects of these per-
formances. There were practical difficult-
ies in the presentation of the famous
seduction scene. where the music cries[...]amson were perched instead
on the mock-stone edge of an ornamental
rock garden; and the denouement, one of
the most potentially spectacular scenes in
all op[...]t-
ically; the orgy is not an institution capable
of being simulated convincingly on stage
by amateur.[...]s overlapping
season, when it tackled The Pirates of
Penzanre. It was almost a classic case of
overkill vocally. with no less than three
singers imported to sing leading roles in
what af[...]not casts
some doubt on the artistic perspective of
the QLOC.

Both in Canberra and in Sydney. during
the period under review. Rossini’s Barber
of Seville was being presented and I had
the[...]

And it was an incredible achieve[...]a baritone
Gregory Yurisich, who was in the midst of
singing no less than four Barbers in three
days with alternate performances in Syd-
ney and[...]sed adren-
aline flow stimulated by the challenge of
the gruellling performance stint, but there
was no doubt during either of the two
performances I attended during this stint[...]hostility. Yurisich
had the crowd won by the end of his
opening aria. Mind you, there is scarcely a
m[...]opera than
Figaro’s. but Yurisich made the most of it
and never looked back, on the night, in
Canber[...]e part which exudes slimness,
coquettry and a bit of fierce female
bitchiness. But it did not really[...]ber was Bryan Dowling‘s Basilio,
which had none of the dirty old man about
it that so disturbed me a[...]n I
reviewed his Count in the Canberra
production of Mozart's Marriage of Fig-
aro ~ or rather, had no excess ofdirty old
man about it but rather the happy blend of
comic parody and insidiousness the ideal
Basilio[...]real disappointment ws the
unfortunate miscasting of John Wood as
Bartolo: the role really lies too lo[...]l

in the path ofthe quest ofAlmaviva forthe
hand of Rosina. Richard McIntyre‘s mus-
ical direction[...]ed
budget.

Apart from Yurisich, the other Barber of
my month was not finally very inspiring
though i[...]s under his command. Kathleen
Moore, on the basis of her Rosina in this
season, has a long way to go before her
realisation of the part could be termed
convincing. In the other[...]ore success-
ful in its brief run at the tail end of the
Sydney season than it had been when
originally staged at the Sydney Opera
House in I978. Most of the cast was the
same, not to mention the conduct[...]during interval than before. That there
were only three Sydney performances
before The Dream was carted o[...]ell.

The main cast change was the intro-
duction of Anthony Warlow in the vital
(though non-singing, of course) part of
Puck; he was even better. finally, than the
origi[...]dash ofmalevolence he
conveyed and the extra dash of physical
ferocity he brought to the role.

The ot[...]only
by the inevitable passage oftime in the life
of a relatively young performing artist but
by some[...]elf, was radically different from my
recollection of the original — much less
demonstrative physical[...]who had seen it before.

The more intimate venue of the Uni-
versal Theatre, in inner-suburban Fitzro[...]ed each other out and reinforced the
general feel of the performance reported
above: that of muted power rather than
naked, raw animal aggression.

Finally, I must reluctantly take my
farewell of Theatre Australia readers with
this article — with something ofa[...]ed in every issue to date
and covered to the best of my ability the
sometimes turbulent national opera[...]since August I976.

But in my alter ego as editor of Opera
Australia I am now able to say all I feel I
ought to say ab[...]columns and give
someone else a go; for there is, of course,
no truth or falsehood in criticism of the
performing arts — only a number ofviews,
al[...]a capital T.

I look forward to reading the views of
my successor in these columns and hope
that many of my present readers will feel
inclined to continue to follow my writings
in Opera Australia as well.

There will be one interval of twenty minutes
Production photography by J[...]

Over the last three or four years
we have encouraged writers to get
a[...]ewell calls domestic snapshots.

This exploration of large themes,
big events and a more daring
theatr[...]want an audience coming to
Nimrod to find the use of the
space (not just the stage) exciting
and confr[...]r
than the small screen and realise
the potential of an empty stage.

The Nimrod productions of the
’’classics'', notably Shakespeare,
have been, despite heaps of
criticism and controversy, a large
part of our success. I couldn't exist
in a theatre without the classics.
Granted the importance of
creating new plays, you haveto
step back occasion[...]As
an actor and a director, I need to
be reminded of the disciplines of
shape, technique, articulation.
Audiences enjoy s[...]n
form and definition, the classics
given a sense of contemporaneity
and localisation. Nimrod has
benefited enormously by the
constant mix of classics and new
plays.

In my own approach to the

classic plays, one of the things I
have most deliberately set out to

do is replace the ”English” way of
doing them with a way that is our
own. I have grown used to the
howls of those critics and
academics who loath this
approa[...]gh if you were simply to take
a Nimrod production of
Shakespeare and stick it in

THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980 1

CUSTOMS &
EXCISE

THE DUKE OF
EDINBURGH
ASSASSINATED

THE REMOVALISTS

AFTER MAGRITTE
HAMLET ON ICE

2 THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980

At the same time my own
criticism of our productions of the
classics is that they have relied too
heavily[...]trip
back the design component
putting a lot more of the onus onto
the actors. I'm not saying that's a[...]and
musicians who say it without
words? And what of the lobbyists
who despise and condemn
everything[...]s not preach their own point
01‘ view?

Any one of the above theatres
can exist independently, but a[...]now,
actors have not had more say in
the shaping of Nimrod. All
Company policy, ideas, criticisms
are[...]best. Now that we have begun to
form the nucleus of an acting
company and actors are employed
full-ti[...]adway. It's going to have a lot to
do with choice of plays obviously,
but also a good deal to do with
ticket prices and the feeling of
Nimrod as being friendly and
accessible. Is it a[...]? Only
to a small degree. Subscribers
make up 30% of our customers, or
a two weeks’ audience for an[...]and that we are
able to cater for a wide variety of
choices.

While not being in any sense a
communit[...]pulation) we are endeavouring
to provide services of a non-profit
making kind to all kinds of groups
within the community. Among
these are the free performances of
all our productions that we give to
pensioners, s[...]ge, film and television. Our
free public readings of new scripts
(usually eight or ten a year) has
been of use to playwrights but in
this area we are seeking extra
funds to support longer, more
thorough working of new scripts
than the one day rehearsal method
we[...]beginning, to me right now the
future looks full of adventure and

promise.
The stranger feeling is that of

looking back, with a sense of
wonder that we survived at all.
When we blithely[...]ad.
How amazed we were to be given
the lordly sum of six thousand
dollars by the Australian Council
fo[...]ho must
eventually grow up alongside us.

THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980 3

MEASURE FOR
MEASURE

SHADOWS OF
BLOOD

ROOTED
ON YER MARX

THE SWEAT
PROOF BOY

F[...]HdVHE)O1OHd/XHVW uax NO NI NEITIOO xvw

4 THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980

First, to put it in perspective:

The theatre revival, growing out
of the aspirations of the Fifties, has
spanned two decades, each with
its special character. The
preoccupations of the Sixties were
increased subsidies for the
indigenous theatre, the con-
centration of these in permanent,
professional, regional institutions,
and the raising of standards.

Standards are not abstractions.
To pu[...]their cue, as the feeling grew that
the advances of the Sixties,
though admirable, were falling out
of step with the developing spirit
of new times, a new nationalism
vehemently questioni[...]dressed its
appeal

lnreasingly the preoccupation of
the new decade became the
redirection of professionalism,
and the readjustment of standards,
to reflect the local reality. That
preoccupation suggests the
nature of Nimrod's distinction. It
lies in its very influen[...]e
Street in June, 1970, he directed
“The Legend of King O'Malley”, by
Michael Boddy and Bob Ellis.[...]prelude to Nimrod, which opened
the doors of its tiny, converted
Darlinghurst loft on December[...].

Here, vigorously stamped out,
was the new wine of the new
nationalism, and it was intox-
icating. Not because of its form, a
picaresque narrative as drawling
as an outback camp—fire yarn. And
not because of its “total theatre";
others had already given us that.

It was intoxicating because of its

easy, natural unmistakable
Australian “acc[...]vernacular, the pitch, tempo and
expression marks of a unique
mode of utterance; one which here
looked backwards to Tiv[...]o,
satirically to raw jingoism and the
militarism of W.M. Hughes to make
its points about the contempo[...]led,
showing off its theatricality with
the strut of Bondi life—savers and
the bounce of VFL high-flyers. But
in utterance it was as terse,
laconic and sardonic as Henry
Lawson. as contemptuous of
illusion as it was of romance.

Its style was as Australian as a
gumleaf. It became the foundation
of the Nimrod style, and the
springboard for its dev[...]usefully elimin-
ating the pomp and circumstance
of a “society”, rather than a social,
occasion;[...]re
survived the move in 1974 to the
larger spaces of the new converted
theatre at Surry Hills. The
con[...]ration or
confrontation. Involvement was
the name of game. To see Martin
Harris beaten to death in “[...]the move to
Surry Hills (after an uneasy

THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980 5

OLD FAMILIAR
JUICE

TOM
A HARD GOD

THE SUMMER OF
THE SEVEN-
TEENTH DOLL

THE MARSH
KINGS DAUGHTER

HAMLET
KASPAR

THE TOOTH OF
CRIME

HVdSV)I NI HEIAVS dlWIHd

6 THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980

And yet — a key to its success —
i[...]ed or
circumscribed by that time. It was
a leader of taste, not a follower,
using Pop not submitting to it. It
was never a prisoner of its own
orthodoxy nor of a cult — even at
Darlinghurst where cult-pressu[...]y exploiting “O'MaIIey”
with Bell productions of“Bigg|es"
by Boddy, Marcus Cooney and
Ron Blair[...]ict days, an
assured success. So far, in the
wake of "O'Mal|ey", predictable.

Thereafter Nimrod left[...]d to farce (Alexander
Buzo) and — the beginning of a
prolonged, fruitful association —
to David Wi[...]production
that Harry M. Miller later sent
round Australia. That was in
October, 1971; from then on
Nimrod n[...]nt to the
local scene and its emerging
generation of playwrights. After
"Biggles" it did “Macbeth”!

What could Shakespeare, staple
of the Tote and English cultural
export par excellen[...]The answer: nearly everything.
For the best test of the revelance
and validity of an indigenous style
is not simply its capacity to[...]iety with veracity,
important though “the shock of
recognition" may be for self-
examination. That i[...]e test is to relate that style to
the whole range of drama,

\\

especially its masterpieces, to
elicit from their universality what is
of immediate, urgent interest to
the local society,[...]ont that society with the
wider, abiding horizons of the
world and its history and its
cultures.

From[...]hakespeare
married the Granville Barker
tradition of speed, lucidity and
vigour to the Australian practice of
these qualities pioneered in
“O'Ma||ey”. For[...]e
things to come. It was done by Bell
with a cast of seven, mainly from
the "O’Ma||ey" team, as a co[...]anging powerfully reinforcing
the text’s motifs of hallucination
and deception. It was done as a
bla[...]beginning embracing witch-
craft, with the murder of Duncan
as a ritual of damnation, with the
victory of Malcolm as a ritual of
exorcism. It was engulfing.

What was “Australian” about all
this? Why, the brushing aside of
the personal history of a great man
(here, damned from the
beginning) and the concentration
upon the ruination, from his
actions, of his country. This was
Scotland's ordeal, not Macbeth's
tragedy. Moreover, it had a happy
ending. Unromantic Australia is an
optimistic country. And it suspects
great m[...]as
compelling was the way in which
this rejection of the ‘‘morality''
element in the play released its
humanity, with the flawed,
unhappy figures of Angelo and
Claudio becoming valid objects of
pity.

In Shakespeare, cutting through
to, and ma[...]a Nimrod
landmark, the Bell-Wherrett
“Hamlet” of 1973, with Bell superb
as the Prince, the product[...]as Hamlet is
concerned, ignored the aristo-
cracy of the main characters, to
give us Everyman's paraly[...]uddle and
misunderstanding. The approach

THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980 7

8 THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980

Turning away from the proven[...]ely, with Horler and Bell,
was only the beginning of an
adventurous course of dedicated
championship of contemporary
Australian playwriting remarkable,
probably unique, for the sheer
variety of its offerings.

in the two years after “The
Rem[...]Michael Cove’s “The Jesters");
and “slices of life’' and realism
(Jim McNeil's “The Old Fam[...]r Kenna’s “A Hard

God”) — and all of them were
successes.

Such variety, circumventing[...]d its
character. Surprise became an
expected part of the Nimrod
experience.

its Darlinghurst survival[...]audiences.
Would larger audiences support a
diet of local plays relieved only by
Shakespeare?

Nimrod[...]he new theatre with new
departures, a Pop version of “The
Bacchoi", a failure, and its first
fling a[...]Steve J. Spears (whose one-
man “The Elocution of Benjamin
Franklin”, directed by Wherrett
and wi[...]its stages to
all comers with talent, regardless
of their tastes and predilections;
from its courage[...]d
professionalism which made it a
magnet for many of the best actors

we have — from veterans like
G[...]what
country it was in. And showing us.

THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980 9

MUCH ADO
ABOUT NOTHING

I0 THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980

3NV1UV;II)W J.H380!:I AHdVUOO.LOHd/O[...]

We began the Nimrod largely out
of frustration with the Old Tote’s
cautious policy, even though the
directors of that theatre were, at
the time, most careful to h[...]Nimrod ever came to a
manifesto:

"The tradition of the Australian
theatre is noisy and vulgar. It is[...]y new Australian plays and
contemporary treatment of the
classics will bring audiences back
to thethea[...]the Upstairs
and Downstairs theatres.

In defence of our commitment, it
should be noted that in 10 yea[...]uced 79 Australian
plays (including revivals) out of a
total of 126 productions, and
below we list those Australi[...])
(2)
(1)

following. But we all know the
dangers of such plans: too many
subscribers means the theatre
starts to become timid about the
kind of plays it does. It finds itself
having to "please[...]bscription
audiences amount to something
like 40% of total attendance. When
I was talking to one of the
directors recently about doing
even more Aust[...]the
main house, he murmured that he
had to think of the subscribers.
The tail is starting to wag the[...]noise and vulgarity.
We were all largely children of the
middle classes. We wanted to earn
our living in the theatre and, yes,
show our parents, who wanted us
to be barristers, that what we wer[...]n (5)
Eleanor Witcombe (1)
John Wood (1)

THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980 11

THEATRE[...]

14 THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980

JOHN GREGG was born in
Tasmania and was a student
of NIDA in its first year.
After working with the
Me[...]a he went to
London in 1971 where he
was a member of the
National Theatre Company
and appeared in many[...]), The Bastard From The
Bush (London). Theatre in
Australia includes - Pontius
Pilate in Jesus Christ
Superstar. Old Tote: Three-
penny Opera (Critics Award
1974), How Could You
Believe Me... MTC:
Pericles, Merchant of

Venice, The Government
Inspector, Henry IV (C[...]Co: Cyrano De
Bergerac, Sunny South,
Merry Wives of Windsor.
Nimrod: Martello Towers,
Rock-Ola, Basta[...]uth Support Scheme
organising workshops in
crafts of various cultures as
well as drama groups.[...]

Myra in ABC—TV’s The

And Go.[...]irit,
The Servant. Jane Street:
Dons Party. South Australia
Theatre Company: Member
of acting company 1973-76.
appearing in many pro-
du[...]ter Liverpool, The Joss

played Keren in Jugglers
Three. Nimrod: Travesties.
Theatre Royal: Bed Before
Ye[...]pector Hound.
Old Tote: Chez Nous, The
Importance of Being
Earnest, Abe/ard & Heloise,
A Dolls House. Nimrod: A
Handful of Friends.
Television: Trial by
Marriage, Catspaw,[...]ayers To The

Gallery, Neutral Ground, A
Touch of Reverence,
Captain Cook, Cop Shop.
The Evil Touch, Lukes
Kingdom, Eye of the Spiral,
Human Target. Film: Ned
Kelly, McManu[...]1971-74 appearing
in Tony Richardson's
production of I Claudius,
and was with Prospect
Theatre Company[...]uss Family,
Rivals ol Sherlock Holmes.
Theatre in Australia
includes — Ensemble: The
title role in The Good
Doctor, Prisoner of Second
Avenue. Nimrod: Comedy of
Errors, Jock McTavish in
Gone With Hardy, and Sau[...]ilm Fatty Fin.

ALAN WILSON. Theatre —
South Australia Theatre
Company: Comedy Of
Errors, Bride of Gospel
Place. Jane Street: My
Shadow and Me. Mari[...]Adelaide Festival: The
Cassidy Album. OTC: Point
of Departure. Television:
Seven Little Australians,
Loss of Innocence, Kirby's
Company, The Oracle,
Doctors Down Under,
Young Doctors, Time/apse.

THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980 15

16 THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980

Before announcing plans for a 1981 Company of Actors,
Nimrod decided to ask a few actors how they would define
an "Actors Company" from just a group of contract or rep
players. An edited transcript of their discussion follows. The
actors involved wer[...]HN: Would anyone like to start. Jenny's had a lot of
experience at the MTC and Colin at the SATC and N[...]been too small and so too much work, and too much of
the shit work really, tends to fall on the same people, too
much of a load. By the second play you're exhausted.
JENNY: That's right. Yes that was one of the things on my
list, that if you're rehearsing[...]n a Company yet. All
there's been is a repertoire of plays or repertory work.
JOHN: Contract players.

JENNY: Well another grievance of a Company, is that
people raise hell if they're d[...]the
Company then you want to know in advance some of the
roles you'll be playing, and hopefully those[...]can be a very extending
experience, both in terms of the roles that you play and in
becoming familiar[...]nagement, and know
where they want to go, instead of with a lot of Companies,
they say "We'll do MacBeth" and then t[...]actors in the Company have some
say in the policy of that theatre in picking the plays?
COLIN: Absolut[...]?

COLIN: Maybe that's because actors are victims of the
whole system. That the agent's system, the casting system,
the whole conventional set up of the theatre and we're
conditioned to do plays tha[...]ian, a writer in residence, designer.

18 THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980

TONY: Do you think managements think sometimes in
terms of a Company getting their audiences in to see the
s[...]There's also an argument against that too. A lot of
people say, that people get bored with seeing the[...]pany. I've just done 3
plays in a row, by the end of 3 you don't really want to do
another one.

JENNY[...]JOHN: What about a repertoire system, when some of the
plays are done again?

COLIN: That can be a v[...]e and that was the Opera
House opening — we did Three Penny Opera. I found it
terrific by the time we did Richard II and got round to doing
Three Penny Opera again we were really excited and
look[...]w much time do you think it takes to form a group
of people to get a really ideal working relationship[...].

TONY: I think that's also dictated by the form of the show —
with the Twins there were ten people[...]ribution to the show, whereas some shows you have
three star parts and six others — that doesn't help t[...]s also a very personal attitude though that a lot of ‘
actors don't like to be directed by ot[...]

THE RECRUITING
OFFICER

THE ELOCUTION
OF BENJAMIN
FRANKLIN

THE DUCHESS OF
MALFI

A HANDFUL OF
FRIENDS

DIRTY LINEN

THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980 19

COLIN: But there is no "ideal". You do[...]ing it. That's
why I think it would take a number of years.

TONY: What Drew was saying is actually "G[...]d I'd been by the system. This
didn't work either of course because it was a co-op (one
man/one woman/[...]that didn't
work either. I mean what do we think of the Nimrod
Company? What do we think of the one that is going to
happen next year?

TONY:[...]nths in just digesting that
play without any idea of how you're performing it — sit
down read it and[...]th the results. But you did it with the knowledge
of the play. Hopefully it would be good enough to ho[...]'t we?

DREW: I think it's essential.

20 THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980

CATHY: More time to really digest what we'r[...]e not out on your own with that
competitive thing of it's him or me. Every man for himself.
I've found that awful thing of doing a play almost as if you're
auditioning for[...]t the
same time.

DREW: Yes I think they're aware of it.

JOHN: Do you think Nimrod as a theatre, next[...]er
actors, so that they'll have a continual store of talented
people to work with. is that part of a theatre's responsibility?
DREW: I don't think y[...]I'm treated fairly
by a theatre, by the directors of that theatre in terms of my
own growth, I'm certainly willing to say "Dinn[...]nk we have to be open enough to say "|'l| be
part of the production because I care about the play —[...]wider audience — surely it's possible in a city of 4
million people.

CATHY: It's time Nimrod stoppe[...]n that's a company's
duty.

CATHY: The advantages of working with a company
situation as I see them ar[...]ting to know your fellow
actors for a long period of time, secondly, hopefully having
more of a say in what's going on in your theatre, and thirdly
getting to play more of a variety of roles than perhaps you
would play in other spaces. Also the security of knowing
that each role you do is not an audition piece for when
you're out of work in four weeks’ time. so you can serve the[...]higher standard, a much better
production. A lot of people would say "Well what does it
matter — th[...]t what those
full theatres will be seeing will be of a much higher
standard. That's what it's a[...]

THE FLAW

MUCH ADO
ABOUT NOTHING

A STRETCH OF
THE IMAGINATION

GOING HOME
FANSHEN
JACK

ASHES

THE CLUB

THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980 21

"Representation of the world,
like the world itself, is the work
of men; they describe it from
their point of view, which they
confuse with absolute truth”.

In ten years at Nimrod, there have
been no women directors of plays
(although Cathy Downes directed
herself in[...]e have been only
twelve plays by women (including
three one-acters, one children’s
play, and three compilations of
other people's work) compared to
a total of 122 plays by men. It is
possible that if two such
fundamental aspects of play
production - writers and directors
- are dominated by men, the
proportion of women in all other
"creative" areas in the theatr[...]middle-class women have
been encouraged by virtue of a
’'classical education" for young
ladies - suc[...]d design — I expected to find a
good proportion of women. Sadly,
the story there is much the same.
O[...]he
entire blame to Nimrod. Most
other theatres in Australia have
similar or worse records in this
Decade of Women. But, like an
emulsion, Nimrod has to be
sh[...]flowing.

When I showed the female to male
ratio of theatre work to people at
Nimrod, some argued that the
founders of Nimrod had every
right to shape their theatre in
whatever form they chose. This
argument has a number of flaws.

22 THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980

First, it assumes that ”the artist”
has no social responsibility of any
kind, an argument based on the
myth that "artists" have some kind
of messianic vision, a special
creative genius, absolutely in-
dependent of their cultural and
social environment, which allo[...]al world. Second,
it denies the basic human right of
equal opportunity in employment
and equal opportu[...]e might have expected it to
respond to the impact of the
women's movement a little more
positively tha[...]e.

Yet creativity is not due to the
chance birth of male genii, but
rather opportunities afforded
peo[...]experience and contact with other
artists - all of which would appear
to be more available to men th[...]nfortunately has been aided and
abetted by voices of men such as

John Willett, who wrote of Nimrod

in the authoritative Plays and

Players,
One of the secrets of the
theatre’s success is that it has
not been d[...]e
exclusively male prerogatives.
Under the weight of such public
male comment, it is'a wonder that
Nim[...]chance at all!

In pointing out the lop-sidedness
of Nimrod's (and Willett’s)
approach, lam not sugg[...]is opportune.
The theatre has a sense, right now,
of entering a new era. All around it,
initiatives to[...]its
eleventh year, it runs with an
elected Board of ten men, no
women. It has no positive plans to
us[...]vocabulary, still denying
itself fruitful sources of artistic
inspiration. I think that unless it
does[...]dry, sunbaking along
with a dessicated collection of
smug and complacent consumers
who are equa[...]

EVERYMAN &
STUBBLE &
MARXISMS

CURSE OF THE
STARVING CLASS

KOLD KOMFORT
KAFFEE

THE COMEDY OF
ERRORS

HENRY IV
METAMORPHOSIS

GIANTS &
THE JOB[...]OFIT KAFFEE/PHOTOGRAPHY ROBERT MCFARLANE

THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980 23

Writing about writing is one of the
most vacuous activities anyone
can engage in. Nevertheless, at the
risk of making a fool of myself, I
would like to use the opportunity
of Nimrod's tenth anniversary to
make a few observat[...]ants unless either an
internal or external regime of
repression is enforced. The
hierarchical structure of most
companies is an example of the
former; the lack of anything but
the most mystified discussion of
the obvious links between
politicians and criminals is
evidence of the latter. But it is the
principle rather than i[...]on, sometimes
shared by writers, that the content
of our work is above criticism.
When this is not simply an
expression of cowardice or
laziness, it becomes the radical
assertion of the absolute
independence of the p|ay’s
content from the world, an
assertion which robs the play of
any communicative power what-
soever, unless it be at the level of
those famous Universal Truths
which are periodica[...]d, more than that, a
cynical assualt on the value of
rationality. I am not arguing that
all plays are[...]o the
assertion that there is a world
independent of our minds. Its
denial expresses itself neatly in the
philistinic rejection of content as a
valid area of discussion.

If I have established the essential
point that criticism and discussion
of our work is central to our

24 THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980

activity as writers I hop[...]n locating writers in
society and in the struggle of
ideas. We are not magicians who
in the occult act of writing distil
truth — Universal or not - from the
ingredients of an impenetrable and
esoteric world. We have no more
right to claim an intuitive grasp of
the world than those frauds for
whom arrogance is[...]y intellectual
influences, are usually the slaves of
some defunct economist. Madmen
in authority, who[...]tilling their frenzy from
some academic scribbler of a few
years back". If this is reminiscent
of the bankrupt social, political
and psychological[...]hich are calling
increasingly fundamental aspects
of our society into question. No
writer, for example, has any right
to plead ignorance of the issue of
sexism, and any play peddling
sexist stereotypes must be seen as
an intervention of the most
reactionary sort. This is not a
question of Freedom of Ex-
pression or some such hypo-
critical nonsense[...]s.
Our ideas don't circulate in an
innocent world of their own. Sexist
stereotypes are translated into[...]sury circles,
and war. The least important
aspect of ignoring this situation,
will be our condemnation[...]important
aspect - still within the narrow
limits of the effect of such a
decision on our writing - will be to
cut o[...]critical
thought, to retreat into a moronic
world of private symbolism
apparantly immune to the[...]

GALILEO

UPSIDE DOWN AT
THE BOTTOM OF
THE WORLD

TRAVELLING
NORTH

BETRAYAL

POTIPHARS[...]NETIAN
TWINS

ON OUR
SELECTION

BURLESCO

THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980 25

This issue of this magazine is
essentially a statement of
Nimrod’s pride in the achieve-
ments of ten years. To grow within
a decade from a small but
committed group of idealistic
theatre workers operating in a
noisy,[...]egarded by many
nationally and internationally as
Australia's most important theatre
company is clearly remar[...]ue being
important, involves constant
reappraisal of motive and action in
relation to the social and c[...]e
during this last decade was very
much a product of the strength
and directness with which its
attitu[...]ts. With the Tote churning
out a tired procession of English,
European and American classics,
Nimrod w[...]ame
formula.

It is argued that, for the purposes
of flexibility, Nimrod should not be
limited by a po[...]the
present.

lfwe continueto include
productions of classics in our
repertoire they must be
inspired by radical re-
interpretations of text and style.
They must in themselves justify
t[...]ce to an Australian
theatre audience.

26 THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980

If we[...]fthat work.

And if we continue to include
either of these two categories of
plays in our repertoire it must
never be as a priority above new
Australian work.

It is the work of 83 Australian
writers over ten years that has
bee[...]ers in developing
scripts. If writers are accused of
being locked away in ivory towers
it is usually b[...]le
exploration and interchange
during the process of play writing.
It is no longer seen as remarkable[...]confront social and political
issues relevant to Australia today.
ldon’t believe in the division
between "[...]h intellectually
challenges. I believe it is true of
audiences in general and Nimrod’s
audience in p[...]especially that there is now a
permanent company of actors
developing at Nimrod, when the
work of our theatre will be as
strong and as varied as the
personalities and beliefs of every

member who contributes to it.
Theres a lot to be done. Nimrod

can be proud of the achievements
of its first ten years, but it mustn’t
be satisifed.

THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980 27

Visual memories of the old
Nimrod make it difficult to
separate the raw ad-hoc image of
the building and its decoration
from the more del[...]cally very
confronting. The latter made great
use of the ricketty staircase
leading from the foyer to[...]ll as rough circus elements
constituted the basis of the
Nimrod house style in terms of
visual identification. This
combination of tastes were those
of the Directors (I trust) but more
particularly Lar[...]well as
Production Manager at that time.

The use of strong colours and
motifs which evolved during th[...]Meggs
etc have contributed enormously

28 THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980

in consolidating Nimrod’s public
image. His use of crisp colours
and paper cut—outs have
influence[...]o
understand the true problems and

possibilities of the new theatre.

The Nimrod stage space appears[...]ckfire within the close
audience—stage confines of the
Nimrod.

Probably the most theatrically
contr[...]set has
been Vo/pone where the
deliberate fakery of "the set" was
used as a key to the style of the
production. On a different level
Ian Robinson[...]vincingly by the
precision in the final execution of
the set.

The most obvious method of
illusion at such close audience
proximity is by e[...]panoramic
space with its continuous slatted
walls of graded cream to green
colour bands and minimal
co[...]structure
provided a new unexpected
juxtaposition of the space
relationship. The ”Bul/ie's House"
la[...]in its skills
to become very advanced in its
use of modern techniques and
materials suitable forthe
u[...]at in its short
life Nimrod has become more
aware of the importance of
director/designer relationships,
and encouraged a more intelligent
attitude and appreciation of
Design among actors and
audiences.

John Bell
Designer:

Kim Carpenter

COMEDY OF
ERRORS

Director:

John Bell

Set Designer[...]

- A A Board of Directors: John Bell (Chairmani. Neil Armfield, L[...]wled es the 'nanci assistance ofvhe Thehtre Bogrd of T
theA mli ' oyncjl theN Sout Wale Gover m[...]

Start:/ard Operating Procedure The first of a series of
Images from the Background devised by the Fools
G[...]that the temptation to discuss the
issues instead of the production is almost
overwhelming. Black theatre it is, with
lightning flashes of colour, but never a
flash of humour or optimism. Plays
Unpleasant were never a[...]us theatre
with audience appeal.

It details some of the barbarities which
in many lands and cultures have been and
still are practised on women in the name of
beauty, religion or the rights of men.
Footbinding, suttee, the burnign of wi-
dows, female circumcision, witchburning,
rape as a right and rite of war, rape in the
street — all of them, pretty Standard
Operating Procedure; all of them ex-
ceedingly unpleasant, all of them rarely
mentioned or unmentionable. "They tell us
of Vietnam where rape was pretty standard
SOP. Just[...]thy and happy”.

SOP slides from the prettiness of legend
— the story of the concubine of the
Chinese emperor Li Yu who danced on a

golden[...]gan to bind their daughter’s feet;
to the agony of the three inch foot, ofthe
broken bones, of the rotting flesh and the
running pus; back to the fairytale of
Cinderella whose ugly sisters sliced off
their to[...]ny glass
slipper.

Motilation is seen as a method of
control, of assuring the legitimacy of heirs
and the power of men over their property
and households. Footbound, housebound,
mindbound women. That is the final
injustice of all barbarities of SOP. Their
common effect, intended or otherwise, is to
restrict women’s lives, within the limits of
the permitted, the physically possible or
the physically safe. It is not the infliction of
pain that is the real injustice. Men too, die
hor[...]re tortured for religion’s
sake, bear the agony of mutilation in
initiation rites; men too are raped. But the
threat of rape keeps women indoors;

Photo: Ewa Czaior and[...]censorship —a censor-
ship ofall the activities of life — that is the
special tragedy of women. Footbound,
housebound, mindbound.

As with all of Carol Woodrow's work,
the visual and sound images are stunning.
The thwack of the knife as it slices
Cinderella’s fairytale p[...]ly sisters’ bleeding feet and

. the bound feet of the women of China;

“Stouthearted Men”, sung in a plainti[...]uely crucified and deified.

But it is the images of pain that will not
go away; the starvation of the unburned
widows, cast on the streets, the keening of
the woman telling of the excision of her
clitoris and labia. These Images from the
Background will not be soon forgotten,
and with three more plays in the cycle to
come, will be a powerful and continuing
image in the lives of all who have seen
them.

Standard Operating Proce[...]ey in January, and will be there for
the Festival of Sydney. Further plays in the
series will be Sleeping Beauty, examining
the myth of romantic love, Original Sin on
other myths about[...]spised, and Be-ing about refinding
the lost dream of hope. The whole series is
"an attempt to put powe[...]world.”

Imagesfrom the Background is the fruit
of two years of full time unpaid ensemble
work, by a remarkable group led by a
remarkable director, one who leaves a trail
of new theatre companies behind wherever
she goes. There are three theatre
companies operating in Canberra now
which were founded by Carol Woodrow,
and they produce some of the most
interesting and exciting theatre we see.[...]the Background bids fair to
being the masterwork of a career, and a
major contribution by Fools Gallery to
Australian theatre.

IHEAIRE AUSTRALIA DEC JAN. l98l 47

Major Barbara and the American musical
Gu[...]g about the
love affair (if you can call it that) of an
underworld hoodlum and a Salvation
Army Lieutenant. The Lieutenant. of
course, is a woman. Happy End is a
straight play[...]has a
happy ending and a final recognition scene
of melodramatic creakiness. Perhaps this
is why Brec[...]ially under the
energetic and inventive direction of Do-
reen Warburton and Kevin Jackson, who
keep th[...]And then there’s the music!

Happy End is one of the Brecht-Kurt
Weill collaborations another is t[...]l-f('. .lI\\ |9Kl

the music is magnificent. Much of the
credit for this must go to Phil Robertson,
th[...]Johnny” had achieved a cele-
brity independent of the play.

Brecht doesn't give the actors much to[...]en the play was first performed in I929
the world of American gangsterdom was a
kind of free-booting historical fact. For
today’s actor its almost a process of
unlearning from all those Warner Bros.
Crime Epic[...]villain. Mr. Keith
points a revolver at a member of the
audience and shouts ”SlNG”: weall feelthe
cold chill of threat run through us.

The ensemble work is text[...]excellent, both vocally and
visually: the product of discipline and
devotion. The fights are ba[...]

Years ago l wrote a review of an end-of-
year concert at my daughters kindergarten
— no[...]etiously because. watch-
ing the total absorption of the audience. I
had a sudden insight into the importance
of the audience in the creation of a new
dramatic work.

The children were. of course, perform-
ing just as children do and I doubt the
material was original. It was the empathy
of the audience. projecting their know-
ledge of what was behind the getting up of
such an affair. which raised it to a unique
and splendid occasion.

I was reminded of that audience at the
premiere ofa very different[...]ayhouse. Newcastle,
under the inventive direction of Aarne
Neeme.

The Star Show, by Peter Matheson an[...]ng music
by Allen McFadden. is a stirring account
of the riot last summer — the night the Star
Hotel[...]d it. was Kings Cross in
microcosm for the people of Newcastle.
with a front bar for sailors and prost[...]o. The play is set in the back bar where in
songs of loneliness interspersed with slides
and anecdotes[...]ting with these vignettes is the
comic strip tale of a Chicago hotel which
changed hands in a shady de[...]to draw it. The show ends with a 20-
minute film of footage taken by NBN
Channel 3 of customers in violent con-
frontation with the police. who, on the
whole, get the worst of it.

As a show it is highly entertaining,
presented by an admirably hard-working
cast of five playing some I5 characters and

Cu: Lmlernmn[...]yfanwy
Morgan.

Such occasions are a celebration, of a
sense of community of shared experience
and memory. Such is one of the finest
qualities of the theatre, giving it a local
habitation and a n[...]documentary the show touches tentatively
on a lot of sensitive areas. laying most
emphasis on the view[...]e
vehicles. was at odds with the sentimental
idea of the young as ‘today's Aborigines‘.
The theme[...]theme was New-
castle‘s long-standing suspicion of the
police ~ and that is the real history ofthe
S[...]Nevertheless the text as it stands brings a
joy of recognition to its Newcastle audi-
ence which an[...]ley
Theatre Company needs just now. a
recognition of community possession. It
may find a wider audience if it can grow
and define its message of what the Star
Hotel stood for in a working[...]

8

L11111111111

50 THEATRE AUSTRALIA DEC. J/\\'. |9X|

Siu'e5hou' Alley is a two-person[...]for Sideshow Alley
has exactly caught the nuances of the
latter. Its only less-than-perfect feature is
the occasional banality of the quips
between the songs.) Pearl and Trixie ar[...]usiness. is wearing thin.

The economic straights of the sideshow-
business itself. however. are very[...]ven to the oldest and gritticst
actresses capable of handling them. It
might have been a start in Australian
theatre of the sassy. snappy old woman as
comedienne - our o[...]been pushed too far towards the pluck and
swagger of the young Ethel Merman in
Annie Gel Your (fun.

T[...]because it was so delightfully stupid. with
none of the hectoring-lecturing tones that
coloured the womens numbers. The three
young men could play at being cute and
wer[...]

Proudly sponsored by The HOUSE OF DUNHILL

A HARD GOD

Peter Kenna

Direction Nick[...]Nigel Levings

PLAYBOX THEATRE COMPANY production
of Patricia Kennedy in

Arthur Kopit

Direction Malc[...]Design Nigel Levings

Wedekind's

LIILLI

SCENES OF SEX. MURDER AND POWER

Adaptation Louis Nowra
Dir[...]vings

This production tours to the Drama
Theatre of Sydney Opera House,
presented by Sydney Theatre C[...]s

PLUS AT THEATRE 62

IIPSIDE DOWN AT THE
BOTTOM OF

THE WORLD

David Allen

Direction Kevin P[...]

Refined
tragi-comedy
—

A HANDFUL OF FRIENDS
by Veronica Kelly

A Humllul u/'Frii'm/.\[...]ylistic
breakthrough in the handling ofhis themes
of human relationships. amounting.
briefly. to a shift from naturalism to
realism. From the basis of realism a
dramatist is secure to move towards
nua[...]e.
or. as in Travelling North, an elegant
species of comedy. Naturalism however is
a dead-end style. T[...]; backwards into more or less
contrived narration of the relevant past.
and downwards into yet more scrutinised
exhumation of motives and ambivalences.
The crises are static. revealing only the
patterns of the past. and although the
confrontations are ass[...]s already
evident.

Which brings one to A Handful of
Friemlx. I cant pretend to like the play.
and thi[...]. This
is a pity. as the dramatist’s perception of
our society is too valuable to be trivialised
in this way. La Boite‘s production of
Hana’/ul, which exacerbating in this
spectator the old ambivalent irritation at
this phase of Williamson's work. provides
the chance to renew a[...]ted to brief and insecure prominence
on the crest of the Whitlam new wave. As
Sal|y’s nightmare perh[...]d self-
destruction are validly observed products
of a society that exalts and destroys with
apparent[...]uml /\’a_t' P(’I'l'_l' in La BoiIv'.s
Handful of Friends.

nightmare. is the group’s almost fate[...]one by their closest
intimates. Ji|l‘s betrayal of Sally.
seemingly the apex of the villainies. is a
gesture almost refreshing in[...]each
others backs. calculatedly pooling
betrayals of their friends and lovers as fuel
for the running of their own defensive-
offensive partnership.

The[...]l image ofthis balance. a
beautiful and apt piece of design. The
overall tone is even; the downward de[...]is no discredit to treat the play
as if it were.

Of the two couples. the McA|ister

menage is the mor[...]-
betrayed as much by agenuine capacity for
love. of her brother and of Sally. as by
revenge. The Marshall duo are howeve[...]ties:
likeable. lyrid. sell-dramatising
compounds of scared ruthlessness and
amoral life-force. Their attractiveness
becomes that of a pleasant couple. not of
embodiments of the unstoppable Will to
Power that so fatefully beda7.7les their
friends they do not emerge as enough of
a handful to warrant the devastation they
cause. Whereas the production aims at
homogeneity of tone. Handful is perhaps
still leaning bac[...]

/Pru/t‘.\ \iiIIm/)

What is there to say of Max Gillies‘? Those
who know his past work seem[...]ces in the Chekhov and Oakley
monologues. But one of the occasional
rewards of being a critic is in finding word
of mouth confirmed and watching a
performer demonstrate the aptness of his
or her high reputation. ln these two
monologues Gillies was the living
demonstration of Shakespeare‘s "he hath
indeed better bettered expectation than
you must expect of me to tell you about”.
Of course one can point to Gillies‘
precision. his timing. his energy. his ability
to suggest with a hitch of the trousers or a
shrug of the shoulder a lifetime of
awkwardness or emotions thwarted. Some
have suggested that the dessicated
academic of the Chekhov monologue and
the obsessive and manic Scanlan are too
alike. the basic situations of the plays too
similar to allow for variety. This is simply
not true. Of course Oakley‘s piece.
prompted as it was by th[...]trasts can emerge.
That they did is due primarily of course
to Gillies‘ brilliance but also to Neil
Armfield‘s direction. This is the second of
his productions (Inside the Island was the
other)[...]on this evidence he is
possibly the most talented of the younger
directors. He has what may sound a se[...]el for dramatic structure. for the
highs and lows of a piece. for shifts in
mood and momentum. In this connection.
the understated tenor of the Chekhov
monologue was probably his and Gillie[...]eeked and repressed bore emerges as a
figure both of fun and pathos ~« an
obvious enough combination. but difficult
to realise when his catalogue of woes is
delivered in a fairly level voice with fe[...]osions. But with such an approach the
odd moments of energy or surprise have
the force of a custard pie in the audience's
face: the clenche[...]orizon towards him.

Oakley's Scan/an is a figure of more
extreme swings of emotion. of more
overtly displayed obsessions. the most
obvious of these being his conviction that
the minor talent[...]University lecture theatre)
Gillies’ renditions of Kendall's verses were
so effective that many of the audience felt
there was indeed a case fora re-appraisal of
the poet! And this is one of the major
strengths of Oakley‘s play. Instead of
offering up Scanlan simply to ridicule. he
uses h[...]Max Gi/Iie.\‘_a.\’ Scanlan.

giving him some of the maybe spurious

dignity that Max Beerbohm bes[...]most obviously at the end). when
the introduction of details like Scanlan‘s
past love affair jumps f[...]himself. his audience and his
academic antagonist of Kendall's
importance. his quixotic. manic
willing[...]ght in Gillies‘
performance. it is comic acting of the
highest order. in which the performer
catches[...]t combination ofthing
and person that is the root of the comic.

John Tranter‘s production is technically
excellent. His sense of staging is impec-
cable. Richard Roberts. who des[...], who did lighting,
have done everything required of them,
and more. There have even been somewhat
ner[...]d to by the
cast, the director. and vocal members of
the audience. People who have seen the
Melbourne[...]ssed rapturous gratitude for taking
the main part of Max (after apparent soul-
torturing doubts in Mel[...]sheer dishonesty. Though he may well be

capable of it. he does not give an intelligent

performance.[...]e. in a solidly felt. clearly expressed
unfolding of the character of Horst. Also
acutely observed by the Fine Ensemble are

34'

Bent. Photo: David Wilson.

the various cameos of the Berlin gay scene
given by Michael Gow. Wayne[...]for its
strong company. and its strong selection of
political and sexual material. If it appears

frightened to be bold about its recent
selection and venues of plays. it should
take heart. There is no need to[...]mportant. necessary things to
say. but is fearful of conservative reaction.

It had better take a leaf out of Sherman's
manuscript. The history of concealment.
shame. conciliation and compromise i[...]ed
radically, made public and supported by a
mass of people. it ends in Dachau.

IHEAIRE /\USlR[...]

This play [or at least. this production of it)
contains one of the most moving and
compassionate scenes I have e[...]le to hide her
feelings ofdisgust. and the victim of neuro-
fibromatosis. with his lopsided slobbering[...]arms and leg.
was an occasion that not exen years of
careful viewing of Dr Who monsters had
prepared me for. My sensibilities were still
open to attack by the fragile attempts'of
these two i|l—matched people to begin their
pat[...]n Morley
who has downed the play as a mere series
of sketchy little documentary scenes
”giving us fa[...].lIcrrit-/t) in .lI'l'(".\ 'l he

the degradation of being a fairground
freak by Frederick Treves. Sur[...]till a young man.
four years later. Within months of his
rescue. Merrick became transformed from

The reason for[...]squely bestial as ever; we were shown
photographs of him to begin with, which
bear out Treves‘ own description of him:
”l-‘rom the brow. . . a huge bony mass likea
loaf... from the back of the head hung a
bag of spongy fungus-looking skin... a
mass of bone protruded from the mouth
like a pink stump... Huge sacklike masses
of flesh hung from the back . . and so on.
Yet the[...]hese simple means he managed to suggest
something of the horror. not so much by

his appearance as by his appreciation of

how others must have been reacting to him
(until[...]rificial
beaut_v responds to the sexual normality of
Merrick to the extent of baring her breasts
for him only to be caught in f[...]on(shared by seyeral ofthe
high society visitors) of Merrick as a
mirror of themselves. This is one main
function of the other characters in the play.
the others bein[...]d candid

innocence; and to pro\ ide a background of

social solidity for what is really a general
mor[...]tter what

physical or mental oddity. is Not ()ne of

Us. He could be a Say age. a Venusian. or a
talk[...]he happens to have been
John Merrick.

any trace of

—
The psychic world

of the actor
M

A MAN OF MANY PARTS
by Cathy Peake

,4 Man u/ Alum Parl.\[...]les. lt is an intricate and
exhausting play. full of theatrical
anecdotes and one which presents its
subject both as a sort of moving. three-
dimensional cryptic crossword. and as one
of the anecdotes.

In general. Noah Hope — failed[...]like a fTy~

Fi'¢*zl¢'rit'k Pam/wt‘ in A Man of Many Parts.

wheel that has lost its governor and[...]ychosis
for the impersonal probing and inspection
of an audience psychiatrist is pronounced
and intrig[...]me to time it is also hard to take.
For the drama ofof a brain where curious
dislocations of meaning. time. place and
space conjure up images[...]wn metaphor for the play as ‘a theatrical
slice of the brain‘ too seriously.
Somewhere inside all[...]nly a
long time ago.

Now he is a lateral thinker of the most
extrayagant kind. and his oblique flights of
ideas which include conversations with
some ofthe[...]ntury. make enormous demands on the
concentration of his audience.

They also presuppose a sophisticated
literary background. Hibberd‘s writing is
full of puns and extremely ornate linguistic
jokes ofof
epic and action but. instead. finds himself
struck with string after string of treache-
rous. subordinate clauses when what he
really needs is a sense of location. and a
transitive verb.

l\'oah‘s wit is lacerating. acerbic and
often self-deprccating and most of his
energy is given over to his need for
boundari[...]ween intimate
asides barely audible in the centre of the
auditorium. and raucous shouting. not to
ment[...]bolism”. a
tadpole in a wash basin. and a trunk of
grimy old stage props to play with.
Parslow‘s p[...]a line for the play. and have settled
for a sort of cat and mouse game with the
audience and a hit an[...]a thump into the gruelling and
inhospitable world of noise.

llllAlRl /\l.'SlR/\l.|/\l)F(‘ J/[...]

DESIGNERS AND MANUFACTURERS OF
ARCHITECTURAL DEVICES

POWER FLYING SYSTEMS
COUNT[...]KEE SOUTH YARRA
WISCONSIN 53202 USA VICTORIA 3141 AUSTRALIA
TeI9Dhone 414-272-2811 TELEPHONE (03) 267-4837
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OF LONDON KISS ME: KIATE

A division of Incolabs Pty. Limited. OPENING JAN. 5 FOR TWO WEEKS
THREE FAIRY TALES

' MAKEUP FOR TH EATR E, audience par[...]sional advice, product
catalogue, prices and list of stockists
in your area, please telephone
S[...]

What went wrong?
—

THE SAME SQUARE OF DUST

By Margot Luke

The Same Square 0fDu.tI by[...]ere was a basic mis-
understanding about the kind of play it is.
The Same Squre of Dust, even though
employing the same mini-scene f[...]a delicate, often funny, always perceptive
study of relationships and attitudes. The
critic of the influential West Australian
weighed in with a[...]llent lead. Paul Mason, for playingthe

character of Kingsford Smith as a loveable
opportunist (which[...]put
intending patrons off entirely.

The portrait of ”Smithy” as a personable
and irresponsible la[...]on-
frontations that made up the ”private life"
of the hero, screened newsreel footage of
the public events was used effectively to
extend the scope of the play.

Lively support for Paul Mason’s taut[...]semary Barr as a

raunchy bar—maid with a heart of gold and
Ivan King as The Captain, an archetypal

Aussie with a streak of laconic pessimistic
humour. Alan Cassell as the s[...]ulance.

The lesson to be learnt from the failure
of this venture is probably that subtlety
will only[...]ntial to give it sensation value. The
Same Square of Dust is an understated
play, which might h[...]

PHILH[...]ydney Opera House
2 in the Great Hall. University of Sydney
pms
2mmuwmmWnmCmwm

J.S. BACH ST. M[...]

An Evening with Sean O‘Casey — — Eml of

the Beginning directed by Barry Hayes;
Bedtime Story directed by Pamela
Whalan; and Hall of Healing directed by
Margaret Rieneke. Commences J[...]2|. Children's production during first
two weeks of Jan.

MUSIC LOFT THEATRE (9776585)

At the Loft,[...]an 26.

NEW THEATRE (5l93403)

We Still Call Home Australia by Foveaux
Kirby and Peter Stephens; directed by[...]with Beverly
Blankenship. Jan 9-3l.

NSW THEATRE OF THE DEAF

IHFAIRE /\l'S'I R/\l.|A l)F.(‘[...]

(357 I200)

Opera Theatre:

The Three Musketeers choreographed by
Andrew Prokovsky to m[...]erest Theatre: Jan 22-Feb 6.
Downstairs: Festival of Dance with One
Extra Dance Group. Dance Exchange.[...]Contemporary Dance Theatre. Impulse
Dance Theatre of New Zealand.
Australian Contemporary Dance Theatr[...]3|.

HER MAJESTY’S (22| 2777)

Extended season of My Fair Lady.
presented by Wilson Morley; with St[...]dditions by Doug
Leonard. To Dec I9.

ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY
THEATRE (2675988)
Administrators[...]

Community Access Workshops: Mill
Night. Run Of the Mill. and Mill Club.
MELBOURNE THEATRE COMPAN[...]To Dec 20.
Downstairs: Upside Down At The Bottom
Of The World by David Allen; director.
Murray Coplan[...]s (‘omaet Joan Ambrose on
2996639.

THEATRI‘. AUSTRALIA DEC. JAN. l98I 63

Makers of fine quality
wigs. hairpieces_ beards,
moustaches[...]3000.
PHONE (03) 67 53910 4 LINES

Huge selection of scripts from English Theatre
Guild. Dramatists Pl[...]rrency Methuen.
Dramatic Pub Co. We carry Theatre Australia.
After Dark. Dance Magazine. Plays & Players.
Dan[...]ut in a tiny by the poet (6)

SUBSCRIPTION RATES

Australia:
$21.00 Post Free for twelve issues.

Give a gift[...]Ltd., 80
Elizabeth Street, Mayfield, N.S.W. 2304,
Australia.

AS3000
AS3500

AS5000

2l. Ditch a plane (mo[...]ects the horned beasts wander-
ing around a swamp of note (8)
26. Five hundred beers consumed in the
v[...]cmo\ es the dishes and departs (6. 3)
. There are three points about the chiel
of police that are sick—making
6. You dined late.[...]n smoothie with a wad ol‘
notes (4)

The winner of last
month's crossword ' n
was Mr Scott Davies ‘,3 m ,5 n
of The Spit. Sydney. ,3, ,3‘ n .__ E
NSW. The firs[...]free suh— i-Jgfi armis-
scription to Theatre "
Australia.

kl}

iii
E

I’:
E
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' Ill

TXT

Australia's m agazine of the perform ing arts. D ecem ber/January 1981 $1.95*

Theatre Australia

NIMROD'S 10th[...]

Furtive Love[...]play is a touching and highly comic celebration of life in a country town

of the West at the time of the Great War; and is fast becoming the[...]The second play of The Cassidy Album (the first is A Hard God), in w[...]Joe faces the question of identity without God and attempts to define his[...]uality. He is a playwright and finds in the world of

actors some whose tenuous sense of self makes them more real on stage[...]A new edition of Williamson's early and enormously popular play wh[...]palls and the faded ideals and hopes of the characters begin to show. With[...]

Af A H a n d fu l

f of Friends[...]

Michael Edgley, who h[...]trip
with the most exciting and spectacular
bar of attractions and deals that he or
any Australian showman has ever
captured. Over the next three years
Edgley will present throughout
Australia in excess of 15 million
dollars worth of spectacular
entertainment.

Included are;
Disney World on Ice (a mass of
Disney characters on the largest ice
rink Australia has ever seen).
The legendary Marcel Marceau.[...]got Fonteyn and Sir
Robert Helpmann.
Some of Broadway's biggest
Musical Successes.
Maj[...]Man From Snowy River". It is said to
be a film of action, adventure and

world wide appeal.

TH[...]wrote the highly successful play Teen
imbalance of women directors. Trainee Di[...]Premier of NSW through the Division
lance director, whose latest Gems on a series of productions at the of Cultural Activities and by the
production is her adaptation of Zoe now legendary Almost Free Theatre, Theatre Board of the Australia
Fairbairns' Benefits.[...]

Though the plot and dialogue of
The Sam e Square o f D ust were
scrup[...]

by Irving Wardle
For collections of theatrical rows this

has been the best autumn[...]than it was
succeeded by the even noisier affair of
Howard Brenton's The Romans in Britain
(Olivier[...]e full shock-horror
treatment, with a photograph of a tactfully
shadowed Celtic nude on the front of the
Evening Standard, and an upcoming
investiga[...]s Squad. The whole episode
was a classic example of how these things
happen in England (and perhaps[...]y Whitehouse, our leading artistic
busybody, who of course had not seen the
show, and threats to withdraw the theatre's
grant by the leader of the Greater London
Council, Sir Horace Cutler, who of course
vehemently denied all imputations of
censorship. For as long as we still have the
ti[...]nder: and in the meanwhile, as
always, the cries of outrage have done the
Box Office a power of good.

All of which defers the evil moment of
discussing the play itself. What most
inflamed our moral guardians was a
display of ancient Roman buggery per
formed upon the blameless person of a
trainee Druid, previously seen playing
nude football with his brothers in the pre-
Roman Golden Age of 54BC. Golden for
them, that is. Not for t[...]

Whether theatr[...]the creation, development and final workings of live theatre.

WORDS AND MUSIC[...]Hamlet Discovered MUSICA VIVA AUSTRALIA LEONINE CONSORT[...]-- date to be announced
THE ART OF RECORDING
Julian Lee Guarte[...]

The euphoria was a product of aud
iences at last being able to see a full
performing version of a ballet that many
had thought was all but lost[...]The work is still before the eyes and

minds of the public only through the
extraordinary efforts of a number of

people overtheyears. Markarova's version
issues from that of the Kirov, which was in
turn a child of the version created by
Chabukiani and Fyodor Lupukov. The
West only has the Shades scene by virtue of
the muscle memories of Markarova, Bari-
shnikov and Nureyev.

The acid test of the ABT version will be
whether it can st[...]

Of greatest interest though is the opium
smoking sc[...]ied. It gives dramatic reason for the
appearance of the Shades (since Solor falls
into a drugged trance and dreams of them)
and is in keeping with the rich orientalism
of the entire work. Whatever one may loe
and admire in the rest of the ballet, the
Kingdom o f the Shades re[...]

BOOKINGS OPEN DECEMBER 8

GENEROUS CONCESSIONS FOR PARTIES OF 10 OR MORE
-- Phone 231[...]OUSLY SPONSORED BY C0M ALC0
LIMITED.

THE RAPE OF
LUCRETIA

Britten In English
January 23, 28,[...]oud to sponsor The Australian
Opera's production of Otello as part of
the celebrations to mark the 150th
anniversary of the founding of the
newspaper in 1831.

THE BEGGAR'S[...]

18 T H E A T R E A U S T R A L[...]

EXCISE
THE DUKE OF

EDINBURGH
ASSASSINATED[...]

MEASURE
SHADOWS OF

BLOOD
RO[...]

nature of Nimrod's distinction. It[...]the name of game. To see Martin
contribution to the search f[...]Street in June, 1970, he directed

"The Legend of King O'Malley" , by

Michael Boddy and B[...]

A HARD GOD
THE SUMMER OF

THE SEVEN
TEENTH DOLL[...]HAMLET
KASPAR
THE TOOTH OF

CRIME

6 TH EATR E[...]

Buzo) and -- the beginning of a b[...]cracy of the main characters, to[...]crisis prolonged by muddle and

round Australia. That was in[...]

A udition.

14 THEATRE AUSTRALIA 1980

Before announcing plans for a 1981 Company of Actors, TONY: Do you think managements[...]terms of a Company getting their audiences in to see the[...]ween those
an "Actors Company" from just a group of contract or rep Company actors and the audience.
players. An edited transcript of their discussion follows. The
actors involved we[...]There's also an argument against that too. A lot of
Friels, Jennifer Hagan, John McTernan and Tony S[...]HN: Would anyone like to start. Jenny's had a lot of argument. I think actors should be versa[...]plays in a row, by the end of 3 you don't really want to do
experience working[...]been too small and so too much work, and too much of JOHN: What about a repertoire system, when some of the
the shit work really, tends to fall on the same people, too plays are done again?
much of a load. By the second play you're exhausted.[...]od idea.

JENNY: That's right. Yes that was one of the things on my JOHN: Rehearsed with the s[...]kes to form a group
there's been is a repertoire of plays or repertory work. of people to get a really ideal working relationship[...]ing that can get a
JENNY: Well another grievance of a Company, is that group together is[...]TONY: I think that's also dictated by the form of the show --
feeling.[...]e saying that if you want to be in the three star parts and six others --that doesn't help the
Company then you want to know in advance some of the Company feeling along.
roles you'[...]ending out front.
experience, both in terms of the roles that you play and in
becoming familiar[...]s also a very personal attitude though that a lot of
JENNY: Yes, you link with the management, and kn[...]I want someone to
where they want to go, instead of with a lot of Companies, blame, someone to argue."
they s[...]blame or the success equally.
say in the policy of that theatre in picking the plays?[...]e
COLIN: Maybe that's because actors are victims of the h is concept work.
whole system. T[...]he casting system,
the whole conventional set up of the theatre and we're JOHN: So in[...]

other theatres in Australia have of entering a new era. All around it,

similar or[...]initiatives to develop women's

Decade of Women. But, like an[...]eleventh year, it runs with an
ratio of theatre work to people at[...]n men, no
Nimrod, some argued that the
founders of Nimrod had every[...]ever form they chose. This
argument has a number of flaws.[...]chance birth of male genii, but[...]itself fruitful sources of artistic[...]artists - all of which would appear high and dry, sunbaking along[...]with a dessicated collection of[...]And in all of this, Nimrod[...]abetted by voices of men such as powerful Australian theatre.[...]

Writing about writing is one of the activity as writers I hope I have men,[...]vertheless, at the society and in the struggle of influences, are usually the slaves of
risk of making a fool of myself, I[...]ike to use the opportunity in the occult act of writing distil air, are distilling their frenzy from
of Nimrod's tenth anniversary to
make a few observa[...]ersal or not - from the some academic scribbler of a few
ingredients of an impenetrableand years back". If this is re[...]nt. of the bankrupt social, political
Theatre is a soc[...]s will reflect right to claim an intuitive grasp of regularly evidenced in Australian[...]es which are calling
internal or external regime of inc[...]contempt for this notion with of our society into question. No[...]or example, has any right
hierarchical structure of most applicable to writers: "Practical
companies is an example of the to plead ignorance of the issue of
former; the lack of anything but[...]any play peddling
the most mystified discussion of
the obvious links between[...]an intervention of the most
evidence of the latter. But it is the
principle rather than[...]question of Freedom of Ex
which concerns me at the[...]innocent world of their own. Sexist
of our work is above criticism.
When this is not si[...]stereotypes are translated into
expression of cowardice or[...]ite.
laziness, it becomes the radical
assertion of the absolute[...]It is a commonplace to observe
independence of the play's[...]ounding phrase can
assertion which robs the play of be ap[...]rty, violence,
soever, unless it be at the level of confusion[...]aspect of ignoring this situation,
The assertion that what[...]limits of the effect of such a
mental attack on our reason for[...], more than that, a
cynical assualt on the value of cut[...]ily world of private symbolism

informative or, in the jargo[...]are
assertion that there is a world
independent of our minds. Its[...]much more besides.
philistinic rejection of content as a

valid area of discussion.
If I have established the essential

point that criticism and discussion
of our work is central to our

24 T H E A T[...]

This issue of this magazine is If we continue to pro[...]y about one half ot our
essentially a statement of contemporary work from Europe[...]he m o s t Nimrod needs to make a bolder
ments of ten years. To grow within contemporary and[...]cade from a small but challenging of that work. This involves not just producing
committed group of idealistic And if we continue to inc[...]theatre workers operating in a either of these two categories of closely with writers in developing
noisy,[...]re it must scripts. If writers are accused of
what is regarded by many never[...]it is usually because our theatre
Australia's most important theatre It is the work of 83 Australian companies have thrown away th[...]principal contributing during the process of play writing.
important, involves constant[...]It is no longer seen as remarkable
reappraisal of motive and action in[...]and the writer is left alone to
much a product of the strength[...]andably writers often get
out a tired procession of English,[...]issues relevant to Australia today.
attitudes and commitments than it[...]challenges. I believe it is true of
by season, to repeat the same[...]most rewarding experience in
of flexibility, Nimrod should not be[...]permanent company of actors
productions of classics in our[...]work of our theatre will be as
inspired by radical re[...]strong and as varied as the
interpretations of text and style. personalities and beliefs of every
They must i n t h e m s e l v e s justify[...]can be proud of the achievements
theatre audience. of its first ten years, but it mustn't[...]

Co-Artistic Director 1980 image. His use of crisp colours The Nimrod stage space appear[...]ce took several productions before
of yellow foyer walls, arresting Directo[...]audience-stage confines of the
The physical oddities were[...]he most theatrically
to the use and presentation of[...]been V o l p o n e where the
Visual memories of the old deliberate fakery of "the set" was
Nimrod make it difficult to[...]used as a key to the style of the
separate the raw ad-hoc image of[...]precision in the final execution of
Handke's K a s p a r (Designer Martin[...]The most obvious method of
o f C r i m e (designer Larry[...]contracting the space on an
use of the ricketty staircase i[...]walls of graded cream to green
tunnel to their seats.[...]provided a nevy unexpected
constituted the basis of the juxtaposition of the space
Nimrod house style in terms of[...]landscape and sky embraced the
combination of tastes were those auditorium in a simple illusionary
of the Directors (I trust) but more
particularly La[...]The Nimrod workshop has grown
The use of strong colours and[...]use of modern techniques and
synonymous with the Nimrod[...]aware of the importance of[...]attitude and appreciation of[...]

COMEDY OF
ERRORS
Director:
John Bell
Set Designe[...]

Years ago I wrote a review of an end-of- supported by the ingenious quartet, th[...]ds with the sentimental
ing the total absorption of the audience, I Riding, touchingly sung by Myfanwy idea of the young as `today's Aborigines'.
had a sudden[...]The theme behind the theme was New
of the audience in the creation of a new castle's long-standing suspicion of the
dramatic work. Such occasions are a celebration, of a police -- and that is the real history of the
sense of community of shared experience Star Hotel riot.
The children were, of course, perform and memory. Such is one of the finest
ing just as children do and 1 doubt the qualities of the theatre, giving it a local Nevertheless[...]habitation and a name. But The Star Show joy of recognition to its Newcastle audi
of the audience, projecting their know[...]ence which an outsider cannot share. And
ledge of what was behind the getting up of as to reincarnate the hotel incident;[...]ary the show touches tentatively recognition of community possession. It
I was reminded of that audience at the on a lot of sensitive areas, laying most may find a wider audience if it can grow
premiere of a very different work: The Star emphasi[...]w that the Star was a and define its message of what the Star
Show, at the Civic Playhouse, Newc[...]orking man's town.
under the inventive direction of Aarne themselves'. But seeing on f[...]music
by Allen McFadden, is a stirring account
of the riot last summer -- the night the Star
Hotel[...]it, was Kings Cross in
microcosm for the people of Newcastle,
with a front bar for sailors and pros[...]. The play is set in the back bar where in
songs of loneliness interspersed with slides
and anecdote[...]ing with these vignettes is the
comic strip tale of a Chicago hotel which
changed hands in a shady d[...]to draw it. The show ends with a 20-
minute film of footage taken by NBN
Channel 3 of customers in violent con
frontation with the police, who, on the
whole, get the worst of it.

As a show it is highly entertaining,
presented by an admirably hard-working
cast of five playing some 15 characters and[...]

Of course one can point to Gillies'
precision, h[...]s energy, his ability
to suggest with a hitch of the trousers or a
shrug of the shoulder a lifetime of
awkwardness or emotions thwarted. Some
have suggested that the dessicated
academic of the Chekhov monologue and
the obsessive and manic Scanlan are too
alike, the basic situations of the plays too
similar to allow for variety. This is simply
not true. Of course Oakley's piece,
prompted as it was by[...]n emerge.

That they did is due primarily of course
to Gillies' brilliance but also to Neil
Armfield's direction. This is the second of
his productions (Inside the Island was the[...]is evidence he is
possibly the most talented of the younger
directors. He has what may sound[...]r dramatic structure, for the
highs and lows of a piece, for shifts in
mood and momentum. In this connection,
the understated tenor of the Chekhov
monologue was probably his and G[...]and repressed bore emerges as a
figure both of fun and pathos -- an
obvious enough combination, but difficult
to realise when his catalogue of woes is
delivered in a fairly level v[...]

John Tranter's production is technically
excellent. His sense of staging is impec
cable. Richard Roberts, who des[...]who did lighting,
have done everything required of them,
and more. There have even been somewhat
n[...]to by the
cast, the director, and vocal members of
the audience. People who have seen the
Melbourn[...]sed rapturous gratitude for taking
the main part of Max (after apparent soul
torturing doubts[...]

This play (or at least, this production of it)
contains one of the most moving and
compassionate scenes 1 have[...]n actress she would be able to hide her
feelings of disgust, and the victim of neuro
fibromatosis. with his lopsided slobbering[...]rms and leg,
was an occasion that not even years of
careful viewing of Dr Who monsters had
prepared me for. My sensibilities were still
open to attack by the fragile attempts'of
these two ill-matched people to begin the[...]

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