tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38505372024-03-17T21:19:28.445+10:30Adelaide, Education, and LifeGeneral ramblings on all of the above.Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.comBlogger593125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-62019851020083062832024-03-17T21:18:00.001+10:302024-03-17T21:18:27.620+10:30Sounds of the Hazara - Adelaide Fringe Music Review<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2-cr1dvf7lxmTRWBIFdQwlG4HoTTW38oZMcLdyDglkCWp5vC_TqHXx3Su3l1lkr3jIIAz-sEmsGwlTawZ6oAZvrst2_RaPA5S9knhYJudRuI2aIup2T8e2jPXFDymXOrkPnsQDfnaIWuLPbJYhZ45rFnGymhzZs2axy8vnt9DoHLsmsZ6EvND/s960/hazara%20header.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="960" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2-cr1dvf7lxmTRWBIFdQwlG4HoTTW38oZMcLdyDglkCWp5vC_TqHXx3Su3l1lkr3jIIAz-sEmsGwlTawZ6oAZvrst2_RaPA5S9knhYJudRuI2aIup2T8e2jPXFDymXOrkPnsQDfnaIWuLPbJYhZ45rFnGymhzZs2axy8vnt9DoHLsmsZ6EvND/s320/hazara%20header.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">[</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">MUSIC/</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;">World Music</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; text-align: justify;"> </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">~ </span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">SA ~ ADELAIDE FRINGE PREMIERE</span><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">]</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Nexus Arts Venue, </span><span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Sat 25 Feb, 2024.</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">The Hazara are one of the many ethnic groups that make up the population of Afghanistan. They in particular have been subject to harassment and violence since the return to power of the Taliban. There are approximately 40000 Hazara now living in Australia.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">As Keith Preston told us in his introduction the Adelaide Fringe is slowly but surely becoming more representative of the diverse cultural make-up of our society – due in part it must be said, to the tireless efforts of people like Keith who strive to make it happen.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">And so we gather at Nexus Arts to enjoy Hazara folks songs led by the humble, gracious Feroz Ansari on vocals and harmonium. Ansari is supported by fellow countryman Mehran Yawary on keyboards and electronic percussion, well-known Adelaide musician Quentin Ayers on dobro and guitar, and Preston on santoor and bouzouki. It was a line-up that worked really well in the end. There were some issues with instrument balance earlier in the show where the harmonium and vocals were being dominated by the keyboard and percussion. The program does refer to ‘fusion styles’ – and it’s always a challenge to get the blend of traditional and modern instruments in the right balance. Once this was sorted the music quite rocked!</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Most songs followed a similar pattern with a quieter vocal intro with harmonium, with other instruments joining in once the song was established. Some of the programmed percussion arrangements were wonderful – complex and catchy. Ansari’s vocals were right on the money – melodic and plaintive with that lovely central Asian/Middle Eastern style of vocal where the singer slides into and across notes that the Western pentatonic scale doesn’t feature. There were some lovely instrumental moments from Preston on santoor, and Ayers on guitars.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Ansari mentioned that the poetry of the original songs was very difficult to translate into English but it seemed that one way or another all the songs were about love.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">It is sadly ironic that Australian audiences are now fortunate to have ethnic musicians of this calibre living amongst us who can participate in such events and enrich our cultural life. A really enjoyable performance of music from another world.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #0c343d;">This review also published on <a href="https://theclothesline.com.au/sounds-of-the-hazara-adelaide-fringe-2024-music-review/" target="_blank">The Clothesline.</a></span></i></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-68420508095131900362024-03-17T21:11:00.001+10:302024-03-17T21:11:25.304+10:30Silly Little Things - Theatre Review<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8KY-viqFaA76HheFrN3gP80HGcoJpdMia7ey1yGMuWP8zX2ieoeDY_j1X5dZERhGYfWiIOrhbWJ0m9NV8hunSSk9K33fO0TXLzZYW2f3lHXuWVRfHbvUkJ3TVxo9GyX62rU6xND4LX_vPdtdXnF4EBOgou_M5ZEdTRkg9pB9wOtrDULIRa8xW/s960/silly-little-things-header.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="960" height="160" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8KY-viqFaA76HheFrN3gP80HGcoJpdMia7ey1yGMuWP8zX2ieoeDY_j1X5dZERhGYfWiIOrhbWJ0m9NV8hunSSk9K33fO0TXLzZYW2f3lHXuWVRfHbvUkJ3TVxo9GyX62rU6xND4LX_vPdtdXnF4EBOgou_M5ZEdTRkg9pB9wOtrDULIRa8xW/s320/silly-little-things-header.webp" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; text-align: justify;">Star Theatre Two at Star Theatres, Fri 23 Feb, 2024.</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Laura Knaggs has written a delightful story, and tells it beautifully. She plays the part of Rosie, a young woman who is finally free of an oppressive long term relationship and desperate to celebrate her freedom; start a new more exciting life. But it turns out she’s not that good at making decisions on her own. Her best friend is dealing with her own problems, her nosy neighbour keeps making life difficult, good men are hard to find, and her flower shop is going under. And the last thing she wants to do is give in and go back to her mother for help. Perhaps a few more shots of tequila will fix things? They don’t.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Rosie takes us all along this frustrating, entertaining ride with mostly good humour, sporadic misplaced optimism, and an honest vulnerability. She’s pretty hyper early on and it’s as if her speedy enthusiasm is plunging her into train wreck territory. But luckily for Rosie a near disaster opens her eyes just enough to help her see the good that’s right in front of her.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">She still has that lovely bouncy personality but it’s not so manic now. She’s calmed down and has become a much nicer, smarter person.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">So there is a moral to the story if you’re looking for one. Or you could just sit back and enjoy Knagg’s charming manner, the tightly scripted narrative, her impressive range of acting skills, and great sense of comedy. She’s a natural, and is clearly very much at home on the stage.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">One small peeve – I think the title of this show belittles it. There’s a lot more going on here than <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Silly Little Things</em>, but I guess that’s how Rosie may have seen things at the time.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><i><br />This review also published on <a href="https://theclothesline.com.au/silly-little-things-adelaide-fringe-2024-review/" target="_blank">The Clothesline</a>.</i></span></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-68999633779443431382024-02-26T22:22:00.000+10:302024-02-26T22:22:17.175+10:30K Mak At The Planetarium: Adelaide Fringe 2024 Review<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdLAUw6pzXGYQSrtzGn8Csk7q6jiC5HOhGDkY6ug9YTHLjpnJgk7gvWgSv8lFQZ7AD8Wyvr_qTU63FduRUDgS7dGSw4P6-7Y3WpLprcop4-C52GFBmRa1U4DGokUNyeau79Z2Hzo4yM_PSSntr6LFWGA1Ri4IwH0SwoBstr1bmH6B5kwyK27xA/s800/planetarium%20sun.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdLAUw6pzXGYQSrtzGn8Csk7q6jiC5HOhGDkY6ug9YTHLjpnJgk7gvWgSv8lFQZ7AD8Wyvr_qTU63FduRUDgS7dGSw4P6-7Y3WpLprcop4-C52GFBmRa1U4DGokUNyeau79Z2Hzo4yM_PSSntr6LFWGA1Ri4IwH0SwoBstr1bmH6B5kwyK27xA/s320/planetarium%20sun.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; text-align: justify;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; text-align: justify;">The Planetarium, Sat 17 Feb, 2024</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">K Mak’s website says they are the brainchild of cellist Kathryn McKee, and describes their music as ‘a distillation of classical, alternative and electro-pop music.’ That’s handy because I was struggling to identify their genre. Not that you always have to pigeon-hole the music we listen to. Things don’t always fit into convenient categories and <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://adelaidefringe.com.au/fringetix/k-mak-at-the-planetarium-af2024" target="_blank">K Mak at the Planetarium</a></em> is a case in point.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s initially a little confusing trying to decide whether to focus on the music or the projected visuals until one eventually accepts that it’s meant to be an integrated experience. And it works really well.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Just relax back into the chairs of the planetarium and let the whole experience wash over you; let the sights and sounds take your mind and soul wherever they want to go. And my mind certainly wandered far and wide across the universe, and then deep down into microcosms of throbbing liquids and bubbling gases. Watch a parade of planets, rockets launching, asteroids, deep space, star signs, the blazing sun. Kaleidoscopic patterns, magical plants, sea creatures – it’s essentially a celebration of the natural world, with a dose of psychedelia.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">K Mak’s music was always interesting and perfectly complementary – a neat combination of persistent rhythms with ethereal melodies carried by keyboard, cello and violin. The sound was not always totally in synch with the visuals but that didn’t seem to matter. It was very much a case of you connecting the music and the visuals in any way you wanted. There was nothing prescriptive about this event. No program as such, though there was an occasional comment introducing the next piece. But you make the connections; you join the dots.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Be immersed in childlike wonder. You might however find your adult self contemplating how insignificant we all are in the presence of the power and beauty of the universe. And that’s not a bad thing is it? Certainly puts things in another perspective!</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c;"><br /></span></i></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #134f5c;">This review also posted on <a href="https://theclothesline.com.au/k-mak-at-the-planetarium-adelaide-fringe-2024-review/" target="_blank">The Clothesline.</a></span></i></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-14386736563854067112024-01-30T21:56:00.001+10:302024-01-30T21:59:45.558+10:30Goodbye Bill<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5FTGMwRXv3VwEr27wHhA-S1kL9CMAciRg__eNgYrD8if-7MTinM_eKR6VJBi2HA8PIyt3MHjuNgyjzNYC7WXn2zdtDRfv4ddNnpBt3COdm1yn5o8Mliy578VQv0g5Khi_orzQnc4wa5vDdf4gNc7zivrun28DYD-HG76vtu0Ucg9VNEag_1G8/s1472/Bill%20at%20desk.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1472" data-original-width="1168" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5FTGMwRXv3VwEr27wHhA-S1kL9CMAciRg__eNgYrD8if-7MTinM_eKR6VJBi2HA8PIyt3MHjuNgyjzNYC7WXn2zdtDRfv4ddNnpBt3COdm1yn5o8Mliy578VQv0g5Khi_orzQnc4wa5vDdf4gNc7zivrun28DYD-HG76vtu0Ucg9VNEag_1G8/s320/Bill%20at%20desk.jpeg" width="254" /></a></div>When <a href="https://mikecogh.blogspot.com/2023/03/rip-david-lindley.html" target="_blank">David Lindley died</a> Jackson Browne said he hesitated to
put his feelings about David down on paper because that would mean having to
acknowledge that David had really gone. I’m feeling a bit like that now about
my dear friend Bill. Bill Docherty died on December 12<sup>th.</sup><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I first met Bill he was a friend of my brother’s. They
were both studying to be priests at a monastery in Melbourne. Bill and my
brother Damien left religious life before becoming priests, and both embarked
on a lifestyle that involved catching up on lost time. My first strong
post-monastery memories of Bill were visiting a house he shared with other
students and consuming huge amounts of marijuana, listening to a lot of Frank
Zappa, and engaging in challenging and stimulating intellectual debates about
life. As a much younger man the nature of these highly articulate conversations
greatly impressed me. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As fate would have it Bill and I would both end up spending
a lot of time in Israel. Bill eventually married a Jewish woman and lived there
for many years but we first met in Israel in 1981 when he was living on a
kibbutz outside of Jerusalem. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our second
meeting was in Ashqelon when we both parents with young children. Our third and
fourth meetings were in Jerusalem. I was in Israel attending conferences and
Bill was working as a lawyer for an organisation that represented Palestinians
in court in their battles with the Israeli state.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And therein lies a tale of who Bill was, and the
schizophrenic nature of life in Israel for anyone who cares about the parties
on both sides of the conflict. During this time Bill lived in Jerusalem and
travelled across to the West Bank each day to work for Palestinians. Each day
after work he returned to his Israeli friends on the other side of the conflict.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Despite the fact that it had progressively become more and
more of a rogue state that saw itself above the law we both loved Israel. It
was this shared joy of the land, its people and the profound experiences it
afforded us that saw us grow closer as the years rolled by. When Bill returned
to Australia we shared fond memories and a mutual understanding of the
complexities of Israel. It left indelible marks on both of us. And both of us
had little or no contact with anyone else who had spent much time in Israel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Israel was our shared story that we both
cherished, and that few others understood.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I may write more about Bill’s life down the track a bit. This text is just a brief glimpse of a remarkable story about a remarkable
man. Bill was one of those larger than life characters who always seemed to be
living life in some kind of action movie where the unlikely becomes more
likely, and the impossible becomes possible. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He was indeed a lovable larrikin, but as
erudite and articulate a person as you’ll ever meet. He was also a ratbag that
you tolerated because of the love that lived within his generous soul.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Bill was a storyteller. The last time I saw him I told him
how much I enjoyed his stories over the years, but that I was never sure what
was fact and what was embellishment. His reply? “It was all embellishment!” No
it wasn’t Bill – we both know that – but you made me laugh one last time.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I loved you mate. And I know you loved me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watching your coffin disappear at your
funeral was like having parts of me stripped away. And I realised then and
there that I had begun the gradual journey to my own end. Offering me one last
lesson Bill. Teaching me right to the very end.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rest in peace <i>chaver yakar sheli</i> (my dear friend).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-23373151331066687412023-12-05T21:09:00.001+10:302023-12-05T21:09:55.789+10:301988 - OzAsia Music Review<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQYe4KH0KXiMohGr36KIq1TexEGWk_vO5wMitqxmyJ_m2mNbfEeA-hfi-NLdow1VBwIE4qKu0_h1fjcuS3OgO31mqNlTDBZ8USYNbix3_woWsMP3noHjHCElwWg8rYsAd1_Uccn5IPIn4CcHmHa_RgZpwhdJ0NpwVcndU2ZKI7qbQhMu-iqgR3/s800/53377218769_5563690bd8_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="560" data-original-width="800" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQYe4KH0KXiMohGr36KIq1TexEGWk_vO5wMitqxmyJ_m2mNbfEeA-hfi-NLdow1VBwIE4qKu0_h1fjcuS3OgO31mqNlTDBZ8USYNbix3_woWsMP3noHjHCElwWg8rYsAd1_Uccn5IPIn4CcHmHa_RgZpwhdJ0NpwVcndU2ZKI7qbQhMu-iqgR3/s320/53377218769_5563690bd8_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700;">Space Theatre, Tue 24 Oct</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">1988 was a big year for Australia. White Australia celebrated its bicentenary. It was also a big year for Dung Nguyen. He emigrated from Vietnam to join his father in Australia.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">1988 is an inspiring cultural event. It attempts to portray the Vietnamese experience of migration and resettlement in a strange and foreign land through music, sound, and projected imagery. It is a beautifully intense creation.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">It begins with Nguyen sitting on the floor playing a Vietnamese zither (dan tranh), that Asian stringed instrument whose evocative sounds are synonymous with traditional music from East Asia. Slowly the zither invites other sounds to enter: a sparse piano, an aching trumpet, deeply resonant double bass, vibraphone, and various other forms of percussion – most notably a gorgeous bamboo xylophone (dan trung). All the while the projected blurred images are becoming clearer as Nguyen gets closer to Australia.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Nine different musical pieces take us on an ongoing journey through arrival in the new land, sharing feelings of excitement and expectation, disruption and uncertainty, and finally back full circle to a point that feels like resolution; the acceptance of life as a migrant – forever a stranger but who nevertheless finds a way to retain their Vietnamese soul.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">This is all done with exquisite collaboration between musicians seeking their space to contribute to the mood of each piece. A range of electronic gadgetry complemented traditional instruments and neatly symbolised the integration of old and new experiences that migration entails.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">This was an enchanting performance – deeply moving, ethereal, exotic, a wonderful blend of sounds that may or may not become music, but all of which express feeling.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">It concludes with Nguyen back on the floor, plucking his zither, gently humming to himself………<br /></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #0c343d;">This review also published on <a href="https://theclothesline.com.au/1988-ozasia-festival-music-review/" target="_blank">The Clothesline.</a></span></i></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-49634632635025348102023-12-04T21:39:00.001+10:302023-12-04T21:39:53.134+10:3012 Angry Men - Review (from 2016)<p> <span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700;">Holden Street Theatres, The Studio, Wed 13 Oct.</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Matt Byrne Media has been churning out consistently good local theatre for years now and they have excelled with this production of Reginald Rose’s timeless jury room drama <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">12 Angry Men. </em>Appropriately timed to coincide with the madness surrounding the US election and the racist fear-mongering attitudes it is serving up <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">12 Angry Men</em> reminds us of the fault lines of prejudice that underscore American life.</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfyRd6Inv71BUcFZEnatoeqf7J8LPdULgsc7TKQBSO3vhOLGeXKk-0P7KVIH8jjGURzLZSAOpegkUIqNR5gJ-Dk7mI2lrW1cCjbmhF2E_GRujhHuTE0uSMVIwnEZFStFbKFuiDD29oAPKl9LSw_vp_Oah4h_rXRa30dBL2p5hr_0z7bD0oPSt/s783/12%20Angry%20Men.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="403" data-original-width="783" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTfyRd6Inv71BUcFZEnatoeqf7J8LPdULgsc7TKQBSO3vhOLGeXKk-0P7KVIH8jjGURzLZSAOpegkUIqNR5gJ-Dk7mI2lrW1cCjbmhF2E_GRujhHuTE0uSMVIwnEZFStFbKFuiDD29oAPKl9LSw_vp_Oah4h_rXRa30dBL2p5hr_0z7bD0oPSt/s320/12%20Angry%20Men.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Matt Byrne at far left. Sadly <a href="https://www.stagewhispers.com.au/community-theatre/vale-matt-byrne" target="_blank">Matt left this earth in 2021</a></i></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><br /></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">This production is a superb example of great casting and near faultless ensemble acting. Twelve men of all ages from many and various walks of life are closeted in a jury room to decide the fate of a 16-year-old <span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #1d2129; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Puerto Rican boy</span> on trial for the murder of his father. The initial vote goes 11-1 in favour of indictment. The dissenting juror number eight however is not convinced the evidence presented was conclusive and begins a round of discussions that slowly sow seeds of reasonable doubt in his fellow jurors.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">The crisp, fast moving dialogue is in turn rational, impassioned and heated and reveals that people have made decisions based on the values they hold rather than on the evidence that is presented. A salutary lesson in Courtroom Law 101.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">There is not a weak link among the twelve characters. While some have more demanding roles, they all play their parts to perfection and it would seem unfair to single out any of them for special mention. It is possibly the most even ensemble performance I’ve seen in years.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">There were many startling and memorable scenes. The opening scene that sees twelve random strangers awkwardly filing into the jury room for a process that would reveal much about who they are and what they believe, and ultimately decide whether someone lives or dies was beautifully choreographed. A scene late in the play when one of the more outspoken guilty verdict jurors unravels in a tirade of racism was eerily Trump-like.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Ultimately, after a fiery, combative process reason triumphs and justice rules, and shows that those who shout loudest need not always get their way.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Designed and directed by Matt Byrne, this is a classy and immensely entertaining show.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><i>This review also published on <a href="https://theclothesline.com.au/12-angry-men-mbm-review/" target="_blank">The Clothesline</a>.</i></span></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-69858243510973897282023-12-03T21:23:00.001+10:302023-12-03T21:23:30.852+10:30Kate Townsend<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcw3oUqx0o8i6d-YsntOIQmxSGGo9zvanLiOg6YpTq249X03GthgnMO1nqxUlSpGkZAwm9UtNsGmeH2wta3B3Lnq3AKGnzr64-4dGUmMZC2KUFHDJEbVBcrE11JRImnu-9QXLoClY6-NhLti2A80CRElZojUtVLb6pn2HQw_MwQsOIMdTPAzIh/s400/26377403819_863c49c585_w.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="377" data-original-width="400" height="302" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcw3oUqx0o8i6d-YsntOIQmxSGGo9zvanLiOg6YpTq249X03GthgnMO1nqxUlSpGkZAwm9UtNsGmeH2wta3B3Lnq3AKGnzr64-4dGUmMZC2KUFHDJEbVBcrE11JRImnu-9QXLoClY6-NhLti2A80CRElZojUtVLb6pn2HQw_MwQsOIMdTPAzIh/s320/26377403819_863c49c585_w.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Another friend has left us - Kate Townsend. Kate was one part
of a wonderful partnership with Dave Clarke and together for many years they
ran the <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mikecogh/22671052237/" target="_blank">Singing Gallery in McLaren Vale</a>, and in more recent years a smaller venue
called the <a href="https://theclothesline.com.au/tag/singing-gazebo-clarendon/" target="_blank">Singing Gazebo </a>in Clarendon. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dave and Kate were rare because when they
hosted musicians they made you feel like family. They treated musicians with an
amazing grace and respect. They might even feed you. They made sure all was to
your liking and that you felt OK. Playing at a venue where Dave and Kate were
hosts was a special treat. And ogether they created this wonderful sense of
community between the people who attended their shows.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I had known Kate <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for
quite a while before I heard her sing and it was a wonderful moment when I did first
hear her sing, She had a beautiful singing voice.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The song below is called Kate from the Riverbend. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Singing Gazebo was in Dave and Kate’s home
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>on a bend in the Onkaparinga River in Clarendon.
It was a place that Aboriginal people used to go to long ago and was regarded
then as a meeting place. Kate used to mention this in her welcomes to country
when you attended gigs at the gazebo. Another lovely little Kate touch was putting
names of those attending on tables with perhaps a little bunch of flowers, a pretty
tablecloth, or some interesting picture. She always made sure that people were
sitting in a place where they could see, where they could hear, and where they
would feel comfortable and able to enjoy the music on offer. So Kate – we’re all
going to really miss the events that you and Dave have put on together over the
years. Thank you so much for making it such a warm and memorable experience. Rest
in peace dear Kate.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div></div><p></p><div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b>KATE FROM THE RIVERBEND</b></div><div><b><br /></b></div><div><b><a href="https://michaelcoghlan.net/music/Kate%20From%20the%20Riverbend.mp3" target="_blank">Listen</a></b></div><div><br /></div><div>Sit over there - see your name on the table</div><div>Or sit back there - talk to our old friend</div><div>Here on the riverbend</div><div><br /></div><div>Glad you could come; glad you were able</div><div>To sing and smile and enjoy the show</div><div>Here on the riverbend</div><div><br /></div><div>Long long ago ancient people</div><div>Gathered right here to tell their stories</div><div>Your welcomes to country warm and true</div><div>They made it clear what it meant to you</div><div>This place on the riverbend</div><div><br /></div><div>We saw you smile</div><div>We heard you talk</div><div>We heard you play</div><div>Then we heard you sing</div><div>A voice from the trees</div><div>Like notes on the wind</div><div>Here on the riverbend</div><div><br /></div><div>A voice so warm like sun in the morning</div><div>Made me dream what might be tomorrow</div><div>Here on the riverbend</div><div><br /></div><div>Here on the riverbend</div><div>Here on the riverbend</div><div>Kate from the riverbend</div><div><i><br /></i></div><div><i>Michael Coghlan (November, 2023)</i></div><div><br /></div><div></div></div>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-9688036993245621492023-11-25T22:39:00.005+10:302023-12-02T21:59:31.699+10:30Defeated Voice<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIlWnHKsEN2na-MWn91Bmbnp8oxBWUvzkfwYAQT56VN8FRiGe7qx5zqHu5W0Lx-7Jl59mq9SbxvU37GphRXRtaMLDhyphenhyphenLC3NTY_X-u84sAi433ShkhsY4NbAuW8M1PDqiDdp46twSnfMnQ_SIh0kL5kzD8xdqJhfIG1NsCyjTEM6HYMY1M9ugIZ/s800/52880322559_a523182a79_c.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="573" data-original-width="800" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIlWnHKsEN2na-MWn91Bmbnp8oxBWUvzkfwYAQT56VN8FRiGe7qx5zqHu5W0Lx-7Jl59mq9SbxvU37GphRXRtaMLDhyphenhyphenLC3NTY_X-u84sAi433ShkhsY4NbAuW8M1PDqiDdp46twSnfMnQ_SIh0kL5kzD8xdqJhfIG1NsCyjTEM6HYMY1M9ugIZ/s320/52880322559_a523182a79_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b>To Peter in Berlin<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">OK I'm going to dictate this rather than type so this is
voice to text at work. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I think some of what I say here Peter might surprise you. I
have a lot of - anger perhaps is a bit strong - but certainly a lot of
frustration about what's going on with the Aboriginal issue in Australia. Not
just about the Voice but there's a whole lot of stuff going on here which you
may have picked up on while you were here earlier in the year but as you
haven't been here in the lead up to the Voice you wouldn't have felt this
absolute bombardment of the Australian public about Aboriginal issues.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now for the record I voted yes. I thought it was really
important that the yes vote got up just to give Aboriginal people the message
that they belong here. But what they got is a message that lots of Australians
don't think they do belong here. I think it was a monumental cockup by both the
Labour and Liberal parties. I think both parties should have stayed out of it and
basically said to the Australian people ‘this is not a political issue; this is
a personal conscience vote issue’ and they should have stayed out of it. What
in fact happened is that it became like an election with Liberal versus Labour
and it was a disaster for all concerned.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I think a lot of what happened is that there are a lot of
Australians like me who are sick to death of hearing about it. Someone on the
ABC wrote today that at a time when we have major problems in this country with
education, not enough beds in the hospital system, not enough doctors, not
enough houses for people to live in, people are struggling to get enough money
to buy food and a whole host of other issues the last thing that many
Australians want to think about is the welfare of the Aboriginal people. The
timing was disastrous, and it feels to me like we are being force fed a diet of
Aboriginal issues 24/7 in all forms of media. Now whether or not other people
believe that to be true doesn't matter because the perception is from a lot of
people that it's just been rammed down our throats and it's another example
like with the whole gender issue. We are being told what to think and you get
the message that you can't object to what people are saying or you'll be
considered sexist or you know gender-ist, or racist. You’re reluctant to
express any dissatisfaction with the prevailing orthodoxy for fear of
recrimination and accusations.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A simple example of this is that it's a recurring theme now that
I see on Facebook and I hear people say it to me and I hadn't said it out loud
'cause I guess I didn't want to appear racist. But - I am sick to death of
being welcomed to my own country – at every game, every bit of theatre, every
movie, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>every talk, every lecture, every
everything you are subjected to this tokenistic welcome to country. I know that
country in the Aboriginal sense of the word is different to what we mean by
country but I think that's irrelevant here in the bigger picture. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The fact is I and a lot of people just don't
want to be welcomed to country because it's already <i>my</i> country. And I
find myself at these things when they're talking about elders past and present and
I want to ask what about my elders? what about the Italians? what about the Vietnamese?
What gives the Aboriginal people the right to have this little gig behind every
public ceremony just because they were first here? Well it is important, they
are important, but I don't think they're that important that they have to
occupy you know several minutes of our consciousness every day of our lives. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-11-30/sa-acknowledgement-of-country-scrapped-city-playford/103169912" target="_blank">A local Councillor the City of
Playford, said he thought acknowledgements had gone "overboard".</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">"I listen to the younger
generation who attend university and colleges, it's being read out for every
lecture," he said. </span><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: center;">"I
think it's gone a little too far, and for me, I don't think is balanced."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">The
acknowledgement needed to be "inclusive", adding the words "our
people, our forebears that have contributed in building and defending our great
nation and way of life".</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">"This is Australia, we are
a great nation, we've got to be thankful and grateful to our custodians,"
he said.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">"But we also have to
respect our forebears that have built this great nation, there are many people
who've put blood, sweat and tears, sacrificing their lives for this
nation."</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">"In this climate, it takes
courage to do this ... some people will see this as some sort of racist attack,
and that's far from what it is," he said.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Segoe UI", sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">"[The acknowledgement]
loses a bit of its meaning when every single meeting, every single lecture, we
have this verbatim read out."</span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;">
</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And I think there are a lot of Australians - in fact I know
a lot of Australians like my brother Shaun are fed up with the Aboriginal
issue. And it is still the case that a lot of Australians think - as the guy
who looks after our pool said when he was here the other day - they already get
everything for free. They get free healthcare, they get free education, free
housing - what else do they want? so I'm voting no he said. So there is still a
perception in the Australian community that Aboriginal people do get a lot more
breaks than the rest of us. Ironic given that all the poverty and well-being
markers still show that Aboriginal people are way behind the rest of the
country but the rest of the country still feels like they're getting an easy
ride and are not inclined to give them what they see as an even easier ride by
giving them something called the Voice which people didn't understand anyway.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It's really interesting too that when you analyse the data
from the referendum and look at where the majority of yes votes were recorded.
It was in the inner cities of Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Adelaide where educated well-off possibly more
liberal (as in left thinking) people live. They voted yes. The further you move
out from the inner city to the outer suburbs and then out into the countryside
and then out into the remote regions the thinner the yes vote gets so it's an enclave
of inner city elite thing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don't know
how you want to describe them and I guess I'm in that category too and I think we’re
actually a little bit out of touch with what the rest of the country is
thinking. The rest of the country was absolutely conclusive - no. Not
interested. Don't care.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And I think that care factor is significant here. With the
same sex marriage plebiscite - strictly not a referendum - that was put through
because everybody knew someone who was affected by the laws as they were then
which said same sex relationships can't be legitimate, they couldn't marry,
they had no rights so everybody knew there was a practical outcome within their
families or within their circle of friends. So people cared. In this context
with the Voice it made absolutely no difference to the average Australian
whether this thing got up or not. Obviously it did to Aboriginal people but to
the average white Australian they didn't give a toss. They didn't understand and
didn't care. I don't know what it says about Australia. It feels like a sad
empty feeling but what angers me are these two things 1) that politicians got
involved and it scuttled the whole thing and 2) read the room. There's a number
of people in this country who are sick of - I think it's called identity
politics. They want governments to spend time and money on issues that affect
all of us – education, health, transport, the economy, food, places to live - they
don't want governments to spend their time looking at you know whether or not
you're gay or whether or not you're transgender or whether or not you're Aboriginal
or whether or not you're autistic. They want the government to focus on
problems which affect everybody. Now this is a little bit my interpretation of
what's going on but I feel like that's a bit how it's running at the moment.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Some weeks later I found this – seems I’m not alone in
my thinking. Don Watson put it this way:<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36pt;">“if the Left wants to regain the
ground it lost it needs to give up its fashionable pieties, broaden its
reading, examine its own motivation for signs of vanity and self-interest, and
stop equating occupation of the moral high ground with doing something useful.
It should recognise that identity politics is an option for people whose
identities are threatened, but it won’t get you a democracy where all
identities are secure. It will get you Trump.” <i>(The Monthly, November 2023) <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But I'm sad the Voice didn't get up. It was a good idea. It
was a necessary step towards reconciliation, to treaty, to healing - it's now gonna
take another decade or two so we’ll be long dead methinks before the Aboriginal
question is satisfactorily resolved, if ever. It feels strangely sad and
negative and empty today. It says something about Australia that I don't like
but I kind of understand why it happened and I just think these inner urban
elites and politicians need to read the room and focus on the things that
actually mean something to everybody.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><br /><p></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-772752813933667472023-10-22T21:41:00.001+10:302023-10-22T21:42:05.887+10:30Ink - Review<p><span face=""Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg__JiJLwdc9xaxCfviSSvGX2mlQOxyKowt0jMqgE-x68oMlpMxbceOe9bxfQ7kG-c9Ldf9ZmHOsF5CjK0RsWofCK0OPpST6cYFKzREqCqozazxN4ESd0DviaVb3V0q_lKxypiyppsWZV7LzS0gO1-d3GGWKo-AGWygwagBM_aDZ2plnt-2DBhS/s500/Ink%20AUTG.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="500" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg__JiJLwdc9xaxCfviSSvGX2mlQOxyKowt0jMqgE-x68oMlpMxbceOe9bxfQ7kG-c9Ldf9ZmHOsF5CjK0RsWofCK0OPpST6cYFKzREqCqozazxN4ESd0DviaVb3V0q_lKxypiyppsWZV7LzS0gO1-d3GGWKo-AGWygwagBM_aDZ2plnt-2DBhS/s320/Ink%20AUTG.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Little Theatre</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Fri Oct 13 2023</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">There’s a sadness about this work from James Graham. Many of the ideas behind Rupert Murdoch’s first newspaper seemed quite acceptable. Socialist even. “Give the people what they want. “ “A newspaper for the people” “Tell stories of normal people”. In retrospect Murdoch’s Sun may well have been a kind of forerunner of social media where the humdrum activities of the rank and file were deemed sufficient to fill a newspaper.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Murdoch was also out to break the hold of the establishment on Fleet Street. He saw himself as a new broom that would sweep old and dusty entrenched attitudes aside. The rest of course is history. From there the local Adelaide boy would take on New York and the world and eventually become an entrenched stalwart of right-wing values, and one of the most insidious influences on contemporary life.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">But Ink only takes us through to the end of the first chapter in this remarkable story, when Murdoch’s remodelled Sun outsells its nemesis on the back of the introduction of the page 3 model. And it is a wonderful emotional roller coaster of a ride. Directors Robert Bell and Rebecca Kemp, together with an extremely capable and large ensemble cast manage to brilliantly convey the manic stress behind the scenes of newspaper production, the exhilarating highs shared when brainstorming ideas for a new approach to journalism, and celebrating success when the ratings come in all good news. The buzz around these scenes is infectious, and delivered with authenticity and a great sense of fun. Just one of several scenes in this play that are really very funny.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">The success of this production is undoubtedly a team effort, but it rests safely on the shoulders of two stellar acting performances by Joshua Coldwell and Bart Csoba. Coldwell is suitably brash and provocative as Murdoch. He has just enough nerve to ruffle feathers while still maintaining a sense of decency and likeability that allows him to get away with the outrageous. But hats off to Bart Csorba as the real hero of this story, Larry Lamb – the editor Murdoch entrusted to translate his vision into reality. Larry Lamb is the stereotypical newspaper guy. Most of the time he seems just shy of breaking point as he chides, encourages, and berates his staff to deliver the goods – hyper-enthusiastic, hyper-critical, hyper-anxious but always ready to celebrate success. His is a remarkable performance.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Such an entertaining show. As ever the Little Theatre’s split level and multiple entry/exit points were beautifully exploited. The audience loved the scenes where Larry cajoled fellow journos to come along on a risky crazy ride, and the hilarious group creation of the masthead, motto, and the new paper’s first edition.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Things become quite a bit more sober later in the show with the kidnapping of Muriel McKay, the wife of Murdoch’s deputy, and as reports start to filter in of people in high places being offended by this rambunctious new kid on the block. But despite the offence and the ruffled feathers the ratings continued to soar.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">As they should for this production of Ink!</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #0c343d;">This review also published on <a href="https://theclothesline.com.au/ink-adelaide-university-theatre-guild-review/" target="_blank">The Clothesline.</a></span></i></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-25943577824673438432023-10-22T21:34:00.003+10:302023-10-22T21:34:51.917+10:30Dictionary of Lost Words<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmVUZVOxqOGtcw6dkSh5qN8OqeOhrsCIu5_Ghr-YSZPk9pw2l1rjhCFm2Th36M_uhHRu2U0XYLG_X0ZyMpaomXFe-q6s-GkUGwYFcjCPLiE7CmqR_wS8Ub4tBD__U3Bow-4v04xY3PwttLNzqIFpRoewh66i-a21kO9RP2OxRABx9MfeufTTA_/s500/CL%20HEADER%20-%20Dictionary%20of%20Lost%20Words_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="500" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmVUZVOxqOGtcw6dkSh5qN8OqeOhrsCIu5_Ghr-YSZPk9pw2l1rjhCFm2Th36M_uhHRu2U0XYLG_X0ZyMpaomXFe-q6s-GkUGwYFcjCPLiE7CmqR_wS8Ub4tBD__U3Bow-4v04xY3PwttLNzqIFpRoewh66i-a21kO9RP2OxRABx9MfeufTTA_/s320/CL%20HEADER%20-%20Dictionary%20of%20Lost%20Words_sm.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700;">The Dictionary of Lost Words</span><p></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Dunstan Playhouse</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Wed 27 Sep 2023</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">At first pass the tale of a young woman growing up dreaming of being a lexicographer may not present as a ripping yarn. But courtesy of some astute direction, wonderfully creative use of an eye-catching set, and uniformly excellent performances from the whole cast The Dictionary of Lost Words is totally engrossing.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">We meet Esme as a four year old hanging around in her father’s ‘scrippy’ or scriptorium (a place for writing). Her father works for an eminent scholar who is compiling a dictionary. With that kind of upbringing Esme was always going to grow up either loving or hating words, and fortunately she realises words can be an escape, a path to alternative realities, and collecting new words and quotations to show their use becomes something of an obsession.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">The story unfolds in the late nineteenth century as the suffragette movement is gaining momentum in Britain. Wanting a more independent life than most women, Esme had already decided that marriage was not for her and was potentially a suitable candidate to help further the suffragette cause.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">As Esme grows older she begins to accompany her maid to the local market. This turns out to be a surprising entry point to another universe for Esme when she strikes up a friendship with a woman selling hand-made trinkets. Their first meeting was hilarious and quite a shocking exposure to another world for Esme.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">The rapid set transformation from scriptorium to market was also a wonderful surprise for the audience. In a trice we move from a stuffy office with desks, paper, people in suits, shelves, to a lively joyous scene with vendors, beggars, flowers, fruit, colour, and noise on streets heaving with life.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">However the scriptorium itself held plenty of visual interest. A wall of shelves served as bookshelves, letterboxes, pigeon-holes, library catalogue compartments, and gateways to secret passages. An ingenious projection device variously displayed information about date, locations, words with definitions, abstract backgrounds, visual metaphors to reinforce the messages – it provided another separate but connected filter on events taking place and added depth and mystique to many scenes – brilliant!</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Tilda Cobham-Harvey’s performance as Esme was faultless and inspiring – as a child, teenager, and young woman. Her ability to grow – literally – in this role and share her frustrations, joy, love and enthusiasm was authentic and endearing.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Ksenja Logos as Mabel the market tramp deserves special mention for her earthy comic touch and entertaining revelations about the language of the lower classes, but really – all characters played their roles to perfection. And despite their sometimes pompous façade they all had a warmth and humanity about them.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Sometimes it can be subtle, almost unnoticeable moments that elevate a play to another level. There were two occasions when unspoken lyrics from <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">The Bonnie Banks of Loch Lomond</em> were implied and totally in synch with the events on stage. This production is littered with such metaphorical moments reinforcing the narrative.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">A great show. So good to see so many elements of theatre blended into an impressive whole!</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #0c343d;">This review also published on <a href="https://theclothesline.com.au/the-dictionary-of-lost-words-state-theatre-company-review/" target="_blank">The Clothesline.</a></span></i></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-29080460172831595562023-10-22T20:45:00.001+10:302023-10-22T20:46:56.479+10:30Lady Day<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPIAkpUFq0G_l9R93fiLlc8PqGjTh7pj8ii5-uR6pOY8psoxWqNVaQeOMpk9X0Y2EAN8e1l262NKxXPZA8w-e4GnjiKmFSMeRsOrOtfVuQvzg7mk0OGabj56Qcm8jHgj_SAE8ksNPI8qYqS6vp-AIuHG1-ftyAtM8DT54skuS02ESkkkrO4msD/s400/53274192987_ae467bfe57_w.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="319" data-original-width="400" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPIAkpUFq0G_l9R93fiLlc8PqGjTh7pj8ii5-uR6pOY8psoxWqNVaQeOMpk9X0Y2EAN8e1l262NKxXPZA8w-e4GnjiKmFSMeRsOrOtfVuQvzg7mk0OGabj56Qcm8jHgj_SAE8ksNPI8qYqS6vp-AIuHG1-ftyAtM8DT54skuS02ESkkkrO4msD/s320/53274192987_ae467bfe57_w.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span face=""Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span face=""Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #666666; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700;">The Space Theatre, Festival Centre, Tue 29 Aug</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Billie Holiday is often associated with the tag ‘the lady sings the blues’ after the film depicting her life from 1972. Holiday herself saw things as more nuanced: “I sing the blues with a jazz beat”. This is just one of many insights about Billie Holiday revealed in the marvellous new production from the State Theatre Company. “Singing is living for me” was another. Lady Day is in fact just as much about the person that was Billie Holiday as it is about her music. And it succeeds admirably in both realms.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Lady Day was one of Holiday’s nicknames and the show takes place at one of her favourite venues – the Emerson Bar and Grill in Philadelphia in 1959. It was to be one of her last performances. Holiday died later that same year. In retrospect, Lady Day becomes a memorial to an icon, and a harrowing first person account of the trauma she endured. Deeply entwined in this trauma was the shocking level of racism she experienced. Add to this drug and alcohol addiction, time in prison, and being raped as a young woman and you have a recipe for desperation. Thankfully for us, and Holiday herself, she chose music to express and exorcise these torments. It is quite likely that it was music that enabled her to live as long as she did. She died a young 44 but along the way left a legacy of soulful, bluesy songs that drew on every ounce of emotion.</p><p class="nitro-offscreen" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">The Space Theatre has never looked better. It’s rare to feel that just being in a performance space, even before the show begins, was a real treat. Decked out as a 1950’s bar with colourful lamp shades on each table and a waiter in white showing patrons to their seats and offering them drinks was just brilliant to observe. The place was alive with expectation and looked gorgeous.</p><p class="nitro-offscreen" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">At one point the recorded music seamlessly morphed into a live band and it was time for Jimmy Powers (of the Jimmy Powers Quartet) to introduce the star of the show. Billie Holiday took the stage looking resplendent and after a deliciously long pause bursts into song. Drinking as she goes it gets harder and harder for her to focus on the songs, and she starts sharing anecdotes of her life. If she gets too maudlin or dangerously close to saying something that may land her back in prison Jimmy Powers lovingly suggests a song on the piano. Sometimes she follows him; sometimes she doesn’t. She needs to feel which songs to sing she tells us. This delicate, beautiful relationship between Powers (played by Kym Purling) and Holiday was really touching, and beautifully played by both parties.</p><p class="nitro-offscreen" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">The musical accompaniment was wonderful – full of class and nuance, the setting magnificent, and then there was Zahra Newman. What a performance. Not only did she deliver the songs with eloquent passion and exquisite phrasing, her portrayal of the human side of a star unravelling before your eyes was extraordinary. Bravado, vulnerability, wit, charm, grace and poise – all in appropriate measure. It felt like she was Billie Holiday.</p><p class="nitro-offscreen" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">A magnificent concert; magnificent theatre. Music and theatre combined to tell a compelling story with class and style.</p><p class="nitro-offscreen" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Presented by the State Theatre Company in association with Belvoir St Theatre, and the Melbourne Theatre Company</em><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Directed by Mitchell Butel<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Musical Arrangements by Danny Holgate</em></p><p class="nitro-offscreen" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #0c343d;">This review also published on <a href="https://theclothesline.com.au/review-lady-day-state-theatre-company/" target="_blank">The Clothesline.</a></span></em></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-46720735109220445042023-10-07T22:07:00.002+10:302023-10-07T22:28:41.455+10:30I Quit!<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfuW11stv7-QqgXmqvM6Y4Jzcn6_4OZR3sqamNu3D2AEKXQjmB5Z_OkwE61i1lSA2Ji5eGYhECWW0W_Q9x2lgDjDIW3uPvsGcGtbQ3KsJsP8TUEOkZ-z5CrmNixQ3FzrspTGZ-hGhQEoO8LYuzGExVSuP9nd_l_AEDDn9W-hA_pVcVBTPpMF_1/s640/5521431258_0916d32d14_z.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="620" data-original-width="640" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjfuW11stv7-QqgXmqvM6Y4Jzcn6_4OZR3sqamNu3D2AEKXQjmB5Z_OkwE61i1lSA2Ji5eGYhECWW0W_Q9x2lgDjDIW3uPvsGcGtbQ3KsJsP8TUEOkZ-z5CrmNixQ3FzrspTGZ-hGhQEoO8LYuzGExVSuP9nd_l_AEDDn9W-hA_pVcVBTPpMF_1/s320/5521431258_0916d32d14_z.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Quitting jobs is not my style – or so I’d like to think. I
know I did it once when I was still at university. I took on a factory job for
the holidays and lasted 7 or 8 days. It involved mindless feeding of sheets of
metal into a machine that cut them into the required size. And stacking the cut
sheets. Hour after hour. I guess I was doing it for extra travel money but at some
point in the middle of the working day I realised I was not enjoying it and
that I didn’t need to do it. In my memory I simply walked off the job and out
the door and never returned.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fast forward 50 years. I have been working on a fascinating
project assisting in the deployment of technology solutions for remote
locations in the Pacific. I loved the work, and the project’s aims, but I was
working with a project manager who eventually made the job a misery.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It started out OK. We met mostly online but did spend a whole
day face to face early in the project that was pleasant and productive. Things
started to go adrift when this project manager – let’s call her Joy – didn’t
seem to have a grasp of some of the basics of the technology we were working
with. This was fair enough as she had only recently started working with it
whereas I’d had twenty years’ experience using this technology. She wasn’t much
interested in hearing what I might know about it. Rather she launched herself on
a crash course and impressively learnt a great deal about the technology in a
very short time. The problem was she then started to behave as if she was the expert
on it, disagreeing with me about how it might be employed and using different
terminology to the standard ways of referring to various processes. In short, it wasn’t long before I started to feel like she was
always right and I was always wrong. In addition, I felt like she was unilaterally
making wrong decisions and rising roughshod over whatever I thought should
happen.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I began to drift away on my own and do things the way I
preferred to do them. I was a little unfair to Joy as I let her think I agreed
with her about certain things but then went ahead and ignored her. This I see now
was foolish. She was however very hard to reason with because as I
said, she was always right.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This project had many stakeholders. The company we worked for,
the relevant education department of the country concerned, and the users/owners
of the technology in various locations around the world. My preferred method would
have been to enter discussions with these various stakeholders and together craft
a plan of action and implementation. I was however effectively blocked from
communicating with any of these third parties. Joy did all the negotiations and
I was fed dribs and drabs of relevant information in haphazard fashion. I was
very uncomfortable about this – I did not think it was appropriate for me to be
parachuted in after all these discussions to help deploy the technology when I
had not been party to any of the lead-up discussions. I felt sidelined.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, because I had been over-ruled on many issues, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>barred from any meaningful discussion with
stakeholders, micromanaged by a project manager who just seemed to think I was
there to do her bidding, and feeling very much undervalued I was already quite stressed
about the job and no longer enjoying it. As I saw it, I had been employed to
perform a task that she had taken over.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And then came the bombshell. “Michael” - as a friend she
said – “do you think it’s possible that you might be forgetting things?” <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I couldn’t believe my ears. She thinks I’m old
and forgetful! I can see why she’d think that – that was a consequence of me ignoring
things she said and just going my own way. But the dam wall had burst. Bottom
line? She didn’t trust me, and I could no longer feel sure about anything I
said around her.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I have always prided myself on the fact that I am not afraid
to admit mistakes; I don’t mind admitting I don’t know things; I don’t mind
coming across as imperfect – I have often forgotten things over the years, or
have needed others to point out where I have gone wrong. That is part of
working successfully with others – being able to learn from and with others.
But now I had to be perfect. No mistakes, slips of the tongue, lost emails, wrong
dates, getting someone’s name wrong – none of this could happen or I’d be written
off as old and forgetful. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So I quit. I quit what was potentially a really exciting and
rewarding project. I just couldn’t work with her anymore. Frankly I don’t think
she wanted to work with me anymore either because she seemed to think she knew
it all and I just got in her way.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It must be said that after having worked as a leader in my field
with quite a lot of responsibility – I had project managed several national
projects with groups of up to 20 people over the years – I found it very
difficult to be play second fiddle to someone half my age, who was a new kid on
the technology block, and who did not appear to respect my experience or judgement. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So – am I forgetting things? Probably. But that’s not new.
And besides, that’s for others to tell<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>…..<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-8708403876106032002023-09-05T21:50:00.001+09:302023-09-05T21:50:27.535+09:30The Music of Joni Mitchell - A Case of You (review from 2016)<p><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700;">The Jade Monkey, Wed 17 Feb</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzjsyq7hRq_24nqdzZfkMv8mqkaAzVW3qob8TypVYJSIWdXKG3_4Zde3edcpVYkstMypXQEhH-v0oACdFDWNpCipQ70GtEgQB1oJAyyZU35fPjzcZNTw1jdB5ATPEvDGNAhcUp_URn6A7oZfLT2NlQbdPs60Em08LffMiunSBhEGvFRd-m0Sl/s400/25519193481_fc17e0a039_w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuzjsyq7hRq_24nqdzZfkMv8mqkaAzVW3qob8TypVYJSIWdXKG3_4Zde3edcpVYkstMypXQEhH-v0oACdFDWNpCipQ70GtEgQB1oJAyyZU35fPjzcZNTw1jdB5ATPEvDGNAhcUp_URn6A7oZfLT2NlQbdPs60Em08LffMiunSBhEGvFRd-m0Sl/s320/25519193481_fc17e0a039_w.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: left; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">It’s fortunate that Deborah Brennan fell in love with the music of Joni Mitchell as a teenager – that’s allowed her a long time to internalise the soul and spirit of the Canadian folk singer. And she’s done a remarkable job of reproducing her individual and idiosyncratic vocal style. Some might criticise the fact that she stayed so close to the original vocal arrangements, but in concert with her capable backing band it felt like <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">their</em> music and it was quite infectious.<br />Mastering the vocal techniques required to adequately sing Joni Mitchell is one thing, but being able to convey the emotion embodied within the songs is what made this performance so good. By the time Brennan got to <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">You Turn Me On I’m A Radio</em> I had stopped comparing her to Joni Mitchell and was just moved by her own interpretations and depth of feeling. Beautiful to watch and beautiful to listen to.<br />The show included many of Mitchell’s better known songs. If I had to select one as the show’s highlight it was probably the title track – <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">A Case Of You</em>.<br />Deborah Brennan was initially attracted to Mitchell because she sang of the tension between wanting to travel and being homesick when away from home <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">(Urge For Going)</em>, and because she sang from the perspective of a woman – a rarity back in the male dominated ‘70s.<br />Kudos to her for not tugging on the emotional heart strings and not mentioning that Joni Mitchell is currently learning to talk again as a result of a massive stroke. It would have been an easy card to play but they didn’t need it. They focused instead on the impressive body of work of an extraordinary artist, and did a fantastic job of conveying that artistry to a contemporary audience. Really well done.</p><p></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>This review also published in <a href="https://theclothesline.com.au/a-case-of-you-fringe-review/" target="_blank">The Clothesline.</a></i></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-47299426940805829992023-07-25T22:40:00.001+09:302023-07-30T21:49:50.249+09:30Vignettes from Long Ago in Israel<p>Israel has been in the news again today and again for all
the wrong reasons. Today it voted to
give the government the right to cancel decisions made by the Supreme Court so
the government can override decisions made by the Supreme Court any time it
wants. It’s yet another step away from true democracy and towards darkness …</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However - I was talking the other day with a friend about things
that I remembered from my time in Israel and I thought I really should write
them down. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, I’m actually going
to speak them out loud and let Word do the transcribing into text – three little
vignettes all to do with war and guns.</p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kYxf5yXnP2jgd6h5MBK8AUINXYxGIpCrvfHlJFjH9pLVZcGceZpfyC336zaMB6es1hS7fQq9hR7xLfLJE3HPmlYzQfERz05dWNVY-f-_shTOp8275CIxvjvlAPvFg40pGKYBjRxHTJBj_q9pfhzcPk180KdCa-rZG6pyNnaVEsZwjWHsGBgA/s799/51840652452_6e62bbb9f4_c.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="799" data-original-width="547" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1kYxf5yXnP2jgd6h5MBK8AUINXYxGIpCrvfHlJFjH9pLVZcGceZpfyC336zaMB6es1hS7fQq9hR7xLfLJE3HPmlYzQfERz05dWNVY-f-_shTOp8275CIxvjvlAPvFg40pGKYBjRxHTJBj_q9pfhzcPk180KdCa-rZG6pyNnaVEsZwjWHsGBgA/s320/51840652452_6e62bbb9f4_c.jpg" width="219" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p class="MsoNormal"><b>1)</b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was 21 when I first went to Israel. I certainly had
absolutely zero experience of war apart from knowing old people who had probably
been to war. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But I never really had
conversations with anybody who had been to war I had this kind of suicidal
attraction to the idea of war; to know more about it. I was working every day with people who were
probably 5-8 years older than me - certainly all younger than 30 - and they'd
fought in two wars already: the 1967 and 1973 wars in Israel. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was also working with Henny, a volunteer
from Holland, and Henny was the same as me. She was fascinated about what it
was like for these people who were our friends by now and colleagues that we
worked with every day, and we continually asked them “what was it like to fight
in a war?” But they would never talk about it and always fobbed us off and moved
the conversation somewhere else.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But I guess we were persistent - stupidly - and one day - I
don't remember whether it was me or <br />
Henny who asked the question again – “tell us what it was like to fight a war?”
but this time Gilboa <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>slammed his coffee
cup down on the table, sat forward on his chair and said something to the
effect of “OK if you want to hear about war shut up and listen. This is what
it's like" and for several minutes he ranted about what he'd seen, what he felt,
and it was clear that it was a very traumatic experience for him to talk about
it and it was so blunt and brutal that Henny and I felt the power of his anger,
his obvious disgust, his unwillingness and shame. He talked about a specific
occasion somewhere between Israel and Cairo when they were moving through
Egyptian villages taking villages one by one as the Egyptian soldiers retreated
and they had been told that there were still soldiers in this village. But when
they attacked the village, and it was a full-on onslaught, and when everything
was quiet the Israeli soldiers went into the village and found that all the men
had long gone and all they'd done is killed and terrorised women and
children. It was an occasion in my life where I realised it's very unfair and
uncool to ask someone who's been in a war to tell you about what it's like
because it's so horrific; <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>it's so
traumatic; they should never have to relive what they've seen and done and felt
but the damage was done. Henny and I got to hear what it was like to be a
soldier in a war and I think we were ashamed that we'd been so persistent in
asking for this story from our colleagues in the chicken houses. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Wherever you go in Israel there are guns. It's a fact of
life every time a group of people go anywhere there's always an armed guard
with the group. I don't mean like a family group going down to the shop but a
school group, or kibbutz group, or a group from a club would always have an
armed guard with them and so it was even on Shabbat evenings when no work was
done and it was normal for us to have what we called a disco on Friday nights. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The volunteers and young Israelis would gather
and dance and drink and have fun. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>On one
of these nights I had this vision burned into my brain of something that was
amazing and beautiful. I think the soldier in this story was actually Kobi. I'd
become friendly with Kobi so I knew him as a fellow worker and fellow young
person on the kibbutz. This night it must have been Kobi's turn for guard duty.
The steps coming down into the cellar where we held our disco on Friday nights
were quite steep and I was dancing to the music and I noticed this soldier
coming down the stairs - a person in uniform and of course he had a gun (probably
an Uzi) and as he reached the bottom step and touched the floor of the disco
all in one movement he put his gun up against the wall and danced his way off
the bottom step into the people milling around on the on the disco floor in
full uniform. I don't know how long he stayed - I'm guessing about 10 minutes -
and I watched him wondering how long he would stay and how will he actually disconnect
from the dancing crowd but he kind of detached himself from the group and went
back on guard duty and without saying a word to anybody. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When the time was up he danced back toward the
steps, all in one motion picked up his gun and disappeared up the steps as if he’d
never been there. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was graceful,
elegant, and responsible and again it was just one of those moments where I
thought ‘this is life in Israel’.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG-wzO_abk_VZWDXyNGjWi2PnNUzxD0ozsemFljLtxeBPHHQT5xgXOeuuPNff_0CBhTSUqFYp-CiwHiYDdvbXdXyGdIWC5boS52Xb5Kaiq1ezn962Iu9ivmzbal5kkeuOlfhwjxmj8QsPlDimZI4_9mfPrZzDOW9eJ7xi-mU2ps-fn2G99nQFj/s390/8302577361_0e64c646ea_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="390" data-original-width="278" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhG-wzO_abk_VZWDXyNGjWi2PnNUzxD0ozsemFljLtxeBPHHQT5xgXOeuuPNff_0CBhTSUqFYp-CiwHiYDdvbXdXyGdIWC5boS52Xb5Kaiq1ezn962Iu9ivmzbal5kkeuOlfhwjxmj8QsPlDimZI4_9mfPrZzDOW9eJ7xi-mU2ps-fn2G99nQFj/s320/8302577361_0e64c646ea_o.jpg" width="228" /></a></div><br /><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">3) <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Back then, and I'm talking about 1976, 1979, 1981,
hitchhiking was very very common in <br />
Israel. All of the soldiers used hitchhiking to get around from base to home to
kibbutz to job and it was more or less understood that that's how soldiers got
around. They could catch the bus or they could drive themselves but there were
always groups of soldiers at major intersections looking for a ride to their
destination and it was quite acceptable for young travellers like me to stand
near the soldiers and if a car was going to where I was heading or in the right
direction I could hop aboard with the soldiers. This happened one day and I'm I
found myself in the back of what's a kind of covered ute - just myself and this
one soldier. Again probably about my age or maybe a bit older and he's chatting
away – where am I from? which kibbutz am I on? what did I think about Israel?
The usual kinds of questions but he sensed that something was bothering me. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What it was is that while he was talking to me
he was sitting with his legs apart and with his gun - his Uzi - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>just kind of supporting him. He's got both his
hands on his gun between his legs while he's facing me so his gun’s between me
and him. I wasn't in danger; I didn't feel in danger. I just didn't feel very
comfortable talking to someone while this gun was right there. His response,
without me saying a word, when he realised this was an issue for me, was to
throw that gun towards the back of the vehicle loud enough for the gun to clatter
when it hit the floor and then he looked at me and said “OK there's no more gun.
It's just you and me. Let's talk. “ And we did, and it was a much better freer
conversation. I was amazed at how kind of sensitive he was knowing that that's what
was preventing us having a decent conversation, and caring enough to want a
proper conversation to ditch the gun. I don't remember anything after that.
I just remember him throwing the gun away, looking into my eyes saying OK the
guns gone let's talk and it's just another moment burned into my memory that
I'll take with me to the grave as another example of ‘this was life in Israel.’<o:p></o:p></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-52507774175905616322023-07-18T22:00:00.000+09:302023-07-18T22:00:16.757+09:30The Music of Jeff Beck - Review<p><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></p><p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0kIErA1VsePXiT-qCrCjnjHTIs3z43bCu8XLPK30oGBe67-fsEfbL__jkfusxE_vR8AMLaLMFHjs4_TqRxsJGmDAlH-znm8_zY2NAHN-_DsX1nbCMx2eTxyzgxCVhXaayRUkjF40IKW6KaR-MnLY9VHDMMUBsZetfzQyMXwBY8bVaqcPP6Yd/s800/13850273745_68f198c71a_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG0kIErA1VsePXiT-qCrCjnjHTIs3z43bCu8XLPK30oGBe67-fsEfbL__jkfusxE_vR8AMLaLMFHjs4_TqRxsJGmDAlH-znm8_zY2NAHN-_DsX1nbCMx2eTxyzgxCVhXaayRUkjF40IKW6KaR-MnLY9VHDMMUBsZetfzQyMXwBY8bVaqcPP6Yd/s320/13850273745_68f198c71a_c.jpg" width="214" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">CC image courtesy of <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/75972766@N02/13850273745/" target="_blank">Takahiro Kyono</a> </span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700;">His Majesty’s Theatre, 14 July 2023</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Jeff Beck’s name was first in the headlines as part of the British pop invasion of the mid 1960s. He was one of three guitarists who journeyed to the rock pantheon via <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">The Yardbirds</em>. The other two were Jimmy page and Eric Clapton. But it was Beck who was voted the best lead guitarist in Britain in a magazine poll from 1966. From there Beck chose to leave pop music behind and delved into more experimental approaches with <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">The Jeff Beck Group</em> and <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Beck, Bogert and Appici</em> before going solo around 1975. He maintained his high profile in that solo capacity right up until his recent death.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Beck himself said “The electric guitar seemed to be a totally fascinating plank of wood with knobs and switches on it. I just had to have one.” And it was his willingness to experiment with these knobs and switches (and tremolo arm or whammy bar) that set him apart from the rest. Pop songs were never going to cut it for a guy who wanted to stretch the electric guitar to its technical limits – sustain, distortion, reverb, and feedback were all part of the Beck repertoire.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">And true to the Beck legacy, The Music of Jeff Beck is in part about acknowledging the electric guitar as an electricity fuelled machine that is capable of an extraordinary array of sounds. We saw something of this when Hendrix shocked the world with his raw and riveting version of the Star Spangled Banner at Woodstock, but Beck has been doing similar things for decades.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">The music is mostly loud, edgy, and innovative. It is perhaps something of a mark of respect for Beck that this show featured no less than four different guitarists, all of whom brought their own individual signatures to Beck’s music, rather than just leave it to one guitar player to take on the Herculean task of reproducing Beck’s prowess. This was a smart move. There were occasions when we had all four guitarists playing together – and it was amazing – but mostly they took turns on stage to share their own interpretations of Beck’s guitar wizardry.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Much of the music seemed very free form and jazz like – Beck was not so interested in catchy lyrical runs that might be repeated in something like a verse or chorus. It’s more like classical music where everything is constantly changing. Licks or chord patterns were rarely played the same way twice. The music is always evolving into a different shade, another effect, or another variation of a chord.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">I found some of the pieces a bit harsh. Yes – superbly crafted, fascinating compositions, but the choice of tones often seemed too electric; too extreme. There was a shift to some quieter, warmer tones after the interval and the two pieces with just keyboard and guitar were beautiful.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Paul Mason, a self-confessed ‘Jeff Beck nut’ often played the role of ensemble conductor as well as delivering some superb guitar work. James Muller on stage left treated us to some classic lead guitar breaks. And just in case someone might be thinking that all this electric guitar flaunting may be a bit too male or macho, Kathleen Halloran would enter the stage and offer some blistering guitar work of her own.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">The band really enjoyed playing with each other. There were lots of knowing smiles and laughs shared between band members and it didn’t matter what configuration was on stage the chemistry was there and the collaboration tight.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Beck spent decades showcasing his work without the need for vocalists so it was a bit surprising that token vocal spots were sprinkled through the show. It did offer some relief to the full on guitar based instrumentals, and Carla Lippis and Nina Ferro tried their best with a tough hand, but they seemed to be more of an afterthought than something that was actually necessary.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">I love the fact that Paul Mason was very honest about his love for Beck and his music, and I think we all appreciated his comment that it’s important to remember just how pivotal lead guitar was in the early days of rock music.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Jeff Beck left this earth in January this year, and this show does a great job of showcasing the extraordinary virtuosic legacy that he’s left future generations. Vale Jeff Beck, and thanks from us all.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #0c343d;">This review also published on <a href="https://theclothesline.com.au/the-music-of-jeff-beck-adelaide-guitar-festival-review/" target="_blank">The Clothesline.</a></span></i></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-2435824412462695352023-06-24T20:43:00.000+09:302023-06-24T20:43:15.667+09:30At What Cost - Review<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJIoYuEZctmLQEuAkj4UZTQ2Ykbs_WM9TdqOoSsdpRHD1JpznZ1eIVRoGz7eHpIyOcQKpuRrgS1RTfxqVIMLio5riEf95YISyDUZBv9Yg0jgGYS5lf6DJzOt-iZWmOvA7KFVl1L4Rp_kGaBAwQZuGabfHfvH8Rpg3wA1_R8q4dZhdhPZw5XbJ/s400/51419205860_b9153cf3f2_w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="321" data-original-width="400" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsJIoYuEZctmLQEuAkj4UZTQ2Ykbs_WM9TdqOoSsdpRHD1JpznZ1eIVRoGz7eHpIyOcQKpuRrgS1RTfxqVIMLio5riEf95YISyDUZBv9Yg0jgGYS5lf6DJzOt-iZWmOvA7KFVl1L4Rp_kGaBAwQZuGabfHfvH8Rpg3wA1_R8q4dZhdhPZw5XbJ/s320/51419205860_b9153cf3f2_w.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700;">State Theatre Company (in conjunction with Belvoir St Theatre)</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Odeon Theatre, Thu 22 June</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">With the daily focus in the media around the imminent Voice referendum there has never been a more fertile time for discussion of Aboriginal issues and At What Cost is like a hand grenade being thrown into the mix.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Set in Tasmania, Boyd is a newly appointed elder and has been designated the honour of cremating the remains of a distant relative who is being returned to ancestral lands. Boyd is deeply moved by the trust and respect his people have bestowed upon him and he begins preparations for the ceremony.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Enter a pale-skinned ginger-haired woman, Gracie, from elsewhere in Tasmania who is on local Palawa land conducting research into colonial history. A chance meeting with Boyd’s cousin appears to lead to a blossoming romance – no real problem here. But it turns out Gracie has another reason for being on this land.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Boyd had earlier made it very clear what he thinks of tick-a-boxers who think they can just fill out a form and proclaim themselves to be of Aboriginal descent, and when faced with an interloper in the days leading up the most Important cultural experience of his life he verily explodes. His impassioned ‘where were you’ plea for integrity around the whole question of Aboriginal identity is confronting and powerful.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Circling above the intriguing narrative of this play is the whole question of belonging, of feeling connected – to ancestors, to land, to culture, to beliefs. Why do people feel this almost desperate need to belong to something with a significant past? And why do they get so upset when those feelings of connection are questioned or threatened?</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">From the moment this play begins with stars appearing in the sky to the beat of a clapstick you feel the pull of nature, the beauty of country. Indoor conversations take place off to the side. The rest of the stage is outdoors under sky and stars. The scene of the final ceremony is visually striking – quite beautiful.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Luke Carroll’s high energy performance as Boyd drives this show. The provocative casting of Alex Malone as Gracie was a brave choice but she did a fine job as a foil for Boyd’s passion.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">So many issues to unpack here! Get along and see it for yourself.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Written by Nathan Maynard<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Directed by Isaac Drandic<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Originally performed at Belvoir St Theatre,</em> Sydney</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #0c343d;"><i>This review also published in <a href="https://theclothesline.com.au/at-what-cost-state-theatre-company-review/" target="_blank">The Clothesline.</a></i></span></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-2406204395155729942023-05-10T21:51:00.001+09:302023-05-10T21:51:53.813+09:30Goodbye Plaka<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hSm42bpuGp9crgcIdHVmT82XCxIuXS1dQ6xB1QvcRTLccnVMLzq9uFHUg8caQYpn1a0GzTHXiYtqa7L1PRXIvbp6dhR2jJIHcUQzC8XfiDBv8m9suhQf8TVgd2E6w-jBxhFOCXtQ5i-RGjNUkk03I48homfGHtr_XNqW3jgmuj3t97ncnA/s400/538281823_31db908f4b_w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4hSm42bpuGp9crgcIdHVmT82XCxIuXS1dQ6xB1QvcRTLccnVMLzq9uFHUg8caQYpn1a0GzTHXiYtqa7L1PRXIvbp6dhR2jJIHcUQzC8XfiDBv8m9suhQf8TVgd2E6w-jBxhFOCXtQ5i-RGjNUkk03I48homfGHtr_XNqW3jgmuj3t97ncnA/s320/538281823_31db908f4b_w.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Photo courtesy of <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/_liana/538281823/" target="_blank">Liana</a></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Athens felt like home. Plaka felt like home. Over the last
few days I've tried to remember all the times and different reasons I came to
Greece - which always involved Athens.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The first time was 1976 - on my way to Israel. It was one of
at least two occasions when I took the Piraeus - Limassol - Haifa ferry. (It's
not possible anymore.) So Greece, Athens, is firmly lodged in my memory as a
part of my visits to Israel. And they were always occasions of great joy. So
Athens basks in the glow of my memories of Israel.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There were several other visits that had nothing to do with
Israel. Peter and I came here on route to our eventual destination of Patmos. Hiske
and I on route to Sifnos. With Elizabeth on route to Delphi. And then there
were a couple of occasions with the Australian Greek truck drivers out of
Arnhem. On all these visits there would have been a visit to Plaka<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- that’s where I would have stayed. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Probably on Odos Nikis - it sounded very
familiar.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When I stood there on my last night on one of those charming
narrow streets in Plaka I felt like I was saying goodbye to a considerable
chunk of my life. I doubt I'll be back there.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I shed a tear in a moment of sweet sadness as I took in the
sight of Plaka one last time. A bouzouki and guitar duo added to the
sentimental moment as I bade farewell to a wonderful part of my life. A part
that was young, fancy free, and fearless.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It's difficult at this age farewelling old much loved
haunts. You know in all likelihood this goodbye is the last. Plaka will go on
drawing in travellers of all ages from across the globe. They’ll continue to
sip wine beneath the Acropolis and feel part of something ancient and charming.
‘Efcharisto’ <br />
Plaka. I've always enjoyed being here.<o:p></o:p></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-23872310420822154182023-05-08T14:16:00.002+09:302023-05-08T14:16:44.554+09:30Prima Facie ~ A Spotlight on Sexual Assault Cases and the Legal System ~ Theatre Review<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQiafLIjMbAdEfqiiYf0OIRP7jsfXJZYkpqnJLD5BOr-rE2OBfA4T_iIkuZSYdZq_DBAgV_q4giddi7uX_vGOJZ9-pWX9lvqwLqsiry9S5ZV-7YkThBB2SK0UVBnM-At8IROYIRvO7baRpbKix93v0OlXk9PNjH6ajtNhltbaW7QrfS8RkA/s400/8035396680_31ed820eb3_w.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLQiafLIjMbAdEfqiiYf0OIRP7jsfXJZYkpqnJLD5BOr-rE2OBfA4T_iIkuZSYdZq_DBAgV_q4giddi7uX_vGOJZ9-pWX9lvqwLqsiry9S5ZV-7YkThBB2SK0UVBnM-At8IROYIRvO7baRpbKix93v0OlXk9PNjH6ajtNhltbaW7QrfS8RkA/s320/8035396680_31ed820eb3_w.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700;">State Theatre Company<br />Space Theatre<br /></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700;">Fri 5 May, 2023</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Given the subject matter and the likelihood that Prima Facie might be a somewhat harrowing experience for the audience, it begins, wisely perhaps, in quite a light vein. It’s not long before Caroline Craig as barrister Tessa is in full stride demonstrating the tricks of the courtroom; the necessary strategies a barrister must employ to ensure they don’t ‘come second’. It’s all about winning after all. And this message is imparted at day one of law school. Court is about performance, has little to do with actual truth, but everything to do with <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">legal truth</em>. It’s an amusing expose that entertains, instructs, and describes those kinds of situations that seem quite funny until it happens to you.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">And it happens to Tessa. All of a sudden the boot is on the other foot and she is having to defend herself from the type of jackals she normally works with. The context is rape, and the circumstances inform Tessa’s ‘legal instinct’ that her case is doomed to fail. But she pushes on: driven for a desire for justice, and to hopefully learn that the legal system she has thus far dedicated her life to might be in this instance an instrument of fair play where the actual truth might be revealed, and rightful justice will prevail.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Via an exceptional performance from Caroline Craig we are left in no doubt as to the horrendous experience any woman who pursues a sexual assault charge must endure. Endless invasive questioning about minute and intimately personal details, all dragged out for an entire courtroom to hear; all premised on an almost implicit prejudice from the defence lawyer that she is somehow delusional and making it all up. And in a cruel ironic twist under our laws the perpetrator doesn’t have to take the witness stand – does not have to say one word – and is therefore not called to account for their actions, while the victim of the sexual assault has to suffer public prosecution over and over again. It appears to be an outrageous imbalance.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">This is the grander purpose of this fine piece of writing – that the whole legal process around how sexual assault cases are prosecuted needs to change. It is not right that the alleged victim is forced to endure humiliation at the hands of a highly skilled barrister trained to win at all costs. Our adversarial system where a witness can only respond to the questions put to them by the court is not appropriate. They need to be able to tell their side of the story in their own way, in their own time.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Caroline Craig’s performance is magnificent. Ninety minutes plus of superb execution – of a complex text, multiple perspectives, an intense range of emotions – an extraordinary display of humour, passion, and conviction. With the help of some wonderful unobtrusive direction from David Mealor, and an engaging score from Quincy Grant, Prima Facie is a remarkable work well worth seeing.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Prima Facie was written by Suzie Miller.</em></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: #073763;">This review also published on <a href="https://theclothesline.com.au/prima-facie-a-spotlight-on-sexual-assault-cases-and-the-legal-system/" target="_blank">The Clothesline.</a></span></em></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-84522089843123584762023-05-07T21:47:00.003+09:302023-05-07T21:47:47.321+09:30Crete: Impressions<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvyI-fAQe7j5EX1O8sMeEjiN6qrC3VRhSUNiumkD47pWAOVFCkVM8a715_7nvS-d0V1mnZEbIocfox9cnEiRTp5SOeHxwQUdtOzyrPbbg02tEaoSYikw3YflEc3inqFv5InBK3QevUoz__EUfVyppV-BuOET4zQ3g65mlAlTNDPWhKbJOqSg/s800/8164039583_70c3170783_c.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvyI-fAQe7j5EX1O8sMeEjiN6qrC3VRhSUNiumkD47pWAOVFCkVM8a715_7nvS-d0V1mnZEbIocfox9cnEiRTp5SOeHxwQUdtOzyrPbbg02tEaoSYikw3YflEc3inqFv5InBK3QevUoz__EUfVyppV-BuOET4zQ3g65mlAlTNDPWhKbJOqSg/s320/8164039583_70c3170783_c.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Image courtesy of <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/72283508@N00/8164039583/" target="_blank">Rookuzz</a></i></td></tr></tbody></table><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Crete feels a bit like its own country. It's big enough to
offer plenty of geographical variety; It's rugged, beautiful and, due to the
fact that it has been invaded by multiple neighbouring civilizations, offers
the visitor a varied legacy. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Roman, Venetian,
Byzantine, and Minoan ruins litter the island, but it is the Minoan
civilization that Crete is most famous for. Around 2000 BC the Minoans had
developed a progressive and sophisticated culture that was the equal of ancient
Egypt. It was in fact at its peak slightly earlier than ancient Egypt.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But evidence of the Minoan civilization, most notably the
palace at Knossos, did not come to the attention of modern scholars until the late
19th century. I'm sure there were other factors but I imagine the sheer scale
of the pyramids has something to do with how much we know about ancient Egypt.
The pyramids were unmissable evidence that an advanced civilization had lived
in the neighbourhood. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Minoan
civilization’s legacy was harder to find - it had mostly been destroyed or
buried by earthquakes and conquerors. At least one earthquake and perhaps a
fire destroyed much of the palaces at Knossos and Phaestos. It was not until
1878 that these remarkable centres were discovered. Modern scholars were
shocked to learn that there had been another civilization in the Mediterranean
region that was as advanced as the Egyptians. And having spent two days walking
around Phaestos and Knossos, and perusing the Minoan artefacts on display in Heraklion's
archaeological museum I am in no doubt as to the Minoans’ level of
sophistication.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If the remaining buildings are not enough (Phaestos is
mostly rubble) the volume and quality of materials on display at the
archaeological museum are really impressive. Artistic and cultural pursuits
were clearly important - the famous Minoan frescoes reveal a society where music,
fashion, jewellery, and handicrafts were all an intrinsic part of daily life. There’s
also an obvious love of pageantry and of course the athleticism - they invented
bull leaping!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you look at any of the large decorated pots that were
found at Knossos you can assume a good many things: <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-align: left; text-indent: -18pt;"><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">t</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><o:p>t</o:p><span style="text-indent: -18pt;">hey had the skills to create these pots (urns)</span></li><li>some would have been charged with teaching these
skills to others </li><li>these pots are often elaborately decorated – a separate
skill from actually making the pots </li><li>these pots were stored and labelled in magazines
implying order, planning, an organisation </li><li>they infer that large quantities of produce were
produced or gathered for later use - implying planning and organisation </li><li>a rudimentary writing system was used to label
and categorise these pots.</li><li>cart like devices would have been required to
transport these heavy pots.</li></ol><p></p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<br /><p class="MsoNormal">Finally, from an archaeologist’s perspective - in the museum
today I saw a very large pot, about a metre high, that had been reconstructed
from broken pieces of pottery like a jigsaw puzzle. What an immense sense of
satisfaction one must get from recreating a fine object that is 3 to 4000 years
old.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When you visit Greek islands they are normally small enough
to get a sense of the whole island. You can extrapolate from an experience, a
view, an atmosphere and more or less safely assume that it represents the
island as a whole. Because Crete is so much larger you can’t safely do that.
It's a question of scale, diversity, and variety. I was asked if I was smitten
by Crete and I couldn't say unreservedly yes. I was smitten by <i>parts of Crete</i>.
The Venetian harbour at Chania, the humble ruins of Phaestos, the marvellous Roman
aqueduct outside of Heraklion and, and the gorgeous village of Archanes for
example.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Heraklion however is on the whole a depressing dump: <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>much of the bland rectangular architecture on
the rocky hillsides is typical of many Mediterranean buildings that are far
from inspiring. But there are also dwellings both rural and urban that are quite
exquisite.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There was one occasion however that says a lot about Crete.
On a Sunday evening around dusk, the pedestrian malls of Heraklion were
rocking. Full of people out to socialise, parade, shop - the whole vibe was
positive, energetic, and infectious. This will be an enduring memory of Crete and
Heraklion. As well, sadly, will be the poverty. Just a few streets back from
tourist shops and markets it changes to residential streets where life is clearly
a struggle for many. Lots of angry graffiti and a general unkempt appearance I
suspect tells the deeper story of what life in Crete is really like in 2023.<o:p></o:p></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-88888803706498449502023-04-30T22:12:00.005+09:302023-06-04T21:02:28.918+09:30Song # 79 Not Quite An Old Man<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4FTVDqfK4WOmsKCA3FR40KtPTs3bKqdqPVFfR-bJEytVscBV7IiUwCcS-TQPcFXpzAc4poHWt2HG7MlcAvrJfCxb5u2g7tG8u6O3C2qED6KMKnOBMDLFSjhCqRcAjeVn7kPBk4Zd279gNy7gq_p5Vfvv0Hyl0wh5GFO3a5T7oH1vmnnWbw/s400/5999531210_05e2b86858_w.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="247" data-original-width="400" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH4FTVDqfK4WOmsKCA3FR40KtPTs3bKqdqPVFfR-bJEytVscBV7IiUwCcS-TQPcFXpzAc4poHWt2HG7MlcAvrJfCxb5u2g7tG8u6O3C2qED6KMKnOBMDLFSjhCqRcAjeVn7kPBk4Zd279gNy7gq_p5Vfvv0Hyl0wh5GFO3a5T7oH1vmnnWbw/s320/5999531210_05e2b86858_w.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>After 3 weeks away and not touching a guitar during that time the first verse of this new song below just 'popped out' the first time I picked up the guitar. It has evolved into a complete song. To wit:</p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">NOT QUITE AN OLD MAN<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="http://michaelcoghlan.net/music/Not%20Quite%20an%20Old%20Man.WAV" target="_blank">Listen....</a></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I’ve been
out wanderin’ around the world again<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">This time a
little voice tagged along for the ride<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">It said hey
there Michael<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Take care
Michael<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">You’re no
longer a young man<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I went back
to places I had been before<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">45 years ago
in the days of yore<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Where the
sun was always shining<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">And life
would be forever<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">I remembered
that young man<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Who walked
alone and looked about for the answer to his dreams<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">A girl like
him who liked to roam and play music in the sun<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">But the
dreams were always fleeting <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Too many men
competing<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">So I
wandered on alone man<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">This time
the older man he took a different path<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Down the
roads of ancients with their cities made of stone<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">He sat in
ancient theatres<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Heard their
distant voices<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">And felt
right at home with those old men<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Bridge 1<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">They pick
the olives and catch the fish<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">And make
sure the retsina flows<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Too old now
to leap with bulls<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">They sit
around in talk cafes<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Bridge 2<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">What’s that
pain? am I out of breath?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Should I
just sit here for a while?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Those steps
were steep; that road is long<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Are you sure
that this is wise?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Travellers
and the locals all dine out in the squares<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Beneath the
famous temples up there on the hill<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Those with
worry beads connect the present and the past<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Bouzouki
strains floating on the breeze in the fading light<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Beckon to
the Parthenon<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Gorgeous
Plaka will party on<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">Long after
we’re all gone man<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;">And I’ve
come home not quite an old man<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"><i>Copyright M. Coghlan (April 2023)</i> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-23773255468127971692023-03-18T22:25:00.003+10:302023-03-18T22:27:25.751+10:30RIP David Lindley<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlBUOOLPpEM4R6_1pjKIRSbsq0vYfOQZX0mb-L8fVj0uXoq8_SeVfjvMCYSlYVNcv9dbKFka-rDvVk7RIO8A0lDW-2JXogNc-QTa_xWdSlYciD6Cp8JAQxXtcYrxQJUpSIZKoc_XI4lwGJqt87s39IiL82Erj72hndR8hX8gtWUVwUITJT4w/s549/david%20lindley.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="358" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlBUOOLPpEM4R6_1pjKIRSbsq0vYfOQZX0mb-L8fVj0uXoq8_SeVfjvMCYSlYVNcv9dbKFka-rDvVk7RIO8A0lDW-2JXogNc-QTa_xWdSlYciD6Cp8JAQxXtcYrxQJUpSIZKoc_XI4lwGJqt87s39IiL82Erj72hndR8hX8gtWUVwUITJT4w/s320/david%20lindley.jpg" width="209" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I’ve been waiting to read Jackson Browne’s reaction
to the death of David Lindley. And now we know why it took him awhile: he didn’t
want to let him go.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">I wanted to know how Jackson felt. As soon as I
heard that Lindley was gone my thoughts turned to Jackson. They made so much
wonderful music together.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">When I first heard Jackson’s songs on Late for the
Sky I loved them instantly. But at the same time I fell in love with the violin
playing and pedal steel sounds that sent those songs into another hemisphere.
And that was the work of David Lindley. To my ears it was musical perfection.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Baby Boomers are now of the age where the musicians
of our youth are leaving us. It hurts when someone dies whose music you loved. And
for me David Lindley’s death hurt more than most. He represented sweet musical
perfection. As someone somewhere else noted, if you wanted someone to play
along to a song in a major key, there were none better than David Lindley. So many
times his music made me feel so happy, so positive, so in touch with raw emotion.
It was your gift to us all.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">Rest in peace David.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">-------------------------------------------------------------------------<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="font-family: arial;">An edited version of Jackson’s post on Facebook
today:<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="color: #050505; font-size: 11.5pt;"><o:p><span style="font-family: arial;"> </span></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial;">David Lindley, the guitarist, lap steel and fiddle
player who gave his personality and his inspiration to so many of my songs,
passed away on March 3rd. The outpouring of love, and the widespread
recognition of his mastery has been very moving. I want to join in the
resounding chorus of appreciation for his gifts, but nothing I write seems
quite good enough. Words have never been enough to describe what David Lindley
brought to a song.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial;">I played with David for the first time in a
dressing room at the Troubadour in 1969. My friend Jimmy Fadden of the Nitty
Gritty Dirt Band had brought him to say hello, and pointed out that David had
his fiddle with him, saying he would probably sit in if I asked him to. I
already knew him from the band Kaleidoscope, whose first album, Side Trips, was
one of my favorite records. We started to play my song These Days, and my world
changed. His playing was so emotional, and immediate - it cast a spell over me
and everyone there. It didn’t matter that he had never heard the song before.
What he was playing made it more emotional and more real than it had ever
sounded in the years I had played it alone.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial;">……</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial;">David is a very large part of me - who I became,
and who I remain. No one ever played like him. …. He didn’t play the same thing
each time. He was always exploring, always hearing something new. Always in the
moment.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial;">…….</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial;">My own world is shattered by David’s passing. He
was my friend and my teacher. It was with great pleasure and certainty that I
revisited our special connection over the years. I guess I thought that he
would always be around.<o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial;">I've been struggling to write something and post it
for the past two weeks. It was hard to begin, and it’s hard to conclude, I
guess, because I don’t want to let him go. David was kind to everyone, and so
funny. Incapable of uttering a dishonest word, or playing a dishonest note.
There will be tribute concerts, and a documentary about him, for sure. There
will be ways for us to continue to celebrate his life. And we all know there
will never be another David Lindley.</span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-size: 11.5pt;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: arial;">- Jackson Browne</span><span style="color: #050505; font-family: inherit, serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-27323663867858546902023-03-16T22:08:00.002+10:302023-03-21T14:31:48.771+10:30Fish Bowl - Adelaide Fringe 2023 Review<p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyMLLwE8S7PpoAZDr34kQbomDeH9eRDl2LLclZJ5ecu6FHieuZdQy0R6t8Ky5HgfmHgeGrq3qHkrOm9qPJcCJE0WLjB5TX2tLYPF4MMc7vN5imkKH0uzpn-9hiHVeGpXyg0MgJo8w4c8ayO4_0SeqDHzpCGvrkVx3mUPpwG5itCMYZyfTbZQ/s540/fishbowl%20image.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="540" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyMLLwE8S7PpoAZDr34kQbomDeH9eRDl2LLclZJ5ecu6FHieuZdQy0R6t8Ky5HgfmHgeGrq3qHkrOm9qPJcCJE0WLjB5TX2tLYPF4MMc7vN5imkKH0uzpn-9hiHVeGpXyg0MgJo8w4c8ayO4_0SeqDHzpCGvrkVx3mUPpwG5itCMYZyfTbZQ/s320/fishbowl%20image.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br /><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">[THEATRE AND PHYSICAL THEATRE/</b>Immersive<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> </b><span style="mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">~ South Australia</span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">]<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b>The Studio at Holden St
Theatres, Tue 7 Mar, 2023.</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Fish Bowl is part seminar, part theatre. While daring to
entertain on a touchy subject like dementia it also provides a lot of advice on
how to cope with, and treat, people with dementia.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Set in an aged care nursing home the players switch between
being patients and carers, often quickly shifting from troubled /troublesome
patient to narrator in the same scene. It’s a very effective technique that
holds audience attention and attempts to explain the patient’s behaviour - why
the patient might be all of a sudden roaming around the room in an agitated
state, or affectionately addressing a soft toy as their spouse.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There is a tragi-comic aspect to dementia that is also on
show here. As the old cliché says, you don’t know whether to laugh or cry, and
often either response is appropriate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>But people in the caring role have to get past that and come up with
strategies to deal with the situation at hand. Fish Bowl shows us several
delightful examples: a scene encouraging a patient to recite a long poem while
getting them ready for bed is quite beautiful and amazing to watch. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There are also moments of extreme, violent anger that are
quite scary. Such are the swings and roundabouts of dealing with dementia –
childlike joy one moment; explosive fury the next.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Full marks to Fish Bowl Theatre for delving into this
challenging territory. It’s instructive and enjoyable theatre that attempts to
cast somewhat of a positive light on how one can cope with people who have
dementia; how one can build relationships across the cognitive disconnect.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I commend them for that but the sooner a cure
is found for this dreadful dignity sapping disease the better.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="background: white; color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Director: Steph Daughtry</span></i><i><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br />
<span style="background: white;">Writer: Matthew Barker</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Performers: Matthew Barker & Evie Leonard.<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></p><p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="background: white; color: #073763;">This review also published on <a href="https://theclothesline.com.au/the-fish-bowl-adelaide-fringe-2023-review/" target="_blank">The Clothesline.</a></span></span></i></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-27246184791582996782023-03-16T22:00:00.003+10:302023-03-21T14:34:03.432+10:30The Sensemaker - Adelaide Fringe 2023 Review <p> </p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">[THEATRE AND PHYSICAL THEATRE/</b>Comedy<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"> ~ AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE ~ Switzerland]<o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIfU1C7KWxMDv4PMxgzQhgMEGjtGfVadrLsazBV8pubo5J-ojQqKGeLgAmr2R1zo_U2ngVk6mI32uoTU6KZA8Lh93xM3nNj-c_8HEsErzK3S_NCec6b65y_Tqt1WWJc-GfbZxJW7po03L8fqRt6kKqrFfM7wS38KjDHB1omSeidi8ewSPb3w/s265/sensemaker%20image.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="265" data-original-width="226" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIfU1C7KWxMDv4PMxgzQhgMEGjtGfVadrLsazBV8pubo5J-ojQqKGeLgAmr2R1zo_U2ngVk6mI32uoTU6KZA8Lh93xM3nNj-c_8HEsErzK3S_NCec6b65y_Tqt1WWJc-GfbZxJW7po03L8fqRt6kKqrFfM7wS38KjDHB1omSeidi8ewSPb3w/s1600/sensemaker%20image.JPG" width="226" /></a></div><br /><b><br /></b><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><b>The
Garage International @ Adelaide Town Hall, Fri 10 Mar, 2023.</b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">How
long are you prepared to wait on the phone? How many looped menus do you
tolerate? Are you patient? How willing are you to accept instructions from a
phone bot? What do you do while you’re on hold? The Sensemaker will help you
answer such questions. It may also leave you with an uneasy feeling that this
nonsense is in its infancy and could get much worse.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">The
Sensemaker is a wonderful solo show that puts the spotlight on an issue that
has exploded in very recent times – just what should our relationship be with
bots. And Elsa Couvreur does so in such a glorious and graceful fashion. In an
unusual combination of dance and comedy she commands attention form the outset.
Every sideways glance, every twitch of a finger, every sigh, is calculated and intended
to convey meaning. She is riveting to watch.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">Couvreur
shows inexhaustible patience as we endure the endless wait for her ‘’request to
be processed.’ She comes up with some very inventive ways to pass the time and amuse
herself and us before things get a bit weird and the phone bot would appear to
be very much overstepping the mark. The caller needs to decide whether she wants
to continue to have her ‘request processed’.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">This
clever show takes what is normally private behaviour into a very public space,
and does so with subtle humour, and an abundance of elegance.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">Countless
hours have gone into the preparation of the many layers of pre-recorded
messages and on-hold music. Clever use of multiple languages and the ironic use
of Beethoven’s Ode to Joy may mean you’ll never here it the same way again.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">A
magnificent show displaying mastery of the technical and artistic sides of
theatre. Superb entertainment that also throws up just so many questions.
Deserved a much larger audience. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;"><i><span style="color: #073763;">This review also published on <a href="https://theclothesline.com.au/the-sensemaker-adelaide-fringe-2023-review/">The Clothesline.</a></span></i></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-16189923756309488392023-03-07T21:16:00.001+10:302023-03-07T21:16:35.856+10:30Glenn Skuthorpe and Band Play Dire Straits<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyelwd2yXcSsg87u6Jjh3sAXGVTCR0wvCsds0f-F9R15GwGUBbRUmdfnFqxSjHKqXPKwwxWGohbHUmvuM2Y3u3cuesYD-60aNGd_ZGbL9T7RNQQzFY95znrFp9pNoY8HI3g_Rln-bwZF0cxuEtnnomLDkidR_909vD7ykXOwPjlft4uFddkw/s565/Glen-Scuthorpe2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="565" data-original-width="544" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyelwd2yXcSsg87u6Jjh3sAXGVTCR0wvCsds0f-F9R15GwGUBbRUmdfnFqxSjHKqXPKwwxWGohbHUmvuM2Y3u3cuesYD-60aNGd_ZGbL9T7RNQQzFY95znrFp9pNoY8HI3g_Rln-bwZF0cxuEtnnomLDkidR_909vD7ykXOwPjlft4uFddkw/s320/Glen-Scuthorpe2.jpeg" width="308" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; text-align: justify;">Eliza Hall at Payinthi, Sat 4 Mar, 2023.</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Attempting to play the music of Dire Straits is a risky business. Band leader and vocalist Mark Knopfler is one of the few in rock music who carved out new territory. He invented a distinctly new sound that was instantly recognisable as Knopfler’s – an understated vocal style and a bluesy melodic electric guitar finger style that was smooth as silk.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Turns out Glenn Skuthorpe’s delivery style is very much suited to playing Dire Straits music. Whether he subconsciously picked up the Knopfler way from hours of listening to him or it was just inherent in who he was doesn’t really matter. What matters is that is he has that same ability to deliver a vocal full of rich melody in that low almost semi-spoken way, and to play the guitar with emphasis on accuracy and tone rather than volume and speed. No shenanigans; no ‘look at me’ theatrics – just solid musicianship with a great feel.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Supported by a great band who clearly really enjoyed playing these songs, Skuthorpe and co delivered an excellent show. Claire O’Meara on keys/piano added welcome harmonies on several songs, and Aldo DiSario on drums was just all class – great to watch and listen to. Like so many bass players Mike Haynes was just totally focused on his craft and there were several occasions when you realised that it was his bass lines that were punctuating the beat with a metronomic pulse – beautiful work on <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Romeo And Juliet</em>.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Mark Hawkins spent most of the time on rhythm guitar but added saxophone when necessary – the sax and piano duet at the start of <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Tunnel of Love</em> works beautifully as a teasing intro to the main event. Skuthorpe’s guitar solo on this piece was a treat.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">The show closed with the hauntingly beautiful <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Local Hero</em> – not strictly a Dire Straits song but who cares – we all wanted to hear it, and Skuthorpe’s guitar was true to the original melody and feel. Just beautiful.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">As it so often is with bands the quality of the final product is so dependent on the acoustics of the venue and the ability of the human doing the mixing to get the balance right. The sound was a little muddy early on, but things got better as the show progressed. But this is a real challenge for anyone playing Dire Straits. Knopfler was not a loud player, and he was a relatively quiet singer but somehow you have to get that vocal and guitar cutting through the mix, so the signature sound is at the core. There were times when that wasn’t the case, but all in all this was a great show. Those subtle melodies, trademark guitar licks, and the almost detached vocal mood were all there to remind us just how good Dire Straits were. And how good Glenn Skuthorpe is!</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #073763;">(This review also published on <a href="https://theclothesline.com.au/telegraph-road-glenn-skuthorpe-adelaide-fringe-2023-review/" target="_blank">The Clothesline</a>.)</span></i></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3850537.post-10775932041339870522023-03-07T21:11:00.003+10:302023-03-07T21:11:56.627+10:30Recalibrate - Adelaide Fringe Review 2023<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmWvfNsMy4w3KaDOVvSs24vGd_UxMNsigHM6DveBMZ2ztoGARreqV_md88FqCT8PVXSJlbPxGd7LE0ETpVlX9rQtpupWfsNvR8jd_BMHebp7U6oM8TTs2GYsjtX9HoMAGcUlEj7BA6kv6O5Ks_ppKp5VQLKaWXdrpBhejWh8bhop2Ye1Tqw/s800/user_crop_Recalibrate_image_no_words_2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCmWvfNsMy4w3KaDOVvSs24vGd_UxMNsigHM6DveBMZ2ztoGARreqV_md88FqCT8PVXSJlbPxGd7LE0ETpVlX9rQtpupWfsNvR8jd_BMHebp7U6oM8TTs2GYsjtX9HoMAGcUlEj7BA6kv6O5Ks_ppKp5VQLKaWXdrpBhejWh8bhop2Ye1Tqw/s320/user_crop_Recalibrate_image_no_words_2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 700; text-align: justify;">The Lab at Light ADL @ West Village, Thu 2 Mar, 2023.</span></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">The Lab’s L-shaped stage and 180-degree panoramic projection backdrop encourages innovation. The fourth wall disappears as characters are in full view as they arrive and exit the stage. The extended projection space allows for all manner of use – text messages on screen, characters who are not physically present can interact with on stage players, radical changes of set from one scene to another, locating scenes in specific geographical locations, the use of silhouette, and canny use of liminal messaging between scenes via abstract imagery and sound.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">All of these elements are employed with excellent effect in <em style="background: transparent; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Recalibrate</em>. And then of course you have the rightly billed powerhouse cast.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Simone (Emma Beach) has returned home from Las Vegas to help out with a mystery family emergency. Her entrance is awkward and funny – it’s immediately obvious she’s the black sheep of the family. She’s also someone who can see through crap and knows when people are fooling themselves. Her sister, Mary (Katie O’Reilly) is a case in point; lost in the world of motherhood. Their mother Carmel (Jacqy Phillips) is an academic coming to the end of her tenure. She is desperate for Tessa (Kelly Vincent), her star student, to stay on and complete her degree, but Tessa is tired of theoretical ‘academic bullshit’ and wants out. Relationships between all the characters seem fractured and tense until Carmel stages a protest on the roof of the university armed with a megaphone. Her impassioned rant from the rooftops is both an irrational outpouring and a brilliant account of what she sees as wrong in the world. As a fellow Boomer I found it deeply moving and had to fight back tears. A line was crossed here – somewhere it stopped being theatre and became terribly real. It was a powerful moment.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">This desperate display of emotion briefly brings a degree of equilibrium until a final twist challenges the sisters one more time.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">Jacqy Phillips, Kelly Vincent, Emma Beech and Katie O’Reilly were all wonderful in their respective roles, but Phillips’ performance is one for the ages.</p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;">It might be described as dark comedy. Variously bleak, humorous, and hopeful. But nothing in life is straightforward and everything comes at a cost. A really impressive new work from the <i>SA Playwrights Theatre.</i></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #666666; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><i>Written by Lucy Combe. Directed by Elena Vereker.</i></p><p style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "Open Sans", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 1em; text-align: justify; text-size-adjust: 100%; vertical-align: baseline;"><i><span style="color: #073763;">(This review also published in <a href="https://theclothesline.com.au/recalibrate-adelaide-fringe-2023-review/" target="_blank">The Clothesline</a>.)</span></i></p>Michaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04934357059705046130noreply@blogger.com0