WANNA BE A PRODUCER?

Micky and Judy had it so much easier when they chirpily announced to their pals, “I know, we’ll put on a show!” And off they went to the barn and...made millions for MGM. But producing doesn’t work like that outside the world of Rooney and Garland. For a start, as Max Bialystock so famously said, “Don’t put ya own money in da show.” But what else is there to being a theatre producer and is his advice correct?

Independent producer Cat Dibley intends to answer those questions and more in October when, she says, “I’ve teamed up with Actors Centre Australia to present a Producer Workshop series specifically targeted towards independent producers, and emerging artists keen to get their work up rather than waiting to be programmed by the majors.”

THE DROVER'S WIFE

THE DROVER’S WIFE, Belvoir in association with Oombarra Productions at Upstairs Belvoir, 17 September-16 October 2016. Photography by Brett Boardman: above - Mark Coles Smith and Leah Purcell; right: Will McDonald

The best actors have no vanity when it comes to performance. They leave the way they look and feel in everyday life at the door and, if surrounded by an equally good creative team, immerse themselves deeply, dangerously and totally in the role. 

Leah Purcell is one of those actors and for the audience it’s thrilling, cathartic and the greatest gift. In this instance, Purcell has also written the piece and the result is mesmerising. To say it’s “adapted” from Henry Lawson’s short story The Drover’s Wife isn’t exactly how it is. This play stands on its own as a new piece in the growing mosaic of Australian theatre.

FAWLTY TOWERS – LIVE

FAWLTY TOWERS LIVE, Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney 18 Aug-18 Sept; Comedy Theatre Melbourne, 21 Sept-23 Oct; Her Majesty’s Theatre Adelaide, 26 Oct 26-13 Nov; Regal Theatre Subiaco, 17 Nov-11 Dec; Playhouse, QPAC Brisbane, 28 Dec 2016-22 Jan 22 2017, NZ to follow. Photography James Morgan: above - Blazey Best and Stephen Hall; right - Aimee Horne 

Almost 50 years ago (!) John Cleese and Connie Booth wrote six half-hour episodes of a sit-com for the BBC. It was so successful they were asked to write six more and then they said, “that’s it, no more.” And they meant it. Fawlty Towers is as legendary for the brevity of its existence as it is for its comedic genius – which is alive and well today.

So timeless is the concept – life in an awful seaside hotel in Torquay – that news of its adaptation for the stage by Cleese seemed logical. It was promised that we would get the Fawlty Towers we loved and can quote chunks of; it was to open in Australia with an Australian cast. What’s not to love? 

MELBOURNE FRINGE: A PRUDENT MAN

MELBOURNE FRINGE: A PRUDENT MAN, Fringe Club, Arts House (former North Melbourne Town Hall), 521 Queensbury Street, North Melbourne, 18 September-1 October (no Monday shows). Photography by Adam Fawcett

Inspired by Machiavelli and many a tearful political exchange at the dinner table of a right-wing relative, playwright Katy Warner has written a polished and multi-layered monologue, straight “to camera”, of a conservative politician who, as he admits himself, doesn’t quite know why he is, seemingly, under attack. However his own defence is shaky, uneasy, and prone to repetition, which is a common trait of politicians while they wait for their brain to catch up with their mouth (ie Tony Abbott).

MELBOURNE FRINGE: DISTRACTION SOCIETY

DISTRACTION SOCIETY, Bluestone Church, Footscray, 16–18 September, Melbourne Fringe Festival (15 September–2 October 2016). Photography by Pippa Samaya 

If you are a Melburnian and not engrossed in Aussie Rules football you are then most likely to be engrossed in performance art; so big is this year’s Melbourne Fringe Festival: the program boasts 64 pages advertising 574 performances and events and Distraction Society, a “physical dance work” is one of them.  Anna Seymour and Amanda Lever have created a work of athleticism and synchronicity, but with an ease and beauty, which is testament to their professionalism. 

GLORIA

GLORIA, Griffin Theatre Company at the SBW Stables Theatre, 1 September-8 October2016. NB: Season sold out. Photography by Brett Boardman: Marta Dusseldorp

Catching up with Benedict Andrews’ new play a couple of weeks into its premiere run means – inevitably – having already heard the raves, bewilderment and even outright fury floating about this ambitious work. And no wonder people are talking and flocking to it. It is truly amazing.

The play itself is at once complex and oddly simple. Over two and a bit hours it explores the life of an actor – Gloria (Marta Dusseldorp) – both on stage, on film, in her personal life and in her imagination. Gloria asks questions about how an actor deals – or not – with a traumatic role (Medea, for instance) and also, how she might deal – or not – with traumas in her own life (an absent or straying husband for instance).