Our Melbourne cast

Here's our Melbourne cast and director at the reading of The Seven Needs last Thursday.

As we're mostly Sydney-based, it was only Ned (who is about to become a Melbourne resident) who was able to get along to the reading. See the previous post for his account of the evening.

For more info about MKA Richmond's Open Season go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Richmond-Australia/MKA/129779870388203 or check out the company at  http://www.wix.com/mkamkamka/mkarichmond

Or read the indefatigable Augusta Supple's post about the company here.

7 NEEDS

I arrived in Melbourne slightly jaded having said good bye to my home of 20 years and wondering where I'm gonna lay my head for next few weeks when I'm back in Sydney. I said a quick hello to the family and headed off to MKA Richmond for the reading of 7NEEDS. There was one slight hitch that being that MKA had been informed that they couldn't operate a Theatre in their space. I wondered if the reading would be on at all.

I found the address and noticed a few people surreptitiously gathered outside a doorway. I thought I'd lost my mind and this was the inner city Melbourne of John Wren fame; sly grog, sp bookies and the rest. I waved the family good bye and slipped inside. MKA had indeed been given notice but that seemed to be no deterrent for them. Tobias and Glynn told me they'd already found a new venue and handed me a beer.

The space is amazing. These guys have converted what was effectively Tobias' living room into a Theatre. It's roughly the same size of La Mama in the early days. It's a crying shame that Richmond Council have given the the flick but I reckon it'll be Richmond's loss more than it will be MKA's.

We sat down and 7NEEDS took off. This was the first time all 7 plays had been put together and what a revelation it was! Director Paige Marshall arranged the plays in order to reflect Maslow's hierarchy of needs starting with Food, Shelter, Sex and moving up through the others. Paige structured the piece like a pyramid and it made sense. The audience loved it and it struck me what gold we 7 had mined. 7 minds riffing on 7 needs in 7 entirely original voices. Really exciting. What an amazing introduction to the world of Melbourne Theatre! MKA are a breath of fresh and it was an invigorating to get a taste of it.

If you're in Melbourne ...

7-ON's first ever project was The Seven Needs - 7 short plays inspired by Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of human needs: food, shelter, sex, safety, belonging, respect and spirit. These plays were performed individually throughout the Griffin Theatre Company's 2007 season. However, Melbourne punters have a chance to see the seven plays read as one unified piece at 8pm on Thursday the 4th of November at MKA Richmond 2/24 Tanner Street Richmond. The cast is: Francesca Waters, Laura Maitland, Terry Yeboah and Paul Goddard, and the director is Paige Marshall. The readings are part of Open Season, MKA Richmond's month long reading program of new Australian plays. The Seven Needs are published in the anthology Short Circuit, by Currency Press, and will be available for sale on the night. For tickets and more information go to
http://www.greentix.com.au/events/133419

The Sweetest Thing

Verity's play The Sweetest Thing is coming to Belvoir ...

To see the trailer, point your mouse at the image, right click, select 'Show All' from the dropdown menu, and away you go ...

We couldn't help noticing ...

We’re really pleased that the theatre companies have taken responsibility for a more than token inclusion of female directors in their 2011 seasons. Perhaps they were inspired by the many and various forums, events, newspaper articles, and blog posts bemoaning the paucity of women directors and writers when last year's subscription seasons were announced? But ... we couldn’t help noticing ...

1. Sydney Theatre Company
Main Season:
In The Next Room by Sarah Ruhl (American) female playwright.
Bloodland is listed as ‘story by Kathy Marika, Stephen Page and Wayne Blair’.
But it is as yet unwritten, according to Stephen Page, who spoke for it at the season launch. Don’t know that you can count this in terms of female writer numbers really ...

So … That’s 1 (overseas) female playwright in a season of 12 plays.

2. Belvoir Street Theatre
Upstairs:
Neighbourhood Watch by Lally Katz.

Downstairs:
The Dark Room by Angela Betzien.

That’s 2 plays by (Australian) female playwrights in an overall season of 13 plays.

3. Griffin Theatre Company
Main season:
This Year's Ashes by Jane Bodie.

Independent Season:
Smashed by Lally Katz.

That’s 2 out of 8.

4. Ensemble Theatre (and yes, we know they don’t receive public/government arts subsidy, but still ... )

No female writers in a season of 8 plays.


So … out of 41 plays being presented by/through Sydney professional mainstage theatre companies in 2011 there are just 5 plays by female writers, and one of those is by an American, and 2 are by (bless her!) Lally Katz.

This comes to (approximately) 12%.

And who buys the tickets? Mostly women, we know. So ... predominantly female audiences are listening to ... predominantly male voices.

Theatre companies all ... that’s pathetic actually, don’t you think?

Awgie Award for Donna

Here's Donna with writer Catherine Fargher at the AWGIE Awards in August. The production of her winning script Mrs Macquarie's Cello can be heard on Airplay, Radio National, 3pm 26th September.

Free readings of two 7-ON Plays at Stables Theatre this Sunday 29th

The plays of two 7-ON writers, Verity Laughton and Catherine Zimdahl are being read this coming Sunday 29th August at the Stables Theatre from 4pm. See details below.

This event is free - just rsvp to the email address below.

THE IMPULSE COMPANY & INSCRIPTION present:

FROM THE PAGE TO THE STAGE: Three Readings by Impulse Company Actors

Sunday, August 29th, from 4pm at the Stables Theatre, Nimrod St, Darlinghurst

**FREE OF CHARGE**

On Sunday, 29th August, the SBW Stables Theatre will play host to a very exciting FREE event; ‘The Impulse Company’s Festival of New Writing.’ Audiences will be treated to an evening of staged readings with three new Australian plays being performed by Impulse Company Actors who have been trained by Scott Williams (Impulse Company Artistic Director) during his recent series of Sydney Workshops. Combining the dynamic performance style of The Impulse Company's training with the sharp, contemporary writing being practiced by these three local writers, this is an extraordinary one-off opportunity to share in the live performance of some brilliant new upcoming dramas.

The plays included in the Festival are: THE ICE SEASON by Verity Laughton. "An investigation of faith and fate, art, love and damage in the contemporary Western World" is how Ms Laughton describes her play, which concerns the events following the death of famed novelist, Thomas Allen. Verity Laughton's plays include The Lightkeeper, The Snow Queen, Burning, Carrying Light and The Mourning After. Her most recent large scale production was a puppetry adaptation of Patricia Wrightson's The Nargun and the Stars. THE ICE SEASON won the 2009 Inscription Open Award.

DEVIANT ART FOR THE DEGENERATE by Catherine Zimdahl. A play "about class and power, idealism and absolutism and the treachery of conformity," according to Ms Zimdahl. The story revolves around a young expressionist artist and the art world into which she's drawn into in Sydney, 1946. Ms Zimdahl's credits include the plays Clark in Sarajevo, Family Running for Mr Whippy, A Day Too Great, the children’s play The Rocky Road to Riches, and the adaptation of the classic novel Moonfleet. Her film script The Ego Trip is currently in development.

SLEEPING DOGS by Brenda Gottsche. Dr. Roz Collins, a popular radio psychologist, is just set to become the next Oprah Winfrey when troublesome 'sleeping dogs' awake and ransack her life. Brenda Gottsche's produced plays include The Balmain Jesus (originally developed by The Impulse Company in London as The Fulham Jesus), Hot Property and The Max Factor. She divides her time between Sydney and London, and is currently in pre-production for a film script based on The Fulham Jesus.

The performers include: Abigail Austin, Claudia Barrie, Angeline Bilas, Lindsay Chapman, Carolyn Eccles, Lucy Fry, Natalie Lund, Matt Minto, Dene Kermond, Jacqui Livingston, Kate Skinner and the performance will be directed by The Impulse Company's Artistic Director, Scott Williams.

 

There will be a 20-min interval between each reading and audience members are encouraged to stay for as many plays as they wish Tickets will be allocated on a RSVP system so please email all ticket requests to impulsecosydney@hotmail.com

 
SO PUT IT IN YOUR DIARY, GRAB A GROUP OF FRIENDS AND HEAD DOWN TO THE SBW STABLES THEATRE FOR A FANTASTIC EVENING OF NEW AUSTRALIAN WRITING, DYNAMIC, ENGAGING PERFORMANCES & FESTIVAL FUN IN THE NEWLY RENOVATED STABLES THEATRE.