This is the first play I have seen that is a part of B-sharp this year.

This is the first (and only) New Australian work included in the B-sharp’s first half of 2010 season. It has taken 4 years to write- and was commissioned after Jonathan Gavin won the Philip Parson’s award for Moment on the Lips- which enjoyed much acclaim at Darlinghurst Theatre. I have deep admiration for Jonathan Gavin’s writing- those who saw Tiger Country at Griffin know the power and terror of Gavin’s realism. They know his slick wit and his big heart. They know him for his structural perfectionism- his dialogue… I will now declare my hand: I know Jonathan Gavin somewhat- I know him as sweet and aloof, charming and calm- I have worked with him in 2 different incantations in the last 7 years- I am facebook friends with him- but not “share recipes/ call in times of crisis” type friends. I have long admired his writing. Having said this, I had no idea what to expect of Bang…

Every so often a play comes along and knocks you sideways. Takes your breath away and you are left winded by the feeling that your heart just grew too big too fast. You are silent because you are frightened and in awe. You have been transported and your mind reconfigured. It happened for me with Andrew Bovell’s “When the Rain Stops Falling” and it has happened again with Jonathan Gavin’s “Bang.”

The review below is really an extended out pour of response- and not my best piece of review work- but it’s honest. I didn’t want to churn out the plot and rattle off the names of all involved- I just want you to see it- and I want to sit in the ideas and the feelings of this play. I nearly don’t even want to discuss it. But I will defend it- especially up against Jason Blake’s SMH review http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/enigmatic-leap-of-faith-from-genes-to-jihad/2010/06/13/1276367896128.html which he says ” In Gavin’s program note, he acknowledges the difficulty he faced in writing it, and at times the strain is apparent.” I utterly disagree. I think this is not apparent in this production. I think Gavin has handled the quantity of characters, themes, locations, time periods, beautifully- and for me it wasn’t a fraught experience. It is a dense and unpretentious work- and easy to embrace as it is beautifully structured.

I must mention my complete disappointment that this production was not given a main stage slot. Not just at Belvoir- but anywhere. This is a big play. An important play full of huge and brilliant observations. Why is this play relegated to the “Independent” realm? This play needs a big production- not to say that this is at all diminutive or to say that me mentioning it’s status as an independent production is at all in any way pejorative- what I am saying is- the main stage companies should be nurturing, promoting and producing the best Australian work- the Best new Australian work. It should be exposing it to large audiences- not in 80 seat venues- in venues with hundreds of seats. This is one of the best new Australian plays I have ever seen. Why is it that happens? Brink had to do it- take all the risk for When the Rain Stops Falling. And here we are with Kim Hardwick as the champion and long term collaborator of Jonathan Gavin.

I urge you to see this play.

And if you are Kristina Keneally- you DEFINITELY need to see this play. It is sure to be counted amongst the great plays of the Australian canon.

First published on www.australianstage.com.au

A romantic image of travel and domesticity: brown cardboard suitcases, a basket of unfolded laundry, stacks of newspapers tied with straw coloured rope surrounded by pale yellow rose buds litter the stage. Six actors line up against a back wall of mirrors- like that of a police interrogation. It begins…

Direct address from an ensemble of actors. An exploration of the art of story, narratology. An introduction to a story- a preamble to prepare and a proposition. This soft, self-aware entry into this play is well understood in Australian theatre- it is a start which opens up a large world- a reassurring voice which asks us to listen, to engage- to embrace the structure the tone, the forms as they are presented. This voiced start which examines its own sense of starting- its own voice- its own sense does not patronize but prepare us. This is a play of heightened theatricality: a simple static stage design and shape-shifting/voice shifting actors for this exploration of transmogrification, evolution, enlightenment.

A nun, a drag queen and a pregnant woman stand on a train station platform. United by the promise of a 6:45pm train. Sounds like the premise of a joke- and the play will declare that to you – just as you make the connection. This isn’t a joke but a reality which seems unlikely yet conceivable. We see the moments which lead them to this place. This time. We see the things that link them- a bag, a book, a gun. Waiting is filled with numbed expectation- time moves on as they stand motionless. We are told what they notice. A nun reads a subscriber only erotic fiction. A drag queen tells the story of his drag bag. A pregnant woman tells the tousle of transport with her protective husband. A young woman enters the railway station, on a holy mission. In one moment everything is changed utterly.

Jonathan Gavin’s script is simply, incredible. Tightly woven are the stories of migrant families, religious identities, domestic relationships, sexual politics, science, philosophy, history, literature… into twenty-one characters played by six actors- who span ages, roles, ethnicities, faiths, sexual persuasions. It forms a rich contemporary portrait- like that of the Bayeux tapestry of the political/religious war which is waged in the world. This war is not the one of sand and snipers- and exit strategies. There is something more terrifying than this. The war in this play is worse- the silent terror of our own thoughts and beliefs and the actions they invoke.

Beautifully crafted scenes in which it is impossible to remain loyal to any one character- Gavin has exposed the fragility and the violence in us as a nation. What is truly disturbing and enlightening about this production is the realisation that the most brutal of our destructive tendencies come from a place of love, hope and idealism. Everything that needs to be said about our understanding of religious extremism- of guilt- of love – of blame- of anger- or human ugliness- of righteousness- is said in an honest, breathtakingly beautiful way.

Kim Hardwick’s direction is taut, masterfully handling the tender heart and the rigorous mind of this play- and is perfectly paced and beautifully balanced. The ensemble of actors- Blazey Best, Caroline Brazier, Ivan Donato, Tony Poli, Wendy Stehlow and Damien Rice are impeccable as they wing and transform between perpetrator and victim- from victim to monster. No one outshines – they illuminate each other in what is an exquisitely cohesive ensemble experience: drawing to the fore the message of unity and our connectedness through our human experience.

Many playwrights have tried to write this play- tried to say what it is saying- tried to ask of us what it is asking- but it is Jonathan Gavin has succeeded with Bang. This is one of the most moving, beautiful, important, tender, remarkable, intelligent, perfect plays of contemporary Australian theatre and must be seen because it will at once elevate, interrogate, inspire our understanding of the world and each other.

It was opening night of Stories from the 428 when James Waites pressed a signed copy of his hot-off-the-press platform paper into my hand. I had seen chapters develop over the previous 5 months- heard of the interviews as they were taking place- and watching/listening as the story was unfolding. He pressed it into my hand, like a nervous teenage boy gives a love letter to the one he loves- nonchalantly, yet with the type of urgent tenderness that says “I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams…” and he said, don’t read it in bits. Sit down over easter with some chocolate and read it in one go…

Since that night, there are two books that sit on my bedside table, which I have read and keep within reaching distance for comfort or inspiration or solace… both published by Currency Press- firstly, A Raffish Experiment- The Selected Writings of Rex Cramphorn Edited by Ian Maxwell. And secondly James Waites’ Whatever Happened to the STC Actors Company.
Both are amazing documents of theatre practice- one the perspective of the director (and reviewer) formulating the framework for breathtaking advancement in the creation of Australian theatre practice/ the other an elegant synthesis of the actor’s experience in one of the most public and fraught (and somewhat divisive) projects in Sydney’s theatre landscape in recent times. They are companion pieces for me- histories, cautionary tales- that show how tenuous the working relationships within theatre are. They are books filled with disappointment and dispair and daring. And perhaps more valuable to me than Peter Brook’s The Empty Space (which is highly motivational, but without the caution nor Australian context) or Grotowski’s Towards a Poor Theatre (which is a wonderful book- but again does not have the local historical context I thirst for).

Tonight at the launch- which was at Currency House in Redfern, Katharine Brisbane made a calm and clear address to the room filled with sandwiches and friends (and friends/colleagues sandwiched)- about how the launch of this paper was delayed. Unfortunately there seemed to be a difference of opinion of the value/ weight of the word “failure” used in context of the project- which had crushed all hope of having the paper launched at the STC with the actors present. Then like dominos other venues (NIDA, Belvoir etc) also declined to have the launch in their foyers. “The Holy Twelve” and Co were not present. Nevin, not present. Perhaps the coverage in Financial Review, SMH etc had drawn attention to the “failure”…. perhaps it was as suggested by Wright tonight “it’s ok for artists to embrace “failure” but not arts management”… Arts journos past and present, academics past and present, commentators, reviewers turned up.

In true style, Waites’ paper is weighted towards actors. He unashamedly loves actors- it says so on his site-
http://jameswaites.ilatech.org/?page_id=5044

James great loves are dogs and actors: “Both species are cute to pat, excel in performing wonderful tricks, and lick you all over for humble rewards like liver treats and pieces of cheese ” he observes.

The paper itself has taught me a great deal- about leadership- about communication – about clarity and for the first time in my theatre career, I felt compassion for and inspired by Robyn Nevin. My whole career, she has been a rumour of “hardness” of “ambition” of “ruthlessness” and of “coldness”. I ‘ve never met Nevin. Her husband I have met (who is utterly charming – especially if youa re a fan of The Sound of Music or Spiderman) but not her. I have held her aloft as a figure to be feared. Waites’ paper made me like her, her vision, I felt for her, I felt her humanity and her compassion… and it made me admire her.

The nice thing about the paper is that you can hear how much care and consideration has been taken in handling the conversations- nothing is used as amunition or as muck-raking- nothing is about finger pointing- its a re-telling of the events through the eyes of the participants- and is told with care and balance- though slightly weighed on the side of the more vulnerable (and therefore potentially volatile subjects)- the actors.

I utterly believe that Waites is the only one who could have written this paper with such tenderness and care, with such curiosity and love and with genuine heartfelt concern for all the stakeholders.

I for one, as a practitioner and commentator (of sorts) am utterly grateful I have his paper. I am lucky to call him my dear friend- and had his paper been not up to scratch I would have just hugged him, bought him some wine and told him a dirty joke. But, his paper is brilliant- it is important and essential reading to anyone who believes in risk, who believes in taking chances, who wants to learn and be inspired. And it will remain on my bedside table for quick reference for a long time to come.

This afternoon I received an open letter to Company B from Caleb Lewis, one of the Shortlisted writers for the 2009 Phillip Parson’s Award, who has decided to withdraw from the competition.

I have posted the letter below.

I believe that this must have been a difficult letter to write and to send, as Lewis is, as many are, a living breathing playwright whom I am sure, wishes to be programmed on one of Sydney’s illustrious stages. The tenuous balance between the politcs of theatre and the programming of art is something I think all artists are mindful of. In fact, it is hard to feel that programming is fair and transparent when programming comes down to personal taste.
What I admire most about this debate is how the intergrity of an artist is truly measured in the risks she/he takes in voicing what she believes and what she/he knows in her heart is the right thing to do.

Is that not what so many plays through out history ask us to remember?

To thine own self be true….

And how often is it that we bite our tongues, we close our eyes, we turn our backs only later to say “I let that go, when I should have and could have said that I really believe…” As with anyone who has weighed in on the debate (annonymously or otherwise) the fear of being blacklisted is ever present.

BUT

If we have a healthy and sustainable theatre community- we should talk, we should fearlessly talk about what works , what doesn’t, what concerns we have, what dreams and wishes we have for our industry and our artistic future. We should not be afraid of the repercussions- for what good is a victory is you are not proud of how you fought the battle? And the key is to fight the good fight with compassion, clarity and respect for your opponent.

I understand and respect Lewis’ decision… this discussion is important. Playwriting is important. This award is important. The shortlisted writers deserve their recognition as great voices in our contemporary theatre landscape and we need them… equally … of all genders… of all backgrounds… for “the play’s the thing.”

I’ll be there to hear this panel discussion and curious to hear how this letter is handled on the day. Caleb’s Letter:

An open letter to Company B,

With respect,
Caleb Lewis

It’s Ralph Myers. Put up your hand if you are surprised? No? No? I think Nick Pickard dropped a big hint…
http://artsjournalist.blogspot.com/2009/10/just-quietly.html
Or was that Bryce Hallett? Either way the whispers to the reveal of Ralph have been a long time coming…

And I have been getting text messages, emails, facebook chats, all asking me what I think of a designer getting “THE TOP JOB”…

(Check out Mr Waites site for quotes and press release bits ‘n’ pieces: http://jameswaites.com/?p=4841

What do I think?

Hmmm…

Well he hasn’t started yet… so I don’t really have an opinion- in fact there is a year of hand-over time- so there is a long wait until I’ll have an opinion.

But I can say this in favour of the incoming King Ralph- he’s certainly done time in independent theatre circles- he’s worked alot. He’s even designed alot of sets I have liked – Peter Grimes his latest triumph. I also stage managed a show he designed back when I was a baby (and I am sure he has a distinct impression of me as a worry wart- yes- I insisted that the 5mm thick rusted metal sheeting we were laying for Jo Couch’s show “Knives in Hens” be got at with an angle grinder and fixed to the floor for the safety of the barefoot actors… It was a pretty unsafe set- beautiful- but I had concerns (unnecessary ones? no, I don’t think so…. if blowtorching 20 years of paint off the back wall of the downstairs theatre without masks is anything to go by…) we even got insurance for the actors….I remember that being a very fraught bump in….) and what I learnt is that designers are very bossy… and I learnt just what a strong vision Prince Ralph had.

Other than that- I love the idea that he is reclaiming the theatre for young people as mentioned in his interview: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/11/11/2740140.htm

So I wonder who and what he’ll program? Really keen to see what he comes up with- but we have a year to wait yet… We’ll see then if he continues with the Belvoir house style or stretches beyond. And I wish him luck, patience, strength, humour at being the new dad to the Belvoir family.