Talk among yourselves while Ms TN sits at her desk in strenuous attitudes of thought, wondering how to write about Oskaras Koršunovas's remarkable production of Romeo and Juliet, seen at the Arts Centre Playhouse last night, in 400 words. (TN review tomorrow, when my pithy note comes out in the Australian). See this if you can - it's more than worth the eye-watering struggle with surtitles, and this despite a very cheesy soundscape. (Appropriate, I guess, for a play set in a pizzeria.)
Three days from the end, Ms TN isn't holding up badly on her MIAF marathon, though I confess the daily treadmill of see-and-write has been rather (no, extremely) demanding. One has, after all, and despite all evidence to the contrary, a life as well. In my case, several lives, though I put the others on hold for the duration. I see other crrrritics around town with their eyes falling out of their heads. Thank god for spackle make-up, I say. Even the bloggers are flagging (where are you, Chris Boyd?) although Born Dancin' is still present and correct and well worth a visit, and Jana and I are having some friendly skirmishes at Mono no aware.
Meanwhile, in the Australian this morning I see that the Arts Centre is living up to its reputation for hard-hitting, cutting edge, courageous work by dropping a play about the Henson case from the upcoming Short & Sweet season, apparently on legal advice. I'm assuming it probably wouldn't be Henson who would want to sue. (Me, possibly? Luckily I have taken an oath never to speak to lawyers).
You can see 'the Henson piece' at The Guild theatre next Tuesday night as part of Union House Theatre's Tastings.8 short works by talented student writers and performers Looks like Melbourne uni isn't afraid of controversial issues!
ReplyDeleteThe bloody part was the now-censored feminist battle. Friendly wars over art are a walk in the part, comparatively speaking.
ReplyDeleteI cannot wait to hear your opinion on Appetite. I suspect we will agree for the first time since MIAF started.
Huh! As a Director in Short and Sweet this year I object to it being censored!!
ReplyDeleteWhat is the point of promting new works, artists and voices if we then lock them in a glass room?
Thanks for the info, Anon. It's certainly a bit lily-livered on the VAC's part. Anything with "Henson" attached seems to be radioactive (though, mind you, considering some of the wingnut comments that have been posted to this blog, you can understand why people might be cautious).
ReplyDeleteJana, surely we've agreed on something? And maybe we can talk about feminism in private one day. Myself, I wasn't in battle mode there...
You also both liked Batsheva.
ReplyDeleteMy eyes haven't fallen out of my head, but then I've been resting between Sunday and Friday most of the time. I have several reviews in the pipeline, I promise.