tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post3803461491679327311..comments2024-02-18T19:36:43.844+11:00Comments on theatre notes: Review: The Seizure, 100% MelbourneAlison Croggonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-10973312921853190832012-05-19T07:04:44.669+10:002012-05-19T07:04:44.669+10:00Okay, call him Abdullah then, or Nguyen or Vince o...Okay, call him Abdullah then, or Nguyen or Vince or call him bloody anything you want. That's not the point I was trying to make.<br /><br />I understand what you are saying, but geez Shakespeare tells human stories too right, and all them greek myths are telling human stories, but then so do Cirque du soleil and goddamn QI on ABC.<br /><br />The question I was asking was why there seems toanonymous the firstnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-22047047778361994742012-05-18T17:18:13.498+10:002012-05-18T17:18:13.498+10:00Is it possible, Anon, just possible, that the Aust...Is it possible, Anon, just possible, that the Australian experience might be equally as enlightened, equally as examined by not renaming Philoctetes as Phil? Why must he be given an Anglophone name? Why must he be in a hospital and not on an island?<br /><br />Is it really that difficult, on Sydney Rd, of all places, to imagine that a Mediterranean name might be an Australian name? That a Greek Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-59370484047576292652012-05-18T14:14:56.372+10:002012-05-18T14:14:56.372+10:00I don't think engaging with what has gone befo...I don't think engaging with what has gone before should be discouraged, Anon. As you say, it is bound to happen whether you do it overtly, i.e. 'after Sophocles' or make it up. If you are going to write something after Sophocles though, you'd better be prepared to be withstand the comparison. You could, after all, just stage his play.Cameron Woodheadhttp://cameronwoodhead.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-65138787588337727082012-05-18T07:13:33.694+10:002012-05-18T07:13:33.694+10:00Could one be so bold to suggest that given the pla...Could one be so bold to suggest that given the playwrights (Hardie's) obvious writing skills, and gig en the commitment to create a sterling production, and given the fact you are both (Cameron and Alison) identifying matters of which the play might concern itself (a fable has been mentioned)... why is it the trend to 'adapt', 'translate' or 'after' something? Why is Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-51508479818380782652012-05-17T14:35:34.808+10:002012-05-17T14:35:34.808+10:00I don't read it as a fable of redemption eithe...I don't read it as a fable of redemption either, especially. Or not a comfortable one. The analogy with Shakespeare's romances seems relatively precise though, and to me dispensing with Herakles without a thoughtful replacement seems as wrong-headed as reworking The Winter's Tale without the scene where the statue of Hermione comes to life. <br /><br />"Numinous force" Cameron Woodheadhttp://cameronwoodhead.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-36481765510000546222012-05-17T13:19:15.641+10:002012-05-17T13:19:15.641+10:00Thanks Cameron. Yes, I see what you mean. I suppos...Thanks Cameron. Yes, I see what you mean. I suppose my response comes from the feeling that there <i>is</i> no numinous force, aside from what we imagine: which is, admittedly, a powerful thing. I certainly don't read the story as a fable of redemption: something more troubled, I think.Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-47995738207182324992012-05-17T12:19:53.357+10:002012-05-17T12:19:53.357+10:00I don't mean to belittle your efforts; quite t...I don't mean to belittle your efforts; quite the opposite. Given general hostility to the critical enterprise in Australia, and the almost total lack of institutional support, Theatre Notes is remarkable.<br /><br />I should clarify my point about the something *more than himself* needed to release Philoctetes from his "island of suffering". To my mind, the essence of the play is Cameron Woodheadhttp://cameronwoodhead.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-89423810333235603972012-05-17T09:31:38.822+10:002012-05-17T09:31:38.822+10:00The "more than himself" here is the coll...The "more than himself" here is the collective slaughter of war. Whether Philoctetes gives up his island of suffering because Odysseus misleads him or out of fraternal loyalty to Neoptolemus, the result is the razing of Troy. (And then, as the narrative noted so bleakly, "they all went home", which is another story...) For me, it highlighted the meaninglessness of the Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-85201573655592472882012-05-16T14:52:39.319+10:002012-05-16T14:52:39.319+10:00Ah yes, Yuri Wells ... liked it a lot, now I think...Ah yes, Yuri Wells ... liked it a lot, now I think about it. That was a while ago. I was comparing The Seizure to Hardie's most recent offering, Delectable Shelter, which I disliked and didn't think was up to much.<br /><br />I'm not sure how you'd represent Herakles (lots of imaginative possibilities - through music, I should have thought in this production) ... but I think it&#Cameron Woodheadhttp://cameronwoodhead.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-17710085196582429442012-05-16T14:28:49.330+10:002012-05-16T14:28:49.330+10:00Hi Cameron: Fair comment, although whether I atten...Hi Cameron: Fair comment, although whether I attend a show or not, I usually know if it's on. It's unarguable, all the same, that there's a much heavier (and increasing) demand on the funding pool, which nevertheless remains static, or even diminishing in real terms. Which is actually my point, and is an observation not drawn from reviewing. <br /><br />Speaking as a critic who WAS Alison Croggonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08398213223487458758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7202906.post-34196617774517493302012-05-16T12:36:33.867+10:002012-05-16T12:36:33.867+10:00"My inbox, which is flooded with invitations,..."My inbox, which is flooded with invitations, is just one symptom of what has happened in Melbourne. I am constantly turning down invitations to work that I know very well is significant, and not only because I am trying to live a saner life. And that is markedly more the case than when I began this blog in 2004."<br /><br />While I agree our independent theatre scene is strong, I'dCameron Wooheadhttp://cameronwoodhead.comnoreply@blogger.com