Follow The Muse

It had been a tough weekend. The usual existential crises, and rambunctious joy that only a hearty dose of Eurovision can bring. And so it was necessary to take a break – a tea break – a tea break of reassuring proportions. Read more

Staying true to the original reason for this blog (which was to create a holding pen for the zoo which is my theatre practice and thinking) I thought I would compile a triptych of posts that have featured on other sites – as a means of endorsement.
1. ATYP’s Fresh Ink Blog is essential reading for the emerging writer – full of tips and the who’s who of contemporary local playwriting. I really can’t speak highly enough of the team there and what they are doing to support and nurture artists. I chose a song by Tim Minchin (playwright and composer and all round ex-pat comedy hero.)
2. Griffin Theatre Company’s Artist Blog, wrangled by my friend and colleague Olivia Satchell – a visual and theatre community scrapbook to inspire or to stimulate conversation. Sometimes a playwright is at the helm guest bloggin it. My aim for this one was to include the names as many local and Australian artists as possible.
3. Chester Productions’ Blog for Melita Rowston’s play Crushed, appearing as a part of The Spare Room at New Theatre. Asked to write on the tag line “Bitter Sweet Sixteen.” I wrote about growing up in my home town. Read more

Entertainment comes in all forms.

Opera
Australia’s Funniest Home Videos
magicians
Your cousin singing a song at the family piano
Two dogs at a park
Cinema
petting zoos
Gossip magazines
local school fetes
Experimental music, art, performance
Folk music festivals
dinner conversation
Firework spectaculars
YouTube
Rambunctious Sunday afternoons
A clown playing the banjo in the Devonshire Street tunnel
Facebook
Twitter interactions (especially between people who might be in love with each other)
generalised people-watching
and of course…
Musicals Read more

I love Currency House – and I have the bookcase to prove it. Read more

Ah… literature. What is it good for?

Steven Pinker, in a recent talk claims that the world has become more peaceful and that we are living in a relatively less violent era than before. Though I don’t exactly agree with him on every point (aspects of sample size and specifics of what is considered a “violent” act) – I do find it fascinating that the two most significant pacifying influences are the formation of government and the enlightenment (with its increased literacy and civilising artistic pursuits). Read more

We are, whether we like it or not, storytellers. We tell stories through out the day to each other and ourselves – to explain or reveal or uncover truth or reassure, find consolation or direction. We run narratives of our lives and our identities: who we are, where we are from. It’s not new. It’s not even special. It’s not remarkable that we are story tellers. Often we are story thieves – retelling someone else’s anecdote or chasing around the story in the recesses of memory – and in those moments transmogrification may, and does occur. We tell other people’s jokes, we pass on rumour and gossip.

Simon Stone is right. Read more

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,” – that is all /Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” John Keats

I am going to declare up front that I know (socially) director James Beach and actor Andrew Henry. Read more

Photo by Dave Quinn

Sometimes, once in a while, there’s a play that falls into my inbox that completely opens up a new world. The world of the play is either fantasitical or familiar… and the language bubbles and delights or floats softly whispering to me through out the day. The new world of a new play sometimes beckons a new colleague and sometimes even a friendship. Read more

“Newtown Theatre has seized business.
The local grocery store, one block up, knows that there will be a new name.
The Southend Café knows that there is a new vibe.
The Botany View Hotel bar staff knows that there is a buzz, created by a man who looks like a teacher, but is involved with the empty space across the road.
The neighbours around know that there is something in the air and are sitting at their windows, waiting for the lights to go on. The lights of:
KING STREET THEATRE
Nurturing all Arts to LIVE
Rather than just SURVIVE Read more

In the glimmering first moments, when the light grows up and around the actors, a feeling is established. It feels like something secret, or hidden. An animal patiently waiting to pounce. The feeling of the sky just before the first clap of thunder breaks silence. Is a quiet hum that nags and repeats. It’s the feel of the past – a bruise you just can’t shake. Read more