First Published: http://www.ozbabyboomers.com.au/theatre/theatre.html

POSTED: 08 OCTOBER 2009
Brand Spanking New (Week Two)
(New Theatre, Newtown, Sydney | Until 10 October)

I didn’t make it to Brand Spanking New (Week One). What a pity. The opening night of Week Two was an entertaining lucky dip of new Australian writing.

Like a lucky dip, one never knows what is coming. It could be just what you wanted; it could be something you didn’t know you wanted until you had it; or it could be a bit of a letdown.

Fortunately, every plunge into the Week Two grab bag had something worthwhile, and judging by the audience reaction, everyone went away satisfied with most contributions.

Brand Spanking New season artistic director Augusta Supple has brought together a diverse and engaging selection of short works. From the first offering, the sharply funny Self Service — beautifully rendered by Christine Greenough — through to the quirky finale of King of the Mountain, Supple and the creative team have showcased the depth of talent and potential out there.

And isn’t it great that places such as New Theatre can provide such opportunities for writers, directors, designers, stage and production teams — and audiences.

Composer Catherine Robinson’s gorgeous music provided a thread to link the pieces. The ‘overture’, as it were, was a clever way to commence the evening and greatly preferable to simply launching into the first play, giving an overall structure and cohesion to the assortment to come.

One of the (many) challenges faced in presenting such a diverse range of works is the staging. How to provide a frame that is able to accommodate all needs? Designer Paul Matthews and lighting designer Miles Thomas demonstrate that it is possible to create the effect of a creaking boat/ferry in Lone Bird straight after the rather nasty laboratory of Siberia.

It is quite remarkable to witness how, with limited time, life stories can be conveyed. if i could be anything i would be something different is just two guys on stage having a conversation — but by the end so much is known about them.

It’s also amazing how quickly hilarity turns ugly. Polly Pocket Is Not a Princess has a twist worthy of a full two-act production.

From the sublime — White Wedding, my pick of the night — to the gloriously ridiculous (The Bermuda Love Triangle, which gets the nod for some of the best throwaway lines), Brand Spanking New Week Two deserves full houses for every night of its all-too-brief run.

And damn it, next year I’m making sure I get to both weeks!

First Published at www.australianstage.com.au

Brand Spanking New: Week Two | New Theatre
Written by Helen Barry
Friday, 09 October 2009 19:43

Brand Spanking New festival director and self-proclaimed “talent truffle pig” Augusta Supple has done it again with another gobsmackingly good line-up for week two of this must-see short theatre festival. While week one presented various delights of a consistently good standard, this time around it’s a selection that aims to push our buttons and stretch the boundaries of the format. It both succeeds and fails in parts, but that’s the point really isn’t it of theatre? There’s not much point pushing the boat out if you’re not prepared to get wet.

Within the eight plays on the night there’s a huge range of meaty characters and scenarios on offer; from xenophobic checkout chicks to silly self-help gurus, lofty proposals and adult fairytales, even Frankenstein-like monsters and souls adrift both literally and metaphorically. Each play is as different as you could hope to have, and it goes to show that there really is an abundance of ripe and unique playwriting talent alive and kicking in the Sydney scene.

Right from the opening tableau, which features the entire cast onstage preoccupied in a rhythmic reading and scrunching of paper to the dreamy yet playful score of composer Catherine Robinson, we know that this a theatre experience that is bigger than the sum of its parts. There’s a unity to it that’s reinforced by Paul Matthews inspired set design, a compartmentalised structure of fantasy-like filing cabinets stuffed with reams of paper, which brings to mind both the intangible and unconscious landscape of thoughts and ideas as well as the very concrete nature of the writing process itself.

Through the course of the evening we get to embrace the myriad of guises a small play can take. There’s the monologues, Self Service and White Wedding which engage us directly with their passionate protagonists, the three-handers The Bermuda Love Triangle and Lone Bird, which demand we take sides; and of course the tense intimacy of the two-handers, if i could be anything i would be something different, Polly Pocket is Not a Princess and King of the Mountain. Rather than being a limitation we discover that the short play can be quite a liberating fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of thing where anything and everything can plausibly happen. Of course, that’s an illusion though really, because it takes a great degree of skill to make this kind of elasticity seem effortless, and the majority of the playwrights here have it in spades.

Notable mentions for the night must go to Mary Rachel Brown for her beautifully observed understanding of the entrenched racism in the Australian psyche in Self Service, delivered with charming wit and brave realism by Christine Greenough; to Maxine Mellor for her naughty, inventive and playfully fun Polly Pocket is Not a Princess in which Mairead Berne shines as a evil bitch Barbie who deserves a good roasting. And, to the absolute showstopper of the night, Lone Bird by Verity Laughton, who is clearly quite the master of the craft, blowing us away with her deft and fluid ability to create a psychologically thrilling encounter all with the minimal number of brushstrokes. It’s greatly enhanced too by wonderful performances from Tim Allen as the sinister ferryman Stan and Fiona Press as Susan, one of his hapless passengers.

All in all, Brand Spanking New week two is a resounding success both for the industry and audiences alike, and judging by its sell-out opening night you really should be getting on the phone to the New Theatre right now if you want to catch it before the week is out!

https://www.australianstage.com.au/200910012878/reviews/sydney/brand-spanking-new-week-one-|-new-theatre.html

For those who like their theatre fresh, tasty and bite-sized there’s plenty to love about this year’s season of Brand Spanking New. Now in its second year, this two-week festival of short theatre which aims to showcase the best new works by emerging and established Aussie playwrights has hit its stride. Festival director Augusta Supple has out done herself, assembling a rich and varied smorgasbord of dramatic delights for week one that are sure to have you giggling and gripped in equal amounts.

There’s Homemade, a witty and at times poignant monologue on family, loss and sausage rolls from accomplished writer Vanessa Bates. It’s delivered with a nice sense of timing and sensitivity by Jane Phegan, who holds the audience utterly captive for the duration of the piece.

Next there’s Matt Lauer a super-sharp rip-snorter by Rick Viede which focuses on a teenage boy’s obsession with the real-life host of NBC America’s Today Show. It’s a deviously dark piece of cultural comedy that takes aim at society’s sycophantic relationship with celebrity. Actor Julian Lovick is intense, strong and utterly hilarious as the boy, who lives his life according to the values he’s gleaned from his TV idol.

Fit For A King is a kind of oddball comedy from Scottish playwright Phil Spencer, about three wacky inmates who pass the time by playing a gastronomic game of food guessing. It’s punchy in a Tarantino meets Peter Greenaway in a street fight kind of a way – i.e. the thugs are very clever and chatty, but you’re not sure whether you’re dreaming or awake.

Tamara Asmar’s Queen of The Night is a brilliantly written two-hander about an encounter between an aging prostitute and a stitched-up female ‘John’. What starts out as a ballsy sex comedy with Queenie (Abi Rayment) detailing her “bedroom degustation” menu soon moves into an exploration of relationships which is deep and undeniably real. Rayment is wickedly funny as Queenie, a character who is crying out for a longer format to roam around in.

Last Ride by Ross Mueller is the story of two old codgers who find their night veering wildly off the rails when the try to score drugs for a bird they’ve met in a bar. It’s an interesting premise which seems ripe for some laughs, but when the girl they’ve met seems completely unfazed by the violence that threatens we’re questioning where we are and how the hell we got here.

The most thought-provoking play for the night is Jonathan Ari Lander’s Measure which takes on the story of a suspected Cambodian Khmer Rouge soldier who is forced to face his past. It’s brimming with depth and realism, thanks to an emotionally charged and vulnerable performance by Felino Dolloso as the accused murderer Lohr.

Jonathan Gavin’s The Return rounds out the evening with a rollicking romance which takes it’s inspiration from the journals of Matthew Flinders, who, the play suggests may have been a much better navigator than he was a husband. This laugh-out-loud jaunt sees Flinders (Matt Charleston) returning home to face the music after leaving wife Ann (Natalie Saleeba) home in England for almost ten years while he’s been off gallivanting across the oceans with his cat Trim. Saleeba and Charleston have a ball with this very funny material and bounce off each other with superb comic timing. It’s a wonderful ending to the night that leaves the audience spilling over into the foyer grinning from ear to ear.

Brand Spanking New is simply a great, fun night of theatre that is sure to leave you feeling optimistic and pleasantly surprised about the range of talented playwrights that are out there right now. And on that note, after all the fuss in the press this week that’s seen Neil Armfield dodging bullets over Belvoir’s 2010 “boys club” line-up, it seems worth pointing out that perhaps the answer to the question: Where are all the talented female writers and directors in the Sydney scene, has already been answered – a fair few of them are hiding out at the New!

New Theatre presents
Brand Spanking New

Week One 30 September – 3 October 2009
Week Two 7 – 10 October 2009

Venue: New Theatre | 542 King Street Newtown NSW
Times: Wednesday – Saturday @ 8pm

ARE YOU READY FOR WEEK 2 of BRAND SPANKING NEW?
Only $22 and tickets available from New Theatre box office- don’t miss out on this unique celebration of new Australian work!
Wednesday is SOLD OUT!
Thursday 8pm
Friday 8pm
Saturday 8pm

Line up is as follows:

Week Two

Self Service by Mary Rachel Brown
Directed by Ian Zammit
Performed by Christine Greenough

if I could be anything I would be something different by Kit Brookman
Directed by Mark Pritchard
Performed by Eamon Bryant and Daniel Fischer

Polly Pocket is Not a Princess by Maxine Mellor
Directed by Danielle O’Keefe
Performed by Richard Hilliar and Mairead Berne

The Bermuda Love Triangle by Patrick Lenton
Directed by Augusta Supple
Performed by Lucy Goleby, Tiek Kim Pok and Toby Villis

White Wedding by Sonal Moore
Directed by Sarah Vickery
Performed by Suz Mawer

INTERVAL
Siberia by Timothy Daly
Directed by Scarlet McGlynn
Performed by Amy Kersey and Brynn Loosemore

Lone Bird by Verity Laughton
Directed by Nick Curnow
Performed by Fiona Press, Tim Allen and Bruno Xavier

King of the Mountain by Jessica Bellamy
Directed by Scott Selkirk
Performed by Stephen Peacocke and Olivia Solomons

Often reviews are mistaken for publicity- and for some they are. Some reviews are about word count- is it fair to confine a two hour experience to 350-600 words? Is this the stuff of dialogue? Is this how theatre moves forward- artists develop- audiences engage? Is arts commentary destined to be confined to pithy one line grabs spilling forth a profusion of overly embellished adjectives? This is not review in the sense that this is for marketing purposes- this is more of a reflection of “Bustown.” I have been busy with all things Brand Spanking New- and so though this appears after the season of Bustown- I hope to encourage any of you who saw it to offer a “remembering” of your own. Add your comments- what do you remember- what did you love, what did you learn, what did you marvel at? Read more

A selection of photos from Leah McGirr- documenting the process of a bump in and plot on Sunday for Brand Spanking New.

Anne- Maree Magi with the dream team!

Gus Miller- Who says dramaturgs can't sew?

Toby Villis and Bron Millar

Beautiful Bron Miller- Stage Manager, and general Goddess of logistical proficiency

Miles Thomas- The Lighting Designer with a Heart of Gold and patience of a monk!

Paul Matthews Designer and paper shuffler

BSNers preparing the set

Augusta at Bump in on Sunday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1VEuT0hUxU

Since 10pm on Monday I night I have received text messages, facebook messages, emails- I’ve read the installments from 7-On: (http://sevenon.blogspot.com/2009/06/what-is-going-on-here.html) and Joanna Erskine (http://www.joannaerskine.com/cluster/), and talked and listened to the frustrations and the disappointment of many of those in the industry. This is a post about the reactions, my thoughts, my feelings and my perspective about the theatre industry as it is right here and now. And what it means to be a practitioner working in that industry. A practitioner who happens to be a woman.

Firstly the issue that has surprised and even shocked and infuriated some is that in the 2010 Belvoir Season that was launched on Monday night, there was a clear lack of female key creatives at the helm of the shows. Belvoir st will be celebrating their 25th year- no mean feat! And within the next 6 weeks there will be the naming of the new artistic director…. its a big turning point.

Belvoir has always had a special place in the hearts of many- practitioners regard it with pride having worked their- they talk of community and family and equality. (Perhaps this has to do with the egalitarian pay structure?) They regard it as the place whcih was started by a syndicate of like minded practitioners who all fronted cash- put money where their hearts were – to start a theatre. This mythology has captured the imaginations of already a highly imaginative group of people. And rightly so.

Belvoir has hosted a range of Australia’s top practitioners- launched the career of many a celebrity… names Australia and the Australian creative industries are proud of- Geoffrey Rush, Cate Blanchette, Wayne Blair, Lee Lewis, – You know the ones I am talking about.

Belvoir has also championed new Indigenous writing and indigenous practitioners- giving space and time to the oldest living culture of storytellers the world has known. Though sometimes seen to be treated as a token pattern of programming- this is still an essential part of theatre practice in this country- it is essential for Indigenous stories to be told by artists who are Indigenous… as this exchange is artistically and culturally vital as a step towards any sort of healing and understanding.

However- there is another side of this- if you look at Belvoir as a place of equality- lets look a little further. Lets look at the Contact Us section of the website…
http://www.belvoir.com.au/800_contact_us.php

The top and most influencial names of the company- the taste makers- the folks chosing and priviledging the practitioners, the plays, the stories that are told- are all men.

The women of the company are in positions of education. Of promotion. Of support.

It seems the age old saying is true- behind every great men are great women. And Belvoir certainly has impressive women working there- Brenna Hobson- a remarkably intelligent and skilled producer and manager whom I first met in 2000 and have ever since held in very high regard for her clarity and strength and her calm and sensible ability to overcome all challenges.

Tahli Corin- one of the most supportive and passionate and brave and change making individuals in the independant sector- she is largely an unsung hero for the opportunities she has provided and projects she has spearheaded.

But the question begs- are women fairly and equally treated in our industry in general? I am not going to discuss the wider world politics of women- that is for another time. Is the Belvoir season indicative of Australian/local theatre talent?

As someone who sees between 1-4 productions a week, I would say, no. And then the question is- does this matter that Belvoir’s Season has not equally represented women, or new australians, or first Australians, or transgender identifying?

My thoughts are-
The gender issue only matters if there is not equal opportunities available for female artists as there are for male artists.

The gender issue only matters if there are not avenues for people to be selected, based on talent and merit.

The gender balance only matters when there isn’t one.

My programming practice-

I program on talent. I program based on potential, not genitals. I program for Brand Spanking New and Off The Shelf, based on the heart of the work- that speaks to me. That reflects stories that confront , puzzle and reassure me- who I am living as a person right now in society. I can not avoid nor deny I am a woman. I am not sure how, but I am sure somehow all the things that make up who I am affects how I see the world- those things ranging from my small country town background, my university education, my partner, my experiences of travel, all theatrical experiences I have experiences (as audience and practitioner) up until this point. I can not escape who I am, how I feel and what I want from theatre. I program accordingly. And the results of gender split if scrutinized are as follows:

Brand Spanking New 2009 has 7 writers out of 15/ and 9 directors out of 14 who are women.
Brand Spanking New 2008 had 9 writers out of 14 /and 9 directors out of 14 who are women.
Off the Shelf # 2 has 10 creatives involved half of which are women.
Off the Shelf #1 had 10 creatives involved, four of which are women.

And the truth is- Belvoir is the same- they are a collection of people programming from their perspective- now if that means that female key creatives don’t figure in that- that is their choice. And I can’t and won’t expect them to be anything but true to what they believe in. I don’t want women programmed due to their genitals but their talent- their story. And if Belvoir is not a place for key female creatives in 2010- well thats fine… because women will continue to create and develop work and be in this industry forever- like it or not.

The main issue for me is, has and always will be- are there opportunities offered to people from all backgrounds, regardless of sexual preference, race, gender? Is there enough of a mix- is what we are seeing on Australian stages a diverse and spectacular array of works- or is it the same old story by the same people? Are we chalenging each other and ourselves and our audiences by opening up the industry?

If not why not and how are we going to fix it?

So we’ve had a wake up call from Belvoir- through the absence of female creatives in their mainstage season they have shown us what we DO want to see. So great now we know what we want- let’s make it happen. Can and should one theatre answer all the problems and questions? No. But 100 theatres might.

Returning to New Theatre for its second exciting season, Brand Spanking New celebrates Australian playwriting by showcasing the work of both emerging and established writers.

Monologues, short plays and excerpts from longer plays, Brand Spanking New is a curated season of the best of contemporary writing – poignant, tender, brave, bold and unapologetically funny.

Week 1
30th September- 3rd October

Homemade written by Vanessa Bates
Directed by Anne-Maree Magi
Performed by Jane Phegan

Queen of the Night by Tamara Asmar
Directed by Jennifer Monk
Performed by Abi Rayment and Tanya Weiler

Fit for a King by Phil Spencer
Directed by Jane Eakin
Performed by Jeremy Just, Chris Leaney, Matt Ford

The Return by Jonathan Gavin
Directed by Augusta Supple
Performed by Matthew Charleston, Natalie Saleeba and Stephen Wilkinson

Measure by Jonathan Ari Lander
Directed by Tanya Dickson
Performed by Suz Mawer and Felino Dolloso

Last Ride by Ross Mueller
Directed by Travis Green
Performed by Peter Talmacs, Dave Kirkham

Matt Lauer by Rick Viede
Directed by Louise Fischer
Performed by Julian Lovick

Week 2
7th October- 10th October

King of the Mountain by Jessica Bellamy
Directed by Scott Selkirk
Performed by Stephen Peacocke and Olivia Solomons

if I could be anything I would be something different by Kit Brookman
Directed by Mark Pritchard
Performed by Eamon Bryant and Daniel Fischer

Lone Bird by Verity Laughton
Directed by Nick Curnow
Performed by Fiona Press, Tim Allen and Bruno Xavier

White Wedding by Sonal Moore
Directed by Sarah Vickery
Performed by Suz Mawer

The Bermuda Love Triangle by Patrick Lenton
Directed by Augusta Supple
Performed by Lucy Goleby, Teik-Kim Pok and Toby Villis

Siberia by Timothy Daly
Directed by Scarlet McGlynn
Performed by Amy Kersey and Brynn Loosemore

Polly Pocket is Not a Princess by Maxine Mellor
Directed by Danielle O’Keefe
Performed by Richard Hilliar and Mairead Bearn

Self Service by Mary Rachel Brown
Directed by Ian Zammit
Performed by Christine Greenough

Theatre- an artform inheritantly voyeuristic – relying on witnesses in order to exist- is a perfect place in which ideas about surveillance, presence and what it means to be watched can be pulled apart, examined and reconnstructed.

Since the rise of paranoia from governements across the world- and the heightening of security (or perhaps the need of “a sense of”) in streets, on buses, in lifts- the Orwellian Big Brother emerges. What appeared to be a futuristic fantasy is now not only present- but a vehicle for the rise of the “reality TV” celebrity. We are a generation who is constantly under watch- we encourage others to watch us through our facebook status- there is a flattery about being on screens – watching us walk through train gates… we are a curious animal- curious about ourselves in the wider context of the world and perhaps now more than ever as camera surveliance multiplies, and implies the danger which is other people.

The DeConverters lead by fearless Jane Grimley, is a group of performers including Grant Moxom, Amy Wanless, Jaya Sound, Sam Duncan and Sacha Harrison and media artists- Daniel Brown, Sacha Cohen and Ben Storey who have spent months collaborating, workshoping and devising The Witness in The Wall.
This is the first prouction by the DeConverters who have chosen to launch their tour of this piece at Newtown Theatre. For those who remember Newtown Theatre as “The Edge”- home of Kinetic Energy Theatre company for some time- this style of work is not an unusual fit for this space- but for those more familiar with Newtown Theatre as the home of Short and Sweet it may be a surprise for you to attend this style of performance in this venue.

Weaving audio visual materials, live sound (a very evocative harmonica), text (spoken and projected) , Witness in the Wall is a series of vignettes which seek to explore what it means to be watched. This is not the type of performance in which there is a linear narrative- but a collage of ideas and sentiments and moments wherein te performers move through a sequence of mundane and then extraordinary moments- performance as a living gallery of ideas and actions. Playing with the connection between audience and performer- a small segment of direct address is largely terrifying for audiences who enjoy being in the sweetness of the darkness of the audience seating.

Though I must declare that I appreciated many moments of The Witness in The Wall, especially the opening video projection which felt largely like star gazing, the major ideas that came across to me, was not necessarilly the effect of surveillance- but the disconnect people feel in a society where in we are busy watching each other. Through watching we can feel lonely, disconnected, removed from each other… through watching we are alone.

This is a really unique and interesting piece of performance- and depending on where you are in your own headspace- it will reach you in someway, somewhere about what it means to be present and particpating in a world where we are constantly looking out in order to understand what is within.

More Info:
http://www.thedeconverters.com/witness/company.html
Contact :thewitnessinthewall@gmail.com
$10-$20 Rock on up Tuesday-Saturday until September 26th
Book Here http://newtowntheatre.com.au/

Thanks to the kind folk at the Marlborough Bar in Newtown, despite the heavy rains and blustery conditions- we had an awesome night chatting and getting to know each other- about 40 Brand Spanking New-ers turned up (about half of the whole festival) and here are some highlights taken by photographer Leah McGirr-