How seriously do we dare to take the promises of the cosmetics industry?
And, what is beauty, anyway?
Such are the questions which permeate the script of White Pearl, a dark comedy which headlines the 2021 OzAsia Festival.
It is the work of Australian/Asian playwright, Anchuli Felicia King. She is a bright millennial whose cross-cultural education and life experiences have given her a particular insight and perspective on the world of women in both Asian and Western cultures. Wherever women come from, the one thing they have in common is that they all want to seem younger-looking. They also seek to be more beautiful. And, as King pointedly laments, these are yearnings driven by a sense of shame and self-hatred inculcated by cultures and marketing.
This is what her play, White Pearl, explores, she says, this and the slippery world of skin creams.
The play is set in Singapore where a group of young women are touting a supposedly breakthrough whitening skin cream. Not all Australians will understand the Asian market for whitening creams since, as King points out, Western women are usually more interested in darkening their skin by tanning. White is not the white woman’s quest for chic.
But in some Asian cultures opposite values are attached to light skins. White can be deemed beautiful because it signals wealth and class.
So, while white women seek sunshine and tanning cosmetics, their Asian sisters are on the quest for a perfection of pearly white.
And, of course, the marketplace wants to sell to all of them, and its highly competitive strategies are riddled with “innovations”.
As one who has grown up amid Thai, Philippine, Australian and American friends and relatives, King has found a front row seat to observe the skincare nuances of all of them, finding certain common threads, and definitely streaks of sad irony.
Hence, her play takes a sardonic look at the contemporary beauty phenomenon and hence, successfully having touched a universal nerve in doing so, it has been produced in London, Washington DC, Sydney, and now, thanks to OzAsia artistic director Annette Shun Wah, it arrives in Adelaide.
With it, audiences will be learning the new word of “cosmiceuticals”.
“I have done a lot of research into the pseudo-science of ‘cosmiceuticals', says King.
“They go in fads and cycles of ingredients including strange things such as snail mucin and bee pollen, all mythologising anti-aging because people are desperate.
“The conversations around the world are changing. I think we are at an historical juncture.”
White Pearl does not leave the global conversation simply at skin creams but reaches into the depths of how skin defines race and how racism is expressed against blacks and Asians.
This conversation is hurled in the play by a skin cream advertisement which goes viral online and is deemed to be racially offensive.
Racial sensitivities and the ability to both express them and respond to them have been largely liberated by the Internet and, as one who has grown up with the internet, 27-year-old King has been observing the evolution of such conversations.
“The internet has defined how my generation thinks about politics,” she says,
"On the plus side, we are global and some are having empathetic conversations about race and gender. It allows us to get outside the local and national bubble and see others from their point of view."
King observes these evolving cross-cultural and cross-racial exchanges to be rising to what she calls “an historical juncture”.
White Pearl was King's first play and has been developed in productions through the collaborative chemistry of the rehearsal process. King says she finds this richly rewarding.
White Pearl was first produced in 2019 as was King’s next play Golden Shield which had its world premiere with the Melbourne Theatre Company. Golden Shield has been promised more productions in the UK and USA while her play, Slaughterhouse, was picked up by Melbourne Theatre Company and premiered at 25A, Belvoir. Another play, Keene, was awarded a New Contemporaries Award by the American Shakespeare Centre.
Hence, one may say that King is as prolific as she is promising as a playwright and she is the current Patrick White Fellow at the Sydney Theatre Company. Her latest work springs forth to the television in an imminent HBO series called The Baby.
She says she is driven by the love of finding and telling good stories. She is a dedicated researcher and says she researched a great deal as a foundation for White Pearl but, oddly, her preferred places for the subsequent act of writing tend to be public, particularly bookshops and airports.
It was easier in the pre-pandemic days when King’s life involved a lot of travelling as well as living and studying in New York. Indeed, she describes herself as “global” through both background, travel and world view.
A lot of the issues which beset Asian women, including the cosmetic quests illustrated in White Pearl, she attributes to the legacy of colonialism.
“The play tries to explore all our conversations about the changing world of beauty standards,” she explains.
“How dated they are.
“Now women are accepting their skin as it is.”
Who knows how this movement may influence the future world of the cosmiceuticals?
For the moment, White Pearl shows its present with a portrayal of the venality of a toxic corporate culture, but King injects this with a sharp sense of satire and, adding a smart cast has delivered a show which has been reviewed as fast and funny as well as pertinent and erudite.
Significantly, not only does this OzAsia production present a dark comedy about the cynical world of the dubious promises of beauty products, it also offers a springboard for the understanding of a millennial perspective. Perchance it signals the cutting edge of a much-needed new generational voice in the theatre generally.
Samela Harris
When: 20 to 23 Oct
Where: Dunstan Playhouse
Bookings: ozasiafestival.com.au
In this dire time of pandemic Adelaide’s Holden Street Theatres is making thrilling history with its famous Edinburgh Fringe Award of 2021.
It is breaking ground where there is no ground to break.
It is rising above the limitations of covid and creating the theatre you have when you can’t have theatre with - wait for it - a special venue for international streaming!
The Edinburgh International Fringe’s winner of the famous Holden Street Award is coming to us hot from Canada with bells and whistles and its own cutting edge artistry and excitement.
“Leading the way forward,” laughs Holden Street’s Martha Lott.
“With international touring companies brought to a halt, we simply cannot get international’s fringe shows to our shores.
“It is now a requirement for the performing arts, and in particular theatre, to be able to offer work in both the live and digital formats that audiences across the globe are wanting.
“This is the way, if we are to support our artists in the future.
“With many international theatres only now opening doors to live audiences, they have focused on creating exceptional work for the screen, in some cases by reimagining previously staged theatre productions.”
The 2021 Holden Street Theatres Edinburgh Fringe Award winner is actually a positive slew of shows.
It leads off with:
The Darlings, a provocative evening of drag from Vancouver which, says Lott, is probably the most avant-garde of the winning pieces.
The Darlings feature non binary performers with the most exquisite of names - Continental Breakfast (Chris Reed), P.M. (Desi Rekrut), Maiden China (Kendell Yan) and Rose Butch (Rae Takei).
They are said to turn conventional drag upside down by exploring the "genderqueer, non-binary, and trans experience through the use of movement, poetry, performance art, theatre, and immersive installation.”
Not only but also, on the winning Holden Street ticket is The Boy in the Moon - a hit play about Canadian journalist Ian Brown’s life with a severely disabled son. It is written by Emil Sher and has been heralded as one off the most emotionally engaging productions of Canadian lockdown.
Then there’s Inside/Out: A Prison Memoir, a darkly vivid account of years spent inside a Canadian prison. True story and “darkly funny”, say the critics.
These striking works are part of the East Van to Edinburgh push, a really entrepreneurial global platform of theatre companies under the imprimatur of award-winning British producer Richard Jordan.
It is part of a production force called The Clutch, previously known as the Vancouver East Cultural Centre - a long-established and innovative Canadian arts hub.
2021 was the first year for this eclectic electric Edinburgh invasion from Canada and, covering some of the key artistic and social issues of the moment, its works certainly stirred the Holden Street soul. Its attention to First Nation artistes and concerns was among its attractions, along with diversity, disability and gender equality.
And here emerges the very positive new direction for international theatre presentation — the result of savvy theatre people who will not be defeated by the pandemic.
These positive arts entrepreneurs were quick to show their creative wares to Edinburgh and thence, by acclaim, to Holden Street.
Martha Lott said that the Holden Street judges had been steadily watching shows throughout the Festival month with keen entrants sending in links.
The Holden Street Fringe Award is now extremely well known and sought-after in Edinburgh.
Says Martha Lott:
"This is the only award of its kind in the world to tour work from Edinburgh to Adelaide, or in fact Australia and in the past thirteen years we have toured over 70 productions including award winners and many of the runner up shows, with winners such as Sh!t Theatre Drink Rum With Expats, Build a Rocket, Bound, Angel by Henry Naylor and the incomparable Flesh and Bone.”
Thus has Holden Street received more than 80 awards for its Fringe program from industry and media.
Similarly, it has earned very loyal audiences who have made clear that, come what may, they want to be at the venue for the Fringe.
“They have shown that they wanted to experience the atmosphere of the hub, not watch theatre online at home,” explains Lott.
“They wanted to watch their performing arts live and get back to their familiar and secure surroundings and engage socially at the venue. ‘
So, Holden Street provides a solution.
Yes, patrons can gather at the theatre and see international work.
They will be rewarded by an On Screen program in which shows will be presented in high quality digital format.
And, they will experience them in the comfort of armchairs in a spacious and swish lounge room, where they can enjoy luscious wine and cheeses from the Holden Street bar and café.
“This intimate cinema will house ten people who will enjoy an evening of great international theatre and entertainment,” declares Lott.
“And then they walk outside and see amazing live local theatre.”
Samela Harris
Bookings: holdenstreettheatres.com
Local South Australian youth theatre company Wings2Fly Theatre have announced an extension to their scholarship program. The company are excited to announce 12 fully funded scholarships are now available for eligible applicants for productions through to July 2022!
Established in 2017 and run by local arts industry professionals, Michelle Nightingale and Alicia Zorkovic, Wings2Fly Theatre offer workshops for 6 to 10 year olds (Juniors) and 10 to 21 year olds (Youth) during the school holidays. With several other organisations offering development opportunities in musical theatre and the respective disciplines, Wings2Fly Theatre has deliberately decided to focus their unique training program exclusively on spoken theatre craft and straight plays.
“We are all about supporting young actors and giving them the opportunity to gain practical professional knowledge of the theatre and stagecraft” says company co-director Michelle Nightingale.
“It is about giving young actors a taste of professional theatre, the expectation and the intensity of creating characters and live theatre, the thrill of the lights and the effect of the applause.”
Due to the generous support of local sponsors the Jeffery family, LR&M Constructions, Adelaide Theatre & More Social Club, and Jonathan Arts Centre, Wings2Fly Theatre now have 12 fully funded scholarships to their programs available for productions into 2022.
“We have always been conscious of the expense involved in quality acting training, and that this would exclude some young people who simply don't have the means or come from a disadvantaged background” explains co-director Alicia Zorkovic.
Zorkovic and Nightingale are incredibly grateful for the support of the company’s generous sponsors. “Jenn & Michael Jeffery's son, Byron, has been performing with Wings2Fly since January 2019, and they have been thrilled with his development as an actor” says Alicia.
“He has learnt to manage his ADHD”, she adds “and the standard of learning is something that the Jeffery’s want to support in other young actors.”
The 12 scholarships will be spread across the next three show seasons in October 2021, April 2022, and July 2022. Each holiday season will see support offered to two youth participants and two junior participants who many not have otherwise been able to take advantage of this training.
“We also have financial support available for regional students to assist with travel and accommodation” says Alicia.
“We are so excited to extend the opportunity state-wide,” adds Michelle.
“These positions are fully funded and include two tickets to one of the performances plus a Wings2Fly hoodie“.
Youth hopefuls are required to prepare a 10 minute individual audition to secure a place in the show.
“This is where the training starts,” says Alicia. “We work one on one with each student, providing feedback, advice and positive reinforcement.”
Once the plays are cast, costuming, sets and props are designed and sourced and the entire company comes together to meet each other prior to the commencement of rehearsals.
“They have a read through of the play, get professional headshots taken, and try on their costumes,” Alicia explains, “It's an opportunity to meet other cast members, eat pizza and ask any questions they may have.”
Workshops run Monday to Friday thereafter and consist of character and script analysis, blocking, and technical rehearsal. The company also has two special guest presenters at each holiday workshop to increase exposure to industry professionals.
“In the past we have had Paolo Castro, Rory Walker, Corey McMahon, Adrian Barnes, Jennifer Innes and Pat Wilson,” Michelle says.
The workshop culminates with four performances at Holden Street Theatres on the Saturday and Sunday at 2pm & 5pm.
“We want every young person who shows an interest or has a dream of being an actor to have the opportunity to receive a quality and supported education and performance experience” concludes Michelle, “And now they can!”
Further information about the scholarships and how to apply can be found at wings2flytheatre.com.au/scholarships
Paul Rodda
When: April, July, & October School Holidays
Where: Holden Street Theatre
More Info: wings2flytheatre.com.au
Murray Bramwell talks with Artistic Director, Ian Scobie about the challenges of planning a music festival during COVID. 21 Feb 2021
The last time I interviewed Ian Scobie about WOMADelaide it was late January last year and Kangaroo Island was burning down. The bushfires -which engulfed huge sections of the country, sending serious smoke haze into the cities - were on everyone’s mind. Scobie’s company APA was running a national tour for the Italian composer, Ludovico Einaudi, who was due to perform at the Myer Music Bowl. It was uncertain to happen because of poor air conditions. Fortunately, the smoke dispersed and the concert went ahead.
But nothing matches 2021. As Scobie describes it:
“It’s been very, very challenging really. I have to say that since working in Festivals-land since 1984, you come across the usual challenges – air traffic control for Peter Brook’s The Mahabharata at the Quarry, or suddenly finding a tented venue has a third of the capacity it is supposed to have.
“But this is a whole kind of other degree of uncertainty – which, of course, the whole world is dealing with, it’s not just poor us. It’s the constant uncertainty that’s so different. When we found out we couldn’t get a permit to do the full scale event we had to ask ourselves – ‘Do we do anything, or just cancel?’
“The decision came very late in the year. We were meeting with SA Health in some detail from June 2020 onwards and we were backwards and forwards discussing ways of dealing with the situation and avoiding over-crowding. We were maintaining parallel programs - an international one if things got better, and then an Australian one. By late August we thought international was unlikely so by September it was going to be a program sourced within Australia. We had that arranged, with the diversity one would expect - culturally and musically.
“It was then not until the second week in October when, after more back and forth to SA Health, they said – ‘Mmmm. No. We just think the combination of the duration, from noon to midnight, and the multi-stage format with audiences’ crossing over…’ It wasn’t something they were able to support.
“We just had to call it. So then we had to find out from SA Health what maximum event number we could have, and addressing their concerns meant we came to our decision – to have one stage, individual reserve seats, individual tickets not day passes. That meant contact tracing for Person X sitting in C 27 on Friday night or Saturday B 36. The QR app was not introduced yet. “
Scobie consulted with other event organisers such as the Adelaide Oval management –
“They were very helpful and keen to have us use their venue and it is a fabulous stadium. But it’s an oval. It is not really part of the ethos of the WOMADelaide event. Which is how we ended up at King Rodney Park.
“Once we set parameters we had three days to get back to SA Health with a plan for six thousand seats, spaced in a version of checkerboard, a single fixed stage and operating hours confined from 6 pm to midnight. The duration of people’s exposure is reduced and we know who and where they all are. “
At first Scobie considered using Elder Park but it was impossible to establish good sightlines for the size of the crowd. The same held for Botanic Park – the home of WOMADelaide since it began in 1992. Since it is a park full of trees there was nowhere that a seating rig could allow an unimpeded view for more than three thousand which, considering the overheads, was not financially viable. So Scobie and Mark Muller, the production manager, drove around the city looking for possible sites.
“We came across King Rodney Park – bounded by Dequetteville Terrace, Wakefield Road and Bartels Road. It contains an arena, has a fringe of trees, and parkland all around. So you have a sense of arrival and enclosure. It is the Christian Brothers College oval which is owned by the City of Adelaide and leased to the school. It is maintained for sport but open to the public. We have divided the area into zones – two thousand people through each of three gates, with six thousand the capacity. It will have a park feeling and we wanted a sense of enclosure. It will be a different concept but I did have one longtime WOMADelaide supporter say to me – ‘I’m so looking forward to having a seat!’ “
Scobie is pleased with the venue and the arrangements.
“I thought we had an obligation to run WOMAD in some form or other. I was opposed to presenting something like a single concert inside an auditorium that bore no resemblance to the event. I also had a concern that we needed to provide employment for the artists. Here we are in the middle of a pandemic and the arts are the first hit and the most heavily impacted – I think, even more than tourism.”
The 2021 four night concert program, developed by Associate Director Annette Tripodi and her team, is the tip of an organisational planning iceberg that has been busy all year. The 25th WOMADelaide, in its 29th year and one of the city’s most enduring events, will be remembered by the staff as a massive contingency exercise, a carefully constructed framework of events that could have been, but never happened. Scobie observes:
“Annette has done an amazing job. There is a full Australian program that’s never seen the light of day – which would have been terrific. But planning like this may be the future. I do hope we are gong to have a full scale event in Botanic Park in 2022, whether it has an international component, who knows? Next year will be a bit of a Groundhog Day with the same uncertainties. We will plan parallel Australian and international programs and see how it goes. Ziggy Marley is keen to come, if we have internationals, he will be in it!”
The Friday night line-up opens, as WOMAD has done often before, with the participation of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. They will be accompanying Lior, another festival favourite, in his performance of Compassion, a song cycle composed and conducted by Nigel Westlake. Commissioned for the Sydney Symphony, Compassion incorporates texts and themes from both Islam and Judaism. Of the project Westlake has said - “We have tried to imbue the ancient texts with a contemporary interpretation, adhering to the purity of a single voice and orchestra. “
Also appearing is Archie Roach, whose classic album Charcoal Lane featured the anthem of the Stolen Generation, Took the Children Away. His music has been re-released in recent years with the box set, Creation, and a remastered version of Charcoal Lane. His performance will be the first of many over four nights, highlighting indigenous culture and issues.
Completing the night’s list is the excellent Sarah Blasko whose ARIA nomination and Triple J Album of the Year, As Day Follows Night, has celebrated its tenth anniversary with a re-issue plus bonus tracks. It sounds fresher than ever and her set will be a great note to close on.
Saturday night is an especially hot ticket and is already heavily subscribed. It opens with young Indigenous rappers MRLN x RKM (aka. Marlon Motlop and RullaKelly-Mansell), new talents sponsored by WOMADelaide and the NSS Academy.
Next is the near legendary Vika and Linda and their outstanding band, and we will be reminded what a strong repertoire they have gathered over a brilliant career. Their ample compilation album, Akilotoa, is impressive, not only for its range and appeal, but also because they are some of the finest interpreters of the songs of long-time collaborator, Paul Kelly.
Headliners on Saturday are Midnight Oil. As Ian Scobie observes:
“Midnight Oil have been regularly on our books and we check them out to ask –what are you doing this time? They played WOMADelaide in 1997 and Peter Garrett has returned a couple of times to Planet Talks. He has fond memories of that particular gig. They also performed at WOMAD UK going back a way. So there’s always been a connection. We had been talking for 18 months to two years out. They were planned for this year. Nobody thought it would be like this, but it was great to have it in prospect. People thinking – ‘Oh God this is not a traditional WOMAD! ‘Instead, they see it’s Midnight Oil and they are also doing their Makarrata Live project on the closing night. “
Sunday night was scheduled to open with Zambian-born singer, Sampa the Great, but she cancelled all Australian commitments because she had travelled to Botswana and, due to COVID border restrictions, could not return. Instead, two emerging talents will perform. Pitjantjatjara/Torres Strait Islander artist , Miiesha, winner of a 2020 ARIA best Soul/R&B for her album Nyaaringu, will feature, along with PNG-born Melbourne artist, Kaiit, 2019 ARIA winner for her single Miss Shiney.
The amazingly multi-talented Tash Sultana tops the card. Their debut album Flow State, double platinum single Jungle and the multi-platinum Notion EP have all been streamed hundreds of millions of times, some say up to a billion. Tash Sultana has a massive global following and they will also be featuring material from this month’s release, Terra Firma.
Monday’s program opens with Adelaide band Siberian Tiger, featuring Bree Tranter and Chris Panousakis, who released their EP Last Dance last year. They will also feature a string quartet. The Teskey Brothers – Josh and Sam - plus Brendon Love and Liam Gough formed in Melbourne in 2008. Since then they have added keyboards and horns and have begun the most sought-after soul/blues live act in the country. Their excellent album, Run Home Slow won ARIA for Best Blues/Roots album. Last year’s release, Live at the Forum is a glimpse of their presence on stage. Their show will be quite something.
And to close this one-of-a-kind WOMADelaide, Midnight Oil will perform the world premier performance of Makaratta Live, a concert featuring prominent First Nations artists and raising public awareness of The Uluru Statement. The Oils will perform familiar hits connected to Indigenous Reconciliation as well new songs, Gadigal Land, Change the Date, and Terror Australia. It will be a significant occasion – and a chance to affirm the values of the Uluru initiative which have been shamefully deflected and ignored by the present government.
After all the speculation and logistical modelling, Scobie is hoping that much of his team’s time-consuming anticipatory work will not be necessary. There won’t be interstate lockdowns, or last minute border closures, or quarantine emergencies. The artists will all arrive in time for COVID tests to be cleared, and hotel floors will be sealed off for their greater safety. But as Scobie acknowledges –
“It all rests with SA Health and their committee. Everyone is doing their best but no-one can give you a guarantee. Months ago a colleague said to me – ‘Who knows? No-one. That’s who!’ “
So, says Ian Scobie with a wry smile, I keep saying – “It’s going to be great. “
WOMADelaide 2021 Sunset Concert Series runs from March 5-8 at King Rodney Park , Wakefield Road, Adelaide.
Murray Bramwell
When: 5 to 8 Mar
Where: King Rodney Park
Bookings: womadelaide.com.au
The man is indomitable. The only thing that Dave Brown may have failed at is retirement. He lasted about a minute after passing over the reins of our celebrated children’s theatre company, Patch, to the literally luminous new director, Geoff Cobham. Brown had been some 30 years developing children’s theatre for and with Patch. His name was synonymous with the company. And so was his heart.
The wrench seemed to take him by surprise.
“When I left Patch, I couldn’t imagine a life without ‘theatre-making for children’,” he declares.
And so it came to pass that a new children’s theatre movement came into being.
The PaperBoats.
Nothing was done in a hurry. This difference between Brown’s old life and this new one is deadlines. Brown has discovered the luxury of contemplative creativity, of taking time to develop projects and to create partnerships. The PaperBoats has been several years in development.
Interestingly, it is his admiration for former Playschool star, Noni Hazelhurst which underscores this new creative impetus.
He cites:
"Kids are being bombarded, on a daily basis, by the popular media’s increasing focus on commercial values rather than creative ones. Millions of dollars are poured into making junk palatable.”
"She put it beautifully when she said; “Children can be encouraged to grow, develop and participate in the world if we expose them to beauty, truth and the power of their imagination.”
" I reckon quality children’s theatre focuses on creative values; values that Noni Hazelhurst identifies so beautifully,” he adds.
Of course Brown also has a background in teaching. He studied science at university and taught chemistry before he slipped into his destined role teaching and generating theatre.
He established Jumbuck Youth Music Theatre Company before becoming artistic director of Patch.
Now in the world of ThePaperBoats, the Hazelhurst ideas have become core - as has Country Arts SA which was been a key partner.
“It supports the curation of quality arts experiences for early childhood audiences,” he enthuses.
Partnerships is, indeed, the new keyword.
"I wanted to develop a co-creating partnership platform that could use the existing infra-structures of partnership organisations rather than create yet another infra-structure of our own”, he explains.
"In so doing, I wanted partnering artists to be open to sharing their work in a “creative commons” way…. which does not happen much in theatre and I was inspired to some extent by the online arts production model created by the hit record folk. Check out their page here.
And so it came to pass that, steadily over time, new co-productions have been emerging - Especially on Birthdays (Australia and Singapore), Gimme Please (USA) and When the Mirror Bird Sings (Australia and Singapore community artists project).
It’s extraordinarily complex insofar as so many organisations and individuals have been involved in the creative process.”
Around 80 artistes, Brown estimates. All providing different facets if the process - and there are more co-shows in the pipeline.
It’s a triumph of a Community Sharing Agreement which, says Brown, continues to evolve.
He lists just some of his partners: AC Arts, University of Texas, Victoria University, Wellington, NZ, Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, Marion Cultural Centre, Country ArtsSA, ArtsSA, Boat Rocker Entertainment (Jim Weiner - NY Agent for Patch and GOM and Key Partner of the PaperBoats) WilderMusic, Artground Singapore and AFC.
Brown cites Especially on Birthdays as the best example of the co-creative development process.
He explains: "We made the work in Australia alongside the creation of Gimme Please in the US and shared our animating idea, design palette, our processes and content across each other’s creative developments which deeply influenced each other’s outcomes - and yet the two works ended up very differently.
"The first through-composed music score for Especially on Birthdays was written by the Zephyr Quartet and voiceROM. Then two Singaporean performers came to Australia to learn the physical score of the work (a non-verbal visual theatre work) and presented alternating performances as part of our Commonwealth Games season. They then returned to Singapore and remounted the work - with a new Singaporean music score by Stan&Soap and a re-interpreted design, for Singaporean audiences.
"Then Matthew Wilder (composer of Disney’s Mulan, singer/songwriter of 80s mega-hit Break My Stride, and brother to Jim Weiner) wrote a new US music score for Especially on Birthdays which was presented at our season of the show in Atlanta alongside the US production of Gimme Please.”
Plans for Especially on Birthdays to do a major tour of China have now been well and truly scuttled thanks to the Cornoavirus pandemic. Similarly, The Space season of When the Mirror Bird Sings scheduled for April is in limbo as the world waits for life to return to normal.
Brown,of course, will not have the grass growing under his feet since taking time over projects has been his retirement luxury.
Not that he has wasted a minute.
He spent 2019 learning how to program lights and then proceeded to design the lighting for the new work,
“That’s something I’ve been wanting to do for years but never had the time,” he says.
Massive amounts of work were dedicated to the new creation, devising a narrative thread which would ensure that children would be engaged, developing a new colour palette with designer Meg Wilson, rehearsing and honing. Thousands of hours, Brown estimates.
“And, I can say that there was never a dull or difficult moment,” he says.
When the Mirror Bird Sings features music based on Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and is described as a spirited modern fairy-tale. It is about wondrous birds with mirror-ball eggs and, thematically, it is the age-old struggle between good and evil.
"Responses to the show have been quite emotional especially from adults”, Brown enthuses.
"Kids absolutely love participating in the piece and they are hushed during the scenes of betrayal and redemption. It’s quite a dramatic and serious journey for young audiences - who are usually offered fairly light dramatics.”
When the Mirror Bird Sings targets 3 to 8 year olds and has been created to work both in high tech theatre venues and in low-tech community halls and schools.
Samela Harris
When: Rescheduled to 12 Sep
Where: Space Theatre
Bookings: bass.net.au