TURN IT UP: ALL THE WAY TO ELEVEN

GAME CHANGER
Some commentary on recent developments at Belvoir St Theatre

As reported, the big news this week is the shifting fortunes of the downstairs theatre, which has such a place in our hearts that scarcely an artist in Sydney hasn’t been involved in a show there at some point in the last ten years or so. So it’s no surprise that it sort of feels like ‘our’ space. Well news flash: it ain’t no more, and never was. The good folks at Belvoir have been kind enough to let independent companies operate through their B Sharp season over the years – and it’s been a win-win scenario in many ways; diversifying the audience for Company B and allowing the sector to flourish. But like all plants raised in fertile ground, in twelve years it’s grown bigger than anyone could have imagined. So the powers that be have taken what they see as a necessary pruning measure. And haven’t the howls rung out as what was never really ours to begin with gets taken away. I’ve only got one thing to say about that for now. Get over yourselves.

Surviving in the Mainstrrrm

A prologue / preview / preamble / preliminary post pre-empting a progressive persuasion, picking apart the preconceptions of popular culture, performance and post-Howard arts funding.

Part Zero: Survivor Season Twenty: Heroes vs Villains

I’m no friend to ‘reality’ TV but this has become one of my favourite shows of recent times. It’s pure-grilled American cheese, true; and after ten years and nineteen seasons you have to hand it to the folks behind this for keeping it real. Rarely have you seen characters of this complexity outside HBO; and for that, each self-contained series provides its own fascinating insight into the human condition.

Time Out Steps Up to Recognise Independent Arts

one doesn’t think of their reviews as being anything approaching critical, the words “gushing praise” spring to mind when it comes to just about anything they write.

Elizabethan, Expressionist, Epic Theatre at its Finest

…far more than a tale of bloodthirsty ambition and civil war. Director Benedict Andrews uses the text as a lever with which to pry open and peer into the darker depths of power, civilisation and war.