A Note from Ben, March 17

17.03.16

It’s all lies! Isn’t it? Theatre? One long, beautiful, controlled lie? Is that ok though, if there’s a deeper truth at the core? What makes us hide our own truths? Why do we accept the lies of others anyway? That’s the kind of conversation you have in your head as you watch Alana Valentine’s Ladies Day turn the craft of verbatim into a deftly controlled art. How did she get so good at this? Well it wasn’t by accident. Standing ovations are a dangerous way of expressing your appreciation in the Stables Theatre, you do risk a concussion on a low hanging lighting bar. But this hasn’t stopped audiences from leaping to their feet. Only limited chances remain to join this club of cutting-edge theatre goers. 

And then we are onto the second production of the year already, where truth gets a very different style of massage. We’re three weeks into rehearsals for Replay and three weeks away from opening. 

And as if that wasn’t enough, John McCallum is using a window between Saturday’s shows between to to host his first Script Club of the year, which is your chance to get up close to one of the great theatre brains in the country, as he pours out his love for some of the great, neglected masterpieces of the Australian stage. This is one of those special chances that makes living in a big city worthwhile. Beach weather is over, theatre weather is here, so join us with John this Saturday afternoon.

Love,
Ben
 
Ben Winspear
Associate Artist