Culture without Borders

Facinating article in 'The Australian' by David Elliott, artistic director of the 17th Biennale of Sydney, about the false division of culture. He writes, "The myth of cultural supremacy and separation is one of the great hoaxes of history, a discipline that until very recently was little more than propaganda, written by victors. The unsettling truth is that people, images and things have always moved vast distances across the world." Click here for the full article.

Company B's Parity Pay Policy About To Change

For the past 25 years, everyone at Sydney's Company B (Belvoir St Theatre), from the artistic director to the actors to the stage hands to the box office staff, all have been paid the same (just over $25 an hour). Back in 1984, when the building housing the Nimrod Theatre Company was about to be demolished, big name supports like Mel Gibson and Nicole Kidman pulled out their pocketbooks to save the structure, a former tomato sauce factory. At the time it was necessary that no one, especially big stars, received big salaries. This added to the allure of the company's sense of community and equality. Though everyone seems to be pleased with the parity system, the administration is looking for ways to help those individuals, especially senior staff, who may be held back by its restrictions. Read a full article here.

‘Exit the King’ Enters Broadway Line-up

Geoffrey Rush will star in a Americanized version of
Eugene Ionesco's Exit the King along with Susan Sarandon, Lauren Ambrose and Andrea Martin. Rush starred in the play at the Belvoir St. Theatre in Sydney last year. Australian director Neil Armfield will helm the production which he also translated along with Rush. Performances will begin March 7 at the Barrymore Theatre with an official opening March 26; the limited engagement will run through June 14.

According to the press release, Exit the King "is a hilarious and poignant comedy about a megalomaniacal ruler, King Berenger (Rush) whose incompetence has left his country in near ruin. Despite the efforts of Queen Marguerite (Sarandon) and the other members of the court to convince the King he has only 90 minutes left to live, he refuses to relinquish any control."

Blanchett & Hoffman Form Theatrical Alliance

Oscar winners Philip Seymour Hoffman and Cate Blanchett have formed a theatrical alliance with London’s Ambassadors Theatre Group. ATG's joint chief executive and creative director Howard Panter called the initiative "a new creative bridge to create, produce and exchange work that would not otherwise be produced." ATG, which runs the West End's Trafalgar Studios, said Monday that the Sydney Theatre Company, run by Blanchett and her playwright husband Andrew Upton, and Hoffman's LAByrinth Theater Company in New York would become associate companies. Under the arrangement, the American and Australian companies would stage work in the West End theater, and British plays would travel to Sydney and New York. The first play to get the collaborative treatment is Riflemind, Upton's play about an aging rock band's reunion, which opens in London on Thursday under Hoffman's direction.

A Streetcar Named Blanchett

Liv Ullman directs the Sydney Theatre Company’s upcoming production of Tennessee Williams’ A Streetcar Named Desire, starring co-artistic director and Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett. The production will open in Sydney, Australia in September 1st, 2009 and will tour the U.S. starting on Oct. 29th at the Kennedy Center and Nov 27 at BAM. Blanchett made her U.S. stage debut at BAM in Hedda Gabler in 2006. Her acting credits at the Syndey Theatre Company include productions of Caryl Churchill's Top Girls, Timothy Daly's Kafka Dances and David Mamet's Oleanna. For more information visit here.

The Heath Ledger Theatre?

The arts community of Perth, Australia is up in arms about the announcement by Premier Alan Carpenter that he will name the new performing arts center in Northbridge after Hollywood film actor Heath Ledger.

Many have attacked the decision because of the Perth-born actor’s personal life and lack of theatre work as reasons why the center should get a different name.

West Australian Academy of Performing Arts program director Andrew Lewis criticized the move, saying the WA government had engaged in a cynical marketing exercise. "People in the industry don't feel that they were consulted," he said. But he stressed that this did not detract from the fact that Ledger was a great actor.

"I certainly would love to honour Heath because I think he was an extraordinary man and a great talent, one of the best exports that we have ever had," Mr Lewis said. "And he is well known, which will hopefully bring people to the theatre."

Blanchett’s Company Declares Deficit

Despite the appointment of Cate Blanchett and Andrew Upton as co-artistic directors, and Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani's large cash donation, the Sydney Theatre Company yesterday announced a loss of $253,007 -- its third consecutive deficit.

The deficit occurred despite box office receipts of $11.2 million last year, the second-highest figure in the company's history, and a 9% increase in sponsorships and philanthropic donations, reaching a record total of $2.6 million.

The STC had sellout seasons of three main productions: Blackbird, which Blanchett directed, Upton's play Riflemind, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman; and Patrick White's The Season at Sarsaparilla, directed by Benedict Andrews. The STC is fortunate that it has been able to dip into its cash reserves of more than $1.6million to offset the deficit. Thanks to federal and state government subsidies, the STC now will receive about $500,000 a year from this year to 2010.

Creative Australia?

Here’s a brief summary article about the recent 2020 Australia Summit. One of the ten subjects covered was ‘Creative Australia’. A diverse group of ‘creatives’ was invited (including Hugh Jackman and Cate Blanchett) to meet with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. Though the government claims that the culture is one of the “critical areas’ of Australia’s future, critics claim that the whole event was a crude publicity stunt designed to validate the PM’s existing positions. As the article concludes “In terms of harvesting ideas, it was a brilliant success. What remains to be seen is whether the Australian government will use them as more than decoration.”

Small Companies, Big Names

Intriguing article today in Australia’s The Age about how small companies are increasingly relying on big-name playwrights to sell tickets, but are also wary of the financial and production pressures involved. One company in particular is Red Stitch Actors Theatre, an actors co-op that produces mostly ‘overseas’ plays. Their artistic director, David Whiteley says,

"There's a lot of excellent work out there and, the fact is, Australian audiences just won't see it. In London you might have 10 or 20 companies that are presenting new international plays but here you have one or two — the choice of what we can do is amazing."

They’ve presented the Australian premieres from such writers as Edward Albee, Paula Vogel, Mark O'Rowe, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Richard Bean, Martin Crimp, Austin Pendleton and most recently, Neil LaBute’s The Mercy Street.