Tag: Theatre

• She-Wolves of Wall Street Theatre: Girls Dominate in BOYS WILL BE BOYS

  November 8, 2017 1:53 pm Comments Off on She-Wolves of Wall Street Theatre: Girls Dominate in BOYS WILL BE BOYS

   ‘Welcome to the trading room floor’, reads the poster for the Street Theatre’s new production Boys Will be Boys. And what an introduction it is. Award-winning playwright Melissa Bubnic’s play is brought to life by director Caroline Stacy, promising a 90-minute non-stop barrage of swearing, songs and cutting feminist satire.
  Inspired by the ADFA scandal a few years back, where the consensual sex of a female cadet was disseminated without her knowledge, the story examines the experiences of women in a male-dominated industry. Astrid Wentworth, played by the exceedingly talented Pippa Grandison, is a successful stock-broker whose life is a stream of high-stake deals, dry martinis and visiting strip clubs with the rest of the ‘boys club’. When she takes on a young female protégée in Priya (Isha Menon), she finds herself caught between loyalty to her gender and her steely reputation. A classic antiheroine, Astrid plays a careful game of constantly keeping power, a position that is deconstructed cleverly when she meets and forms a quasi-sexual paid friendship with a prostitute Isabele (Kiki Skountzos). But in the world of business, you can’t stay on top forever, and playing to win is tricky when the game is rigged against you…
  Grandison is superb in the leading role, marrying a Katherine Hepburn-esque line delivery with her jazz-salon singing style. Although she is undoubtedly the star, the cast is a skilled ensemble and it is exciting to see such a strong female cast working together. With only five actors, they slide between genders to embody different characters, interestingly undermining the ‘gender binary’ upon which the play finds its base. This is apparent at different points throughout the show, such as Skountzos’ wearing heels even when playing a male stockbroker.
  A stand out of this production is the music that interweaves through the story. Musical Director Jess Green works with award winning sound technician Kimmo Vennonen to fuse sleazy jazz with sharp techno, accentuating the binary of the Wall Street business. Indeed, stark contrast is a theme of this production, with the (also award winning) lighting designer Niklas Pajanti concentrating harsh spotlights, shadows and occasional flashes of colour. Even the costume design is as black and white as the story, while notable flashes of colour including Isabelle’s green dress stand out against the monochrome. A mention must also be made of the stage design – the minimalist set has a funhouse mirror as its main backdrop, making a point about the warped reflections that we present to get ahead.
  The play itself is challenging, taking a brutal look at power and the gender divides that dominate male-led industries. Its ‘us vs them’ mentality is evident – not just in the story, but also in the directing and designing choices that thread the piece together. Although the show may not sit well with some third-wave feminists, with one viewer commenting that the gendering was very ‘old-school’, it gives an interesting analysis of power and gender in the workplace. And, one way or another, it is tremendously enjoyable, with enough bluesy tunes to make even the patriarchy slightly easier to swallow.
   
  Boys will be Boys is on at The Street Theatre until 11 November.

  Woroni Editor

• Saving the Arts

  October 19, 2017 3:27 pm Comments Off on Saving the Arts

  The ANU theatre scene has been ‘saved’, thanks to the dedicated efforts of the theatre community. However, there has been a lot of confusion and miscommunication between student groups and the ANU administration about both the interim theatre plan and the final redevelopment design. Hence, due to popular demand, here is a comprehensive guide to ANU theatre in 2018 and beyond.
   
  Background
  In late 2015 to early 2016, rumours circulated regarding the lack of theatre facilities in the new Union Court redevelopment plans. The Save the Arts Campaign was launched with the explicit aim to ensure the existence of ANU theatre – through the inclusion of a venue on campus and a comprehensive plan for the interim construction period. With the endorsement of the ANUSA Student Representative Council (SRC), the campaign culminated in a submission to ANU Council with 500+ signatures and 70+ testimonials from students, ANU theatre groups, alumni, and the wider Canberra community.
  The submission and the campaign were considered successful, as members of the ANU Executive pushed for the inclusion of a theatre in the redevelopment. As the 2016 National University Theatre Society (NUTS) Artistic Director and ANUSA CASS Representative, I was invited to sit on the Cultures & Events working group. This group was tasked with assessing the specific requirements for the Cultures & Events building.
   
  The Interim Theatre Plan
  A key facet of the Save the Arts campaign was to ensure that external venue hire was subsidised by the ANU during the construction period to the cost of the Arts Centre . The external venues available to student hire were almost double the cost of the Main Stage ($1,050 per week for 342 seats) for less capacity.
  Canberra Repertory Society (Rep), the production company based in Theatre 3, supported the ANU campaign and later struck a deal with the ANU Administration to ensure the subsidisation of venue hire for ANU theatre groups. In 2018, Rep will provide up to 12 weeks of venue hire in the academic periods for student productions, by adjusting their own production season slightly.   
  There are approximately 20 productions operating at ANU so this deal with Theatre 3 was insufficient for sustaining the entirety of ANU theatre. And so the Save the Arts Campaign reignited to ensure that this subsidisation was extended to other external venues. Earlier this year, this agreement was extended to include the Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centre venues – those being the Ralph Wilson and C-Block Theatre.
  This plan is not perfect. For many productions, the subsidised venue hire costs are still too high for the capacity the venues provide. Additional costs have been added for the inclusion of staff and ticketing for some venues. Most notably, the disorganisation of this plan has led to problems of matching production companies and venues. Small productions have been given access to Theatre 3, which has the largest capacity of the options available under the subsidy, whilst musicals and revues have not. This is not by any means the fault of the student groups or Canberra Rep, but the fault of the ANU Administration for not providing enough structure for this interim theatre plan.
   
  The Final Design
  The Cultures and Events building within the new Union Court precinct will include theatre facilities. This will include a dedicated theatre with flexible seating and staging, with capacity up to 120 seats. This will operate as a teaching space for ANU Drama as well as a venue for the majority of ANU theatre shows. There will also be limited access to a 500-seat events space for larger musicals and revues. This space will further operate for other events and lectures.
  An interior design working group was established during Semester 2 2017 to discuss specifics of the building. This group included the School of Music venue team, representation from ANU Drama, and student representation. The working group submitted a wish list to the architects working on the project. This included specifics about seating, stage configurations, and technical components regarding sound and lighting. It remains unclear, currently, what elements will be included in the final design.
   
  The Future of ANU Theatre
  Though the ANU will have theatre facilities available in 2018 and beyond, this doesn’t guarantee a sustainable or quality future. Our theatre community is remarkably decentralised. Before 2016, there was limited collaboration and resource or information sharing between production companies. The community came together in crisis. With high turnover of production teams and executive, this isolation has set in again. Answers aren’t easily obtained and support is not available. Without institutional support, ANU theatre will only be as good as the individual people who pursue it.

  Kat Carrington

• We will not Stand with Hector: Depictions of Sexual Assault in Theatre

  September 19, 2017 11:30 pm Comments Off on We will not Stand with Hector: Depictions of Sexual Assault in Theatre

  The History Boys is an internationally-renowned play. It was the recipient of the 2005 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play and the 2006 Tony Award for Best Play. Featuring a large cast, humour and some thought-provoking moments, it is a seemingly perfect choice for an ANU residential college production. And so Burgmann College took it on for a performance at the Ralph Wilson Theatre at Gorman and Ainslie Arts Centre earlier this semester.
  By the intermission, however, I wanted to walk out…
  Hector, the focal point of the play, is painted as a lovable and respectable character. Even after the moment Bennett reveals his abuse of the school children, his character is treated as comic relief, a bumbling fool, and finally, after his death, a tragic hero by all characters rather than for what he is: an abuser. There is no cosmic justice in this production. There is no point where characters condemn Hector’s actions because they are inherently wrong. Even when asked to resign from his position by the headmaster, it’s not out of protection of his students, but out of fear of external outrage.
  Yes, there is sometimes moral ambiguity about perpetrators. They are often friends and family members. They are often ‘nice people’. They are often respected and loved in different circles. Thinking otherwise plays into the Monster Myth: the idea that only strangers in bushes are capable of such acts.
  Allan Bennett makes no attempt at didacticism. There is no moment where characters reflect, seriously, on what has happened. There is only limited reference to the actual abuse, with Dakin, one of the school boys, cynically asking ‘Do you think it will scar us?’
  This is where the problem lies. Playwrights are allowed to create morally ambiguous characters. An audience can feel mixed emotions about a character based on these moral ambiguities. However, Bennett crosses a line in The History Boys. Bennet never admits that Hector committed a crime, or an unthinkable act, and he does not convey the repercussions of these actions on the survivors. Staging this play without addressing this ambiguity directly is problematic.
  The audience blindly accepts the premise of the abuse. The row in front of us, presumably a group of Burgmann boys, laughed wildly at a sequence with the Headmaster joking about groping balls. There was no outrage in the foyer.
  Staging this play continues the normalisation of such behaviour within society. It normalises the notion that ‘boys will be boys’. It says that jokes about sexual assault are just jokes: not an explicit part of rape culture. This is especially problematic in the context of an ANU residential college where abuse of power for sexual advantage is not uncommon.
  Everyman Theatre, a relatively new theatre company in the amateur Canberra scene, staged The History Boys a week later. The reviews that followed from The Canberra Times, Canberra Critics’ Circle, and That Guy Who Watches Canberra Theatre, were all glowing. Alanna Maclean, from the Canberra Times, dared to title her review ‘Canberra’s Everyman Theatre does well by this funny, perceptive play.’ Not one mention of abuse, sexual assault, or problematic portrayals. Hector remains loveable, remains a confused older man, and remains free of guilt. The only review that touched on any problematic material was published by Woroni by Jack Foster. Coincidentally, it was the only one not shared by the production company.
  By not addressing the problem, these reviewers, Everyman Theatre, and Burgmann College are all complicit in the continuation of rape culture. Sitting in the audience made me feel small. In the Month of Solidarity, where ANU students pledged to support survivors.

  Kat Carrington

• Big Heart for The Big Sick

  September 13, 2017 11:10 am Comments Off on Big Heart for The Big Sick

  Based on a true story, The Big Sick follows the tale of Emily Gardener (Zoe Kazan) and Kumail Nanjiani (playing himself) as they traverse the current dating scene. The journey that they take us on shows us how everyone is afraid of getting hurt, of putting themselves on the line and ultimately, how we are afraid of commitment.
  Emily and Kumail meet after his comedy show where he picks her up at the bar by writing her name in Urdu. Fast forward and they start dating and then break up, but she falls incredibly ill and needs to be placed in a medically induced coma. Kumail, her ex at this point, is the closest person she has and stays with her for weeks throughout the entire hospital stay. For him, he realises that he loves her again and there’s no one else who could compare. For her, she has no clue he’s been there and she’s still at the post-break up stage of disliking him.
  The movie is slow and incredibly awkward at times. Think: talking about orgasmic clarity and the sex life of your ex’s father. Meanwhile, she is still in a coma and you realise that you still kinda love her. However, I believe that this is to not over-dramatise the story that director Michael Showalter and writers – the real Emily and Kumail – are telling. Instead, they have made it as real and authentic as possible.
  The Big Sick emphasises the cross-cultural differences between the two characters and the complexities that these add to their relationship. We watch their families reconcile and accept the different experiences. We see the daily bigotry that Kumail faces and how he deals with it. We watch Zoe as she grapples to understand other cultural practices despite how backward they may seem, such as arranged marriage. Along with the characters before us, we learn about the contemporary difficulties that many face in our globalised and multicultural world.
  This film feels awfully familiar. It illustrates how we cope with the hardships of life through humour and the bottling of our emotions until we reach breaking point. You couldn’t find a more authentic romantic comedy. Yes, there are the cliché realisations that you still love your ex and that you messed up in the relationship. Except, rather than the classic airport scene, this occurs in a hospital room.
  Ultimately, this movie is awkward, real and honest about human relationships and life.
  After the movie, I ran into a woman in the toilets for that post-movie pee, and asked her what she thought of the movie. Her answer sums up what many will think after watching this: ‘It was real and touching – for me anyway. I loved it.’

  Ashley Penrose

• Intimacy at the Street Theatre

  September 8, 2017 1:25 pm Comments Off on Intimacy at the Street Theatre

  Intimacy is an innovative theatre experience that challenges its audience to consider varyingly unique aspects of the human condition. The subject matter of the play draws itself from the real-life experiences of its director, Adriano Cortese, in the streets of Melbourne. It is an exciting, funny and, at times, confronting production.
  Approaching The Street Theatre, neither my companion nor I were sure of what to expect. Neither of us travel in the circles of artistic performance or recreation. Thus, our experience and understanding of Intimacy developed as new characters and stories introduced themselves before us. These rapid developments were simultaneously exhilarating and exhausting. It almost felt like we were participating in a round of speed-dating before learning about these anonymous individuals’ most intimate and vulnerable states of being.
  Entrancing and provocative, ‘Intimacy’ explores the stories of various characters through conversation, interpretive movement, and minimal audio-visual effects. Although the play stands at just 65 minutes running time, the experience is so rich in emotion and provocation that it seems to have lasted for an immeasurable count. It retains an authentic quality of naturalness – my companion even describing the ‘feel’ of the dialogue as imitating an ‘impromptu’ conversation.
  The unique nature of Intimacy lies in its honest examination of the human subject. The audience are as much a part of this ‘collaborative thinking’ experience as the actors are. We are invited to consider, without judgement, the stories of these characters. How they reached this point of conversation and what the listener must think of what they’re hearing.
  It is from these stories that the viewer is encouraged to question the fabric of social interaction; its truths and its falsities. The performance cleverly weaves the collection of conversations to accentuate the power of a human facade and its myriad of depths. The natural ebb and flow of its theatrical achievement calls us to look and revel in the simple beauties of life, such as the personal conversation to capitalise on the human experience. Without such ‘intimacy’, the actors portray that we can only simply scratch the surface as to why individual members of society are or act in a certain way.

  Tess Moody

• Who Wants to Be? at the Street Theatre

  September 7, 2017 5:30 pm Comments Off on Who Wants to Be? at the Street Theatre

  Who Wants to Be? is like a game show. There are bright visuals and a host flitting around the audience with a microphone. The show I went to started with participants brainstorming ideas for how we should spend $1,500. Anyone could introduce an idea, but they had to be prepared to back it up with details.
  There was no real limit to how we spend this money. The possibilities included betting on the Melbourne Cup, searching for aliens, saving the Great Barrier Reef and sponsoring Ethiopian film maker Adanech Admassu.
  Luckily, Who Wants to Be? employs a system of elimination where participants vote for each idea and then vote another four times to ascertain a winner. Before each vote, proponents of an idea get an opportunity to elaborate, and other participants can make suggestions.
  This is how we arrived at the idea to use the money to gather fireworks stashed away in Canberran homes, set them all off on Black Mountain and, thereby, attract aliens.
  We also raised other considerations during these discussions. Someone proposed that we consider which ideas would go ahead regardless of the extra funding. There was also a call for community participation in the implementation of the project, rather than just donating the money to an outside organisation. Someone else argued for effective altruism, proposing Against Malaria Foundation as the best recipient due to their number one ranking by GiveWell in terms of value for money.
  During the intermission, representatives for different ideas sat at a table where the rest of the participants could go to discuss the projects, suggest alterations or volunteer their skills.
  After this process, many of the suggestions become much more specific and achievable. We narrowed them down to three options:

  Donate the money to Tuggeranong Arts Centre to bring Benjamin Law’s The Unmissables project to Canberra.
  Create bee gardens around Canberra (bearing in mind their decreasing numbers).
  Spend the money on a lunch where newly settled refugee children can meet other kids in Canberra (an idea very eloquently proposed by a young schoolgirl).

  We all held up our voting cards – folded pieces of cardboard with three different coloured sides, each corresponding to one of the options. The kids’ lunch won, and I happily added my name to the list of people who would commit to seeing the project through.
  Of course, this was not everybody’s preference. However, I think the opportunity to discuss, alter and challenge ideas ultimately endowed the final decision with more legitimacy.
  The People Speak ran three events at the Street Theatre as part of the Segue Festival, and Who Wants to Be? was the last. If you missed it, you can check out the many recordings of other events hosted by The People Speak on their website.

  Emma Cupitt

• The History Boys: A Masterful Performance of A Troubling Play

  September 6, 2017 1:19 pm Comments Off on The History Boys: A Masterful Performance of A Troubling Play

  Warning: the play contains allusions to sexual assault and glorification of the perpetrator of sexual assault. Some audience members may find these themes distressing.
  Everyman Theatre’s The History Boys is an enthralling theatrical experience. Staged in the round, the audience is immersed in the activity of a 1980s boy’s grammar school as a group of university hopefuls prepare themselves for the gruelling Oxbridge entrance exams. The staging is a study in exemplary set design: the classroom is basic yet detailed down to gum on the desks, serving as the perfect vehicle for the production’s excellent choreography. Every aspect of the performance is tight and precise while still facilitating the naturalism that the space inspires.
  Phenomenal energy from its eponymous boys carries this production. Directors Christopher Zuber and Jarrad West have assembled a superb young cast, whose accent work and sheer enthusiasm create a mesmerising performance. The eight work in cohesion while each retains a unique identity, supported by infectious musical numbers as part of the classroom banter. Patrick Galen-Mules is a stand out as Scripps, demonstrating his versatility as a musician and an actor.
  The charisma of the group provides a strong platform for the older cast members. Hayden Splitt offers a vivid portrait of the stilted young teacher determined to shine. Geoffrey Borny excels as the ornery headmaster. The astoundingly accomplished Chris Baldock is magnetic as Douglas Hector, bouncing and exuberant as he performs to his students and only incidentally to the audience. It is truly excellent naturalist theatre.
  While the production is captivating in its performance, this only heightens the disturbing undertones rife throughout Alan Bennett’s award winning script. Two themes dominate this play. The first explores the effects of a frustratingly repressive boys school on male conceptions of sexuality. The second is a philosophical musing on the platonic act of teaching. These separate conversations coalesce into a darker thesis on the eroticism of classroom interactions: the teacher giving, the student receiving, the doors locked on this sanctum of Aristotelian virtue.
  Bennett wants his play to inspire this intellectual interpretation. He wants his audience to leave pondering over the act of learning, over the nature of truth and relativism, over the formative effects of our education system.
  He does this by glorifying the perpetrator of sexual assault. He presents an environment of paedophilic grooming that is willfully engaged in by smart, confident teenagers and their jovial idol. The boys, in their bravado, are blasé about this interaction. ‘Are we scarred for life, do you think?’asks the wildly charismatic Dakin. ‘We must hope so,’ Scripps dryly replies, ‘perhaps it will turn me into Proust.’ Bennett’s flippant treatment of this behaviour is disturbing and minimises the implications of an incredibly traumatising act.
  His treatment of women is similarly marginalising. Alice Ferguson shines as the world-weary Dorothy Lintott, a satiric figure who appears on stage only to sardonically point out her lack of importance. In a fiery breakout monologue against the patriarchal interpretation and perpetuation of history, her anger is that of an exasperated housewife. She fumes about having to teach ‘five centuries of masculine ineptitude’ and argues for the inclusion of the female presence in history, but only in the context of ‘cleaning up their messes.’
  This points to the fundamental weakness infecting the play. Bennett attempts to frame these issues in a self-conscious, ironic light that reflects the relativist propositions put forward by his characters. For example, he at once romanticises the place of literature in informing the human experience while also cynically lambasting the person who places too much importance on the sanctity of words. But the play reaches too far in applying this bifocal lens to gender inequality and, distressingly, sexual assault. Bennett moves from postmodernism into defending sexual exploitation.
  The History Boys is a masterfully staged production. The performance is a mesmerising blaze of superb acting and flawless choreography, supported by excellent tech work and amazing musical asides. However, it portrays confronting themes in a highly troublesome manner. I left the theatre with mixed feelings – no matter how great the production, it is difficult to divorce the performance from its distressing content.

  Jack Foster

• Women are Great: An ANU Women’s Revue Review

  September 2, 2017 8:03 pm Comments Off on Women are Great: An ANU Women’s Revue Review

  Women are funny, talented and incredible.
  That was my overwhelming thought walking out of the inaugural ANU Women’s Revue ‘Lady and the Trump’, showing at Gorman House. An all-female-identifying production and new initiative of the of the ANU Women’s Department, this show takes on both the amazing and not-so-great aspects of being a woman in our world – flipping and exaggerating them in due course to show how funny the scenarios that women come across daily really can be.
  This is a show that makes you forget about how the messed up ways women are
  treated in our society sometimes, and instead throws you into a world where those messed up things still exist – but the show combats them with positive female friendship, fanfiction, and exuberant dance numbers.
  From the opening number, ‘Circle of Strife’, the multi-talented cast kept up a joyful and incredible amount of energy through what must have been exhausting physical comedy over the three-hour show.
  Directed by the talented Elizabeth Page and Laura Emerson, who contributed their individual acting skills to some of the funniest moments of the night, particular highlights included the takes on reality television phenomenon in ‘Political Bachelorette’ and ‘Friday Night Fights’. There were audible gasps of astonishment in the audience when Musical Director Ella McNiece broke into song in ‘The Daily Life of a Woman Online’. The recurring sketches such as the ever increasingly ridiculous micro-sketches ‘Kids These Days’ and ‘VC Update’ had the audience so hyped that they were laughing in anticipation before the characters had even said a word.
  I was in awe following Zelie Appel and Kayla Ciceran’s dense monologues in ‘Minimalism’ and ‘How Can We Be Lovers’, respectively, with the audience being pulled more and more into the surreal world that the cast created in front of us.
  The band, seated onstage throughout the show, was perhaps underutilised and could have added some momentum to some skits that dragged minutely. A standout moment highlighting the versatility of the musicians was the use of the cajón in the classic Wonderwall take, ‘Great Sexpectations’ – accompanying Jayne Hoschke and her, well, passionate backup dancers – and this versatility had a lot more potential to be used during other skits.
  We, the audience, received constant reminders that there is a certain catharsis in the creation of skits based on familiar life experiences – emphasised through the pure energy and joy that flowed out of the cast members.
  The downside of featuring a cast so incredibly hilarious is that at points they couldn’t help but laugh at themselves, but who can blame them?
  I left with the renewed understanding that women are not flawless or perfect – they are unfiltered, allowed to be vulnerable, and have a complexity of wit in understanding themselves that makes shared experiences through comedy so heartwarmingly relatable. Women are great and immensely hilarious, and the women of the ANU Women’s Revue cast whole-heartedly left me with the reminder that having no shame in who you are is the best way to be.

  Ria Pflaum

• No Objections To This Year’s Law Revue

  4:44 pm Comments Off on No Objections To This Year’s Law Revue

  Law Revue 2017, To Infinity and Beyond Reasonable Doubt, was out of this world funny (bear with me, I wanted a better space pun, but didn’t have time to planet). Directors, Al Thorne and Maddi Lamers, with Producer, Olivia Sparrow, started us off with a Robbie Williams medley, reassuring us that there are no legal jobs, many unpaid internships, long hours and that law’s a crock. But never fear, by the end of the first song, it was Beyond Reasonable Doubt that the cast could throw in their Scarlett Gowns and Gavels to become professional thespians.
  With the usual format of small, succinct musical skits, the performance led us flying in all directions. All those worrying about their lack of legal knowledge need not steer clear. Having taken a lawyer along with me for good measure, we quickly found that much of the humour revolved around the ANU experience, with sprinklings of law puns orbiting around the edges. The skit LAWS4EVERY1 gave some witty observations on first-year tutes, with a sea of puffer jackets and MacBooks, as well as the classic lecturer who prescribes their own book (available from the Co-op in week 10, of course!). As well as this, the Black Box Recording sketch had everyone gasping for air and wiping away tears of laughter when that god-forsaken ‘copyright in these lectures is property of the ANU…’ came blaring through the speakers.
  But for all those lost in space amongst the thought-leader jokes, asking ‘what’s a Chifley?’ there was plenty of other material. From a romantic Marxists Christmas story to a Gorilla taking on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, there was something for everyone. Not to mention the Sandwich Sketch… keep ‘em guessing!
  As for acting, in the past we’ve seen many students shoot for the moon and miss it by a mile, but this year was an amazing effort by all. Special mention should go to Alex Merrick for a hilarious (and scarily accurate) Tony Abbott impression while guiding us through the history of his love of Onions. And when it came to the singing and dancing, Sarah Whiting showed us some serious flare.
  The stage lighting was also flawless, which is no surprise when lighting technician, Stephen Still, just celebrated his 20th year working on the show.
  All in all, Law Revue was an incredibly funny and tight performance, which left me wanting more. Despite its surprisingly low ratio of space puns to space content, this show receives one very enthusiastic small step for man (and an even more enthusiastic leap for mankind), which roughly translates to five stars (what d’you know, those are also space related). Bravo!

  Chloe Tredrea

• The People Speak at the Street Theatre

  September 1, 2017 5:13 pm Comments Off on The People Speak at the Street Theatre

  $20 / 2 September
  What do you want to talk about? That’s the first question at a Talkaoke. Mikey Weinkove explains that the pop-up talk shows he hosts may start with a theme (for example, what’s in the news) but the discussions must have an open agenda.
  Talkaokes are just one of the projects that The People Speak run. Other projects include The People Film, Unlecture and One Night Grandstand. However, the same ethos applies to all these projects: getting people (often strangers) to speak and listen to each other.
  The idea of an open agenda underlay The People Speak’s event at The Street Theatre showing this week. Mikey starts with a slideshow explaining Talkaokes and other projects that The People Speak run. However, the presentation quickly becomes a discussion guided largely by the audience.
  Someone asks about how the local governments, theatres, museums and other institutions that commission Talkaokes feel about keeping the agendas open. Don’t these institutions have their own criteria that they think the Talkaoke should address? They’re just one more person at the table, Mikey stresses. If they have something that they think is worth addressing, they need to bring it to the table.
  This brings us to the Talkaoke table itself. It’s custom made, altered over the years per the rigorous testing of different techniques and designs. It’s doughnut shape means that everyone who comes to speak is on the same side. The host sits in the middle, slightly lower than everyone else.
  Mikey talks about the challenges of getting people with different backgrounds and different personalities to listen to each other. There are two rules: no fighting and no singing. If someone is dominating the conversation, one of the best ways to get them to shut up is to encourage them.
  Is it difficult to get people to speak to you when you set up the Talkaoke table on the street? Yes, at first, Mikey says. But, once you have enough people, others are drawn in by human magnetism.
  He shows us pictures of Sikhs crowded around the table in Birmingham; Muslims and non-Muslims in conversation after the Manchester bombings; speaking to young, white men in Lancashire about Pakistani immigrants. He tells us that one of the hardest Talkaokes he ever hosted was when all the participants were environmental activists, each blinkered by their individual project.
  Over the years, The People Speak have developed techniques to foster an open conversation. These are all available on their website, and The People Speak encourage other groups to try them out.
  The People Speak are at the Street Theatre this week as part of the Segue Festival. On Wednesday, 30 August, they’ll be running The Slice is Right. Participants will be divided into groups and given a political system. Within this system, they must design the best pizza they can.
  On Saturday, 2 September, Who Wants to Be? will challenge participants to collectively decide how to spend $2000 (really, not just speculatively). Will it be spent on beer? Or will it sponsor a refugee? Or fund a new skate park?

  Emma Cupitt