During April I worked on a couple of films & I wanted to send a ‘shout-out’ to the crew members who pulled off some very good work in difficult circumstances.

   On location battling traffic, cold, losing light & on-lookers, the cast, director & crew just got on with the job & made it happen.

The Make-Up & Wardrobe team made the living look dead & the perfect look imperfect & made it all happen in a small ‘broom closet’ kitchen on location in a shipping company’s corporate HQ.

    The crew in a dank dark underground parking lot got down to business as darkness fell outside. 

  I suspect that director Andrew Gardner likes actors because he comes to speak with you & listens to what you have to say. Then he lets you do your job. Dear readers, he’s one to watch out for!. Kudos to Andrew & his Crew.

…..random stuff ’cause I loved it…

   I was doing some research for an audition & came across this Romantic depiction of ‘Hero’ waiting for her lover ‘Leander’. Art is interpretative & personel I know but I am always in awe of painters who can convey so much narrative via their subject in one pose captured for all Time.

HUGE congratulations to Tony Chu for 10 ‘amazeballs’ years with NAFA. And lots more to come.

SYDNEY INDY THEATRE GOES OFF… lots of gigs in Sydney so go see something & support our local artists…..

     Opening on May 2nd & playing till May 13, Dead Actors Society present a new comedy, BOO, written & directed by Matthew Blackwood Hume. Playing at the newly refurbished KING ST THEATRE (aka Newtown Theatre aka The Edge), BOO plays Wed to Sat @ 8pm & Sun @ 4pm matinee. Doors open 1 hour before showtime so you can enjoy live music & a drinkie….how civilised!. Cast includes Matt Jones, Alys Daroy, Sylvia Keays, David Woodland, Matthew Blackwood Hume & Katherine Shearer.

Bookings: www.trybooking.com/Booking/BookingEventSummary.aspx?eid=23548 ….type in BOO or search under King Street Theatre. Tixs are $30 & $20 for Preview on Tuesday 1st May @ 8pm.

Chookas to Matt, David & all the cast & crew of BOO.

         A brand new play & a world premiere all in one go!. Frank Gauntlett’s new play, DEEMING, about a serial killer will open on May 22 @ the KING STREET THEATRE & play till June 3. Directed by Steven Hopley, DEEMING is straight out of our early Colonial days, 1892 to exact. Frederick Bailey Deeming is an international thief,swindler, con man, bigamist & utterly ruthless mass murderer. Some even think he’s Jack The Ripper. And he’s at large on our shores.

  Starring Patrick Trumper (pictured), Emily Stewart & Anthony Hunt.

Bookings: www.kingstreettheatre.com.au , tixs $30 Adults, $25 Concession & $20 Preview on May 22 @ 8pm. Sun matinee @ 5pm.

MY P.O.V

Disclaimer: I have the right to express my point of view in this Blog.

  Someone out there please help me to figure this out: why do I know so much about Kim Kardashian when I neither know her nor do I especially want to?. Has this person invented something that will help cancer patients survive chemotherapy really really well & I missed that?, has she done extraordinary Humanitarian works in Africa & I missed that?, has she written some blindingly brilliant book that won the Booker prize & I missed that?, has she dedicated herself to her profession & assisted many others to achieve excellence in their chosen field & I missed that?……How have I come to know so much about Kimmy K dear readers??.

Of course I’m being facetious here but underlying that is a genuine plea – dear readers I don’t want to know anything about this person, no offense Kimmy K, but it’s true!!.

I wish you the best in life but I don’t care about your social calender, I’m not interested in your money-making deals with fashion designers, weight-loss companies & Reality TV channels. I don’t care about who you go out with, what you eat & what red carpet event you are attending. When your wedding catastrophe was splashed all over every media opportunity ever known to humankind, did you think I really & truly wanted to see that train wreck? it was embarrassing & humiliating…when my marriage fell apart the last thing I wanted was to have that awful time in my life broadcast to all & sundry!.

Look, I wish you well in your life, love & business but I don’t want to know about any of it. Please go away.PLEASE!!!.

ON THE FLOOR with IAN RICKSON @ SYDNEY’S SEYMOUR CENTRE

 A Monday night is a tough time-slot to get bums on seats but that was not an issue when British theatre/film director Ian Rickson held a masterclass on Monday 2nd April…the Reginald Theatre was almost a full house.

Hosted by Melbourne acting studio 16th Street in association with Actors Equity Foundation, Sydney actors & directors gathered to spend an evening with one of the most vibrant, intelligent, hard-working, sought-after directors in Britain today. And watching him direct actors it’s clear why this is so. 

  The work space.

Working with Christopher Hampton’s version of The Seagull, Ian took 4 actors through their paces as they worked in pairs on 2 different scenes from the play. Starting with a read of the scene, the actors very quickly got on their feet facilitated with easy authority, focused energy & great skill by Ian, who knows the play to it’s very core.

   In 2008 his production of The Seagull at the Walter Kerr Theatre in New York, with Kristin Scott-Thomas, Peter Sarsgaard, Cary Mulligan, Art Malik & Ann Dowd, was the hottest 5 star ticket in town.

As I watched Ian work on the floor, always in close proximity to the actors & the text, he struck me as a sort of ‘Agent Provocateur’ tempting & driving the actors to commit acts of textual integrity, character honesty & relationship nuance.

As a part of his directorial toolbox, he loves to use acting games & improvisations to stimulate an actors imagination but does so wisely placing such workshop (rehearsal) tactics firmly in context to the play.

Dear readers, admission-time… there is a part of me that’s the slightly cynical actor wary of such methodology – I’ve been subject to their misuse by well-meaning directors eager to ‘experiment’ & ‘open up’ the creative process…sigh. Yet in the hands of a director like Ian I wanted to get up & participate immediately – used correctly, games & improvs are brilliant for exposing the shifts, humour, conflicts & struggles that feed the fire of great drama.

 The Learning space.

Let me share some familair acting ideas that Ian spoke about in a way that made them seem fresh & re-figured having been refracted through his directorial prism:

*encouraging actors to become visual in their thinking about the play/the world of the play/the environment of the play ? thinking in pictures.

*when delving into the text there is value in taking notice of the senses ? smell, taste, seeing, hearing ? as a palette that informs other types of hungers, appetites…sensual & otherwise.

*use the language to affect self & other:pursue the ‘need’ to affect the other actor (character) by working with objectives & obstacles i.e. what do I want? ? what is in the way of what I want – the obstacle ? how do I get over the obstacle to get what I want?

    Director Ian Rickson (red cap) with the actors who worked with him. They did themselves proud & gave openly & generously of their talent & energy…thank you very much.

Ian was in Australia on holidays visiting his son when he took time out to hold this masterclass in both Melbourne & Sydney…I’m so very glad you did. And big kudos to Kim & Jamie at 16th Street in association with Actors Equity Foundation for making it happen.

  L to R: Ian Rickson, Jamie Zamudio, Kim Krejus & new director of Equity Sue McCreadie.

US STUDENT FILMMAKER FESTIVAL IS 1 OF THE BEST

STUDENT FILMMAKERS THIS ONE’S FOR YOU: Opportunities to get your film seen in the massive US market do exist & this is 1 of the top ones on offer. Having been a part of the Festival in 2010 when I was in LA for work, I know first-hand what a great festival this is.

L to R: President/Founder Robin Saban, Festival Director Dorothy Supri, Jane E.

Visit the website – www.isffhollywood.org to find out all the info., its a comprehensive & jam-packed site. & then get cracking on making a film to submit to this festival which is dedicated to you…the emerging filmmaker who wants to make it a career & begin that journey towards creating an international network of like-minded individuals . Go for it!.

    AFTRS HOSTS Aust Film Festival’s FUTURE FILM COMPETITION

In March the Australian Film Festival held numerous activities & one of them was the FUTURE FILM FRSTIVAL, a screenplay competition aimed at finding a new crop of writers who have been toiling away working on their craft. 5 of the top plays received a rehearsed reading by actors on the Finals night. I do enjoy being involved with these industry gigs because its one of the best ways to keep connected to the craft & work in the company of other actors/writers/directors.

A lovely bunch.

      EMU HEIGHTS Productions Inc will be producing The Shoe-Horn Sonata by John Misto in June at the superb Q Theatre, Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre. Essentially a Schools production, there is an evening show on Friday 8th June @ 8pm. Directed by Ian Zammit who is also President of Emu Heights Prods., this terrific play about 2 women who re-unite 50 years after their horrific experience as prisoners of the Japanese in WW2 never takes the easy path as secrets, sacrifices & survival stories are re-lived & truths are finally told. The writing is wonderful & it’s a play that deserves to be performed. Check out the website – www.emuheightsproductions.com.au – for all the dates & more info.Or phone 02 4723 7600. Or online @ www.jspac.com.au & click ‘Buy Tickets’. Chookas for a very successful June 2012 season.