Snapshots of Brisbane Theatre 2009-2014
Rhetorical power was the subject of some attention this week. One of the US Democratic Party’s hopefuls in the presidential primary race gave a marvellous ‘Yes We Can’ concession speech which used repetition to make its point. Barack Obama is a forceful, clear speech-giver. You can catch it here.
I like this take on the force and power of ‘good’ speech by slam-poet Taylor Mali.
Don’t know what a slam-poet is? Neither did I. Thanks Wikipedia.
No, this isn’t a reference to the silly season … most theatres are ‘dark’ at this time of year down-under. The exceptions are festival productions, chief of which is the Sydney Festival which has just romped in and taken over the town for a bit.
No, what I meant was that nothing much is happening in my neck of the woods. Until rehearsals for Shakespeare in the Park and Cabaret begin in the next month or so, things are very quiet on the local theatre scene. What to do? Well, looking back over the photos is a nice way to bring back the memories. Continue reading “Theatre Downtime”
Occasionally a gem sparkles amongst the tailings of most journalism on the theatre. Such a piece was Kathleen Noonan’s All the World’s a Stage (Brisbane’s The Courier Mail 24-25 November). It was a very personal take on the power of theatre to move, shake, or soothe like ‘a warm cup of cocoa’ if that’s your taste.
Noonan puts her case using Brisbane’s healthy theatre scene, but it’s really about what theatre does for people. She reviews Queensland Theatre Company’s production of Heroes, and looks back over some personal favourites from the past year or so, and forward with anticipation to 2008. She does so with style and passion. She’s right there in the words:
Good theatre is a performance-enhancing drug. Like blood-doping, it feels like there’s extra oxygen in the bloodstream, more ideas in our head than before.
and
You don’t have to have prior information about context or themes or symbols. Sure, all that adds a layer. But really good theatre just needs you to sit still and be prepred to find something out. Good theatre is passionate and demands passionate reactions.
You can find this article in full along with others by C-M’s ‘resident Saturday philospher.’
I wish our print-based media devoted more space to pieces like Kathleen Noonan’s … about the things that matter, and connect us.
Image: jgrantmac
This is not the mulling that comes with spicy wine, the traditional Christmas drink in colder climes. It’s another kind of thoughtful musing that often fills the mind. During this season, we tend to go back over the past 12 months or so, sorting and sifting through the discoveries and shuddering perhaps at some of them.
I’ve been digging into my blog archives, and in the spirit of wishes for Christmas, here is something from the eminent Canadian educator, Stephen Downes whose always-lucid postings have been a bit of a discovery for me this year.
I passed this little parcel to my students earlier in the year. Once again, it was in response to exercising your creativity, a theme which runs through quite a few of these posts. Here it is:
10 things you need to learn
How to predict consequences
How to read
How to distinguish truth from fiction
How to empathise
How to be creative
How to communicate clearly
How to learn
How to stay healthy
How to value yourself
How to live meaningfully
The whole post can be found on Stephen Downe’s blog.
Not bad wishes for Christmas, for ourselves and others.
I was asked by some students recently how, or whether I exercised my own imagination. We had been talking about the ‘most important muscle’, and about keeping it limber. This conversation must have stuck with at least one of the class members, who emailed me a week back wanting to know how to keep working at his acting skills over the long summer break. I wrote back urging him to keep reading, going to movies, talking … real conversation. Then I came across this series of podcasts from NYC public radio. It’s called Radio Lab on WNYC. I listened to one while commuting.
The particular ‘big idea’ that the podcast centered around was on what kind of capsules would you send into space for aliens to gather up, decode and learn something about the human condition. A writer, musician, stand-up comic, and chef put their imaginations to work and came up with wonderful sensory triggers: food, laughter, music, words … assuming aliens can use our technology and read English! Yes it was US-and Euro-centric to a certain extent, but it resonated with me. The whole series is a brain-feeder and imagination sparker.
So I’m going to add another to the ‘to do’ imagination-exercise list: share meals with friends, and savour the experience. Oh, and subscribe to Radio Lab.