Brink Bits

The diva, the dog, the donor

2011-06-28T16:32:00.004+09:30

To coincide with the end of the financial year, we've gotten creative with our reminders about making a tax deductible donations to Brink! You can enjoy the short, three-part mini-series we created above.

A big thank you to everyone involved, and to everyone who has responded warmly and generously to our videos.

Donations can be made online at GiveNow, and more information can be found at our website.

#inconvo

2011-05-20T16:21:00.000+09:30

Last night at the Adelaide Festival Centre’s ‘In Conversation – Building Audiences Collaboratively not Competitively’ – Fenella Kernebone asked me to describe the Culture Combo.

The Culture Combo created an opportunity to buy tickets to a theatre production and a dance/opera at the same time - with discounts.

In 2010 Brink Productions and Leigh Warren Dancers (LWD) found we were presenting shows over similar dates (LWD and SOSA presented Maria de Buenos Aires at Dunstan Playhouse at the same time Brink presented a return season of When the Rain Stops Falling at Her Majesty’s Theatre)

The aim of the Culture Combo was to expose Brink to a contemporary dance audience who might never have attended a Brink show and, vice versa, to expose LWD’s dance/opera to a contemporary theatre audience.

Each company promoted to its database so no data was actually shared, complying with privacy laws! But the exposure was a genuine collaborative attempt by both companies to build audiences across discipline, more than just cross promotion of live performance.

Later in the conversation Ian Scobie of Arts Projects Australia described Brink’s acclaimed production of When the Rain Stops Falling as an excellent example of collaboration. It’s worth my noting that there were three levels of collaboration contributing to the success of this production.

First and foremost, the collaboration of the stellar artistic team Chris Drummond pulled together for Brink to develop this major theatre project over several years.

Secondly the collaboration of both state and federal funding bodies, both of which contributed considerable special funding grants, specifically set up to nurture and develop new Australian work. This allowed Brink resources it would otherwise not have had to support the long term development of When the Rain Stops Falling.

Last but not least, by co-presenting the premiere season in 2008 with both the Adelaide Festival and State Theatre Company of South Australia, Brink’s production was exposed to a far wider audience than it could have reached through its own resources. Nearly 10,000 people attended the 2008 world premiere of When the Rain Stops Falling at Scott Theatre.

That said, if Brink and our creative collaborators had not created a production of such quality and substance the exposure would not have created the word of mouth recommendations that resulted in such a marked increase in ticket sales after it opened and reviews were out.

The reciprocity is that all three organisations are still accorded acclaim for supporting the development of new Australian work and, in particular, the success of that particular work.

So win win all round!

Hear the full podcast of the night below:

In Conversation- 19.05.2011- BUILDING AUDIENCES COLLABORATIVELY, NOT COMPETITIVELY by Adelaide Festival Centre

Others continue the debate outside of the #inconvo Twitter stream here:

Ianto Ware at Renew Adelaide + comments
Kryztoff

New faces at Brink: Chris

2011-02-14T13:30:00.008+10:30

Chris Pitman (Skip Miller) and Lizzy Falkland (Alison Caldicott) in Skip Miller's Hit Songs.

Photo by Chris Herzfeld. See the full album here.

Chris Pitman plays 'war-torn Walkley Award Winning Hot Spot Poster Boy' Skip Miller. Involved in the development since 2008, Chris shares what is special about working in a collaborative way.

"I was in Sydney for the last few months of 2010, working on a play called OUR TOWN for the Sydney Theatre Company," says Chris. "When that finished I went to Vietnam for a couple of weeks and spent all my money."

"It has been Skip Miller's Hit Songs I have been looking forward to above anything, since we did the first workshop in 2008," he says. "The development process has been completely inspiring. We have pulled stories, ideas, and research from many different people and places. The play is now beginning to emerge from all this. It is not often you get to be involved in a production, almost from the inception of the idea."

"The difficult thing about this process, as with all new work, is that the play is still evolving. I imagine there will be changes and rewrites well into production week. We are certainly going to be working hard right up to opening night," he says.

But when it comes to giving hints about the play, Chris is as guarded as the character he plays.

"I don't think I have any particularly favourite lines," he says. "Well, maybe I do but telling would give too much of the game away."

New faces at Brink: Mondli

2011-02-10T14:28:00.006+10:30

Chris Pitman and Mondli Makhoba, photographed by Chris Herzfeld

Mondli Makhoba is a man of many talents: acting, singing, dancing... and we're sure there are more! He plays Augustus Forkay who is a pharmacist and one of Skip's oldest friends.

"I am a Zulu man born in Durban, South Africa. I have been in Adelaide since 2006," says Mondi.

"The Brink rehearsals have been a great, enjoyable learning process for me. I like Chris's brilliancy, how he connects actors with the characters, closing every gap, answering every question and analysing every line in the play. This help us actors a lot," he says. "I learn so much as I watch other actors work."

"There are multiple scenes and lines I like, but the one that jumps out at the moment is this one. I think this line tells us about the kind of a person that Neville is."

And I hold on for too long. - Neville

"I started performing professionally in 1999 in a show called Shaka Inoguration by Storey Productions in which I was lucky to play the main role as King Shaka. Storey Productions is a theatre company based in South Africa and the UK. I also did The Mighty Zulu Nation which I was playing one of the Zulu chiefs, and Africa-Africa which toured the UK, Italy and South Africa," says Mondli.

"It was during these shows when I realised that I can convey notions through acting."

"From 2003 I was with The Pride of the Zulu, a theatre company that was based in Durban specialising in telling the history of the Zulu's through theatre. After that I I was with The Lions of Zululand touring in the UK and USA, but this was only music and dance. In 2005-2006 I was with Ikhwezi le Africa playing in the show Bhambatha Uprising in 1906, and my luck came to play again I as played King Bhambatha whowas one of the no nonsense Zulu kings."

"In Australia in 2009 I was part of Jambo Africa doing a play called The Magic Waterhole and I also started performing solo Zulu dance. In the same year I became part of Brink Productions and also worked in a short film called Paper Planes," he says.

Paper Planes Trailer from David Ngo on Vimeo. (Projector Films / Storyland Media)

New faces at Brink: Assina

2011-02-08T16:32:00.004+10:30

Lizzy Falkland and Assina Ntawumenya, photographed by Chris Herzfeld.

Assina Ntawumenya plays Patience Lugor in Skip Miller's Hit Songs.

She has just finished her social work degree at UniSA and has been the deputy chair of the Association of Burundian Community of South Australia for the past four years.

Assina was included in the 2009 SA Women's Honour Roll of 100 notable women serving the South Australian community and has been recently nominated for inclusion in the Who's Who of Australian Women 2011.

In between all of this, Assina has been contributing to the development of Skip Miller's Hit Songs.

"I am Burundian-Australian and I have been in Adelaide for 6 years and 6 months," says Assina.

"This is my first time to do acting in Australia. I performed in a number of shows when I was in high school back in Tanzania. In fact, I was nominated as the best actor in 3 shows."

"So far, I have found the rehearsal process to be enjoyable and fun," she says, explaining that her favourite scene is when Patience 'loses patience' with Neville at the beach. "I also like the way Skip says 'WOW'," she says.

Behind the music of Skip Miller's Hit Songs

2011-02-03T10:20:00.000+10:30

Quentin Grant, Jerome Lyons and Lamine Nanky are our live musicians in Skip Miller's Hit Songs. Bringing a range of musical backgrounds to the performance, the three have spent the last few weeks creating original music for the show. Learn more about what obscure instruments they will be using and listen to a sneak-peek rehearsal track below!

♫ M'Bira
The M'Bira - a kind of 'thumb piano' - is a traditional African instrument popular in Southern and Eastern Africa.

♫ Kora
Looking like a guitar, sounding like a harp and played by sitting in front of it, the West African Kora is traditionally made from a large vegetable covered in cow hide, with thinly cut antelope hide as strings. These days the 21 strings (played with two hands) are made from either harp strings or fishing line.

♫ Balafon

The Balafon, also West African, is similar to a xylophone. In some cultures the instrument was or still is sacred and can only be played by trained religious members at special events like festivals, funerals or marriages.

♫ Song Gong
The Song Gong is a Jerome Lyons speciality. Jerome runs The Cheese Factory Studio Gallery in Meadows and makes instruments under the name Tribal Instruments Australia. This one is sculpted out of a gas bottle to create a drum capable of different melodic notes. Clever!

♫ Djembe
The djembe is a kind of hand drum that is apparently hard than it looks! Years of training are required to achieve the sound quality of a master drummer.

♫ Other: Guitar, cowbells, flute and bongos

Bounce - Skip Miller's Hit Songs
Rehearsal track
Quentin Grant, Jerome Lyons and Lamine Nanky

Brink Bundle: extended

2011-01-13T16:00:00.011+10:30

We're pleased to announce that we are extending the final purchase date of our Brink Bundle until March 5!

The Brink Bundle saves you over 20% on the adult ticket prices to Skip Miller's Hit Songs by Sean Riley and Land & Sea by Nicki Bloom when purchased at the same time. It's our way of rewarding our loyal fans and one of the ways you can show your year-round support.

Skip Miller's Hit Songs is our upcoming Adelaide Fringe show, while our promotional shot for November's Land & Sea was recently featured on the front cover of the Adelaide Review!

Brink Bundle: $65 through BASS outlets or by calling 131 246

(Regular adult prices are $40 for Skip Miller's Hit Songs + $42 for Land & Sea = $82. That's a $17 saving just for securing your tickets early!)

Edit 18/1: we've been extra generous and extended 'til the 5th of March, the end of the Skip Miller's Hit Songs season!

Internet tidbits

2010-12-17T16:41:00.005+10:30

In our last Brink Bits post of the year we round up some tidbits from the internet that we've found interesting this week!

Sophie at Sophie's World had nothing but praise for When The Rain Stops Falling in her Top 10 of 2010, as did David O'Brien over at dB. David also sung the praises of Harbinger while Sophie admitted to being left a little in the dark (but enjoyed it nonetheless!)

We were going over some posts on local music blog Purple Prose from back in October and found one dedicated to the musical stylings of Melbourne band Alarm Birds (previously Hope Diamond). One third of this lovely band is none other than Zoe Barry - our composer for Land & Sea! One very talented lady, right there. The videos featured are well worth a peek!

OzCo got creative and blew everyone's witty e-cards out of the water with a Christmas video! See it in all its twinkly glory here.

Chris Drummond was announced as a Hive participant during the Bigpond Adelaide Film Festival next year. He's in very good company with some familiar faces such as Matthew Whittet, Rose Myers and Sophie Hyde! We'll be interested to hear all about what comes out of the five day 'residential lab'.

But in the most exciting news of all, we launched our shiny new website. A big thank you to everyone involved at Brink, slipperyfish and Katalyst. Now that's a great early Christmas present if we ever saw one.

Season's Greetings one and all! See you next year!

Anonymous postcard

2010-12-09T11:26:00.004+10:30

We received a mystery postcard in the mail after we returned from Alice Springs... When The Rain Stops Falling fans might recognise the text.

Rumours as to who might have sent it have been flying around the office. If you have any leads or ideas, let us know!

2011 Launch

2010-12-07T16:42:00.004+10:30

James, Lizzy, Chris and Mondli

Rosemary, Assina and Leonie

Sean, Rory, James and Kay

We held a very cosy 2011 launch just over a week ago at Jolley's Boathouse. See more happy snaps from the morning on Facebook!

On the horizon in 2011

2010-12-02T15:28:00.006+10:30

We're thrilled to share what's on the horizon with you!

In 2011 we've got two world premieres: an Adelaide Fringe season of Sean Riley's cross-continental Skip Miller's Hit Songs in February/March, and Nicki Bloom's kaleidoscopic Land & Sea in November. Tickets are on sale through BASS right now - go get 'em!

Would you like us to mail you a freshly printed copy of the brochure? Email your details to info[at]brinkproductions[dot]com to be added to our mailing list.

PS Our new website is almost ready! Stay tuned...

It's been a wild but wonderful ride!

2010-09-11T12:05:00.004+09:30

Brink Bits spoke with Kay Jamieson, the Producer of Brink's Harbinger by Matthew Whittet, on the day of the closing performance....

Photo: Chris Herzfeld

Harbinger has been an amazing journey and a fun experience for me personally - and a hugely artistic success for Brink. There is strong interest from several interstate presenters and there is even the possibility of a Scandinavian season! Bring it on!

It has come from a delightfully eccentric, fantasy-fuelled and music-obsessed writer/actor, three sensational performers and a fabulous creative and production team - all of whom collaborated to give birth to what has been most recently described as the 'darkly enjoyable' Harbinger.

It is a unique theatrical experience - in its ambiguity, its daggy humour, its dark undertones, its simple staging, its crazy fantastical ride - one in which the audience becomes totally complicit.

Photo: Chris Herzfeld

It's different. It's unexpected. It's moving. It's very funny. It's not neat and tidy. Indeed it goes for the jug(ular)! But only those who have seen the show will understand and enjoy that joke! Others may take its literal meaning and fear being disturbed. Indeed I was amused to hear recently that a friend of mine tried to get a group together to see the show - a group who attend theatre regularly - but they 'didn't want to be disturbed!' Harbinger isn't predictable and it doesn't tie things up neatly at the end. It doesn't give you answers. It leaves you thinking...

We always knew that Harbinger would appeal to Gen X and Gen Y and the 'next' generation, whatever you are called! What has been fantastic for Brink is to receive countless emails and phone-calls - and posts and tweets and comments - from the young AND the elderly (pardon the parody!) who have so completely engaged with Harbinger - some of whom have come back twice and brought more of their young-at-heart 70 y/o friends. They had the courage to go on Maddy's adventure, just went with it, accepted that the play throws up many possibilities and is deliberately ambiguous and unsettling. But also exceptionally entertaining. We made a word cloud from the myriad responses.

Countless people are telling us their differing interpretations have resulted in stimulating and endless post-show analysis, not just hours but for days after, and that the experience has stayed with them long after the play has ended.

As a theatre company what more could we ask?!

Photo: Chris Herzfeld

All's well that ends well

2010-09-05T18:17:00.001+09:30

A typographical error in the opening night invite for Harbinger led to one hapless Mr D passing on RSVPs to Brink that were left on his answer machine! To say thank you for his understanding and co-operation and by way of apology for the inconvenience to him Brink offered him tix to see the show. Today he wrote:

I am very pleased to have seen the play, which I enjoyed enormously. I don't go to the theatre as much as I would like - there is something intrinsically exciting about the whole process. Harbinger was thrilling because it broke so many conventions, though I admit to getting a bit lost at the end. The actors were all brilliant, and the stage craft I hardly noticed, it all worked so well.

We will all be telling people about it for quite a while - you deserve a big success with this!

After the show the four of us enjoyed a debrief downstairs. It's a beautiful venue, so all in all we had a lovely night. Thank you for that...

Urban(e) artists. CAPTION THIS PHOTO!

2010-08-26T08:11:00.002+09:30

Brink Bits caught a theatre director and three actors moonlighting as urban(e) artists instead of doing their day job. Maybe it's because their day job means being in the dark a lot?!

Brink Bits wonders what they were talking about. As a follower of our blog, suggest a caption. Amaze us!

The most outrageously funny one received by Brink, via any electronic means, before opening night of Harbinger (Tue 31), will win 'something'. The Brink judges' decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into - but know that chocolate holds great sway at Brink....

Winner notified and announced on Wed 1 Sept.

Photo: Chris Herzfeld

Production Week is here!

2010-08-24T16:18:00.000+09:30

L to R: Francoise Piron, Melanie Selwood, Michele Chigwidden
(Photo: Chris Herzfedl)

Melanie Selwood is the Stage Manager of Harbinger. She gave Brink Bits an iPhone glimpse backstage! The company has just moved into the Space Theatre.
.
PRODUCTION WEEK IS HERE! As a stage manager, this is my favourite part of the process. We start to see all the elements coming together. As I write, the set is being built in the theatre, we are creating 120 sound cues and, later today, we’ll start plotting our lighting cues. Tomorrow we will begin to see the show as a whole - lights, sound, costumes and actors. We’ll go through the play and put it all together Q by Q. By Thursday we should be able to see the entire show for the first time and hope to be ready for our first preview audience on Friday.

It is really fascinating to see the many hours spent in rehearsals coming together with all the technical elements.Production week is certainly a manic time, with everyone working long days and nights, but once the adrenalin starts pumping, it can be very exciting. Back to plotting the sound Qs.....!

The long and the short of Harbinger

2010-08-22T12:59:00.001+09:30

Confidentially speaking Brink Bits is wondering the lengths Yael and Nathan (playing Maddy and Chris respectively) will go to to get it off onstage, so to speak!

Photo: Chris Herzfeld

FF = Filmclip Friday!

2010-08-13T13:01:00.000+09:30

In a twist on 'Follow Friday', we've decided that a 'Filmclip Friday' is in order! Playwright Matthew Whittet shared with us five songs that inspired him to write Harbinger for Brink Productions. Here on Brink Bits we share his thoughts along with clips of the songs. Get your air guitars ready...

Matthew wrote...
Some of the first thoughts I had about Harbinger were pretty basic and amorphous. I knew I wanted to write something about a guy and a girl who knew nothing about each other. I knew I wanted the story to take place over a single night. And I also knew there was a feeling I got from 2 pieces of music in particular that I wanted to translate in some way into the play. That the play would start with the feeling of early 1970's David Bowie, and somehow through the story of this one night lead these 2 characters to something that felt like Joy Division. Not that necessarily any music from either of them would appear in the finished product (maybe...) but that these artists inspired a feeling that hopefully is in the finished product. When I write I like to listen to a lot of music that is particular to the feeling of what I'm trying to write. Here's five songs that I had on high rotation while I was writing Harbinger.

1) Oh! You Pretty Things- David Bowie
Such a great, catchy early Bowie song from the album Hunky Dory. Really jangly, in a cool way. About "nightmares coming to stay", and all the young pretty things driving their parents insane. Very apt.

2) Cygnet Committee- David Bowie
Even earlier Bowie. A shimmering, epic 9 minute song. A bit psychedelic, but really passionate. Full of the frustration of youth, but also a bit of a manifesto about the world a young Bowie would want to live. "I want to believe in the madness that calls now". What a great line.

3) Shadowplay- Joy Division
So stark, with an incredible rawness and power. Something about this song feels so honest. In the same way that the Bowie songs dream of a magnificent future, this song feels like the reality of that future.

4) The Young Thousands- The Mountain Goats
One of my favorite songs. Has got this incredible drive for an acoustic song. Another fevered dream from a young mind of what the world could be. Has a great line, "the things that you've got coming will do things that you’re afraid to. There is someone waiting out there with a mouth full of surprises".

5) Ready, Able- Grizzly Bear
I could almost list any song from their album Veckatimest. It's simple and complex, and very beautiful. Almost glitteringly beautiful. I would listen to this constantly as I was thinking about the play, dreaming up what sort of delicate things would reside in the hearts of the 2 main characters Maddy and Chris. Of the things that dwelt deep within them, but they couldn't yet put into words.

.

Two young strangers on a hunt for ghosts and monsters

2010-08-13T07:17:00.000+09:30

Pressed further by Brink Bits, director Chris Drummond tries to lessen the mystery surrounding Harbinger - mystery that has arisen from the Brink marketing pundits struggling to find a way to talk about the show without revealing too much too soon. What we call 'spoilers' that reveal too much to audiences before they experience the play. In Chris' words....

I am reticent... to reveal the plot … and to talk about the process. I don't want to analyse what we're doing. The minute you start analysing what you’re doing in rehearsals you’re lost. But I have to give it a crack, so…. what to say?

Photo by Chris Herzfeld

For starters, the reason for being so circumspect about the plot is that Harbinger's main 'fuel' is the element of surprise. I can tell you Harbinger is a ‘quest’ play that occurs over the course of one night from dusk to dawn, involving two young strangers on a hunt for ghosts and monsters. Along the way there are hauntings and transformations, Ziggy Stardust, Hall & Oats and an excess of blood. The play makes wondrously impossible demands of the stage and the actors... has a brilliant ear for the idiosyncrasies of human behaviour and exquisite playfulness and wit. Right now in rehearsals we have (at least) two ways to read the play… two different layers through which to understand it. Our job is to build a journey that encapsulates both these layers without committing to either. This can be truly difficult work but when it comes together the play springs into life. The actors are doing absolutely beautiful work and there's a density and a lightness to their playing. Most days, usually late afternoon, the rehearsal room becomes filled with giggling idiots incapable of speaking. Not unusual in a rehearsal room but particularly persistent here. I try and claim it has to do with some brilliant insight or other... but Yael just reckons it's a disease that needs to be destroyed. Either way, it's joyous.

A brilliant combination of romantic horror and deadpan wit

2010-08-12T16:47:00.001+09:30

Brink Bits pressed director Chris Drummond to step out of the rehearsal room and describe Harbinger, written by Matthew Whittet, so we can all get an insight into what we might expect from Brink's new and mysterious play.

Harbinger opens up unexpected worlds. It’s vivid exciting theatre. A brilliant combination of romantic horror and deadpan wit, it twists and bucks and shimmers like a disturbing and beautiful dream. It goes into very dark places but it’s got a huge heart. I think Harbinger is one of the most intelligent, generous, playful and imaginative shows I’ve ever worked on.

What an eerie rehearsal room!

2010-08-08T22:32:00.000+09:30

Melanie Selwood, Stage Manager of Harbinger, told Brink Bits about spooky shadows, spooky sounds and ghosts of theatres past...

This week we’ve been rehearsing in an old church that has been converted to a proscenium arch theatre as part of the Holden Street Theatres. The stained glass windows are blacked out, elongated shadows that appear on the walls in the afternoons, spooky darkness. Wednesday afternoon we played with some of the sound effects that we might be using in the show and the old church definitely provided the perfect atmosphere. We turned the lights off and sat in near-darkness listening to screams, screeches, bats flapping and deep breathing. It felt like we were sitting in our own horror movie, complete with tombstones on the walls and spider webs in the corners. Who knows what ghosts will start haunting us!!

Coffee mysteriously appears in rehearsal

2010-07-28T21:34:00.001+09:30

Straight from the rehearsal room....

In the middle of a scene today, there was a knock on the door and a man holding a tray of coffee said 'I thought you might like some coffee.' He then left. We were all stunned and thought it had come by mistake.

It turns out this man lives across the road and was cooking in his kitchen thinking that we might need some coffee so brought it over for us. What generosity!

Below is a picture of Matilda, one of the secondees on Harbinger, and Yael (who plays Maddy) with the fabulous tray of coffee. It even had chocolates!

Harbinger is coming

2010-07-28T21:30:00.000+09:30

It's been yonks since we've blogged on Brink Bits.....!

We have just started rehearsals for our new work Harbinger and we'll try to get the director, the writer, the actors, the stage manager - ANYONE! - to give us bits of this and bits of that to post in the Brink blog. We want to tell you what's happening behind the scenes - and what's NOT happening! What should be happening and just general goss.

You've probably heard that young Matt Whittet is the writer. Sorry, we're supposed to say Matthew Whittet! He's been doing another show with Windmill. But it's our turn for Matt now! Well soon..... Anyway, he's really done his bit. He's written the play! It's outa his hands! We'll try and get a few lines from Matt soon about how it feels to hear actors SPEAK your lines...

And we'll get the Director, Chris Drummond, to spill the beans on rehearsing a new work like Harbinger.

Actors ALWAYS have an opinion and something to say so we're sure to get a few words from Nathan, Yael or Alex at some point. Whether it has anything to do with the play is a moot point but we remain hopeful.

And last but not least the stage manager. Melanie Selwood. will tell what she has to put up with in the rehearsal room - with the help of ASM, Kat Braun.

Who knows who else we'll rope in to share some backstage secrets with you. You'll just have to check in from time to time to find out!

So, take note! Harbinger is coming soon to a theatre near you....

New look for Brink

2010-05-04T21:50:00.004+09:30

It's been a long time since we wrote anything on Brink Bits.... for no other reason that we've been busy creating a new look for Brink Productions.

We're still rolling it out and you'll see bits and pieces here, there and everywhere over the next few days. It's been a very exciting process. We collaborated with leading integrated communication company slipperyfish - just like we do when we make work for the stage. We'll tell you more about that collaboration soon.

Meantime we'd love you to see what's up next for Brink in the new brochure. You can collect one from Dunstan Playhouse or call us at the Brink office with your details and we'll happily post one out (Tel: 8211 6565)

The new brochure tells you about the shows for 2010 (a new work, Harbinger, and a short return season of our multi-award winning production of When The Rain Stops Falling before it tours for the very last time) and how you can buy tickets to Brink shows and save! Ask about the Brink Bundle.

Check out our Facebook and Twitter pages and you'll see some of the new look. The new website is still under construction but you'll be redirected to the old website and can still read about Harbinger and When The Rain Stops Falling there. Then don't hesitate. Book at BASS or call 131 246!

Gotta go. I hear slipperyfish calling....

Day 3 of Gorge '09

2009-12-01T15:47:00.004+10:30

After an amusing litany of disembodied voiceover descriptors, Mistress of Ceremonies Libby O'Donovan, soared into the third and final night of Gorge '09 with Quando Quando Quando. The quaffing of an audience member's beer joke from previous nights was taken to new levels when Libby produced a replacement bottle from the depths of...well... from a place unmentionable in this blog. Undeterred by the fact it wasn't a screwtop she invited said audience member to plunge her hand into Libby's bosom to find - ta da - a small bottle opener!

Daisy and Chris reiterated the genesis, rules and process of Gorge for those who could be described as Gorge virgins. Happily there were a number of people who had attended all three nights and some who had been there the previous night.

The third and final writer, Nicki Bloom was introduced and initially showed a degree of nervousness during her interview on the red couch with Daisy. But after her Gorge '09 commissioned work, Footsoldiers, was read by Brendan Rock and Rory Walker she blossomed as she spoke about her work and process.

After the interval Footsoldiers was interpreted by Real Time Collaborators and Stone/Castro.

Real Time Collaborators performed in front of a curtain made of newspaper and cleverly used 4 actors in their interpretation, focussing on the absurdist elements of the script. Two females played the protagonist soldiers and the two males provided a kind of Greek chorus and onstage sound fx. When the newspaper was pulled down it revealed a pile of 300+ pairs of black and white thongs - at which an understanding aaaah ran thru the audience, all of whom had been somewhat mystified at the thongs stashed in odd places, high and low, in the Space Theatre foyer, toilets and approaches to the theatre.

Stone/Castro's piece was directed by Paulo Castro and was influenced by the notions of war and its psychological impact. Paulo told the audience in the forum that followed that, even before reading the script, he had a vision of a red cloth being slowly revealed and playing a prominent part in the interpretation, in the creation of its world. And so was delighted when he read the script and was able to incorporate it strikingly into his interpretation.

The two interpretations - vastly different - gave a good basis for discussion in the forum that followed. Though one audience member appeared to fixate on the fact that Stone/Castro's interpretation had included a gun which was not mentioned in the script and questioned - several times - if such an action was against the Gorge rules and whether it was right to add an element not prescribed by the playwright.. Most of the audience were somewhat bemused that, even though RTC had used 4 actors to interpret the same script, this appeared not to cause the audience member the same concern.

Nicky reiterated how, in her writing, she uses minimal stage directions which allows a greater freedom of interpretation. She also revealed that she doesn't visualise her writing on stage, she leaves that to the director, designer and actors. She went on to say she sees her writing in landscapes and colours and can see when there is something wrong with the landscape.

It was a great finish to a fabulous 3 nights - and congrats should be made to Daisy and Chris for their eloquent and engaging hosting of Gorge '09 as an event. And to Francoise and her team for their able and generous support to everyone involved. Special mention should be made of design associate, Wendy Todd, whose 1st half set/decor added a GORGEous element!

Indeed the credit roll in the program listed nearly everyone who was engaged directly with making Gorge '09 the event it was - entertaining, energising, educative and excellent. More than 60 people were involved one way or another.

A student from UNI SA is conducting research on Gorge '09 as part of her Masters, including holding interviews and focus groups. And, as part of that research, asked audience to participate in a survey. Which they did as willingly and enthusiastically as they interacted with all elements of Gorge '09. Brava brava - the audience!

You can scroll back through earlier posts and read what each of the writers and most of the companies wrote in to Brink Bits as part of being involved in Gorge '09. And you can read a series of reviews on Brink's website (www.brinkproductions.com) under latest news and reviews.

We at Brink are pleased to have presented Gorge '09, in association with Adelaide Festival Centre's inSPACE program, as a way of giving back to the community of which it is at once part of and supported by.... It was a mini fest of performance and spoken work, it was raw, immediate and unpredictable - and everyone GORGEd on it!

We'll have some photos to share soon.... Big hugs and thanks to everyone involved.

Gorge is an original concept by Daisy Brown [The Misery Children]

DAY 2 of Gorge '09

2009-11-21T14:59:00.001+10:30

The sassy songbird, Libby O'Donovan, sung us sensationally into the second night of Gorge '09, this time looking vampy and voluptuous in a figure-hugging red gown. Accompanied with great relish on the keyboard by the incomparable Matthew Carey, Matthew showed his gift with a quip by throwing in the odd provocative comment from the keyboard during Q and As.

Daisy Brown and Chris Drummond, felt a bit like it was Groundhog Day @ Space Theatre last night. About half the audience had been there the night before so knew the drill. But D and C wanted to ensure first-timers were included. So they reiterated the background to Gorge, the rules and so on. You can read it in an earlier blog.

Featured writer last night was Matthew Cormack. Matt writes for film usually - and, as he pointed out, collaboratively. So the script he wrote for Gorge '09 was not only his first theatre script but also the first he had written alone so quite a challenge.

During Daisy's writer Q and A, Matt revealed he was born in Adelaide, grew up in Adelaide and had brought his Mum along to verify this. He also revealed he was a twin - a point the audience remembered later when they heard his play, Like Brothers In A Bathtub, read by Eliza Lovell, Rory Walker and Brendan Rock, in which Matt's main character has a twin - or does he?

First interpretation of the work after interval was by media-inspired company TheimaGen (Director, Justin McGuinness, later explained the name describes them as 'of the theatre and image generation').

Using two projection screens, a shopping trolley, a banana, a fluorescent light and two actors, Jamie Harding and Kate Roxby, TheimaGen combined live performance with film and played between the two - literally.

Unreasonable Adults, who describe themselves as a hybrid-art collective, presented a non-verbal installation type interpretation with a range of props - including a banana - and the script realised with text-to-speech synthesis.

The two very contrasting interpretations divided the audience completely and resulted in some robust discussion and heated comment during the forum that followed, with a couple of people expressing their opinion that the writer's script had been dishonoured by UA's interpretation. The writer, though, expressed admiration for both interpretations and reflected that each were equally valid.

Two in the audience who spoke strongly for the UA interpretation were brothers and actors David and Brendan Rock. When Chris Drummond pointed out to the audience that they were twins they immediately cried out together, "But we're not in a bathtub!" Hilarious. Well, maybe you had to be there!

The heated and robust discussion continued down in the Bistro post-show with questions being raised about what is art and what is not.

The final night of GORGE '09 tonight sees Nicki Bloom's play, Footsoldiers, interpreted by Real Time Collaborators and Stone/Castro. You'd be mad to miss it....

The GORGE-ing has begun!

2009-11-20T08:54:00.007+10:30

Day one of Gorge '09 went well.

The luscious Libby O'Donovan was Mistress of Ceremonies and sang the show off to a good start after downing an audience member's beer in one! Yes, you can take drinks in to Gorge '09...

Framed within a set dripping with red and strawberries, Gorge '09 artistic directors, Daisy Brown and Chris Drummond, gave the audience the back story to Gorge, the rules the artist had to work within and a quick summary of how the night would run - and encouraged the audience to be interactive throughout.

Led by Libby like a lamb to slaughter, Alirio, as the featured writer of the night, joined Daisy on the red couch. In an amusing question and answer routine (including multiple choice), the audience heard a little about Alirio's background - where he began, what his worst bad habit was - and his process as a writer and writing this script for Gorge '09.

Alirio's script (Conflict Under An Australian Quilt) was read by 3 local actors, Eliza Lovell, Brendan Rock and Rory Walker, with script directions by Chris Drummond. This set up for the two amazingly different interpretations of the script presented after interval by freelance director Dan Clarke (with actors Tamara Lee, Sahil Choujar and Mondli Makhoba) and freelance choreographer Aidan Munn (with dancers José Gonzalez, Glen McCurley and Rachel Mendham).

As part of the rules of Gorge, neither artist could have contact with the writer to discuss the script or question meaning or intention. During the interactive forum at the end the audience was treated with hearing the very different ways Dan and Aidan each went about interpreting the script they were given and bringing it to life onstage.

The success of Gorge is as much in the hands of the audience as it is those on stage and last night's audience got very much into the spirit of things. Marks will be given at the end of Gorge '09 for the best/loudest/most interactive audience!

Next on the chopping block is writer, Matt Cormack! Tonight Matt's script, Like Brothers in a Bathtub, will be interpreted by Unreasonable Adults and TheimaGen.

Being short isn't easy!

2009-11-18T11:54:00.000+10:30

Nicki Bloom, the third of the three commissioned Gorge '09 writers has given Brink Bits... her thoughts on writing a ten minute play.

I find ten minute plays difficult to write. I find ten minute plays with no restrictions on theme, scope or content even more difficult to write. With a longer play you have the luxury of time in which to build the linguistic patterns, psychological details and thematic resonances which constitute the universe of the play. In a ten-minute play, the universe needs to be immediate – created, contained and understood from the first. I like my work to be at once specific and open. Specific in its language and rhythms, so as to give performers firm, secure footholds, yet open enough to allow room for invention, movement and discovery. I am very much looking forward to seeing what the universes we’ve all made alone look like together…

Gorge '09 outed...

2009-11-13T22:27:00.007+10:30

Brink Bits... has been told that the Gorge '09 schedule is finally outed!

Thur 19 Nov: 'Conflict Under An Australian Quilt' by Alirio Zavarce. Imagined, interpreted by Daniel Clarke/freelance director (performed by Sahil Choujar, Tamara Lee and Mondli Makhoba) and imagined, interpreted by Aidan Munn/freelance choreographer (performed by José
Gonzalez, Glen McCurley and Rachel Mendham).

Fri 20 Nov: 'Like Brothers in a Bathtub' by Matthew Cormack. Imagined, interpreted by TheimaGen (performed by Jamie Harding and Kate Roxby) and imagined, interpreted by Unreasonable Adults (performed by Kerrin Rowlands and Jason Sweeney)

Sat 21 Nov: 'Footsoldiers' by Nicki Bloom. Imagined, interpreted by Real Time Collaborators (performed by Emma Beech, Craig Behenna, Antje Guenther and Hew Parham) and imagined, interpreted by Stone/Castro (performed by Nick Bennet and Merwan Stevens).

it is okay not to have all the answers at once...

2009-11-13T15:28:00.004+10:30

Daniel Clarke is a theatre director, producer and festival director. Brink Bits caught up with him on his Gorge '09 project...

It doesn’t feel like we are working on a ten minute play! It is probably a good thing that we have a 40 hour time limit for rehearsals as I’m sure we could just keep going. Last night we introduced a very important set piece. It became almost like another character. We were thrown. All of the work that we had done the night before had to be revisited and a lot of it changed. At one stage last night my mind went completely blank. I did not know what else to offer – I often forget that rehearsals are for working through challenges and that it is okay not to have all the answers at once – if we knew all the answers why would we do it?

We worked through the challenges and I left the rehearsal feeling like we had all worked really hard. We’ve made some really bold choices with our interpretation. It is not subtle. But then I don’t think that the writing is subtle. I don’t think this is the intention of the piece. We have found the absurdity in the ideas that are being explored and the attitudes that are being challenged. We are yet to run it in its entirety and hope to get many runs in tomorrow. Then I need to time to reflect on the work until we meet again next week. I look forward to Daisy and Chris seeing the work today and hearing their feedback on it. Hoping they find it as bizarrely funny as we have. I do sometimes catch myself in rehearsals thinking wow this is odd, I’m enjoying it, but maybe I’m just odd?!! I guess we’ll see. Dan xx

The writer's process is usually a solitary one...

2009-11-12T12:52:00.002+10:30

Brink Bits... was pleased to hear from Alirio Zavarce, another of the three commissioned Gorge '09 writers. Originally from Venezuela Alirio works with various arts organisations in Adelaide as a performer and creator. This is the first time he has handed over his words for someone else to interpret.

It has been an honour, a challenge and a great experience to be chosen as one of the featured writers for Gorge 09. The writer's process is usually a solitary one, so it has been fantastic to write a lot of material and get feedback from Daisy and Chris. The camaraderie between Matt and Nicky has also been an eye opener in terms of the styles and ways they approach writing.

For my piece I have chosen to play with "race relations" in Australia. It is a topic we don't usually get to open up and talk about so I'm very interested in how the audience reacts to it. I have approached it in a humorous way and I can't wait to find out who the companies are who will interpret it and to see what they have done with it. I feel if at the end of the night we have had a fun and honest conversation about race and politics in Australia, the play will have fulfilled its aim.

The write way....

2009-11-11T19:28:00.001+10:30

Matthew Cormack is one of the three Gorge '09 writers commissioned to write a 10 minute script. Matt tells us some of the challenges he has experienced in doing this...

The challenge of writing a short piece is that you can rewrite and rewrite and still run the risk of not knowing the story because it doesn’t take long to write it all again. You can start again and discover something else, and then start again and discover something else, and think you’re making progress. Look at the different things that my mind can come up with! I’m a fucking genius! But you’re not making progress, because at some point the writer has to take hold of these characters and tell their story in the right way. Perhaps that is what everyone calls ‘craft’; or perhaps it’s just coming to the story in a way that’s quicker than writing 50 drafts. Only next week will tell if I’ve managed to find the right way to tell the right story. If I haven’t, so be it, because the beauty of Gorge '09 is it is also no longer my story, it belongs to the companies interpreting it and what they make of it (or make sense of). Can’t wait for next week!

We don't know what's going to happen...

2009-11-10T07:05:00.004+10:30

Craig Behenna of Real Time Collaborators stopped by Brink Bits....

We go to the room.

We tend to wear black, we don't know why, it's just a thing, like a uniform.

The room is also black. We're shut in, and we feel at home.

We don't know what's going to happen. We just wait for the instructions in an email. We go into the black room and do the exercises. We record the results and send the disc off to Sydney. Then we wait for more instructions. At the moment we're playing with tape decks but we don't quite know why. We hope she will come soon so we can all be in the same black room together.

Also, there are too many of us to play the characters. We don't quite know what to do about that yet. But we're OK about it - at the moment we're playing everyone at once.

Real Time Collaborators is a group of SA-trained artists who work worldwide across stage, screen and cross-platform new media projects. Gorge '09 brings them together in Adelaide for the first time. Their presentation is Sat 21 Nov, 7.30pm at Space Theatre.

Moving words....

2009-11-09T21:33:00.004+10:30

Aidan Munn, choreographer and dance teacher, talks to Brink Bits... about the work he is doing with José Gonzalez, Glen McCurley and Rachel Mendham for Gorge '09:

We started in an empty studio with the dancers' bodies and the script, a daunting task ahead of us. The process has been about discovering movement that enhances the words, adding another layer of emotion and bringing out the rhythm of the script. It was my aim that although the dancers say every word, that if the words were removed the story would still be told. I am almost asking the impossible of the performers, it is as if they are performing two works simultaneously, reciting lines while completing complex movement phrases and partnering. At this moment half way through the creative process it has been a lot of hard work, but we are beginning to get somewhere. Now that the script is almost learnt and the steps created, it’s time to have some fun, to bring out the humour hidden within this play which deals with some serious and complicated topics.

Aidan & the company's work will be featured on Thursday 19 November at Gorge '09

Serve of fruit with Libby O'Donovan

2009-11-07T07:39:00.000+10:30

The sassy songbird, Libby O'Donovan, was on Peter Goers' show on ABC 891 last night and plugged Gorge '09 - of which she is Mistress of Ceremonies. Seems it was suggested she'll be wearing PVC and smearing strawberries on herself - though she swears that was more Peter than her.....

Hmmm. Well, you heard it on the ABC.....

Unreasonable Adults through a different lens...

2009-11-05T21:15:00.000+10:30

UNREASONABLE ADULTS presents their Gorge '09 interpretation on Friday 20 November. Unreasonable Adults is a hybrid-art collective who work together to devise, strategise and develop new live and mediated works for stage, film and online projects.

Our first hurdle or consideration is that none of us are actors! So we are looking at this script through a different lens, thinking in terms of creating an audio experience first and foremost, and then looking at how to frame that visually - so it is a real challenge in some senses, as our script is so clearly written as a series of scenes to be performed. We have been translating stage directions into sounds, and re-imagining the essential story as a radio play, performed live. We're not sure whether to place a body on the stage (a live body, of course!) or just let the audio fill the space. It's been a real up and down wrestling match for us ... but we're happy with what we've shaped. Working outside our comfort zone has given us a lot of food for thought.
Fiona

A word from Daisy Brown

2009-11-04T13:25:00.001+10:30

Daisy Brown says:

GORGE‘09 is a bold interactive mini festival unlike any other, in which writing for performance meets its purpose….it’s performed! It provides insight into both the writing process and the creation of the performance as you get to meet the writers themselves as well as the companies who bring their words to life.

The countdown has begun! The three newly-commissioned scripts have been allocated and now the six companies are feverishly creating their interpretations of the work. Ready for us, the audience, to witness and begin to understand what makes a writer’s words come to life. And don’t forget the writers have had no communication with the companies, they don't even know yet which companies are interpreting their works! So we all get to see the interpretation for the very first time together!

GORGE’09 offers a new experience for Adelaide audiences and artists to directly engage in the creation of new work, an experience where the audience is active throughout the evening, allowing theatre to be a living experience.

3 writers showcased over 3 nights with 6 performance companies interpreting their work in their own unique style. You wouldn’t want to miss it! Come on all three nights… We'll see you there! love Daisy x

The Gorge '09 back story....

2009-11-04T08:39:00.027+10:30

Daisy Brown and Chris Drummond are the artistic directors of Gorge '09. As director-in-residence at the Adelaide University Theatre Guild. Chris created an event called Brewed, a sort of instant theatre. It was focussed on collaboration in much the same way as Brink works now, with all the creative teams brought together on an equal footing then working together to each create a piece of theatre within 24 hours - concept, script, development, rehearsal and performance. Brewed was exciting, exhilarating and completely exhausting. Only some lived to tell the tale and Daisy Brown was one of them!

Chris moved to Sydney and the Theatre Guild approached Daisy to restage the event. She refused as it had almost killed her! But took the basic concept and improved it. She changed the focus to interpretation, developed the idea of 1 writer's work being interpreted by 2 very different companies, wrote some guidelines and created a spectacularly exciting event called GORGE.

GORGE has had several very successful incarnations over the years and in 2008 Chris asked Daisy [now of 'The Misery Children'] if Brink Productions could present GORGE '09 as part of our FEED program. He saw this as an opportunity for Brink to give back to the community, to provide an opportunity for emerging writers and independent artists and small companies to be spotlighted. Daisy was thrilled that GORGE would get another outing and was excited to develop new aspects to the event with Chris.

Brink committed its team and a substantial amount of resources from its core funding, sought and secured philanthropic support from Sidney Myer Fund toward the event and partnered with Adelaide Festival Centre's inSPACE program. Additional philanthropic support from the Mabel & Franklyn Barrett Trust Fund will give opportunities for disadvantaged theatre-goers to attend GORGE '09 as well.

Over the next couple of weeks Brink Blogger will post bits n pieces from Daisy and Chris and others involved in GORGE '09.

What is Gorge '09

2009-10-31T10:57:00.002+10:30

Gorge '09 is a mini fest of performance and spoken word and it's not for the jelly hearted! Over the next few weeks we'll take you inside the art of performance-making. We'll introduce you to the artistic directors of Gorge '09, to the three young & emerging writers who were each commissioned to write a 10 minute script. And to the six performance companies that will interpret each of the works. So keep checking in to Brink Bits....

Beginning to Blog

2009-10-31T10:00:00.000+10:30

Brink Bits... is a blog initiated and managed by Brink Productions, a theatre company based in Adelaide. It will be just that. Bits of this. Bits of that. Musings on the way we make our work. Hot gossip. Snippets by and about Brink people - staff, board members, actors, production teams. Stories from behind the scenes and more. We hope you enjoy it!