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DRAMADRAMA DRAMA ALL THE WORLD MAY BE A STAGE, BUT WHEN IT COMES TO CREATIVE, INNOVATIVE THEATRE SYDNEY IS THE PLACE TO BE, WRITES FELICITY CARTER. hen tourists visit Sydney, many walk And the company is set to make an even bigger around The Rocks or Sydney Opera name for itself overseas when husband-and-wife W House without realising they’re passing team Upton and Cate Blanchett take over the by some of the city’s finest assets – its theatres. reins at the end of this year from Nevin, who Yet the theatre is the place where the cultural heart has been artistic director since 1999. truly beats, because that’s where Sydney strips off and bares its soul. On any given BELL SHAKESPEARE night, there is razor-sharp wit, COMPANY top-notch professionalism We’re quite bold If you ever pass the historic Rocks and a no-holds-barred approach area and hear a bloodcurdling to drama to be found. Here’s and daring in what we yell, don’t panic as it’s probably a sample of what’s on offer. coming from the Bell Shakespeare choose, because we Company’s rehearsal rooms. True, SYDNEY THEATRE these aren’t rehearsals the way COMPANY only have ourselves to Shakespeare would have done The STC, as it’s known locally, them, as the words are uttered is the state’s flagship theatre answer to. We can be in Australian accents. company. It’s here that both Don’t expect to see actors in classics and the best new groundbreaking. Elizabethan dress, either, because local and international works the company’s founder and artistic are delivered by the likes of director, John Bell, says he sees Cate Blanchett, Miranda Otto and no point in archaic costumes. Colin Friels. But the big names “It’s far more important to reflect don’t necessarily mean a safe approach is taken. on who we are and where we live, and compare it “My approach to programming has been to with [Shakespeare’s] text,” he says. “I find tension shift it away from what I saw as a commercially between a 400-year-old text and us very exciting.” Opposite page, clockwise from run approach to theatre,” says artistic director Instead, the classics are reinvented with top left: Surry Hills’ Robyn Nevin. “I made a concerted effort to find a distinctly local sensibility, and infused with Belvoir St Theatre; The Government actors who take risks.” energy and irreverence. “It has to be contemporary Inspectors at the The STC’s international reputation brings and reference our own society,” says Bell. “An Bell Shakespeare Company; the Sydney significant shows to Sydney, such as the National Australian company will have a different view Opera House – home to some of the Sydney Theatre of Great Britain’s production of The History of monarchy, of male bonding and authority, Theatre Company’s Boys, and attracts serious talent such as Oscar- or towards male and female relationships.” productions; and the new theatre taking winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, who is directing So Romeo and Juliet might be staged against the arts to the masses. Andrew Upton’s new play Riflemind. the backdrop of the Cronulla riots, or Macbeth 044 VIRGINBLUE VV1007_044_048_SYD_THEATRE.indd1007_044_048_SYD_THEATRE.indd 004444 66/09/2007/09/2007 88:57:45:57:45 AAMM PLAY_TIME_ PHOTOGRAPHY :: GETTY IMAGES, HEIDRUN KOHR, BOB SEARY. OCTOBERVOYEUR 045 VV1007_044_048_SYD_THEATRE.indd1007_044_048_SYD_THEATRE.indd 004545 66/09/2007/09/2007 88:58:21:58:21 AAMM PLAY_TIME_ Acting royalty Geoff rey Rush (centre) starred in this year’s production of Exit the King at the Belvoir St Theatre. might raise confronting questions about the roles artistic direction of Neil Armfield and encompasses of women and violence in society. “We keep it fairly new Australian works, indigenous works, reinvented vague and open,” says Bell. “You get the connection, classics and new international works. It’s innovative but we don’t hammer it home.” and provocative stuff, performed by homegrown The Bell Shakespeare Company, despite its talent such as Angie Milliken, Geoffrey Rush and name, doesn’t focus solely on Shakespeare. This David Wenham – and it’s also up close and personal, year, for example, it is staging Nikolai Gogol’s The because the theatre is small. Government Inspector, a classic Russian comedy set “Our venue is incredibly intimate,” says Middleton. on a bunch of slacker public servants about to get “Our audiences have a close relationship with the the worst performance review of their lives. venue and a strong sense of ownership and family.” Bell suggests punters take a risk with theatre: It’s this connection that perhaps keeps a throng “It’s a great thrill to see a play you of theatregoers hanging around don’t know, done well.” the foyer after the shows, buzzing Our venue is incredibly about what they’ve just witnessed. BELVOIR ST THEATRE If you’re familiar with Belvoir St intimate. Our audiences OLD FITZROY THEATRE Theatre, the Sydney institution This year Old Fitzroy Theatre hits that’s tucked away in a grungy have a close relationship the double digits, celebrating its corner of inner-city Surry Hills, 10th birthday. The Fitzroy is you’ll be pleased to hear the with the venue and a a 65-seat theatre inside the Old seats are now comfortable. Fitzroy Hotel in Woolloomooloo, “Now you can concentrate on sense of ownership. where you can grab a beer on the the show rather than your numb way to your seat. “It’s a venue bum,” says general manager that’s unique to Australia,” Vicki Middleton, discussing the says artistic director Leland theatre’s recent renovations. Kean. “It’s a tiny little space “We have an extended foyer and that gets a diverse crowd through.” B Sharp has wonderful new facilities.” On any given night, you could find yourself B Sharp is a theatre partnership that gives squeezing in next to a surfer, corporate suit or promising independent companies a chance to black-clad, inner-city artistic types. And due showcase their work in the intimate embrace to the size of the venue, you’ll also find yourself of the Downstairs Theatre. Upstairs in the main very, very close to the performers. theatre is one of this country’s most-lauded theatre “It’s incredibly intimate,” says Kean cheerfully, companies, Company B. It performs under the noting that when a show speaks to audiences, 046 VIRGINBLUE VV1007_044_048_SYD_THEATRE.indd1007_044_048_SYD_THEATRE.indd 004646 77/09/2007/09/2007 22:44:52:44:52 PPMM PLAY_TIME_ Time for a close-up: The new theatre staged the powerful modern classic The Crucible earlier this year. their rowdy reactions can really electrify the numbers of actors or multiple scene changes. theatre’s atmosphere. But what makes the Old The new theatre’s long history means it’s in Fitzroy stand out is it solely features Australian contact with theatres around the world, so it can works, many of which are specially commissioned secure rights to some of the latest plays. “The Royal from major talents like Sue Smith, who co-wrote Court [Theatre], for example, does brilliant theatre the hit television series Brides of Christ. but the plays don’t get snaffled up by the STC, so “We’re quite bold and daring in what we choose, there’s enough to go round,” says Fischer. because we only have ourselves to answer to,” says The company is marking its anniversary with Kean. “We can be groundbreaking.” And that’s a season of banned plays. “They were banned a hallmark of many Sydney theatres, whether because they offended the czar or the church or they’re presenting Shakespeare, pub comedy whatever,” explains Fischer. “They’re happening or the latest offering from the West End. once a month until the end of the year.” So, who knows? If you’re really lucky, you could THE NEW THEATRE be there as the theatre gets raided by the police The new theatre also reaches a theatrical milestone again. Now that’s what you call drama. this year – its 75th anniversary. The company has staged performances in trade union halls, above a grocery wholesaler and down a coal mine. It’s even MASTERPIECE THEATRES been shut down by police. And that’s because the new theatre, one of Australia’s oldest continuously :: Bell Shakespeare Company performing theatre groups, was created to bring +61 2 8298 9000, www.bellshakespeare.com.au radical ideas, and art, to the working classes. “Maintaining the rage is difficult, because some :: Belvoir St Theatre +61 2 9699 3444, www.belvoir.com.au of that agitprop was not good theatre,” admits the Newtown company’s artistic director Louise Fischer. :: new theatre But that doesn’t mean the fire has gone out. While +61 2 9519 3403, www.newtheatre.org.au theatrical standards can be variable, because the productions use a mix of professional and amateur :: Old Fitzroy Theatre actors, directors and crew who volunteer their time, +61 2 9294 4296, www.oldfitzroy.com.au the new theatre has a lot going for it. “This means we can put on big theatre,” says :: Sydney Theatre Company Fischer, explaining most theatre companies can’t +61 2 9250 1777, www.sydneytheatre.com.au afford to mount productions that call for large 048 VIRGINBLUE VV1007_044_048_SYD_THEATRE.indd1007_044_048_SYD_THEATRE.indd 004848 110/09/20070/09/2007 22:16:26:16:26 PPMM.